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MSU scientists give termites a home of their own

Most homeowners go to a lot of trouble and expense to keep termites away. A group of Mississippi State University scientists, however, is inviting the ravenous Formosan subterranean termite to come and stay for dinner.

A field test at the McNeill unit of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station in Pearl River County ...

8/2/2005

Leaner means better for furniture manufacturers

Lean production may help eliminate lean times for Mississippi's furniture manufacturers.

Lean production is an engineering term for the ability to produce more with less and scientists in Mississippi State University's Institute of Furniture Manufacturing and Management are helping implement lean systems in the state's furniture manufacturi...

5/1/2005

Barnes, Chambers win MSU's coveted Powe research award

Two internationally recognized Mississippi State scholars--one in forest products and the other in environmental health sciences--are co-winners of the university's 2005 Ralph E. Powe Research Excellence Award.

Forestry products professor H. Michael Barnes and environmental health sciences professor Janice E. Chambers share this y...

4/1/2005

MSU announces course for lean production certification

A specialized training program offered next month by Mississippi State will help state manufacturers incorporate the proven concepts of lean production into their daily operations.

Coordinated by the university's Institute of Furniture Manufacturing and Management in cooperation with the Division of Academic Outreach and Continuing Ed...

3/16/2005

Furniture manufacturing strategies examined at MSU

A Nov. 10 conference at Mississippi State University addressed the global and competitive environments for furniture producers.

Titled "Competitive Strategies for the Furniture Industry: Emerging Issues in a Global Environment," the 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. gathering was held at the university's Franklin Center for Furniture Manufacturing. The ...

11/23/2004

Two MSU byproduct efforts seek new fuel source, chemicals

Two complementary Mississippi State research efforts are seeking to capitalize on the energy potential of plant materials called biomass.

A new university project seeks to develop wood preservative systems and fuel from the small-diameter pine trees that traditionally are thinned from larger pine stands.

A Forest and Wildli...

9/27/2004

Governor Haley Barbour announces MSU among areas getting some M.A.J.I.C.

Governor Haley Barbour brought job creation "majic" to North Mississippi. The Governor, who has made job creation one of his administration's top priorities, announced a Make-A-Job Impact Center (MAJIC) grant award to Mississippi State University. The award is one of 11 MAJIC grants awarded statewide to stimulate small business and rural entrep...

8/17/2004

Weyerhaeuser gift to support distance learning at MSU

A gift from the Weyerhaeuser Co. Foundation is helping Mississippi State's Institute of Furniture Manufacturing and Management deliver educational programs to the state's furniture manufacturers.

A $25,000 grant will provide distance-learning equipment and technologies for the university's Franklin Center that officially opened in Janu...

4/16/2004

MSU furniture institute recognized for industry contributions

A Mississippi State program that applies research and technical assistance to improve the international competitiveness of the state's $4 billion furniture industry is receiving an award from the Southern Growth Policies Board.

The university's Institute of Furniture Manufacturing and Management is being honored with the 2004 Southern ...

4/13/2004

MSU symposium Thursday will focus on factory-built housing

A Mississippi State symposium on factory-built housing Thursday [March 11] will explore emerging construction technologies that could reshape the state's forest products industry and spur economic development.

"Factory-built housing represents the future for the forest products-based industries," said forest products department head Li...

3/10/2004

MSU opens major furniture research, development center

In Friday [Jan. 23] dedication ceremonies at Mississippi State, Gov. Haley Barbour cited the new campus research center as an example of universities helping businesses become better.

Barbour joined MSU President Charles Lee and other state and university officials to open the Franklin Center for Furniture Manufacturing and Management....

3/8/2004

MSU studies housing construction problems unique to South

Terry Amburgey wants to build his dream house and he's looking for a perfectly awful site—preferably one on sloping ground with plenty of natural potential for drainage and foundation problems.

Forget that real estate nonsense about location, location and location. The Mississippi State professor is looking for trouble, trial and tribu...

1/20/2004

Civil War gunboat battles ravages of time, with help of MSU experts

The USS Cairo's voyage to the bottom of the Yazoo River more than 140 years ago was only the beginning of a battle for survival the resurfaced Civil War gunboat is fighting today against the ravages of time.

In a modern-day struggle to prevent the aged oak vessel's destruction by rain, rust, termites, and birds, the National Park Servi...

1/12/2004

New technology to provide critical market for forest landowners

A new demonstration plant unveiled Friday [Dec. 12] at Mississippi State has the potential to stimulate alternative, profitable markets for small-diameter trees thinned from pine plantations.

Through a partnership with TimTek Australia Ltd., scientists at the university's Forest and Wildlife Research Center will demonstrate technologi...

12/17/2003

New MSU research effort seeks to ensure long life for new houses

Ensuring that newly constructed homes have a chance to survive to a ripe old age is the goal of a recently established collaboration at Mississippi State.

A joint endeavor among several campus units, the university's new effort in Southern climatic housing research is providing an organized approach to developing, testing and transfer...

9/18/2003

MSU doctoral student takes first place in wood science competition

The research report of a Mississippi State doctoral student in forest resources is being praised by an international body.

M. Sridhar Balaji Bhaskar's evaluation of the use of ferns to extract metals from contaminated soils recently earned first-place honors from the Society of Wood Science and Technology. A native of India, he was amo...

7/29/2003

MSU researcher outlines lean system for furniture production

Lean production—an engineering term for the ability to produce more with less—is the subject of a new book co-authored by a Mississippi State faculty member.

Associate professor Steve L. Hunter of the university's Forest and Wildlife Research Center has collaborated with J. T. Black on a reference work titled "Lean Manufacturing System...

5/27/2003

Recent report by MSU doctoral student gains international listing

An international body is praising the research report of a Mississippi State doctoral student that evaluates the use of plants to extract metals from contaminated soils.

M. Sridhar Balaji Bhaskar, a doctoral student in forest resources from India, was among three honored recently for investigative achievements in competition open to st...

5/12/2003

MSU forest products scientists produce wood protection guide

The latest information about wood decay and its prevention are the subjects of a new reference book co-edited by two Mississippi State faculty members.

"Wood Deterioration and Preservation: Advances in Our Changing World" is the culmination of two years' work by university forest products professors Darrel D. Nicholas and Tor P. Schult...

5/12/2003

Industry executive to head MSU's department of forest products

An industry executive who served as global manager for a major manufacturer of specialty chemicals is the new head of Mississippi State's forest products department.

Liam E. Leightley, who assumes his new duties after a decade with Pennsylvania-based Rohm and Haas, now will lead the largest state-funded laboratory of its kind in the U...

1/29/2003

MSU research yielding new control for off-flavor catfish

Three scientists are teamed at Mississippi State University to find a solution to one of the catfish industry's costliest problems.

Anita Kelly, a fisheries biologist in wildlife and fisheries, William Holmes, Senior Development Scientist with the Mississippi State Chemical Laboratory, and Tor Schultz, a wood chemist in forest products,...

10/24/2002

New MSU project explores new use for small-diameter trees

Mississippi State is teaming with an Australian company to locate an engineered-lumber pilot plant on the Starkville campus.

The university's Forest and Wildlife Research Center is working with TimTek, a firm with offices in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, and Clarkesville, Ga., to develop a commercial market for a process the company ha...

7/29/2002

Early pine beetle detection goal of MSU study

Just an eighth of an inch long, the Southern pine beetle is a big pest in Mississippi's forests, destroying thousands of trees each year.

The wood-boring insect soon may take less of a bite out of Mississippi forests, thanks to a new project in Mississippi State University's Forest and Wildlife Research Center. Scientists there are us...

7/22/2002

International society honors MSU faculty member

Mississippi State University faculty member Michael Barnes is receiving the Forest Products Society's 2002 Fred W. Gottschalk Memorial Award.

The award recognizes and honors exceptional service to the international organization by an individual member. It is presented annually in memory of the society's first president, who died in a...

7/17/2002

New MSU software gives sawmills a competitive edge

Many sawblades in hardwood sawmills remove slightly more than a quarter of an inch of wood for each piece of lumber sawn from logs. That may not seem like a lot, but multiplied by the countless sawlines made each year at Mississippi's hardwood sawmills, it represents a lot of potential lumber turned into sawdust.

A new computer software...

6/21/2002

MSU to break ground next week for Franklin Furniture Center

Mississippi State University breaks ground Tuesday [May 28] for a new 35,000 square-foot furniture manufacturing and management center.

To be located at the intersection of Blackjack Road and Locksley Way on the western edge of the Starkville campus, the building will be named for Chickasaw County furniture manufacturer and lead contrib...

5/21/2002

MSU scientists working to fill big wood preservative gap

Within two years, U.S. homeowners will lose their first line of defense against the forces that can destroy decks, fences and other wooden outdoor structures.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced the phase-out of chromated copper arsenate--CCA--a wood preservative used to pressure-treat lumber for protection against ...

3/19/2002

MSU chemical engineer bringing ozone research down to earth

Mark Zappi is on a mission to make sure ozone gets the respect it deserves. A gas found in the Earth's atmosphere, ozone has been in the headlines recently because of theories its depletion may contribute to global warming.

For the Mississippi State University chemical engineering professor, ozone offers a more down-to-earth benef...

8/8/2001

MSU furniture institute appoints new director

The Institute for Furniture Manufacturing and Management is Mississippi State's newest public service center and forestry professor Steven H. Bullard is its first director.

A university faculty member since 1983, Bullard heads a multidisciplinary research unit drawing on the expertise of faculty and staff in MSU's Forest and Wildlife ...

7/30/2001

USDA honoring MSU for innovative forestry presentation

An annual Mississippi State University exposition for elementary-age students is receiving a major United States Department of Agriculture accolade.

At ceremonies Monday [June 4] in Washington, D.C., Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman will present the 2001 Honor Award to the Wood Magic Science Fair program.

Designed especially...

5/31/2001

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