Student work the focus of PSU Wood Technology open house

(At right: Randy Fankhauser, Sr., Virgil, Kan., with his burl walnut, bow-front desk.)

The latest in wood technology as well as some of the best examples of student work will be on display when Pittsburg State University's Wood Technology Program holds an open house on March 28-29. The Wood Technology offices, classrooms and labs will be open from 1-5 p.m. on March 28 and from 9 a.m. until noon on March 29. The Wood Technology Program is located in PSU’s Kansas Technology Center at Ford and Rouse streets in Pittsburg.

According to David Miles, a member of the Wood Technology faculty, leaders of some of the largest companies and organizations in the wood industry will attend the event.

Miles said that a special feature of the open house will be tours of the newly remodeled Wood Technology Office. As might be expected, students were responsible for the design, engineering, manufacturing and installation in the office, which showcases the use of wood veneer. Fifty-two panels with an exotic veneer of figured quartered Anigre wood cover much of the wall space. Anigre is a wood that comes from West Africa.

"It's the same place that gorillas come from," Miles said, with a nod to PSU's mascot, Gus Gorilla.

A reception desk in the center of the room is covered with the same wood veneer. Miles pointed out the intricate sequencing and matching of the veneer throughout the room. Carefully placed lighting helps to highlight the level of craftsmanship.

The International Woodworking Fair (IWF) and the board of directors of the American Home Furnishings Alliance donated $7,500 to help with the office remodeling in honor of retiring IWF executive vice president and PSU alumnus John Zinn. Zinn is one of the wood industry executives attending the open house.

For information:
The Wood Technology Program at PSU:
www.pittstate.edu/tst/woodtech/index.html

Wood Technology or the open house:
Phone: 620-235-4942
e-mail: jmiles@pittstate.edu

---Pitt State---