What can we do using timber? Training experts who utilize wood…

Here’s a question. What is a feature common to paper, aspirin, and soju? The answer is ‘wood’. Paper is a chemically treated pulpfrom wood, aspirin is made of salicylic acidextracted from the bark of cottonwood. Also soju can be made from wood, since the components of cellulose, which is the main ingredient of the cell membranes of a tree, and the starch of a sweet potato, which is base material of soju,are the same. Yesterday, I met Young-geun Um (52), the professor of the Department of Forest Products& Biotechnology atKookmin University, who praised the various use of wood. “Wood is the resource which has been with people since the beginning. It is used as a tool to make fire and it tells the beginning of mankind. It is processed into paper tocreate for our civilization. These days, wood has attracted attention as an eco-friendly material with The Emissions Trading Scheme.”
Forest Products& Biotechnology is the place whereexperts are trained who will utilize wood. According to Professor Um, onlyKookminUniversity and Seoul National University are in the Seoul Metropolitan area among the 10 Korean universities which train wood experts. (Kangwon University, Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology, Kyungpook National University, Gyeongsang National University, Kookmin University, Chonnam National University, Chonbuk National University, Seoul National University, Chungnam National University, Chungbuk National University,in Korean alphabetical order).

“The chief item of exportfor Korea in 1960s was plywood. Led by the government since the 1970’s, the departments related to wood have been established near places which were close to mountains. BukhanMountain has contributed to the establishment of the Department of Forest Products & Biotechnology in 1978atKookmin University.”
The chief studies are divided into 3 parts – 1.The exploitation of eco-friendly building material. 2. The exploitation of bio material related to the paper pulp industry 3. The exploitation of biomass related to food and  medicine  and  medical  supplies.
Professor Um said, “I’d like freshman who are good at chemistry, physics, and biology fitted into the department.”Students get to find their interest taking courses from their sophomore year. ‘Seminar with Professor and Student’ is a representative course. Each professor sets the topics of courses related to their own major in the form of seminars, research, field practice, and field-study.

The careersfor graduate students are forspecialization in the wood industry. “Half of them are going to graduate school to get a master’s ordoctoral degree and the rest of them are going to be researchers. There are some graduate students who study about preserving paper and wood at the National Archives of Korea. Most of the students who get a job after graduation perform some kind of tasksrelated to wood. I specifically think of thestudentswho went to Seoul City Hall and managed the landscaping of the Han-river, who applied for the Civil Service Examination for ‘forestry’, and who got a job at a piano manufacturing company.

Professor Um said “The use of wood will increase because the law regarding thesustainable use of timber (law 11429) was passed by congress last May. The major content of the law which is going to be applied next May is ‘the improvement of the using timber’. It includes things such as making our department belong to the Korea Forest Service, and considering wood as a priority for architectural material when building a public establishment. There is carbon dioxide content of around 1.8kg in the form of carbon in timber weighing 1kg.The more we make wood products and buildings, the less carbon dioxide is released into the air. Wood waste can be recycled as a base material of engineering timber and paper pulp. Actually, in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics under the slogan ‘sustainable’, the entire ceiling of the Richmond Oval Stadium was made of damaged wood. If you would like more information, you can read ‘The secret of
timber: Kyoto UniversityLignum Science Laboratory (WIT consulting)’ which is our textbook”.