On March 8, 2019, a symposium titled “Future and Potential of Wooden Structures” was held at 50th Anniversary Hall, Okayama University, to discuss the further development of the forestry and forest product industry, and nurturing personnel who can effectively use the abundant forest resources in Japan. (Co-hosted by the Academic and General Okayama University Regional Research Association and Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science)

At the symposium, Masaru Kaga, Okayama University Vice President for Social Collaboration, and Satoshi Mimura, Director of the Academic and General Okayama University Regional Research Association (AGORA), delivered opening speeches respectively. Following those speeches, Professor Frank Lam of the University of British Columbia, Professor Gerhard Schickhofer of the Technical University of Graz, and Professor Mikio Koshihara of the University of Tokyo, gave lectures on the importance of cross laminated timber (CLT) which has received much attention as a material that can realize wooden structures with a sophisticated design.

Representing Meiken Lamwood Corporation, which has continued to host students participating in our global internship program, President Koichiro Nakashima, and Ms. Hiroko Sezaki, a former student who completed this program, talked about the potential of the forestry and forest product industry in Japan and introduced their efforts on human resources development. Furthermore, at the panel discussion moderated by Associate Professor Masami Kobayashi of the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Okayama University of Science, the five lecturers provided examples of educational programs for nurturing wooden structure engineers and offered useful advice to expand the use of wooden structures in the field of non-residential buildings. Lastly, Ken Yoshikawa, Senior fellow Professor at AGORA and Hiroaki Funahashi, Dean of the Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science, summarized the results and closed the symposium.