Wood science hasn’t gone away – nor is it needed any less in the 21st century – but the body which promotes learning about timber has recently undergone a significant change: though you might not be aware how great that change has been.

The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (known as the IOM3) absorbed the “old” IWSc about two-and-a-half years ago: but the full impact of that change hasn’t been felt until now. This “new” Wood Technology Society (WTS) has the same mandate as the IWSc – to promote learning about timber and wood-based materials – but it now has a larger and much better-funded organisation behind it.

Anyone who has seen the revamped IWSc Journal (renamed the International Wood Products Journal) will know how well the image of wood science in the UK is being projected around the world. Also, the IOM3 has an in-house publicity department which produces the former IWSc newsletter – Wood Focus – as a good-looking and highly informative e-zine with a worldwide following.

The IOM3 also has its own awarding body – PIABC – which accredits courses. Last month at Ecobuild it relaunched the IWSc Foundation Course in Timber as an accredited course called Timber and Panel Products and Their Use [part of the industry’s three new NVQs developed in conjunction with Proskills].

It has always been the IWSc’s desire to promote wood in schools, though we didn’t have the resources to do so in the past. But the IOM3 has a schools affiliate scheme which encourages youngsters to learn about the materials they use in everyday life, and now wood is very much part of that overall picture, thanks to the WTS.

I want to finish this piece with an appeal to all lapsed members of the IWSc – who may have wondered where the IWSc went. It’s still here – and it’s stronger and better than ever – but it needs your support even more today. So now’s the time to rethink your membership and rejoin us, for the journey ahead.

Please contact the WTS via the IOM3 website at www.iom3.org/iwsc-wood-technology-society

• TTJ Industry Updates are a forum for trade bodies to address key issues.