Address: Department of Mechanical Wood Technology, Faculty of Forest Industry, 10 Kliment Ohridski Blvd., University of Forestry, 1797 Sofia, Bulgaria.
Location: Administration – building А, Laboratory 22, ground floor.
Teaching staff - building А, II and III floor.
Laboratories - building А – lab. №. 20, 21; Educational Laboratory Corpus – №. 103, 104, 105, 305 and 306; Laboratory of Press Materials.

Head of Department: Assoc. Prof. PhD Nikolay Spasov Bardarov

Office Managers: Daniela Petrova Peeva  – administrative and academic documentation - building А, ground floor, laboratory 22, phone 003592 91907 int. 323, e-mail
Tihomir Dimitrov Stanev – research equipment and measurements – laboratory of Press Materials, phone 003592 91907 int. 493

Quality manager
Assoc. Professor, PhD Viktor Petrov Savov

History
The department was established in 1950. The first Head of the Department was Prof. Petko Chernaev, who managed it until 1966. Prof. Svilen Nikolov was elected as the next Head of the department for the period 1966-1974. On February 1, 1974 the Department was divided into two new departments: Department of Woodworking and Department of Furniture Production.
In 1974 Assoc. Prof. (later Professor) Geno Donchev was elected as the Head of the Department of Woodworking. The academic staff of the department at that time included the following lecturers: Assoc. Prof. Geno Donchev, Assoc. Prof. Kiril Kirov, Assoc. Prof. Bancho Gankov, Chief Assist. Prof. Ivan Shishkov, Chief Assist. Prof. Nikolay Yosifov, Chief Assist. Prof. Anka Parusheva and Assist. Prof. Valentin Tsolov. The listed academic staff provided the training (lectures and laboratory exercises) in the basic technological disciplines.
In the period 1975-1979 the academic staff of the department was increased with three new assistant professors: Georgi Blagoev, Ivan Genov and Veselin Brezin. During that time the academic staff of the department, and respectively the number of training disciplines taught by the department, was increased.
In 1986, the Department of Woodworking was renamed to Department of Wood Technology and Prof. Geno Donchev was elected as the first Head of the Department. At that time the aforementioned chief assistants had already obtained academic ranks and many of the assistants had defended their dissertations.
Attracting young people has already been a key priority of the department policy. During that time the academic staff of the department was increased with the following lecturers: Eng. Lilyana Valcheva, beginning her career as a researcher (1983), research associate Ist degree (1992), Chief Assist. Prof. (1995), Assoc. Prof. (1997); Assist. Prof. Neno Trichkov (1989), which in 1997 became Associate Professor; the assistant professors Peter Velev and Stefan Ganev (1987 and 1988), who later left the department and continued their scientific careers in the University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy - Sofia and Quebec, Canada, respectively.
In 1993, the department returned its name as the Department of Mechanical Wood Technology. During that period the Head of the Department was Assoc. Prof. Veselin Brezin and the academic staff was increased by the following new lecturers: Assoc. Prof. Genka Blaskova, Assoc. Prof. Todor Todorov, Chief Assist. Prof. Nedelcho Nedelchev, Chief. Assist. Prof. Julia Mihajlova (1996), who became an Associate Professor in 2002, and Assist. Prof. Nikolai Bardarov (1995) who became an Associate Professor in 2012.
Other lecturers, who worked in the Department, are Prof. Petko Petkov, the associate lecturers: Assoc. Prof. Hristo Boyadzhiev, Eng. Anatoliya Ivanova, Eng. Georgi Georgiev, and Eng. Emil Stoilov - Head of the Laboratory of Press Materials.
The Heads of Department from 1974 until now were: Prof. Dr. Geno Donchev (1974-1993), Assoc. Prof. Veselin Brezin (1993-1995), Prof. Nikolay Yosifov (1995-1999), Prof. Veselin Brezin (1999-2003), Assoc. Prof. Neno Trichkov (2003-2007), Assoc. Prof. Todor Todorov (2007-2012), Assoc. Prof. Lilyana Valcheva (2012-February 2016), Prof. Veselin Brezin (February-December 2016), Assoc. Prof. Julia Mihailova (December 2016 – to present).
The academic staff of the department was increased by Eng. Rosen Grigorov (Chief Assist. Prof, PhD since 2017), Eng. Petar Antov (Assoc. Prof., PhD since 2015), Eng. Viktor Savov (Assoc. Prof., PhD since 2015), and Eng. Daniel Koynov (Chief Assist. Prof, PhD since 2018).
The Department of Mechanical Wood Technology provides lectures and exercises in academic subjects, included in the curricula of four specialties of the University of Forestry – Technology of Wood and Furniture, Engineering Design, Business Management and Forestry in the educational and qualification degrees of Bachelor and Master and in the educational and scientific degree “Doctor” in full-time and part-time studies.
In the period 2011-2014 Eng. Tsvetelin Evstatiev was a full-time PhD student who had successfully completed his training and acquired the right to defend his PhD thesis. Two part-time PhD students - Eng. Daniel Koynov and Eng. Diana Mladenova were enrolled in the Department and successfully defended their PhD theses in 2017. Yasmina Khalaf from the Republic of Lebanon was enrolled as a part-time doctoral student at the department in January 2020, with Assoc. Prof. Yulia Mihailova as her scientific supervisor.
The organization of educational activities, as well as the administrative documentation and maintenance of facilities at the department is entrusted to Maria Yurukova (1977) and Nikolai Galabov (1998).

The department has the following specialized laboratories:

• LABORATORY OF PRESS MATERIALS for production and testing of wood materials, conducting research activities and training of students in the academic subjects: Technology of Particleboards, Technology of Fiberboard, Technology of Veneer and Plywood, Technology of Solid-Wood Materials, Industrial Ecology and Occupational Safety, Wood Science;
• LABORATORY 20, specialized in Industrial Ecology and Occupational Safety, where research activities and training of students in the academic subjects Engineering Ecology, and Industrial Ecology and Occupational Safety, and Ergonomics and Ergonomic Design are carried out;
• LABORATORY 21, where research and training activities in the fields of Methods for Experimental Research and Optimization, Standardization and Patent Law and Protection of Intellectual Property are carried out;
• LABORATORY 105, located in the Educational Laboratory Corpus, where scientific and educational activities, related to the academic subjects Technology of Particleboards, Technology of Veneer and Plywood, Technology of Fiberboard, Production of Wood-Based Panels, Theoretical Basis of Wood and Ligno-cellulosic Materials Composites, are carried out;
• LABORATORY 104 in the Educational Laboratory Corpus, where the classes in Technology of Solid-Wood Materials, Technology of Engineered Wood and Production of Sawn Materials and Plywood, are held;
• LABORATORIES 305 and 306 in the Educational Laboratory Corpus, where research and training activities, mainly in the field of Wood Science and the respective workshop on Wood Science, are held;

More than 30 PhD theses have been defended in the department, including two theses for obtaining the scientific degree Doctor of Technical Sciences. Fourteen specialists from Russia, Macedonia, Korea, Slovakia, Sudan and Bulgaria have been trained as post-graduate students.

Twenty textbooks for higher educational institutions, 15 manuals, 13 monographs, 2 handbooks and 3 textbooks for vocational technical schools have been published to support the training of students and industrial practice.

A workshop in Wood Science has been organized at the department, taught by Assoc. Prof. Nikolai Bardarov. The workshop activities are aimed at improving the training of graduate and PhD students from several faculties – Faculty of Forest Industry, Faculty of Forestry, and Faculty of Business Management.

Many graduation theses in the scientific area of the department have been developed and successfully defended (over 400 theses since 2000).

The lecturers from the Department of Mechanical Wood Technology have been actively participated in international scientific forums, projects and networks as well as in the development of over 54 research projects, funded by the Scientific and Research Centre at the University of Forestry, the results of which have been implemented in a number of enterprises from the Woodworking and Furniture Industry.

The Department of Mechanical Wood Technology has always had a leading role in the organization and implementation of the International Scientific Conference INNOVATIONS IN FOREST INDUSTRY AND ENGINEERING DESIGN, due not only to the active participation of department members, but also to the quality and quantity of the presented research papers.

At the suggestion of the department, in memory and with a deep bow of appreciation, gratitude and respect for his life and activity since 2012, the Woodworking Training and Production Base in the University of Forestry and Forestry named after Prof. Dr. Eng. Geno Donchev (1927- 2001).

Academic staff of the Department:

• Professor, PhD Viktor Petrov Savov – Head of Department
• Assoc. Professor, PhD Neno Ivanov Trichkov
• Assoc. Professor, PhD Nikolai Spasov Bardarov
• Professor, PhD Petar Yordanov Antov
• Chief Assist. Professor, PhD Rosen Ivanov Grigorov
• Chief Assist. Professor, PhD Daniel Ivanov Koynov
• Assist. Prof. Martina Georgieva Todorova
• Assist. Prof. Viktoria Plamenova Dudeva

Courses and lecturers:

• Wood Science. Lectures and exercises are delivered by Assoc. Prof., PhD Nikolai Bardarov and excercises are delivered by Chief Assist. Prof., PhD Daniel Koynov.
• Wood materials in the Interior. Lectures are delivered by Assoc. Prof., PhD Nikolai Bardarov and exercises are delivered by Chief Assist. Prof., PhD Rosen Grigorov.
• Ergonomics and Ergonomic Design. Lectures are delivered by Assoc. Prof., PhD Lilyana Valcheva and exercises are delivered by Prof., PhD Petar Antov.
• Protection of Intellectual Property. Lectures and exercises are delivered by Assoc. Prof., PhD Julia Mihajlova and exercises are delivered Assoc. Prof., PhD Viktor Savov.
• Engineering Ecology. Lectures and exercises are delivered by Prof., PhD Petar Antov.
• Methods for Experimental Researches and Optimization. Lectures are delivered by Assoc. Prof., PhD Neno Trichkov and exercises are delivered by Assoc. Prof., PhD Viktor Savov.
• Nondestructive Methods for Testing Wood and Wood materials. Lectures and exercises are delivered by Assoc. Prof., PhD Nikolai Bardarov.
• Basics of Woodworking. Lectures and exercises are delivered by Chief Assist. Prof., PhD Daniel Koynov.
• Workshop on woodworking. Lectures and exercises are delivered by Chief Assist. Prof., PhD Rosen Grigorov.
• Production of Wood-based Panels. Lectures and exercises are delivered by .
• Production of Materials of Solid Wood and Veneer. Lectures are delivered by Assoc. Prof., PhD Neno Trichkov and exercises are delivered by Chief Assist. Prof., PhD Daniel Koynov.
• Industrial Ecology and Occupational Safety. Lectures and exercises are delivered by Prof., PhD Petar Antov.
• Standardization and Patent Case. Lectures and exercises are delivered by Assoc. Prof., PhD Julia Mihajlova.
• The Theoretical Basis of Composites of Wood and Lignocellulosic Materials. Lectures and exercises are delivered by Assoc. Prof., PhD Julia Mihajlova.
• Technological Design of Woodworking Enterprises. Lectures and exercises are delivered by Chief Assist. Prof., PhD Rosen Grigorov.
• Technology of Wood-based Materials. Lectures and delivered by Assoc. Prof., PhD Julia Mihajlova and exercises are delivered by Chief Assist. Prof., PhD Rosen Grigorov.
• Technology of Engineering Wood. Lectures and exercises are delivered by Assoc. Prof., PhD Neno Trichkov.
• Technology of Materials from Wood Fbres. Lectures and exercises are delivered by Assoc. Prof., PhD Viktor Savov.
• Technology of Solid Wood Materials. Lectures are delivered by Assoc. Prof., PhD Neno Trichkov and exercises are delivered by Chief Assist. Prof., PhD Daniel Koynov.
• Technology of Particleboards. Lectures and exercises are delivered by .
• Technology of Veneer and Plywood. Lectures are delivered by Chief Assist. Prof., PhD Rosen Grigorov and exercises are delivered by Chief Assist. Prof., PhD Daniel Koynov.
• Quality Management. Lectures are delivered by Assoc. Prof., PhD Julia Mihajlova and exercises are delivered by Assoc. Prof., PhD Viktor Savov.

Scientific directions of the lecturers of the department:
The main directions of scientific interest and professional development of the lecturers of the Department “Mechanical Wood Technology” are presented below:

• Fundamental research related to wood and wood materials.
• Wood Quality.
• Mechanical technology of wood and wood materials.
• Research, modeling and optimization of technologies for the production of engineered wood and solid wood materials
• Research, modeling and optimization of technologies and compositions of wood-based composite materials.
• Managing the quality of wood materials and processes for their production.
• Utilization of lignocellulosic materials.
• Management systems.
• Protection of intellectual property.
• Standardization and Conformity Assessment of wood materials.
• Development and production of eco-friendly wood-based composites. Ecological research and evaluate the toxicity of wood based panels.
• Ergonomic research, analysis, evaluation and design of work in the woodworking and furniture industry.
• Wood Acoustics.
• Noise and vibrations.
• Engineering Ecology.