Director of Centre for Advanced Wood Processing at UBC

Adjunct Professor
Surface modification of wood, relationships between structure and function and properties of wood and wood composites
Phone: +1 604 822 0517
Fax: + 61 (0)2 6125 0746
E-mail: phevans@interchange.ubc.ca

Phil took a first class honours degree in Wood Science from the University of Wales (Bangor). He obtained a PhD, also from the University of Wales, in 1984. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Abertay University Dundee, Scotland, before joining the ANU as a Lecturer in 1986. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1992 and Reader in 1998. In 2000 he was appointed as Director of the University's Centre for Science and Engineering of Materials. Phil took up his current position as Professor and Director of the Centre for Advanced Wood Processing at UBC (Canada's national centre for education extension and research for advanced wood processing industries) in November 2001. He was appointed as an Adjunct Professor at ANU in 2002.

Mankind faces many significant challenges over the coming century arising from its profligate use of natural resources and unwise choices in the conversion of natural resources into materials or products that are incompatible with or deleterious to natural systems. The development of advanced wood and biobased composites materials that can more effectively compete with plastics, metals and ceramics, materials that cannot be produced on a sustainable basis, can make a positive contribution to rectifying some of the damage to the environment that is now self evident. Developing advanced bio-based materials with similar cost and performance characteristics as plastics, metals and ceramics is, however, a tremendous challenge. Surface modification of wood is a cost effective way of upgrading some characteristics in which wood is deficient, ie UV resistance, and has been one of my major research areas todate. A greater understanding of the relationship between the structure of wood and wood composites and their function and properties could lead to the development of new biocomposites with enhanced mechanical properties, and this is an area I'm currently exploring with colleagues in the Department of Applied Mathematics in RSPhysSE. My research interests and continuing involvement in the teaching of forest products in SRES maintain my link with ANU. At UBC my position as Director of the Centre for Advanced Wood Processing involves a great variety of tasks mainly focussed at assisting the Canadian forest products industry to make the transition from a commodity-based industry to one that concentrates on value and quality.

Academic Highlights

Selected Publications

Heady, R.D., Evans, P.D. 2005. Wood anatomy of Actinostrobus (Cupressaceae). IAWA Journal 26(1):79-92.

Roberts, R. J., Evans, P.D. 2005. Effects of manufacturing variables on surface quality and distribution of melamine formaldehyde resin in paper laminates. Composites, Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing. 36A(1):5-104

Orton, C.R., Parkinson, D.Y., Evans, P.D., Owen, N.L. 2004 Fourier transform infrared studies of heterogeneity, photodegradation, and lignin/hemicellulose ratios within hardwoods and softwoods. Applied Spectroscopy. 58(11):265-1271.

Semple, K.E., Cunningham, R.B.,Evans, P.D. 2004. Manufacture of wood-cement composites from Acacia mangium: Mechanistic study of compounds improving the compatibility of Acacia mangium heartwood with Portland cement. Wood & Fiber Science 36:250-259.

Kataoka, Y., Kiguchi, M., Evans, P.D. 2004. Photodegradation depth profile and penetration of light in Japanese cedar earlywood (Cryptomeria japonica D Don) exposed to artificial solar radiation. Surface Coatings International Part B: Coatings Transactions 87(3): 187-193.

Evans, P.D., Donnelly, C., Cunningham, R.B. 2003. Checking of CCA-treated radiatapine decking timber exposed to natural weathering. Forest Products Journal. 53(4):1-6.

Evans, P.D. 2003. Emerging Technologies in Wood Protection. Forest Products Journal. 53(1):14-22.

Cabangon, R. J., Cunningham, R.B., and Evans, P.D. 2002. Manual Strand Orientation as a Means of Improving the Flexural Properties of Wood-Wool Cement Boards in the Philippines. Forest Products Journal. 52(4):53-59.

Heady, R.D., Banks, J.G., and Evans, P.D. 2002. Wood Anatomy of Wollemi Pine (Wollemia Nobilis, Araucariaceae). IAWA Journal. 23(4)::339-357

Evans, P.D., N.L. Owen, S. Schmid, S. and R.D. Webster. 2002. Weathering and photostability of benzoylated wood. Polymer Degradation and Stability. 76:291-303.

Semple, K.E., Cunningham, R.B., and Evans, P.D. 2002. The Suitablity of Five Western Australian Mallee Eucalypt Species for Wood-Cement Composites. Industrial Crops and Products Journal. 16:89-100.

Kiguchi, M., P.D. Evans, J. Ekstedt, R.S. Williams and Y. Kataoka. 2001. Improvement of the durability of clear coatings by grafting of UV-absorbers on to wood. Surface Coatings International Part B: Coatings Transactions. 84(B4):243-336

Evans, P.D. 2001.. Wood Products: Weathering. 6pp. In: The Encyclopedia of Materials Science and Technology. Buschow, K.H.T., Cahn, R.W., Flemings, M.C., Iischner, B., Kramer, E.J., Mahajen, S. (Eds.). Elsevier Science, Oxford.