Niemz, Peter, Prof. Dr.

Career

Peter Niemz was director of the Laboratory for Wood Physics and Non-Destructive Testing Methods at ETH Zürich from 1996 to 2002. He was awarded the title of Professor in 2002, and since then he is head of the Wood Physics Group, which moved from ETH Zentrum to ETH Hönggerberg in 2004.

Peter Niemz was born in 1950 and is a German citizen. After studying wood technology at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Dresden Technical University (TU Dresden), he stayed there till 1985 as associate scientist and department manager at the Institute of Wood Technology. During this period, he finished his dissertation in 1982 with the PhD thesis “The influence of the structure on the rheological characteristics of timber materials”. In 1985, he aquired his qualification as a university lecturer. From 1985 to 1992, Peter Niemz worked as lecturer at the TU Dresden, representing the subjects wood physics, timber materials, furniture manufacturing and test engineering.

From 1993 to 1996 he was, on behalf of the German Academic Exchange Service, professor at the Universidad Austral de Chile in Valdivia (Chile) to develop the field of wood technology at the Faculty of Forest Sciences. In 1997 he was awarded the title of professor of the Universidad Austral de Chile, and since 2009 he is honorary doctor of the University of West Hungary (Sopron).

The main focus of his work is on studying physical-mechanical characteristics of wood and timber materials as well as their structure-property relationships, and also on modeling them. An overview of his publications and talks can be found here. For his research efforts in nondestructive testing, he was awarded the Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation of Wood Distinguished Service Award by the International Organizing Committee for the Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation of Wood Symposium (at the conference 2009).

He gives lectures in wood technology and timber materials. Since 2002 he is member of the IAWS (International Academy of Wood Science), and since 2010 a member of the RCCWS (Regional Coordinating Council of Wood Science). He also is in the editorial or advisory board of diverse scientific journals: Holzforschung (Walter de Gruyter/Germany), European Journal of Wood and Wood Products (Springer/Germany), Wood Research (SDVU/Slovakia), Holzforschung Schweiz (SAH/Switzerland), Schweizer Holz-Zeitung (Schweizer Holz-Zeitung GmbH, Switzerland), Holztechnologie (IHD Dresden/Germany), El Bosque (Faculty of Forest Sciences at the Universidad Austral de Chile), Folia Forestalia Polonica (Polish Academy of Sciences/Poland), Acta Fakultatis Xylologiae (Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia), Pro Ligno ("Pro Ligno" Foundation, Rumänien) and International Journal of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences (Tarbiat Modares University, Iran).