Wood Industry Research Institute

[FaKI]

History

In the Eastern European countries that emerged after the Second World War, the organization and organizational structure of scientific life developed similarly after the nationalizations. New industrial research institutes supporting the nationalized industry were established. The predecessor of the Timber Research Institute, -the Timber Testing and Wood Farming Institute-, was also founded in Budapest at the same time in 1949.

The Wood Research Institute under this name was founded at 1. Nov. 1951. Its permanent location from 1955 - at its former location taken over from Bútorlapgyártó Vállalat - Vörösmarty u. 56. in Pesterzsébet. The three-story office building was later built here.

The Institute started its work in 1951 with 7 researchers, which increased to 26 by 1960 (the total number of employees became 80). The total number of employees rose to over 100 in the 1970s. In the 1980s, the number of employees stagnated, then by 1990 it had decreased to 50 people and by 1993 to 13 people.

Most of its researchers were forest engineers, wood industry technicians, and then wood industry mechanical engineers who graduated from the Budapest University of Technology. Until the beginning of the 1960s, the Wood Research Institute carried out joint research activities in the field of wood utilization and wood processing in the saw and panel industry, the furniture and building carpentry industry, as well as the so-called in mixed wood industry. The research activity of the Institute can be classified -in today's terminology- as industrial research. This was in line with the economic policy goals of the time. It is worth mentioning that the finalized five-year wood industry engineering training at the College of Wood Engineering only started in 1957; until then, the recipient of wood industry research resources was exclusively the Institute.

The Institute carried out most of the technical and economic research necessary for the sawmill reconstructions, then for the creation of wood fiber and chipboard production based on the domestic wood base, and for the complex utilization of domestic wood materials. With this, the research work also entered the field of applied research. Within this framework, numerous research results, patents, and publications were created that helped raise the wood processing technology level of state-owned companies and forestry farms to the current standard.

From the beginning of the 1980s, the general economic crisis of the system was felt, which of course also affected the financial foundations of research. Not only did the central funds decrease significantly, but companies and forestry companies also found it more and more difficult to give research commissions. The activities of FaKI gradually declined. In the late 1980s, the transformation, dissolution and/or privatization of the large industrial companies providing the market background created a serious situation in terms of research funding. In particular, as a result of privatization, the commissions ceased, since the foreign owner did not finance research in Hungary.

The country's economic situation continued to deteriorate and in this context, the central budget directed its remaining wood industry research resources to the University of Forestry and Wood Industry, which was also in a difficult situation.

In 1993, the State Privatization and Asset Management Company transformed the Institute into a LtD. The scope of the Institute narrowed and after a few years of vegetation, the Ministry of Agriculture, which supervises the ownership, ordered the liquidation of the Faipari Kutató Intézet LtD. in 1997.

In principle, the Ministry entrusted the Faculty of Wood Engineering of the University of Forestry and Wood Industry with the care of FaKI's intellectual property and the continuation of wood industry research. For a few years - within the Faculty - a department with this task existed, but within a short time this initiative died. Since the termination of the Institute at the University, the research tasks won in various tenders do not replace the national research goals and results achieved by the former FaKI.

Numerous researches were carried out at the Wood Research Institute, the results of which were considered a significant achievement of the time and were forward-looking. Among these, the following should be highlighted:

The Institute's first researches are linked to the name of Ervin Barlai, with the use of domestic alder and linden, bred for the production of pencils. In addition, an experimental fiberboard plant was established in Szeged and synthetic resin glue was produced.

In the development of sawmill technologies, the work of Ervin Barlai should also be highlighted with the cutting theory for the processing of pine and hardwood logs that ensures the highest yield.

The production and installation of glued sleepers on the MÁV Vác railway line, as well as the production and installation of wedge-shaped switch sleepers at the Institute and their installation at the Kelenföld railway station.

The first domestic wood preservatives were "Mykosol B", then "Mykotox B", or development of "Ignis" flame retardant.

The Institute assumed a significant role in the substitution of imported pine, in the development of furniture and building carpentry products and in the modification of wood materials. The first Hungarian laminated-glued roof structure - made of acacia material - was completed here, which was used to cover one of the pools of the Harkány Spa.

In the course of research aimed at increasing the use of domestic wood species, serious results were achieved for the tan, poplar and acacia wood species. These greatly contributed to their later extensive industrial utilization.

Between 1957 and 1979, the research results were published in the publication "Wood Research". In addition, the most comprehensive and longest-running technical literature review, the "Wood Technical and Scientific Information Bulletin" [TMT], was published quarterly by the Institute between 1972 and 1991, edited by the late Lajos Szalay, a wood industry engineer.

The directors of the Institute were:

Miklós Rozner,

László Bozsó,

Károly Avar,

Elemér Somkuti forest engineer,

Aladár Magyari economist,

Kálmán Stróbl wood industry engineer,

József Németh wood industry engineer (interrupted twice),

Imre Dessewffy forest engineer (interrupted twice),

Tibor Fábián mechanical engineer.

As a result of the voluntary work of its members, Innovation Association of Forestry and Wood Industry digitized all the documents found in the activities of FaKI and made them public on the interface of the SELMEC KINCSE^® electronic library.

We pay tribute to the memory of all the employees of the Institute!

Dr. Sándor Tóth

Dr. Tamás Apostol