The International Panel Products Symposium is the leading technical conference on wood based panels. It is an ideal networking opportunity for science and industry reporting developments in particleboard, OSB, MDF, plywood and fibreboard.

Review of IPPS 2019

  • Proceedings from IPPS 2019 are available from the BioComposites Centre
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8-9 October 2019

We thoroughly enjoyed welcoming delegates to the Imperial Hotel in Llandudno for IPPS 2019. The hotel had been the venue for the first EPPS (European Panel Products Symposium) conference, back in 1997, so returning to the venue offered lots of opportunities for nostalgia, and reflection on the progress made by the panels industry over the years! Much of this hwas reported and discussed at European Panel Products Symposium and International Panel Products Symposium events.

During the two- day conference delegates enjoyed a wide range of talks on research, development and future issues facing the wood based panels industry. A session on standards and product performance, which included many insights into fire testing and some new products for increasing fire resistance of panels was well recieved. The keynote speech by Marcel Vroege of Indufor provided some food for thought on fibre availability and rapid development of the wood based panels market in China, India and other ememging economies.

The need to innovate and maximise efficiency in production, recycling and circular approaches were well explored in other talks, and leave many challenges open for ongoing research to support the sector. We are looking forward to seeing this progress at IPPS 2021!

The talks, posters and trade exhibits were well recieved. A special mention for the demonstration of VOC sensing equipment by PPM Technology Ltd, and for the eyecatching display by RFID Direct Ltd, who highlighted the potential of RFID for so many aspects of product handling, production control and a wide range of applications in finished products. As always a great deal of discussion and networking occurred between sessions, and at the conference dinner.

We would like to thank all our sponsors, speakers, poster presenters and exhibitors for making the event such a success.

2019 was the 30th anniversary of the BioComposites Centre, so an opportunity for staff of BC to celebrate this with friends and long-time supporters of the centre. The celebratory wine reception and conference dinner quiz featured a light-hearted look back at the early years.

Mike Botting, Editor Emeritus of Wood Based Panels International, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his excellent coverage of the EPPS and IPPS events over many years. He was one of several delegates who had been present at the first EPPS conference in 1997. Two others returned as speakers this year: Dr Mark Irle and Prof Edmone Roffael. The conference dinner quiz featured some photos from the archives to test people's memories and recognition skills.

Also awarded at the conference dinner was the Harry Earl Memorial Prize. This year two recipients from Kastamonu shared the prize, Mrs Kübra Çelic and Mr Aziz Biçer. Plaques to commemorate the prize were presented by Dr Rob Elias (BC), Keith Godber (CRC) and Chris Ryan (Kronospan).

If you missed the event and want to know who spoke or more about the technical content, the final programme is still available here. Copies of the conference proceedings are available from The BioComposites Centre.

IPPS 2019 was sponsored by Chemical Release Company, MDF Recovery, PPM Technology, Sasol and RFID Direct. We are grateful to their contribution to making IPPS 2019 such a successful event.