Haibo received his PhD training in UBC Civil Engineering in the field of Sustainable Construction. He was an Assistant Professor for over 2 years at Northumbria University in the UK before joining the Department of Wood Science at UBC Forestry. He also worked in construction industry for over 6 years on construction management and sustainable building design.
Dr. Feng’s research area is in green building, building information modeling, life cycle assessment and building energy performance. He has extensive industrial and research experience on promoting sustainable building construction with the integration of advanced building systems and renewable energy supports. He has practical knowledge on various building rating systems including LEED, BREEAM, Passive house, BC Energy STEP Code, Zero Carbon Building, EnerGuide. His work focuses on integrating innovative technologies into sustainable building design to achieve low carbon buildings with the consideration of social and economic impacts. He is particularly interested in using mass timber products to promote zero-carbon timber frame buildings. He also has extensive local and global experience in sustainable building design and construction management. He will continue his research on the development of Sustainable Built Environment Centre.
I obtained a BSc (First Class, summa cum laude) and Ph.D from the University of Wales Bangor. I was a post doc at Abertay University, Scotland before taking a Lectureship at The Australian National University (ANU) Department of Forestry, and eventually becoming Professor and Director of ANU’s Centre for Science & Engineering of Materials. I hold the endowed British Columbia Leadership Chair in Advanced Forest Products Manufacturing Technology at UBC. I am also an Honourary Professor in the Department of Materials Physics at The Australian National University.
Research
My fundamental research currently focusses on molecular modification of wood by plasmas consisting of electromagnetic radiation and sub-atomic particles. My translational research seeks to develop novel wood materials that can compete with non-sustainable ones. This involves working with different partners to solve intractable technical problems. The combination of fundamental and translational research enriches my teaching and ability to mentor junior colleagues. My current portfolio of research projects reflects my diverse interests.
Light absorbing materials created by plasma modification of wood surfaces
X-ray micro-computed tomography and virtual reality systems as tools to aid understanding of the complex micro-structure of wood
Plantation-grown Fijian big leaf mahogany as a substitute for the old growth South American mahogany used to build electric guitars
Improving the properties of light-weight aerospace panels used in small fast jets
Development of analytical tools and AI to detect illegally logged and traded tropical timbers
Awards
DOW Chemical Company Distinguished Lecturer
Fellow of International Academy of Wood Science
Fellow of Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining
Inaugural winner of Commonwealth Forestry Association Medal (Americas) for Innovative and Successful International Forestry Research Initiatives
Japanese Ministry for Science & Technology Research Award For Foreign Specialists
Oxford Commonwealth Forestry Bureau Book Prize
Selected Publications
OpenClose
For the most recent list of publications, please visit:
My primary interests lie in the educational leadership field. I am an active member of the Advisory Board for the UBC International Faculty Scholarship of Educational Leadership Program and serve as the Chair of the Faculty of Forestry Peer Review of Teaching Committee. I also have an ongoing interest in projects involving wood identification. I am committed to the development of teaching techniques and curriculum integration in wood science and technology and seek to improve my own abilities, the learning of our undergraduate students and the overall quality of our undergraduate programs in these areas.
Development of advanced generation seed orchard designs
In situ wood quality assessment
Seed orchard’s genetic efficiency
Seed dormancy
Association genetics of biofuel attributes
Genomic selection
Awards
International Union of Forest Research Organizations Scientific Achievement Award 2010 Professor Honoris Causa – The Czech University of Life Sciences Praue 2011 Canadian Forestry Scientific Achievement Award 2017
My teaching interests are in furniture and wood products design, product development, manufacturing of secondary wood products, computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), robotic manufacturing, and wood composites.
As a member of UBC’s Educational Leadership Stream I am committed to advance and improve my teaching techniques. My goal is to continuously contribute to the development of new techniques and strategies to improve the learning experience in our undergraduate program.
My research lies at the interface between ecology and evolution, making use of the information within phylogenetic trees to bridge between them. The integration of phylogenetic approaches in ecology has been transformative, and has given rise to new sub-disciplines in biodiversity science, invasion biology, infectious disease research and community ecology. In my work, I address questions on the distribution of biodiversity and the challenges posed to its conservation.
My research strives to advance fundamental scientific knowledge on forest dynamics, which is imperative for conserving and managing contemporary forests and adapting to global environmental change. My research characterizes how natural disturbances, humans and climate interact to drive temperate forest dynamics and resilience. It has produced three key contributions:
(1) My international collaborations demonstrate widespread tree mortality in North and South America, disentangling the relative impacts of drought, insects and pathogens.
(2) Many forests in the Canadian Cordillera are increasingly susceptible to wildfire due to complex interactions among fire suppression, land-use and climatic change.
(3) My novel forest reconstructions include tree-ring methods adapted to address aboriginal cultural uses and traditional management, largely overlooked by forest managers.
My enduring partnerships with local to national governments, environmental organizations, forest management companies, community forests, and First Nations have helped me translate these scientific advances to operational conservation, restoration and management policies and practices.
Awards
Henry C. Cowles Award for Excellence in Publication , Biogeography Specialty Group, Association of American Geographers 2005 Killam Teaching Award, Faculty of Arts, University of British Columbia 2007 Physical Geography Professor of the Year (2009-10, 2005-6, 2003-4), Geography Students Association, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia
With extensive industry background, I am interested in both fundamental and applied research in engineered wood products (EWPs) and bamboo utilization technology (BUT). My current research areas include:
Modeling and innovative manufacturing of EWPs;
Development of engineered bamboo products for sustainable infrastructure applications;
Natural fiber composites for bio-packaging;
Improvement of veneer and strand-based composites manufacturing; and
Enhanced properties of wood and bamboo products.
Awards
Elected Fellow, International Academy of Wood Science. 2011 George Marra Award for excellence in research and writing, Society of Wood Science and Technology. 2009 L. J. Markwardt Wood Engineering Award for the most outstanding research paper in the field of wood as an engineering material, Forest Products Society, USA. 2006 Canada’s Energy Efficiency Award for development in Energy Saving Equipment and Technology. Ministry of Natural Resources of Canada/Time Canada. 2005 George Marra Award for excellence in research and writing, Society of Wood Science and Technology. USA. 2002 The 46th Wood Award for outstanding graduate research, Forest Products Society 1995 George Marra Award for excellence in research and writing, Society of Wood Science and Technology. 1994
