When it comes to business nous, you can’t argue that Sir Richard Branson has plenty of it. So when the Virgin entrepreneur says that there “is no substitute for innovation” then you can understand the importance that new thinking has on the business landscape.
This is the thought process that underpins the TTJ Timber Innovation Award, which is once again calling for all innovators in the timber industry to answer the call and put forward their own creative solutions into the two categories open to entry in 2017.
Last year, a modified wood made from underused native trees and a research project on rotational stiffness in the connections between CLT panels won top honours in the Awards, which for 2017, are again joint sponsored by TRADA and Timber Expo.
Vastern Timber’s Brimstone – winner of the Innovative Product Development category in 2016 – was the first commercially available thermally modified British timber range. It is produced exclusively from trees grown in English and Welsh woodlands, and from species that are currently underused. The development of the range has been born out of a desire to offer a truly sustainable thermally modified product that supports the UK’s local domestic woodlands.
The judges – Nathan Garnett, Timber Expo event director, Stephen Powney, TTJ editor, Rupert Scott, TRADA membership and marketing manager and Lewis Taylor, Exova BM TRADA timber consultant – were impressed by the collaborative approach taken by Vastern Timber, which including identifying the opportunity and the potential solution.
Commenting on the award, Vastern Timber’s Tom Barnes said: “Brimstone brings to the UK marketplace a superior thermally modified product that offers considerable environmental and social sustainability benefits. With sustainability a dominant consideration during the design and specification phase, the ability to specify a product with proven performance and aesthetic benefits, but which also supports our domestic mixed woodlands and utilising underused species will prove seductive. “Looking towards Europe and the US shows us that modified wood is a large part of the future and once the market moves over, there will be no return. Brimstone only needs a small percentage of the future market to make a substantial difference to the fortunes of British broadleaf woodlands.”
The Innovative Timber University Research category was added to acknowledge the work that university students carry out, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, pushing forward our understanding of everexpanding applications for timber.
Ewan Macpherson, from Cambridge University’s engineering department took top honours for his research into folded plate CLT roof structures. The research proposal was put forward by Smith and Wallwork, who wanted to understand the rotational behaviour of half lap joints between CLT panels.
One of the results of the research was a brand new calculation method that enables the rotational stiffness of half lap joints to be predicted quickly and easily with a spreadsheet. “This avoids the need for a complicated finite element model and can be used by industry professionals who previously lacked a method for predicting the parameter,” explained Ewan.
The judges felt that the project demonstrated that a 4th year MEng student, with some timely input from industry, “can tackle and solve a real, yet challenging, industry problem”.
This year’s competition is again split into the two categories: Innovative Product Development and Innovative University Timber Research. The latter category is open to third year under graduate or postgraduate (Masters or PhD) students. Entries for this category should be received no later than 5pm on 30th June 2017, with shortlisting to be complete by 4th July 2017. Shortlisted entrants will then present their application to a panel in London on 11th July.
Meanwhile, entries for Innovative Product Development should be received no later than 5pm on 30th June 2017, with shortlisting to be complete by 11th July 2017. Presentation judging day will take place at TRADA’s HQ, in High Wycombe on 23rd August 2017.
The winners of both categories of the Timber Innovation Award will benefit from an array of marketing benefits and the kudos of being the winner of an award that really pushes the boundaries in timber development. One year’s TRADA membership and a cash prize of £400 for the winner and £200 for the runner-up will be awarded in the Innovative University Research category. The winners will be announced at the TTJ Awards dinner on 29th September at the Brewery, London, attended by all the major players in the industry.
So if you think you’re the next Richard Branson, then enter the awards now! Please email: jlomas@trada.co.uk for an application form.
