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\u201cI wanted to bring an American over because I like the culture and\nthe mentality. I like the way people communicate and how they appreciate\ndiversity,\u201d Kutnar says. \u201cI wanted to stay involved with these people and the\nresearch I fell in love with at Oregon State.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It felt natural for Kutnar to offer her Ph.D. spot to Mike Burnard,\nwho earned his master\u2019s degree in Wood Science at Oregon State in 2012. Eric\nHansen, head of the Wood Science and Engineering Department, called Burnard a \u2018superstar\nmaster\u2019s student\u2019, but there was no funding for his Ph.D. at Oregon State. Just\nbefore he committed to attend the University of British Columbia, Kutnar swooped\nin and recruited him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI thought I might come to Europe to do a post-doc or sometime else\nlater in my career,\u201d Burnard says, \u201cBut it worked out that I could actually\ncomplete my Ph.D. at the University of Primorska. This will be a more permanent\nsolution so that\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Burnard, Hansen and Kutnar worked together toward a big success in 2017\nwhen the European Union and the government of Slovenia awarded Kutnar 45\nmillion euros to create the \u2018InnoRenew CoE: Renewable Materials and Healthy\nEnvironments Research and Innovation Centre of Excellence\u2019 research institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe EU does this in a variety of areas,\u201d Hansen explains, \u201cBut\nthis was the first focused on wood products, and it\u2019s interesting because\nthere\u2019s not much primary processing of wood products in Slovenia. Much of the\nprocessing is in neighboring Austria.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scott Leavengood, professor and director of the Oregon Wood Innovation\nCenter, agrees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou would expect something like this to exist in Scandinavia or somewhere\nelse in Alpine Europe, but instead there will soon be 60-70 scientists researching\nwood in various aspects on the coast of Slovenia near the border of Croatia. It\u2019s\nawe-inspiring,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kutnar continues to recruit American students from Oregon State as\nwell as experts from throughout Europe, Brazil, India and Iran as InnoRenew CoE\nresearches renewable materials and sustainable buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other OSU-transplants to Slovenia include Matthew Schwarzkopf and\nDavid DeVellance, who earned their Ph.D. degrees at the College of Forestry, as\nwell as former faculty member Amy Simmons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kutnar says InnoRenew\u2019s goals include building a new facility and\nexpanding throughout the continent and the world. For now, collaboration with Oregon\nState continues. Hansen and Leavengood participate in collaborative research\nprojects with Kutnar and her team in Slovenia. Mariapaola Riggio, assistant\nprofessor of wood design and architecture, serves on InnoRenew\u2019s Council of\nExperts and advises on the development of strategies and scientific challenges within\nthe organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an honor to serve on the Council of Experts,\u201d Riggio says. \u201cMy\nrole is to consult on the scientific program of the institute with the\nexecutive board and director, advise them on important areas of research and\ngroups for projects and to suggest individual projects to be implemented by the\ninstitute and director.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Riggio also collaborates with InnoRenew\u2019s researchers on several projects,\nincluding investigating the perception and performance of biomaterials in architecture,\nresearching nondestructive assessment of cross-laminated timber structures and implementing\na monitoring project of InnoRenew\u2019s new facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, almost a dozen Oregon State faculty, staff and\ngraduate students have traveled to Slovenia, and Kutnar co-leads a short-term study\nabroad experience for students from Oregon State and European universities.\nThere, students learn about InnoRenew up close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fun to have the students from Oregon State come in the summer,\u201d Burnard says. \u201cI was able to study abroad in Scandinavia during my time at Oregon State, and it was such a great experience. It\u2019s amazing to see students come here and be awed by the beauty of Slovenia and the differences in the wood products industry. For many of them, it\u2019s a place they had never heard of before they signed up for the program. It opens their eyes to a whole new world of possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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A version of this story appeared in the fall 2019 issue of <\/em>Focus on Forestry, the alumni magazine of the Oregon State University College of Forestry. Learn more about international programs within the College of Forestry here.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Andreja Kutnar arrived in Oregon on September 1, 2006. The visiting Ph.D. student from Slovenia had never been to the U.S. before. She was nervous and excited, and found herself surprised at the cultural differences she encountered. Her friendly neighbor gifted her a bike to get around town; she discovered it didn\u2019t matter that her… Continue reading