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From Abroad

After I wrote about some differences between Austria and the states, it is now time for commonness: nobody knows my field of study. The reason for this is it is really comparably small. I am talking about Wood Science and Technology. If you allow, I’d like to write a bit about it, because I think it would earn more popularity

Wood is a unique material. Unless anything else it is capable to be used as for a lot of purposes like construction, furniture, paper, fuel and even for fabrics (viscose). And it grows sustainable in well cared forests. Wood will be available forever. And it can be applied without any harm to the nature if it’s done intelligently.

But processing wood is everything else than easy. Unlike the other common industrial materials like metals and polymers, wood has a big variety of its properties. Even within one log density, strength, chemical compositing, etc. are varying significantly. Processing such material needs well educated engineers who understand wood thoroughly. And this is what you learn in programs like mine.

So what exactly are with dealing with in our lectures? In Vienna we have three main foci. First: general science like physics, calculus and chemistry. Second topic is, of course, special wood science. This leads to subjects like wood mechanics, wood chemistry, wood processing, etc. But we have as a third focus a quite sophisticated business education. As a graduate student in Wood Science we additionally get involved in research projects. The wood technology program here at the WVU is more or less the same like in Austria. Maybe the business viewpoint is a bit more pronounced in Vienna.

This program qualifies us for starting a career in the wood industry. And this is a huge business. The automobile industry is the only branch creating more value than the wood industry. And compared to that, the number of graduates is surprisingly low. In total there are less than 10 alumni per year in Austria. This guarantees good job opportunities with attractive wages.

And, last but not least, wood is just a wonderful material. I really like the structure, the touch, the smell and working with it. It is probably the most versatile material on earth. You can make firewood, paper or a violin out of the same log. Incredible, isn’t it? By the way: A violin basically consists of spruce and maple wood. spruce for the sound, maple for the stability.