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Consulting Services, Short Courses and In-House Workshops
Consulting Services | |
| The Wood Machining Institute provides a variety of consulting services, including on-site seminars as well as evaluation of machining operations in primary and secondary wood industry and detailed recommendations for improvement in the design, operation and maintenance of saws and knives and improvement in machine safeguarding and worker safety. | |
| 1999 | United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Vienna, Austria. Commissioned to provide assistance to small woodworking enterprises in Ghana by assessing the needs and preparing layout design and specification for cutting tools, maintenance equipment, and consumable items suitable for servicing the machinery of small woodworking enterprises. The project involved a visit to Ghana in November-December 1999. |
| 1995 | Brazilian Institute of Forestry and Wood Technology, San Paulo, Brazil. Invited to present a paper on “Latest Advances in Sawmilling” at the International Seminar on the Utilization of Plantation Grown Eucalyptus for Lumber Production. In addition, he visited several Brazilian sawmills and discussed with personnel the possibilities for upgrading their operations. |
| 1994 | World Bank, Washington, D.C. Commissioned to evaluate the wood industry and its potential for development in Poland and provided a report “Poland: Restructuring, Privatization and Modernization of Wood Industries” as a basis for $100 million potential funding from the World Bank for modernization of the wood industry. February-May, 1994. |
| 1991 | South African Lumber Millers Association, Johannesburg, South Africa. Invited by South African Lumber Miller’s Association (S.A.L.M.A.) to participate with a team of three other experts on sawmill design, sawing technology, lumber drying, and sawmill maintenance. Visited 15 South African sawmills and made recommendations for the modernization of their sawmill operations. Presented paper on Latest Advances in Sawing Technology at the International Conference on Sawmilling Technology in Johannesburg. |
| 1989 | Tarkett AB, Hanaskog, Sweden. Commissioned by Peter H. Sohl, Production Engineering, to provide recommendations for thin saw design to reduce kerf losses in the manufacture of parquet flooring at Tarkett AB. |
| 1989 | Mid-Oregon Industries, Bend, Oregon. Commissioned to provide advice on design of glue-line ripsaw blades. |
| 1989 | P&M Cedar Products Company, Stockton, California. Commissioned by Larry Hood, then President of P&M, to visit the chopstick operation in British Columbia and provide a report on their machining operation. |
| 1988 | Viking Engineering & Development, Inc., Fridley, Minnesota. Assisted in improvements in thin kerf sawing (at that time kerf was 0.044 inch, and sawing feed rate was 90 feet per minute for 4-inch thick hardwood—the desired goal was 150 feet per minute). |
| 1987 | Weyerhaeuser Company, Tacoma, Washington. Commissioned by Richard C. Beetham, Scientist, Wood Products Research and Development Department, to locate a company that could produce an automatic inspection system suitable for on-line quality control in the production of particle board. |
| 1985 | Kaibab Forest Products, Fredonia, Arizona. Invited by Dubal, Beck, Harris & Humphries, Inc. (Consulting Firm), Portland, Oregon, to evaluate and report on “Conversion of an 8-inch Edger into a 10-inch Edger: Determination of Saw Dimensions, Tensioning and Feed Rate.” Visited Kaibab Forest Products, inspected sawing equipment, provided saw specification and conducted in-house workshop on Design, Operation and Maintenance of Circular Saws. |
| Short Courses/Workshops Annual Workshops on Design and Operation of Circular and Band Saws | |
| 1980-1983 | As an Extension Specialist at the University of California, Berkeley Campus, developed and conducted a series of one-week workshops on "Design and Operation of Circular and Band Saws," held annually at the University of California Forest Products Laboratory in Richmond, California. |
| Annual Workshops on Design, Operation and Maintenance of Circular and Band Saws | |
| 1984-1985 | Leader of a one-day workshop on "Design, Operation and Maintenance of Circular and Band Saws" in Portland, Oregon, during the Forest Industry Clinic and Machinery Show. |
| 1985 | Initiated two-day WMI Workshop on Design, Operation and Maintenance of Circular Saws and Band Saws held annually in Portland, Oregon. |
| 2008 | The 23nd Annual WMI Workshop on Design, Operation and Maintenance of Circular Saws and Band Saws was held at the Red Lion Inn - Convention Center, Portland, OR, March 10-11, 2008 |
| Workshops on Wood Machining and Cutting Tools | |
| 1992-1998 | Conducted biennial workshops on "Wood Machining and Cutting Tools" held in Atlanta, Georgia and Anaheim, California in conjunction with the International Woodworking Fairs. |
| In-House Workshops and Seminars | |
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Dr. R. Szymani has organized many in-house short courses, seminars and workshops on saws and sawing technology over the years in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, Africa and Brazil. From 1980 to the present, he has developed and conducted on-site workshops on "Design, Operation and Maintenance of Circular and Band Saws." These workshops have been held at: Louisiana Pacific Corp., Ukiah Division, California
International Wood Machining Seminars | |
| 1982 | Served as Director for the 7th International Wood Machining Seminar organized by the University of California Forest Products Laboratory, October 1982 |
| 2001 | Served as Chairman of the 15 th International Wood Machining Seminar organized by the W M I, held in Los Angeles, July 30-August 1, 2001. |
| International Conferences on Scanning Technology and Process Optimization in the Wood Products Industry | |
| 1985-1998: | Developed program and served as Technical Program Chairman for the First (1985), Second (1987), Third (1989), Fourth (1991), Fifth (1993), Sixth (1996), and Eighth (1998), International Conferences on Scanning Technology and Process Optimization in the Wood Products Industry, sponsored by Miller Freeman, Inc., publishers of Wood Technology, San Francisco, California in cooperation with the Wood Machining Institute, Berkeley, CA. Proceedings from these conferences are available from the Wood Machining Institute. |
| 2001-2007: | Developed program and organized ScanTech 2001, ScanTech 2003, ScanTech 2005, ScanTech 2007, The 9th, 10th, 11th & 12th International Conference on Scanning Technology and Process Optimization in the Wood Products Industry. Proceedings from these conferences are available from the Wood Machining Institute |
| International Conferences on Sawing Technology | |
| 1989-2007: | Organized and served as Program Chairman of SawTech '89, SawTech '91, SawTech ‘93, SawTech '95, SawTech '97, SawTech ’99, SawTech 2001, SawTech 2003, SawTech 2005, SawTech 2007-- International Conferences on Sawing Technology. The conferences were, held in Berkeley, San Francisco, California, Seattle, Washington, Las Vegas, Nevada & Atlanta Georgia. Proceedings from these conferences are available from the Wood Machining Institute. |
| International Symposia on Computers in Furniture and Cabinet Manufacturing | |
| 1992-1996: | Organized and served as Symposia Chairman of CIFAC '92, CIFAC '94 and CIFAC '96: The First, Second, and Third International Symposia on Computers in Furniture and Cabinet Manufacturing, held in Atlanta, Georgia, and High Point, North Carolina. |
| ScanTech and SawTech 2006 | |
| 2006 |
Organized and served as Program Chairman of ScanTech and SawTech 2006 conference with VETAS - the Forestry and Wood Industry Magazine for Latin America at Expo VETAS 2006 at the Sheraton Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
November 1-3, 2006 |