Mission
Our mission is through education to create highly qualified engineering personnel for the woodworking and furniture industries and the interior design of furniture and furnishings.
Our main goal and tasks are to provide quality education and training of engineering personnel by studying the achievements of science, technology and design, applying the experience and traditions of the leading countries in this field, and active research and development activities to guarantee a successful competitive professional realization.
To fulfil the mission to achieve the main goal and tasks, the Faculty of Forest Industry has a highly qualified teaching staff with a modern material and technical base, training and production centres and laboratories, maintains close professional contacts with leading educational and scientific institutions in the EU, production companies and design bureaus in Bulgaria.
History
The Faculty of Forest Industry (FFI) is the successor of the Forest Industry Department, founded in 1949 at the Agricultural Academy - Sofia. With the Decree of the Presidium of the National Assembly No. 3754/12.01.1953 of the academic year 1953/1954, an independent Higher Forestry Institute was established with five specialities, one of which was Mechanical Wood Technology. FFI was established as an independent educational and scientific structure in 1974 based on the speciality of Mechanical Wood Technology.
Prof. Nino Statkov was elected as the first Dean of the faculty. Then, successively, the deans were Prof. Andrey Kavalov, Prof. Hristo Shehtov, Prof. Georgi Filipov, Prof. Hristofor Videlov, Prof. Nikolay Yosifov, Prof. Bozhidar Dinkov, Assoc. Prof. Hristofor Rusanov, Assoc. Prof. Neno Trichkov, Prof. Zivko Gochev. Since 2024, Prof. Dimitar Angelski has been the Dean of the faculty.
More information about the history of the Faculty of Forest Industry.
Specialties
We are accredited by the National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency (NEAA) for tuition in four specialities at the Bachelor and Master programs:
- Technology of Wood and Furniture. The speciality is in the professional field 6.5. Forestry and prepare engineer-technologists for the production of furniture and woodworking (the production of veneer and plywood, the production of engineered and solid wood and wooden structures, the production of wood-based panels, etc.). The bachelor courses prepare wide-profile specialists for woodworking and the furniture industry. In the master courses, managerial, specialized and methodical research disciplines are studied in more depth and at a higher level, selected depending on the chosen specialization: Technology of Wood-Based Materials and Composites; Furniture Manufacturing; Conservation and Restoration of Wood Products, Woodworking Machines and Equipment. The tuition is carried out on a regular and part-time basis.
- Engineering Design (Interior and Furniture Design). The speciality is in the professional field 5.13. General Engineering and preparing constructors and designers of furniture and furnishing of residential and public buildings. Graduates of this speciality work as designers and constructors; work in consulting companies and companies exercising activities in the furniture industry; work as consultants, experts and organizers in project development, as well as teachers in vocational high schools; manage design offices, small and medium enterprises from the furniture industry. In the bachelor's degree, design and engineering training is obtained, certified by a diploma of completed higher education, and they acquire the professional qualification "Design Engineer in Engineering Design". In the "master's" degree, managerial, specialized and design disciplines are studied in more depth and at a higher level, selected depending on the chosen specialization: Product Design, Design of the Living Environment and Design of the Urban Environment. The tuition takes place regularly.
- Computer Technologies in Furniture Industry. The speciality is in the professional field 5.13. General Engineering and prepares engineers for the needs of the furniture industry with competencies in digitization, digitization and CNC technological processes. Education in educational and qualification degrees "Bachelor" and "Master" provides fundamental knowledge in furniture engineering, digital technologies, and informatics, based on the Industry 4.0 platform, including cloud technologies, Internet technologies, augmented virtual reality, and engineering information management. Graduates of this speciality are realized in all areas of industry as technologists and designers working with modern computer methods for design and management in the furniture industry, consultants, experts and organizers in the development of technological and innovation projects, as well as teachers in vocational high schools. In the bachelor's degree, engineering training is obtained, certified by a diploma of completed higher education, and they acquire the professional qualification "Computer technology engineer in the furniture industry". In the "Master" educational and qualification degree, managerial, specialized and methodological research disciplines related to the digitalization of furniture production are studied more thoroughly and at a higher level. The tuition takes place regularly.
- Furniture Industry 4.0 (joint master degree program with Technical University - Gabrovo). Tutution in the speciality is carried out only in a master's program, a regular form of training. Graduates of the "Furniture Industry 4.0" speciality receive knowledge skills and acquire competencies for computer design and automated management of technological processes for furniture production, as well as technologies directly related to the digitization of the furniture industry. Graduates of the master's program are realized in all areas of the sector as technologists and designers, working with modern computer methods for design and management in the furniture industry; working in the field of automation and robotization of furniture companies; in consulting companies and companies specializing in the implementation of digital technologies, CAD/CAM/CAE and Internet-based systems in enterprises from the furniture industry. They also work as consultants, experts, organizers in developing technological and innovation projects, and teachers in vocational high schools.
Doctoral studies
In the Faculty of Forest Industry, PhD students are trained in the following accredited scientific specialities, and the training is carried out in full-time, part-time and independent form:
- Ergonomics and Industrial Design;
- Wood Science and Wood-Based Materials;
- Machinery and Equipment in the Forestry, Logging, Woodworking and Furniture Industries;
- Technology, Mechanization and Automation of the Woodworking and Furniture Industry.
Tutution in the Faculty of Forest Industry is carried out by thirty-eight highly qualified teachers, including nine professors, ten associate professors, fifteen chief assistant professors, and five assistant professors.
For conducting theoretical tuition and practical classes, the Faculty of Forest Industry has specialized laboratories for cutting wood and cutting tools, a training and demonstration centre for hand power tools, automation and production automation, a training and production centre for woodworking, a training and production centre furniture production, computer animation and virtual reality laboratory, BLUM training and
demonstration centre, mechatronics laboratory, door and window training and demonstration centre.
The faculty maintains close contacts with companies from the woodworking and furniture industry, in which it conducts practical training for students and uses it as a base for developing and implementing research projects.
In its long history, the Faculty of Forest Industry has built excellent relationships with related faculties and universities from many countries. The facts that illustrate his international authority are the participation of the professors in various scientific events abroad; scientific achievements, the winning competitions for projects financed by international foundations; the conferment of honorary titles, namely: members of IUFRO, members of the American Society of Forestry Engineers, etc. Graduates of the specializations from the Faculty of Forest Industry who work or have worked in foreign universities (USA, Canada, Sweden, Japan, Chile, France, Switzerland, Germany, etc.); participation in international projects under the TEMPUS, PHAR and Leonardo da Vinci programs; joint research projects with teams from foreign universities (Russia, Slovakia, Serbia and Montenegro, Republic of North Macedonia, Greece, Switzerland, Poland, Belarus, Czech Republic, Hungary); provide scientific and technical assistance by our teachers to organizations and companies (Nigeria, Sudan, Lebanon, Slovakia, Republic of North Macedonia, Czech Republic, etc.); prizes, certificates and diplomas won by students and graduates of both specialities from international competitions and exhibitions.
At the moment, the Faculty of Forest Industry has accreditation and is training a total of 400 students, divided into 4 specialities, in full-time and part-time study (and for doctoral programs also independent study), in 3 educational and qualification degrees - "Bachelor", "Master" and "Doctor".
