Atlanta Week To Start With New Finishing Conference

Furniture World Magazine

The wood products industry's biennial pilgrimage to Atlanta in August will feature an added dimension from this year onward, with the appearance of a new conference specifically dedicated to wood finishing. "From Start To Finish – Wood Finishing for 2000 and Beyond" will be the first major conference to focus on finishing solutions for wood products manufacturers, and will feature an international lineup of experts tackling a wide variety of subject matter. Nine presenters from five countries have been confirmed for the one-day event, scheduled to take place at Georgia Tech University, Atlanta on August 23rd, the day before the opening of the International Woodworking Fair. Their presentations will cover talked-about new technologies and techniques being utilized in the industry both here and overseas, including recycling of water-based lacquers, intensified drying methods for wet-finish systems, powder coating, and UV lacquers. Other discussions will narrow in on ways to reduce finishing costs, select the most appropriate finishing steps for a given application, and organize product design and product engineering to exploit the cost benefits of flat-line finishing. Rounding off the day will be an update on the regulatory front presented by the EPA. The event's appearance in North America was brought about through the collaboration of the Centre for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP), Canada's national education and research centre for the wood products industry, and the Swiss School for Timber Engineering at Biel. Conference Co-chair Joerg Schleusener is the key player behind a highly successful annual finishing seminar held for the last several years in Europe by the Swiss institution. While working with his Canadian counterparts at CAWP on an undergraduate course in wood finishing, Schleusener realized the need for a similar industry forum on this side of the Atlantic. The US event is offered with the aim of keeping North American manufacturers updated on the many changes taking place in this dynamic field, allowing them to stay competitive on national and global levels. For more information on the conference, interested parties should contact the Centre for Advanced Wood Processing at tel. 604-822-6448, fax. 604-822-9159, or email cawp@interchange.ubc.ca