Effect of Hardwood Sawmill Edging and Trimming Practices on Furniture Part Production
In a recent edging and trimming study at three hardwood sawmills, it was observed that the lumber volume produced was approximately 10 percent less than would be necessary to make the most valuable lumber. Furthermore, the excess portion of wood that was removed from the edging and trimming process contained a large percentage of clear wood. In light of rising costs and increasing environmental concerns, the option of producing furniture parts from unedged and untrimmed boards is explored. This research investigates the potential furniture part yields from unedged and untrimmed boards compared to both optimal and actual edging and trimming practices. The resulting volume of cuttings from unedged and untrimmed boards was found to be 25 percent higher than from the actual edged and trimmed lumber produced at the mills.
An analysis of the North American market for wood scanners
Innovativ Vision AB develops and delivers quality and production control systems for the woodworking industry. North America is emerging as one of the most important markets for Innovativ Vision AB and their scanner WoodEye. Since 2001 Innovativ Vision AB has an office in the USA for customer service and support. In 2004 they also established a local sales and distributions office in USA. Innovativ Vision AB is in the process of developing WoodEye's new software Edger, Planer and NHLA. A market analysis is necessary in order to establish suitable plans of actions for further launching of the new software in the North American sawmill industry market. 
 
The objects of this thesis are: 1/ To establish which segment areas are potential markets for Innovativ Vision AB. 2/ Investigate which aspects of what is being offered to the customer from scanner optimizing manufacturers are most valued by the customers and how these aspects affect the feeling of trust and commitment between the manufacturer and their customers. The chosen associations for visits were restricted to the east coast, while associations in other parts of North America were contacted by telephone and mail. 
 
The outcome of this thesis provides an overview of, and an introduction to, the North American market for Innovativ Vision AB. Nine semi structured qualitative interviews were performed in North America, five with associations and four with sawmills. Other than these, an additional interview was performed with a Swedish sawmill prior to the trip, providing a total of ten interviews as a basis for this market analysis. 
 
The main conclusions drawn are that there are no investments being made by sawmills due to the current downturn in the housing sector. However, there is a huge demand for an optimizer that grades southern yellow pine accurately. A few competitors in Canada represent a large proportion of market share and that bad service can be disastrous for an optimizer manufacturer's reputation. When asking the associations about optimizers fitting the description of Innovativ Vision AB's new software, Edger, Planer and NHLA, the most common reaction from the respondents was that they were not experts on that area and could not give a detailed answer. A natural continuation would be to make a more thorough analysis of competitors and potential customers in a restricted geographic area.
Properties of a monopivot centrifugal blood pump manufactured by 3D printing
An impeller the same geometry as the impeller of a commercial monopivot cardiopulmonary bypass pump was manufactured using 3D printing. The 3D-printed impeller was integrated into the pump casing of the commercially available pump to form a 3D-printed pump model. The surface roughness of the impeller, the hydraulic performance, the axial displacement of the rotating impeller, and the hemolytic properties of the 3D-printed model were measured and compared with those of the commercially available model. Although the surface roughness of the 3D-printed model was significantly larger than that of the commercially available model, the hydraulic performance of the two models almost coincided. The hemolysis level of the 3D-printed model roughly coincided with that of the commercially available model under low-pressure head conditions, but increased greatly under high-pressure head conditions, as a result of the narrow gap between the rotating impeller and the pump casing. The gap became narrow under high-pressure head conditions, because the axial thrust applied to the impeller increased with increasing impeller rotational speed. Moreover, the axial displacement of the rotating impeller was twice that of the commercially available model, confirming that the elastic deformation of the 3D-printed impeller was larger than that of the commercially available impeller. These results suggest that trial models manufactured by 3D printing can reproduce the hydraulic performance of the commercial product. However, both the surface roughness and the deformation of the trial models must be considered to precisely evaluate the hemolytic properties of the model.