With a $50,000 grant award, Weyerhaeuser, one of the world’s largest private owners of timberlands, has become the fifth Founding Partner for Clemson’s Wood Utilization + Design Institute. The WU+D Institute is a multidisciplinary entity that was established in 2013 to educate, conduct research and provide continuing education of stakeholders across the wood industry. Researchers with the institute currently are testing cross laminated timber (CLT) to determine burn rates, wind resistance and structural load.
Weyerhaeuser joins the WU+D’s impressive list of Founding Partners, including Huber Engineered Wood Products, Collum Lumber, SmartLam and Mac Rhodes, a South Carolina timberland owner. The gift from Weyerhaeuser will support the institute’s mission of bringing together foresters, architects, engineers, constructors and building industry stakeholders to design advances in wood-based products through education and training, product research and development, and development of technical and design solutions.
The forest industry has an $18.6 billion impact on the South Carolina economy. More than two thirds of land in South Carolina — 12.9 million acres — is forested. The Clemson University Wood Utilization and Design Institute is strategically positioned to drive the development, demand and utilization of wood products, as well as address industry’s needs for the next generation of talent.
Thank you, Weyerhaeuser, for supporting wood research and education at Clemson!
