Wood products company and Lakehead U go value-added

 
Thunder Bay's Superior Thermowood is taking a new wood kiln technology and value-added product to market this summer.
The company has been working for almost seven years in redeveloping an original Finnish drying technology to treat raw wood.
The process affects wood's physical properties by altering the cellular walls by increasing its strength which contributes to the structural integrity of the wood.
Possible products and markets include decking materials that could be sold in retail outlets.
Company president Ed Rose said their entry in the market is limited in scale but they are committed to growth and expansion in other areas of the country.
The company has had extensive technical help from Lakehead's Mat Leitch, an associate professor in the Faculty of Forestry and Forest Environment.
He's been assisting Superior Thermowood in working out the kinks of their wood drying kilns.
The university has also struck a two-year research partnership deal with the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD).
The two schools will also collaborate on projects, co-operative training for research trainees and hold joint research workshops. Both institutions have each chipped in $10,000 for annual workshops and the establishment of a Team Building Exchange fund.
Leitch and UMD's Pat Donague, manager of their Secondary Wood Products Program will be the first joint-research team to advance product development for the North American market.