An Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre has officially been launched in Tasmania, where researchers will work with industry to transform the Australian forest products sector. Sources: Timberbiz, ABC Rural
The ARC Training Centre for Forest Value, based at the University of Tasmania, was awarded more than $3.6 million in ARC funding in the 2015 round of the Industrial Transformation Training Centres scheme.
The $14 million forestry transformation centre is in Electrona in southern Tasmania and is a collaboration between the University of Tasmania and seven industry partners including Forico, the Pre Fab Lab, SFM Environmental Solutions and Forestry Tasmania.
The aim is to produce graduates that will increase the value of Tasmanian wood products.
Three new postdoctoral research positions and 10 PhD projects will allow researchers and industry specialists to add value to Tasmanian timber and forests by working in every part of the supply chain.
Deputy director of the training centre Professor Mark Hunt said the centre would produce the next generation of researchers, managers and research leaders.
“We are really looking at forestry and forest products, the production landscape and future infrastructure needs and bring all of those things together,” he said.
“In the past we’ve tended to think of them quite separately.
“What we’re trying to do here is work with partners in fabrication, construction, with other partners in processing of timber, in growing forests, understanding how to restore and manage environmental services in our landscapes, and just connect these together so we can create a better outcome all along the value chain.”
Professor Hunt said he had seen big changes in the way Tasmania handled its forests.
“What we’re doing is coming in behind and working with industry stakeholders to identify what we need to learn and understand and how we need to train people to do things in the modern way.”
Managing director of the Pre Fab Lab at the centre Matthew Gee said, as a builder and manufacturer, he would always value the qualities of specialty timber but he saw a future for composite products with accurate tolerances.
“That’s a product produced through the mixture of fibre, or stripping such as is used in the production of veneers,” he said.
The Industrial Transformation Research Programme, which funds Research Hubs and Training Centres, delivers research funding to enhance collaboration with key industries to find solutions to critical industry problems.
ARC Chief Executive Officer, Professor Aidan Byrne said a particular focus at the centre would be training a workforce capable of improving resource utilisation and creating value at all stages along the forest-to-building supply chain.
