Abstract
Welcome to the first conference themed issue of the International Wood Products Journal. We are grateful to Gervais Sawyer for the invitation to act as guest editors for the issue, which contains a selection of the best papers chosen from the many presented at the International Panel Products Symposium, 5–6 October 2011, Llandudno, Wales. We hope that the range of topics covered here will offer some interest to all tastes, and reflect the wide range of ways in which wood can be handled in the manufacture of composite wood products.
Two highlights in this issue are papers which address the sometimes neglected aspect of coating or laminating wood based panels - one which used powder coating for a low waste coating system, investigated conducting fillers to assist in coating uniformity; while the other - which used high quality beech veneer on MDF, addressed issues in bond quality where formaldehyde scavengers have been used, as is increasingly common practice. In order to test the panel to laminate bond strength a modified test method was developed, which opens new avenues for further research.
At the BioComposites Centre we are always pleased with the blend of industrial and university led research at the conference, and the selection of papers presented here reflects this, with companies and consultants contributing their industrial knowledge and expertise as well as the more traditional academic format. This fits well with the applied focus of the journal whose readership is drawn from both academic and industrial circles. Finally, I would like to mention the winner of our poster prize, Ana Henriques, a PhD student from the University of Porto, whose poster impressed the judges (drawn from industry and academia) due to its clarity, and scientific approach to solve an industrial process control issue in resin building.
Short synopses of articles in this issue can be found on pp. 2–7 or downloaded from online journal page at www.ingentaconnect.com/content/maney/iwp.
Dr Morwenna Spear MIWSc and Dr Graham Ormondroyd MIWSc
BioComposites Centre, Bangor University, Wales