Wood & Natural Fibers News

If you’ll be in Portland for the 2026 International Mass Timber Conference, be sure to attend the Mass Timber Advanced Topics panel on Wednesday, April 1st! Pouria Bahmani, Ph.D., P.E. […]

Washington State University is helping lead a major regional effort to reduce the environmental impact of air travel through its role in the newly launched Cascadia Sustainable Aviation Accelerator (CSAA).  Announced Jan. 8 at […]

CMEC is excited to share our new interactive RTP tour! Take a virtual walk-through and get an immersive look at our space: Take the Virtual Tour

Congratulations to Abiola Adeniran for defending his Doctor of Materials Science and Engineering dissertation, Borate Treatment of Douglas Fir and Grand Fir Laminates for a More Durable Cross-Laminated Timber. Good […]

Congratulations to Maximiliano Wagemann Herrera for defending his Doctor of Civil Engineering dissertation, Structural Performance of Simply Supported Cross Laminated Timber Diaphragms. We’re proud of you, Max!

WSU identified the promise of mass timber decades ago, said Karl Englund, research professor at the Composite Materials & Engineering Center (CMEC). The university aligned engineering, architecture, business, and materials […]

Sometime this year a manufacturing plant in India will begin producing corrugated bamboo panels developed at Washington State University. A team of researchers at WSU’s Composite Materials & Engineering Center […]

The Washington Mass Timber Accelerator (WMTA) organization, a non-profit organization dedicated to removing key barriers and accelerating the widespread adoption of sustainable mass timber construction in Washington State, has officially been established. […]

Dr. Pouria Bahmani conducted a series of shake table tests at a Department of Defense (DOD) facility in Champaign, Illinois, where he investigated an innovative modular shelter made from thermally […]

Launching one’s first startup — maybe a domestic software company, for example — could certainly be daunting. But creating a company to produce a physical, engineered product with international manufacturing […]

Ten WSU faculty have been elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences and come from a range of disciplines including animal science, cropping systems, engineering, information ethics, genome engineering, […]

Congratulations to Nicholas Mayer, Connor Reschke, Jesus Jimenez and Harish Varatharaj, who won awards at this year’s Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities! Crimson Award in Engineering and Physical […]

Washington State University researchers have received a two-year grant to make more resilient and durable housing materials from thermally-modified cross laminated timber (CLT) and recycled carbon fiber. The researchers, including […]

June 1, 2023 — Ji Yun Lee, assistant professor in WSU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award for […]

May 11, 2023 — The Office of Research has awarded nine faculty with the 2023 New Faculty Seed Grant. The grant program supports junior faculty in developing research, scholarly, or […]

May 8, 2023 — People often think of artificial intelligence as the frontier of science, but Hongtao Dang, assistant professor of construction management in the School of Design and Construction, […]

Washington State University researchers are working with a Port Angeles nonprofit organization to develop new housing materials from heat‑treated wood and recycled carbon fiber used in Boeing airplanes. Researchers from […]

WSU Daily Evergreen, MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2019 Researchers from WSU’s Composite Materials and Engineering Center (CMEC) partnered with a nonprofit recy-cling center in Port Angeles to combine recycled carbon fiber […]

PULLMAN, Wash. – Michael Wolcott, Washington State University Regents Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has been named to the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee, which advises both […]

Wound healing, smart textiles, biodegradable hydraulic fluid and estimation of apple crops with a smartphone are some of the innovations that are closer to reaching the market thanks to the Commercialization […]

The most complex chemistry lab on the planet is growing in your neighborhood. There might be a tree in your own backyard, cranking out chemicals as it converts sunlight to […]

SEATTLE – Washington state-based Alaska Airlines today made history by flying the first commercial flight using the world’s first renewable, alternative jet fuel made from forest residuals, the limbs, and […]

Building tours, a reception, and music from the WSU Cougar Marching Band were part of the dedication of the new PACCAR Environmental Technology Building at Washington State University on Thursday, […]

WSU Daily Evergreen, Friday, January 22, 2016 WSU students from a wide range of disciplines will work together to design and construct a solar-powered home for the 2017 Solar Decathlon […]

SEATTLE – Imagine a material that allows us to construct new buildings more quickly. Helps to combat climate change. Supports the restoration of our forests while also helping revive our […]

Wood-framed skyscrapers, resistant to fire and earthquakes and made from locally harvested wood, may someday dot the skylines of North American cities. A new building at Washington State University, opening […]

Buildings stand among the nation’s leading producers of greenhouse gases. To blame is the energy used to operate them and the carbon-heavy materials required to construct them. With populations increasingly […]

PORT ANGELES, Wash. – Washington State University will lend its expertise in materials science and engineering to the Composite Recycling Technology Center (CRTC) that broke ground in Port Angeles today, […]

SEATTLE – Washington state’s hometown airline is teaming up with the Washington State University-led Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA) to advance the production and use of alternative jet fuel made […]

PULLMAN, Wash. – How many giant wind turbine blades can your local landfill accommodate? To help avert such a problem, WSU is working with Seattle-based Global Fiberglass Solutions Inc. (GFS) […]

THOMAS M. MALONEY, 83, of Pullman, WA passed away on June 18, 2014, at his Pullman home.  Read more….. Tom was a distinguished professor at Washington State University and was […]

With representatives of the university’s Board of Regents, senior administration, and College of Engineering and Architecture faculty on hand, Washington State University today broke ground for the construction of a […]

As you walk through the new WSU visitor center, slow down and notice the wood around you. Natural blue staining on a bench shows how a Northwest pine tree lost […]

Karl Englund’s research would be easier if all homes were built of Legos. “If we designed for disassembly like that, you could just build your house, take it apart when […]

Michael Wolcott, professor in the Washington State University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and director of WSU’s Institute for Sustainable Design, has been named a fellow of the International […]

Washington State University’s International Wood Composites Symposium is collaborating for the first time with the Northwest Advanced Renewable Alliance (NARA) to present “Managing the Woody Biomass Supply Chain – Impact […]

Dr. Vikram Yadama received a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation for his proposal “Development of high-performance lignocellulosic composites for building envelopes: Authentic learning about sustainable materials through a […]

Washington State University will receive a five-year, $40 million grant to help develop alternatives to petroleum-based fuels and chemicals. The award was announced Sept. 28 by U.S. Department of Agriculture […]

When an entrepreneur wanted to learn more about wood plastic composites (WPC), an Internet search led him to WSU. The ensuing partnership resulted in a factory opening that will employ […]

You can huff and puff and not blow the house made of straw down…if you use straw-based boards. Read more…

When some see small-diameter timber in the woods, they see a forest fire hazard or logging leftovers. But, Vikram Yadama sees an innovative opportunity to bring together science and nature […]

A structural wood plastic composite (WPC) developed with funding by the Office of Naval Research (under the direction of Ignacio Perez) was recently deployed in a pedestrian bridge accessing the Rattlesnake Wilderness […]

WSU Daily Evergreen, Tuesday, November 4, 2014 WSU’s Brelsford Visitor Center, built with materials that embody Pullman’s history, has been awarded the annual Design & Build Forest Stewardship Council Award […]

Safety of exterior elevated decks, balconies and porches continues to be an important national issue. Section 1604.8.3 of the 2009 International Building Code (IBC) states that decks shall be anchored to the […]

As you walk through the new WSU visitor center, slow down and notice the wood around you. Natural blue staining on a bench shows how a Northwest pine tree lost […]

By Tina Hilding, College of Engineering and Architecture Rattlesnake Creek Pedestrian Bridge wins prestigious design award from the American Council of Engineering Companies The designers of an innovative bridge that […]

The faculty, staff and students at CMEC would like to remember John Robert “Bob” Stillinger as a supporter and friend of the department. Dr. Stillinger was one of the industry […]

WSU Evergreen, Thursday November 18, 2010Recycled plastic grocery bags and leftover two-by-fours may once again find their way to an eco-friendly manufacturing plant in Elma, Wash. WSU Composite Materials and […]

PULLMAN – Efficient utilization of timber and biomass residues for alternative fuels and other products will be the focus of the free webinar “Adding Value to Woody Biomass,”  10 a.m., […]

Robert J. Tichy, a WSU research engineer in the College of Engineering and Architecture’s Wood Materials Engineering Laboratory was recently recognized with the L.J. Markwardt Award for his leadership in […]

By Ted McDonough, Staff Writer, Moscow-Pullman Daily News If you have a roof over your head, and that roof was built after 1950, Washington State University’s Wood Materials and Engineering […]

This week there will be an expected 450 people from all over the world, and at least somebody from every continent, on the campus of WSU. They are here for […]

Local News Brief, WSU Evergreen, May 21, 1997The new director of the Wood Materials Engineering Laboratory at WSU will take over the position in June.Don Bender, from Texas A&M University, […]

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of John Talbott. John began working for the Wood Technology Section at Washington State College, now WSU, in 1955. While […]