Press Release

Montreal, August 6, 2001 With some 250 mills providing direct and indirect employment for 35,000 people, Quebec's sawmill industry is at the heart of economic and social life in the outlying regions.

In order to address vocational training needs, the École de foresterie et de technologie du bois de Duchesnay (le Centre Duchesnay de la Commission scolaire de la Capitale) has recently improved and modernized its facilities. However, given the wide variety of sawmill equipment used by the softwood lumber industry, the increasing pace of technological change, and the substantial acquisition and maintenance costs, the Centre Duchesnay chose instead to call upon simulation technology to help train new operators for the softwood lumber industry.

As a result, Simlog and Forintek Canada (Canada's Wood Product Research Institute) are pleased to announce the start of a major collaborative effort to create a virtual softwood sawmill. The project, funded in part by Quebec's Ministry of Education, calls for 12 months of technology development followed by 6 months of trials and prototype refinements at the Centre Duchesnay (Quebec's one and only sawmill school).

By combining their expertise in graphical simulation and in applied research for the wood products industry, Simlog and Forintek will jointly develop new simulation technology to provide significant training help to support the needs of Quebec's softwood lumber industry.

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