This is a fractional position at the intersection of technical and business development. The first major technical development goal was to assist the Beck team with baseline USA code report, accomplished October 2024. The next technical development goal will be implementing the code report and scaffold other features into the report. The business development efforts continue to support the North American sales team, our customers, and other sector stakeholders. The long-range goal is the applied technology advancement for ecologically responsible building materials.

This is a fractional position at the intersection of technical and business development. The major technical role is to support the development of certified testing to verify mechanical properties for quality assurance purposes, for third party performance reports to be used by customers, leading to published code reports when applicable. The minor technical role is to assist R & D with new product development. The business development role is to assist the sales and marketing teams, including trade show support.

Patrick Donahue was the Building Materials Research Program Manager at the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Natural Resources Research Institute. Since, 1999 his work was narrowly focused on building materials and building systems research. Prior to that the work focused on added value technologies the field of 2D and 3D laminating. Patrick led the early development of the North American Thermally Modified Timber industry with projects dating back to 2001. The work included co-authoring a 2014 AWPA Guidance Document on the technology. The work concluded in 2020, publishing a 5-year outdoor durability study. Today this technology continues to expand. Donahue also executed private research projects on hot water extraction as a precursor to specialized modification treatments. The building system research focused the successful development of a close panel ready to system method. The project highlight was two demonstration projects built for FEMA assessment in 2009. The methods developed remain valid. The unfortunate lesson learned was that the university business model does not bode well without patented technology present. The commercialization failed. Patrick's final works began in 2018. The focus was new wood material for the systems built segment. The effort was highlighted by receiving a 2020 National Science Foundation grant and two USDA Forest Service Wood innovations grants, one in 2020 and final in 2022. The goal was to find new value-added wood-based construction streams for the sawn timber industry, including all mill residues. The results teed up a new long-term contract for the NRRI and identified two major research future focused topics, long strand composites and mechanically fastened engineered wood products.