Glued Wood Products Expert Witness

Education

1990 Ph.D. Wood Products (Chemistry) Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia Vancouver, B.C. Inter-departmental course work focused on glued wood products, polymer chemistry, and instrumental analytical chemistry.  Formal activities included a full spectrum of courses in pulp/paper chemistry, fiber reinforced composites, experimental design, and statistical process control.  Organosolv, wood ethanol, and polymer projects were completed. Thesis: Grain orientation statistics and their effects on mechanical properties of bonded wood strand composites.

1971 Master of Science, Wood Products Engineering, College of Forestry, Syracuse University (SUNY) New York Courses of study included basic wood technology, polymeric adhesives and coatings, timber engineering, lumber drying, and wood preservation.  Directed studies were in wood-plastics, polymeric composites, microscopy, and laboratory instrumentation. Thesis was on tensile properties and dimensional stability of wood fiber reinforced polyester polymer.

Profesional Experience

1999 – 2006 Polymeric Adhesives and Coatings Consultant
EHD Technical Services Ltd.  Adhesive troubleshooting, bonding process improvement, research consulting, adhesive and vendor selection, purchase sourcing, codes and standards compliance, adhesive testing, technical support for attorneys, and quality control programs.  An international clientele is served

1987 – 1998 Quality/Research Manager, Technical Services, Softwood Products and Processes
Weldwood of Canada (International Paper Corp.)
Technical support and executive quality audits were provided for 5 Canadian plywood mills, 2 OSB mills, 2 pulp mills and 8 lumber operations. Quality seminars, and training/procedure manuals were developed. Purchase source evaluation and research was provided for plywood, lumber drying, and pulp chip QC operations. ISO 9001 internal audits, codes, standards, and research representations were made for the company at ASTM, Canadian Plywood Assoc., NLGA, and government wood products laboratory advisory committees.

1982 – 1985 Laboratory Manager, I.E.C Beak Consultants Ltd./Econotech Ltd.
Management was provided at a private corporate environmental laboratory. Analytical chemistry was done for firms in materials science, soils, foods, drugs, mining, and forestry.  Methods were mobilized from protocols or specially developed.

1980 – 1982 Research Contractor, Vancouver, BC Contracts were executed in wood technology for the Canadian Electrical Association. Wood-cement composite utility poles were developed. A spinning disk adhesive blender design for the oriented strand board (particleboard) industry was developed for CAE Machinery Ltd. Div. of Hawker Siddley UK.

1979-1980 Technical Service Representative, Borden Chemical Ltd. Vancouver, BC
Laboratory duties were in phenolic adhesives research. Field technical support was provided to customers manufacturing plywood, particleboard, and laminated wood.  Special skills were developed in optimizing resin level, droplet size, and adhesive distribution in oriented strand board (OSB).

1972-1980 Seafoam Products Inc., Urethane Formulation
A broad background in urethane polymer formulation work is based on my experience at Seafoam Products Ltd as majority shareholder and technical director.  2 – 3 million lbs./year of slab flexible urethane foam were produced in North Vancouver BC.  Rigid and flexible urethane foam systems were developed for Polymir Industries Inc., Calif.  Solid and micro-cellular urethane 2 part formulations and quality standards for plywood face patching were developed for the plywood industry.

Publications

Available upon Request

References

Available upon Request