Forest Products Society Honors 2026 Annual Excellence Award Winners

The Forest Products Society (FPS) honored outstanding leaders, researchers and emerging professionals in the forest products industry during its 2026 Annual Excellence Awards, presented July 16 at the FPS International Conference Banquet at The Graduate Hotel in Eugene, Ore.

The annual awards recognize exceptional service to the Society, achievements in wood engineering, influential research and the next generation of professionals advancing wood science and technology.

Fred W. Gottschalk Memorial Award: Dr. Brian K. Via

Dr. Brian K. Via received the prestigious Fred W. Gottschalk Memorial Award, named for the first president of the Forest Products Society and presented in recognition of exceptional service to FPS by an individual member.

Via currently serves as President of the Forest Products Society and Editor-in-Chief of the Forest Products Journal. He was unable to attend the banquet as the conference coincided with his official start as the incoming Director of the School of Packaging at Michigan State University.

Previously, Via served as the Regions Bank Endowed Full Professor and Director of the Forest Products Development Center at Auburn University. His career bridges academia and 14 years of corporate research and development experience.

While serving as Wood Quality Project Leader at International Paper Corp., Via conducted Pinus taeda genetics research that drove a $13 million annual revenue increase. He later served as a Research Engineer at Louisiana-Pacific Corp., managing quality metrics across 14 North American plants and becoming the first inventing scientist behind FlameBlock fire-retardant composite technology.

Since becoming Editor-in-Chief of the Forest Products Journal in 2018, Via has helped significantly enhance the journal’s academic quality and global reach. An FPS member since 1996, he has authored more than 170 peer-reviewed publications and holds a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University and degrees from Virginia Tech.

Wood Engineering Achievement Award, Young Engineer: Dr. Laya Khademibami

Dr. Laya Khademibami received the 2026 Wood Engineering Achievement Award in the Young Engineer category.

The award recognizes accomplishments and innovations in wood engineering, including structures, structural elements, building codes, consensus standards, design procedures and education. The Young Engineer category honors an engineer, researcher or scientist aged 40 or younger who has made valuable contributions to the field and demonstrates promising potential for continued impact.

Khademibami is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Sustainable Bioproducts at Mississippi State University. Her research focuses on the performance, durability and engineering behavior of wood-based materials and structural systems, including mass timber, structural insulated panels, railroad ties, timber mats and environmentally friendly wood preservatives.

She has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on research projects funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory and State and Private Forestry Wood Innovation Grants Program.

Khademibami has authored or co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications, and her work has contributed to greater understanding of the long-term structural performance, creep behavior and mechanical properties of engineered wood products, including contributions to industry standards and building code development.

L.J. Markwardt Wood Engineering Award: Dr. Dilpreet Bajwa

Dr. Dilpreet Bajwa was named the recipient of the 2026 L.J. Markwardt Wood Engineering Award, which encourages research and promotes knowledge of wood in the engineering field to enhance the efficient utilization of wood.

Established in 1969 by L.J. Markwardt, a charter member of FPS and longtime Assistant Director at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the award is presented annually to the author or authors of an outstanding technical paper published during the previous two calendar years in either the Forest Products Journal or Wood and Fiber Science.

Bajwa is Professor and Head of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Montana State University in Bozeman. Before entering academia, he spent 12 years in research and development leadership positions in the engineered biocomposites industry with International Paper Co., Masonite Corp. and Greenland Composites.

His research focuses on developing sustainable, multifunctional materials from renewable feedstocks and agricultural byproducts. Current areas of research include nanocellulosic materials, bio-based thermochemical energy storage materials, fire-retardant systems for polymer composites and the processing and characterization of biopolymers, carbon fiber and natural fiber composites.

Bajwa has authored more than 160 research papers and technical articles and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Industrial Crops and Products Journal.

FPS Wood Award: Roselle Barretto and Haoran Ye

FPS also recognized two emerging researchers with the 2026 FPS Wood Award, the Society’s most prestigious recognition for graduate research in wood and wood products.

Roselle Barretto, Ph.D., received First Place. Barretto is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the USDA Forest Service–Forest Products Laboratory, where his work centers on sustainable protein-based wood adhesives and bio-based materials.

He earned his Ph.D. in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from Kansas State University in 2025. His research examines plant protein adhesives through protein modification, adhesive formulation and wood composite testing. Barretto has authored more than 13 peer-reviewed publications and several industry magazine articles and has earned more than 60 international, national and university honors during his academic and professional career.

Haoran Ye received Second Place. A Ph.D. candidate in Wood Science and Technology at Nanjing Forestry University, Ye focuses on sustainable, high-performance wood-based functional materials, particularly electromagnetic interference shielding composites.

His research explores integrating metal-organic frameworks with wood-derived materials to improve electromagnetic shielding effectiveness, thermal conductivity, mechanical strength and multifunctional performance. His work seeks to combine wood’s renewable characteristics and hierarchical structure with emerging functional materials to develop environmentally friendly solutions for advanced engineering and industrial applications.

Distinguished Service Award: Dr. Bob Breyer

Bob Breyer received the 2026 Distinguished Service Award, recognizing outstanding dedication to the Forest Products Society and the biomaterials industry.

Breyer earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of New Orleans and completed postdoctoral studies at Duke University. In 1991, he joined Georgia-Pacific Resins, now Bakelite Synthetics, where he has spent nearly 35 years.

Throughout his career, Breyer has been an active member of both the Wood-Based Composites Center and the Forest Products Society. His FPS leadership roles have included serving as Vice President and President. During his tenure, he helped guide the Society through a transition to a new Executive Director while strengthening its financial stability and improving member support.

Breyer has also demonstrated a longstanding commitment to student development through his work with FPS and the Wood-Based Composites Center, helping prepare students for successful careers throughout the forest products industry.