“The perks are interacting with people both regionally and internationally,” he says. He has authored extensive publications, focusing on topics dealing with wood behavior, use and influences.Ī portion of his time goes to extension programs, “helping the forest products industry with processing issues (such as air emissions) and developing new products from low grade lumber and sawdust residues.” He also travels, attending meetings or speaking on wood-related topics at conferences throughout the country and the world. One year alone, his efforts helped net $200,000 worth of grants for U of I research. In addition to research, his responsibilities extend from teaching and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students to writing grant proposals to fund research projects. Like most university professors, Armando juggles his duties. The goal for this research was to understand the workings of the bacteria and subsequently develop a vaccine to fight its effects.Īfter returning for eight more years of research in New Zealand, he began his present position at the U of I in 2001. In his thesis, entitled “Lipopolysaccharides from Campylobacter,” he focused on determining the chemical structure of a surface bacteria responsible for food poisoning and other infection-based syndromes affecting the immune system. “I started work on a cellulosic ethanol project and progressed onto wood pulp fiber treatments for enhanced paper quality.” Desiring more education, Armando moved on to Toronto, Canada, where, in 1993, he completed his PhD degree in bacterial chemistry at Yorktown University. “Since wood is 70 percent polysaccharide, my academic background positioned me to work in wood chemistry,” he explains. He then worked as a carbohydrate chemist at the Forest Research Institute in Rotorua on the North Island. The latter focused on polysaccharides (carbohydrates) from a native plant called the “cabbage tree.”
I have two ongoing projects-a ’66 Plymouth Barracuda and a ’66 Chrysler 300.” This childhood fetish for tinkering and analyzing led Armando to the University of Otago in Dunedin where he earned his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees. “I still have a fascination for pulling things apart and rebuilding,” he says, “and that is why I spend my off hours doing car restoration. This curiosity eventually forged his pathway toward chemistry. Applied research has an impact on the forest industry.”Īs a child in Dunedin on New Zealand’s South Island, Armando loved pulling apart things like lawnmowers, radios, etc. “In applied research we take our research from the lab bench, and we go from a proof of concept (or prototype) and help industry make it a reality by helping to launch a new product or process. This research is typically done by a graduate student,” he explains. “In fundamental research we investigate a new process or phenomenon to understand what is happening from a chemistry or wood science perspective. “A wood chemist works on understanding the chemistry of wood as a material and how this relates to its properties such as strength or what impact lumber drying has on air quality.”Īrmando’s U of I lab focuses on fundamental and applied research. “There are huge opportunities from bio-fuels research to develop new composite materials that have a low carbon footprint,” he says. In the University of Idaho Forest Products Research Lab, New Zealand native Armando “Mac” MacDonald works with exciting possibilities for the future of the wood industry.
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