Month: November 2025

Significant progress has been made on an ARC Advance Timber Hub Project which is establishing viable product and market solutions for hardwood plantation,  led by Dr Chandan Kumar from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries (DPI), as the research team continues advancing work on developing viable product and market pathways for hardwood plantation thinnings and small-diameter logs.

In recent weeks, the project team received a truckload of logs supplied by Wide Bay Water (WBW) for use in two of the ARC Advance Timber Hub’s Value-Chain Innovation Projects – Establishing Viable Product and Market Solutions for Hardwood Plantation Thinnings and Small Diameter Logs and Adaptive Building Forms for Inventory-Constrained Utilisation of Low Value Fibre. This delivery marks an important milestone and has enabled a concentrated period of hands-on assessment and early-stage processing.

Over the past fortnight, researchers have undertaken an extensive program of work, including log merchandising, cutting sample discs, capturing non-destructive measurements, and conducting the peeling study. These activities are essential for understanding log characteristics, evaluating processing performance, and building a data foundation that will inform future product development opportunities.

WBW staff visited the research facilities this week to observe the peeling operation and gain insight into the assessment and testing underway. Their visit highlights the strong collaboration at the core of this project.

With the logs now on-site, the team has progressed to the next phase of evaluation, including sample preparation for mechanical testing, heartwood–sapwood assessment, and durability analysis. These results will help determine the most promising processing pathways and potential product streams for plantation-grown hardwoods that have historically lacked clear commercial utilisation options.

The Value-Chain Innovation projects continues to build momentum, strengthening industry–research connections and generating valuable data to support the development of future markets for this important resource.

The ARC Advance Timber Hub is pleased to acknowledge the outstanding achievement of Mahdi Mazhari, a PhD candidate in Structural Engineering at Griffith University, who’s PhD is part of ARC Advance Timber Hub Research Node: Performance of Building Components, Project 1.1: Innovative Long-Span Timber and Wood-Based Hybrid Floors for Vibration Performance and Acoustic Compliance.

Mahdi has been awarded a Mitacs Globalink Research Award (GRA), enabling him to undertake a three-month research internship at the University of Victoria (UVic), Canada. This prestigious award supports high-calibre international research collaborations and will further strengthen the partnership between Griffith University and UVic within Hub Project 1.1.

Mahdi’s PhD research is led and principally supervised by A/Prof Hassan Karampour and Prof Hong Guan (Griffith University), with A/Prof Sardar Malek (University of Victoria) serving as his host supervisor during the internship.

The Mitacs GRA will enable deeper collaboration on the vibration performance of long-span timber and hybrid floor systems, shared experimental testing, advanced numerical modelling, and joint research outcomes across both institutions. The collaboration contributes to developing improved design guidance for next-generation sustainable timber and hybrid structures, supporting the ARC Advance Timber Hub’s mission to deliver high-performance, low-carbon building solutions.

The ARC Advance Timber Hub congratulates Mahdi on this accomplishment and looks forward to the valuable contributions that will emerge from this international research partnership.

The ARC Advance Timber Hub is excited to share a recent Wood Central article highlighting the work of ARC Advance Timber Hub partner, Loggo.

The article “This Low Cost Building System Could Use Far Less Wood than CLT” explores Loggo’s  approach to developing efficient, low-cost timber building systems that optimise resource use and reduce material waste.

This work aligns with ARC Advance Timber Hub Project “Establishing Viable Product and Market Solutions for Hardwood Plantation Thinnings and Small Logs”.

The article also references the World Conference on Timber Engineering 2025 (WCTE 2025), which was hosted by the ARC Advance Timber Hub in June this year.

We encourage you to read the full article on Wood Central to learn more about Loggo’s exciting work.

The ARC Advance Timber Hub is pleased to share an article published by Build Australia highlighting our partner Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA) and its WoodSolutions initiative.

The feature, “WoodSolutions and Timber Insight advance sustainability,” explores how WoodSolutions is supporting innovation and knowledge sharing across the timber industry to drive more sustainable construction outcomes in Western Australia.

Image courtesy of Build Australia

The ARC Advance Timber Hub is sharing a recent article published by Timberbiz which highlights IndustryEdge’s new R&D funding for a major precinct project. This initiative aims to strengthen Australia’s timber industry through advanced data, research, and innovation — themes that strongly align with the Hub’s focus on sustainable design, advanced manufacturing, and collaboration across industry and academia.