10 March 1998 Flow of postgraduates vital for driving engine of R & D

Research and development in New Zealand needs a steady flow of top quality university graduates – particularly for key dollar-earning industries related to the land, says Lincoln University's Professor of Wool Science and Technology, Errol Wood.

"With wool, for example, research and development can and does add immense value to the basic clip," he says.

"It contributes to the on-going refinement of wool-based products and constantly expands the range of items derived from wool. In both respects it buoys along demand for the fibre which in turn leads to income consistency for growers and prices which reflect the true worth of this unique natural resource."

Traditionally the carpet and clothing industries have provided the backbone of support for wool growers but thanks to vigorous research and development activities at the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand the range of wool products has been ever-expanding. Absorbent booms to soak up environment-threatening oil and chemical spills and in-wall thermal insulation for houses and buildings are just two recent examples.

And did you know that it is now possible to dissolve wool fibres and recombine them into powders, films and gels for further conversion into industrially useful products? The next step for WRONZ is to make the process commercially viable and overall the project aims to offer wool users the potential to completely recycle their products, as well as offer opportunities to enter into new industries and markets.

Professor Wood, who enjoys a joint appointment with Lincoln University and the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand, is a physicist by training but at WRONZ, the premier laboratory concerned with the science and technology of New Zealand wool, he works alongside those with degrees in a whole range of disciplines.

Located “just across the road” from Lincoln University, and with a fulltime equivalent staff of about 150, WRONZ is an amalgam of expertise covering chemistry, physics, animal physiology, mathematics, engineering, agricultural science, marketing, technology and other allied areas.

"When you're working with a natural product like wool which has so many unique and useful qualities, the field is wide open for the application of a variety of degree specialisations," says Professor Wood.

"Our efforts at Lincoln University to maintain a flow of quality graduates into the industry is being helped immensely by two new fellowships recently announced by Lincoln University and Wools of New Zealand.

"Tenable at Lincoln University, the fellowships are for masterate and doctoral study.

"The recipients must undertake research on a topic relevant to some aspect of wool science and wool technology, and they may be already qualified in a science, engineering, mathematics or marketing area."

Study will be through Lincoln University's Centre for Wool Education and Research which is part of the University's Animal Sciences Division.

The Centre provides courses in wool at certificate, diploma and degree level, including papers in wool and sheep production, measurement and marketing systems, and wool and textile processing technologies.

In addition to Professor Wood, a second member of the Centre, Dr David Cottle, is also a senior staff member of WRONZ and these joint appointments facilitate cooperation and the sharing of resources between the two institutions.

The Centre also has close associations with Wools of New Zealand (the University's Chair in Wool Science and Technology is funded by Wools of New Zealand), AgResearch Ltd and other companies and institutions in the New Zealand wool industry.

The Centre offers projects for postgraduate students in a range of areas including wool and sheep production; wool metrology and marketing systems, wool processing from fleece to fabric, and chemical and physical properties of wool and textile structures.

Potential postgraduate projects that can be offered by the Centre and which would be suitable for either masterate or doctoral study under the Fellowships include –

• benchmarking the performance of wool producing properties

• nutritional effects on wool colour

• developing a mathematical model to describe the shedding behaviour of wool carpets

• the control of uptake of amino acids into wool follicles

• improving fleece production by the use of biotechnology (rumen, sheep or plant modification)

• image analysis of sheep skin

• physics of the carpet shading process

• strategic supplementary feeding to improve quality

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand