NC State Hodges Wood Products Lab Participates in NWFA Virtual Expo

The 2020 National Wood Flooring Association Expo was originally set to take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin but instead took place virtually on April 29-May 1. The Hodges Wood Products Lab was planning to exhibit within the Industry Partner Pavilion and Guillermo Velarde was going to lead one of the educational sessions. In this new setting, Lyndsey Campbell organized and presented our virtual booth including information on our Department, Programs and Testing Capabilities. The event, while being virtual, still produced a turnout of over 2,000 attendees.

The Hodges Wood Products Lab displayed their services differently than other exhibitors. Three videos were uploaded to our virtual booth, which included explanation and execution of wear, light resistance, and static bending testing. The lab team also displayed their flooring products testing capabilities as “products” within the exhibitor portal. These included laminate flooring testing, solid wood and engineered flooring testing, resilient flooring testing, kiln drying, and mechanical properties. 

The virtual expo offered online educational sessions, demonstrations, and virtual meeting rooms. Velarde and Campbell, as well as their students, were able to attend the sessions and collaborate with other expo participants in virtual meeting rooms. Shane Page and Madeline Samet of the Sustainable Materials and Technology program within Forest Biomaterials, joined in on the Emerging Leaders virtual meeting room where they talked about their work in the lab and experience in the SMT program. The group included NWFA’s vice president of education, Stephanie Owen and industry representatives from Harris Flooring Group, Bona AB, Uzin Utz, and others. 

The Hodges Lab group is currently attending additional training opportunities through NWFA-U to complement the educational opportunities from the expo. The group is focusing on the Manufacturing and Sales modules offered through the site. This will allow our students to display NWFA badges and gain a competitiveness advantage when applying for internships and jobs. NWFA-U is currently available to all SMT students, faculty and staff to complement our educational efforts and to close the gap between industry and the classroom. Available content includes general information on anatomy, mechanics, sustainability and regulations, safety, manufacturing, and product specific processes and considerations.

By guest blogger Lyndsey Campbell