Abstract:
Fraunhofer Gesellschaft with over 30,000 employees and a budget of over 3 Billion Euros is one of the largest applied-research organizations in Europe. The Fraunhofer Wilhelm Klauditz Institute (WKI) for wood research, one of the 72 Fraunhofer Institutes, celebrated its 75th anniversary this year. The institute, one of the largest in the world, is dealing with development of materials and technologies based on renewable resources, mainly lignocellulosic (plant-based). The research portfolio includes classical fiber- and particle-based materials, bioplastics, concrete-wood and concrete-natural fiber materials, insulation materials, foams, adhesives and coatings, fire coatings, as well as indoor air quality and emission measurements. The applications include building-, chemical-, wood- and automotive industries, among others.
The seminar will introduce the research portfolio of the WKI and several examples of newly developed materials and technologies will be presented.
Bio:
Prof Bo Kasal is the director of the Fraunhofer WKI, Wilhelm Klauditz Institute of Wood Research in Braunschweig Germany – a leading research institution in areas of renewable resources – and a Professor of Organic and Wood-based Construction Materials at TU Braunschweig. Prior to his appointment, he held the Bernard and Henrietta Hankin Chair of Residential Building Construction at the Pennsylvania State University where he was also appointed a Professor of Architectural Engineering and a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and directed the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center. Kasal conducted research on low-rise buildings subjected to natural hazard loads and directed international research on timber structures under seismic loading and composite wood structures. His work in historic timber evaluation was presented by the US National Science Foundation in its budget request to the Congress of the United States as one the examples of a successful international research. Kasal has held honorary appointments at the University of Bristol, UK and University of New Brunswick, Canada, adjunct Professorship at the North Carolina State University, USA and he is a Professor at the Czech Technical University in Prague and Professor at the University of Primorska, Slovenia. He is a Fellow of the IAWS, elected member of the ASCE, licensed engineer and a Fulbright Scholar.
Open to all. Attendees external to Imperial need to register.
Time: 14:00 pm