Main Prize 2009

MAIN PRIZE

The Main Prize winner 2009 is Prof. Dr. Gerd Wegener from Munich /Germany. Well known in the Forest Based Sector worldwide– both in the scientific community and in Forest Based Industries - he has been being inspiring generations of scientists as well as managers. His broad interests and knowledge in the field of Wood Science together with his admirable engagement as editor for the most important European scientific journals like Wood Science and Technology and European Journal of Wood and Wood Products) made him to an outstanding expert in this field.
His innovative research has resulted in numerous new technologies and products.
Especially as teacher and speaker in conferences and seminars all over the world he is an outstanding ambassador for the matters o wood science as well as wood utilisation in general.

His impressive career and achievements and his ongoing inspiration for innovative R&D convinced the jury in order to decide in favour of Prof. Wegener

http://www.holz.wzw.tum.de/wzw_sites/LS_holzkunde_hfm.html

Innovation Prizes (6 projects have been awarded)

ADAPT –new strategy for future forest management based on climate change

from left to right:
Norbert Putzgruber, Alexandra Wieshaider, Werner Rammer, Manfred Lexer

The awarded project deals with the problem on planning on a moving target, in that specific case the climate change. As forest management is always very much future oriented – plans have to be made at least several generations in advance – nowadays it is of utmost importance to take climate change into consideration. Several tree species won’t be suitable in future in specific regions, because they can’t cope with changed conditions such as higher temperatures and less rain. Taking into account the actual regional data of all districts within a big forest department, it is possible to create a special simulation programme, which allows foreseeing upcoming problems like weakened trees, beetle attack and possible storm calamities (for instance). Based on that knowledge focussed actions can be planned and implemented in favour of a sustainable forest management.
This system is already implemented in one of the biggest forest companies in Austria and is already foreseen to be licensed for other forest companies, even in Canada.

The winners:
Dr. Norbert Putzgruber
Dr. Alexandra Wieshaider
Both Austrian Federal Forests/ ÖBF AG – www.bundesforste.at

Assoc.Prof. Dr. Manfred Lexer
Dr. Rupert Seidl
DI Werner Rammer
All University of Applied Life Sciences and Natural Resources (BOKU), Vienna - www.wabo.boku.ac.at/waldbau.html

CADIX – The alarm system for detecting termite attacks

from left to right:
Miguel-Ángel Abián Pérez, José Vicente Oliver Villanueva

The awarded project deals with a big problem for the South European construction sector – the termites. They occur in regions with mild Mediterranean climate, but we have to be aware that they will conquer more northern regions in future due to climate change. Belonging to the family of cockroaches they destroy every wooden construction easily. This is a big obstacle for building with wood in southern Europe.
The alarm system is based on the function of a motions sensor. It is only a very small box , which is installed in an endangered wooden element, such as a beam or a window frame.  As soon as a movement that is similar to one of a termite is detected, the alarm is triggered. The system is connected (wireless) to a computer station for both acoustical and optical alarm. So termite attacks can be detected in an early stadium and wooden buildings can be protected in time.
This is a vital contribution for an enhanced use of wood in Southern Europe.

Winners:
Prof. Dr. José Vicente Oliver Villanueva
Eng. and Physicist Miguel-Ángel Abián Pérez
Both AIDIMA/Spain, - www.aidima.es

TimberTower – The first modular timber tower for high performance wind energy plants

from left to right:
Gregor Prass, Sandro Mainusch

The award winning team convinced the jury with its revolutionary concept. Instead of steel or concrete they use wooden modules for constructing towers for wind energy plants. Many years of static calculation were needed in order to find the optimal solution, which does not only open a new field for wooden constructions, but solves in first line basic logistical problems. Towers of steel and concrete have to be pre-fabricated as a whole and transported to the site of the plant.
The transport of the towers with huge dimensions is very costly and complicated. Prefabricated wooden modules are smaller and much easier to transport to the plant site and additionally allow on-site construction - THE advantage of wood in general. Moreover the prize winning team developed a wood protection system using a membrane in order to protect the wooden tower from weathering.
The first tower will be built in autumn in the Hannover region /Germany. It is the perfect combination of using natural wind energy with renewable building material!

Winners:
Holger Giebel
Gregor Prass
Sandro Mainusch
All managing directors of TimberTowers/Germany, www.timbertower.de

Eco-friendly in-depth coloration of solid wood with the help of supercritical CO2

from left to right:
Christian Hansmann, Ulrich Müller

A supercritical fluid is any substance at a temperature and pressure above its critical point. It can diffuse through solids like a gas, and dissolve materials like a liquid. The penetration is instant and dry, which makes them optimal carriers. This is the basic idea of the awarded project.
Colour pigments will be transported into the wood by using supercritical fluids. The most important advantage is the lack of moisture, which is always a problem with reference to dimensional stability of wood. On the second hand no poisonous solvents are needed.
The project is in an early stage, but very promising in first for the wood flooring sector but also for the (interior) design sector in general. As it is very complicated to colour wood in depth, often tropical wood species are used instead of painted wood. Painted wood can’t be sanded in case little damages have occurred on the surface. On the contrary, in- depth-coloured wood can be refurbished easily without losing its original colour.

The winners:

Dr. Christian Hansmann
Dr. Ulrich Müller –
Both Kompetenzzentrum Holz GmbH/Austria - www.kplus-wood.at

Dr. Hans Korte - Innovationsberatung Holz und Fasern/Germany - www.hanskorte.de

Innovative lightweight sandwich panels made of wood and wood based materials

from left to right:
Michael Schäpers, Markus Wolf, Dirk Specht, Ulli Garbert, Heinrich Köster

The awarded light weight panel solves a major problem within the furniture and automobile industry. There is a growing need for light weight elements which have to perform also under enhanced load conditions. This panel shows several innovative elements. One new component is the middle layer, which consists of a fibre mat pressed in a three dimensional wave form. This specific form is also able to withstand transverse tensile forces, which is not common for wood based panels. Secondly the surface layers are milled punctually in order to match perfectly with the form of the inner layer. This and the gluing right on those spots guarantee form fit and optimal transmission of power– the most important properties for high performance sandwich panels. The panels are already implemented in furniture as well as vehicles such as caravans as lightweight wall elements.

Winners:
Michael Schäpers (Managing director)
Ulli Garbert                    
Markus Wolf   
Dirk Specht
All Lightweightsolutions /Germany - www.lightweightsolutions.de
     
Prof. Heinrich Köster – University of Applied Sciences, Rosenheim/Germany, www.fh-rosenheim.de

First industrial production of synthetic natural gas (SNG) of wood

from left to right
Christian Aicherning, Martin Schaub, Reinhard Koch, Alfred Waser, Hermann Hofbauer

This project marks a milestone in the history of renewable energy from wood. The award winning consortium has already broad experience with wood-gasification and gas driven energy plants. Now they took a further step by a new process that results in gaining synthetic natural gas with higher quality than natural gas. The gas can be fed into gas pipelines without any further treatment; it can be produced regionally in order to provide cities or regions with natural gas for energy plants or heating. Moreover it is a big contribution to a new generation of fuels from renewable sources. SNG is either suitable for gas-driven vehicles or as basic product for diesel or petrol. The winning team already succeeded in installing a methane processing unit in Austria.

The winners:
Reinhard Koch – Biomassekraftwerk Güssing GmbH&CoKG /Austria - www.eee-info.net
Martin Schaub - CTU-Conzepte Technik Umwelt AG/Switzerland - www.ctu.ch
Prof. Dr. Hermann Hofbauer – Technical University Vienna/Austria - http://whitepages.tuwien.ac.at/oid/1066993.html
Alfred Waser - Paul Scherrer Institut/Switzerland -  www.psi.ch
Christian Aichernig – Repotec/Austria -  www.repotec.at