October 14th marked the official opening of the Gene H. Kruger Building, at Universit Laval.
October 14th marked the official opening of the Gene H. Kruger Building, at Universit Laval.
Designed with the intent to infuse the Canadian and Quebec wood industry with competitiveness, the facility is also intended to broaden expertise in smart wood use and the development of innovative forest products.
Universit Laval will now be able to develop wood engineering expertise, train undergraduate and graduate students, interact with the industry and scientific communities to create value-added wood products, develop new production methods, publish research findings and transfer technology to the industry.
“The competitiveness of the Quebec and Canadian wood products industry is threatened by a growing number of difficulties,” said Denis Brire, Dean of the Faculty of Forestry and Geomatics. “Our new facility will help us meet the industry’s concrete and pressing needs even more.”
The project materialized from the 2001 signing of an agreement between Universit Laval, the University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto, the University of New Brunswick, and Forintek Canada, which prompted the establishment of a Canada-wide consortium dedicated to teaching, research and technology transfer in the wood products industry.
The centre cost $22 million, 85% of which came from the Quebec government and 15% from private partners.
In recognition of a substantial contribution made by the Kruger family, Universit Laval elected to name the centre after the late Gene H. Kruger, founder of Kruger Inc.
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