Curriculum Vitae for Dr. Roman Rabiej

Dr. Roman J. Rabiej, IDSA
roman.rabiej@wmich.edu
http://roman.rabiej.com/
Professor, Department of Construction Engineering, Materials Engineering and Industrial Design
Western Michigan University

Education

• Doctor of Technical Science, Warsaw Agricultural University, Poland. (1975)
• M.S., Wood Production Engineering, Warsaw Agricultural University, Warsaw, Poland. (1965)
• B.S., Industrial, Technical and Pedagogical School of Furniture Construction, Lomza, Poland. (1960)

Furniture Design Training

• School of Art and Design, Furniture and Timber, Buckinghamshire College of Higher Education, High Wycombe, England. (1976-1977)
• Engineering Design and Performance Testing, Furniture Research Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. (1982-1983)

Area of Specialization

• Furniture Design Methodology, Engineering and Technology.

Professional Competence

Courses Currently Taught

• CMD 132: Wood Furniture Design.
• CMD 206: Model Construction I.
• CMD 230: Advanced Woodworking Design.
• CMD 305: Model Construction II.
• Advising of Junior and Senior Projects and Theses.
• Industrial Program Advisor.

Courses Recently Taught

• CMD 255: Materials Science.
• CMD 256: Materials Science and Engineering.
• CMD 330: Wood and Related Materials for the Interior Designer.
• CMD 331: Wood Turning and Upholstery.
• CMD 332: Wood Finishing.
• CMD 432: Production Woodworking.
• CMD 434: Physics and Mechanics of Wood.
• CMD 532: Wood Science and Engineering.

Previous Teaching Activity

• Undergraduate and Graduate Courses and M.S. Thesis Advising at the Faculty of Wood Technology, Warsaw Agricultural University, Poland. (1966-1982)

Professional Recognition

Research Projects

Over forty research projects have been done. A few are listed below:

• Design and Manufacture of the Task Chair to Demonstrate 3-D Seamless Knitting. Ready to Assemble and Portable Unit. Funded by Teknit, Inc. in Holland, MI.
• Study Aiming to Develop Drying Technology for Disks of a Stump Wood. Funded by Prime Wood Products, Inc. in Holland, MI.
• Factors Affecting the Magnitude of Glueline Shear Strength Between Veneering and Particleboard Substrate. Funded by Karona, Inc. in Grand Rapids, MI.
• The Effect of Selected Laser Parameters and the Specific Gravity of Wood on the Color of the Laser-Cut Kerf. Funded by Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI.
• Factors Affecting the Load Bearing Capacity of "MOD-EEZ" Connectors. Funded by Case Systems, Inc. in Midland, MI.
• Optimum Dowel Spacing for 32 mm Cabinet Construction. Funded by the Grand Rapids Area Furniture Manufacturers Association (GRAFMA) in Grand Rapids, MI.
• Optimizing Glueline Strength of Laser-Cut Hardwoods. Funded by the United States Department of Agriculture.

Papers Presented

More than 40 papers have been presented at National and International conferences and seminars. A few are listed here:

• Effect of Orthotopic Structure on Wood Mechanics. Presented at the Forest Products Research Society (FPRS) Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, UT.
• Wood Movement in Furniture Construction. Presented at the Effective Principles of Product Engineering and Strength Design for Furniture Manufacturing Seminar in Grand Rapids, MI.
• Understanding of Wood in Furniture Construction. Presented at the High Technology Seminar: The 32 mm system: The Key to Automation in the Furniture Industry in Grand Rapids, MI.
• Optimum Dowel Spacing for 32 mm Cabinet Construction. Presented at the High Technology Seminar: The 32 mm system: The Key to Automation in the Furniture Industry in Grand Rapids, MI. Also presented at the Ohio Valley Chapter of the FPRS Seminar in Louisville, KY.
• Economic Benefits of a 32 mm System. Presented at the High Technology Seminar: The 32 mm system: The Key to Automation in the Furniture Industry in Grand Rapids, MI.
• Gluability of Wood on a Laser-Cut Kerf. Presented at the Second International Conference on Automated Lumber Processing Systems and Laser Machining of Wood at Michigan State University in Lansing, MI.
• Factors Affecting the Load Bearing Capacity of MOD-EEZ Connectors. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Forest Products Society (FPS) in Clearwater, FL.
• Factors Affecting Glueline Strength on Veneered Particleboard. Presented at the FPS Annual Meeting in Portland, ME.

Publications

More than 30 articles have been published. A few are listed below:

• Industrial Design Recruiting Brochure, WMU. (April 1996)
• Critical Variables in Wood Manufacturing's Process Capability: Species, Structure and Moisture Content. Quality Engineering, 8(2), 275-281 (1995-1996). Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York.
• Gluability of Wood on a Laser-Cut Kerf. Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Automated Lumber Processing Systems and Laser Machining of Wood. MSU. June 1994.
• Factors Affecting the Load Bearing Capacity of MOD-EEZ Connectors. Forest Products Journal, 43(9):49-57, 1993.
• Glueline Shear Strength of Laser-Cut Wood. Forest Products Journal 43(2):45-54, 1993.
• The Effect of Clamping Pressure and Orthotropic Wood Structure on the Strength of Glued Bonds, Wood and Fiber Science Vol. 24, No. 3, July 1992.

Patents

All of the patents had co-authors.

• No. 203406: Corner Joints of Window Frames. (Poland)
• No. W.59289: Table in the Moveable Hidden Expansion Boards. (Poland)
• No. 236122: Furniture Members Made of L-Shaped Particle Board. (Poland)
• No. W68440: Carcass Construction in Built-in Wardrobes. (Poland)
• Patent Pending: Method of Window and Furniture Door Assembly. (Poland)
• Patent Pending: Method of Wood Bending. (Poland)
• No. 5,882,069: Multi-Functional Bench Seat. (March 1999)
• No. 5,911,177: Split Frame Table. (July 1999)
• No. 6,029,584: Furniture Assembly. (February 2000)
• Patent pending: Take Apart Chair. (September 2000)

Exhibitions

• Design Emphasis Exhibition in Atlanta, GA. (August 1990)
• Design Emphasis Exhibition in Atlanta, GA. (August 1992)
• First Annual Design Exhibition, Multimedia Center, WMU. (April 1996)
• Design Gallery, IDSA National Conference at the Sweeny Center in Santa Fe, NM. (September 13-16, 1995)
• Design Emphasis Exhibition in Atlanta, GA. (August 1996)
• Third International Furniture Design Fair Asahikawa 96 in Asihikawa, Japan. (January 1996)
• Second Annual Design Exhibition, Multimedia Center, WMU. (April 1997)
• Design Gallery, IDSA Mideast District Conference in Pittsburgh, PA. (April 1998)
• Third Annual Design Exhibition, Multimedia Dalton Center, WMU. (April 1998)
• Design Emphasis National Students Competition in Atlanta, GA. (August 1998)

WMU ID Student Achievements

• David Gunnet
  • IDSA Mideast Chapter Student Merit Award. (April 1997)
  • Finalist of Design Emphasis National Student Competition in Atlanta, GA. (August 1996)
• Chad Zimmerman: IDSA Mideast Chapter Student Merit Award. (April 1996)
• Anna Fontes: IDSA Mideast Chapter Student Merit Award. (April 1996)
• Steve Cochrane: One of 31 finalists at the Third International Furniture Design Fair, chosen from 1353 entries from 42 countries. Asahikawa, Japan. (May 1996) (See International Furniture Design Fair Catalog and "Design Recognized Internationally")
• Mike Kahwaji
  • IDSA Mideast Chapter Merit Award. (March 2000)
  • Finalist at the Design Emphasis National Student Furniture Design Competition in Atlanta, GA (August 1998)
• Daniel Junod: Finalist at the Design Emphasis National Student Furniture Design Competition in Atlanta, GA (August 1998)
• Andrew Wright: Finalist at the Design Emphasis National Student Furniture Design Competition in Atlanta, GA (August 2000)
• Paul Feuerstein: Finalist at the Design Emphasis National Student Furniture Design Competition in Atlanta, GA (August 2000)
• WMU ID Students
  • Presentations at Mideast IDSA Conference in Cleveland, OH. (March 2000)
  • Presentations at Mideast IDSA Conference in Columbus, OH. (1996)
  • Presentations at Mideast IDSA Conference in Detroit, MI. (1997)
  • Presentations in the Design Gallery of the IDSA National Conference in Santa Fe, NM. (September 1995)
  • Presentations in the Design Gallery of the IDSA National Conference in Dearborn, MI. (August 1994)
  • Exhibits at the First Annual Design Exhibition at WMU's Multimedia Dalton Center (April 1996)
  • Exhibits at the Second Annual Design Exhibition at WMU's Multimedia Dalton Center (April 1997)

"Design for 21st Century": An International Conference on Universal Design, June 17-21, 1998 at Hofstra University in New York. Western Michigan University Students captured two excellence awards in the competition: Byron Vlier received an individual award for project entitled: "Information Gate". Craig LaCombe and Vincent Novak received a team excellence award for their project entitled: "Delphi Transit Shelter". A total of eleven ID students exhibited their projects as finalists.

Professional Activities

Corporation Network

The professional sponsoring network for WMU ID has been organized with the following members:

• Irwin Seating, Inc.
• Steelcase, Inc.
• Haworth, Inc.
• Prince, Inc.
• Stryker Medical, Inc.
• Whirlpool, Inc.
• Lear Plastics, Inc.
• Herman Miller, Inc.
• Milcare, Inc.
• Johnson Controls, Inc.

Seminars

• Parametric Technology Corp./Silicon Graphics Computer System in Grand Rapids, MI. (October 1995)
• Future Home Annual Meeting of the GRAFMA in Grand Rapids, MI. (May 1995)
• Powder Coating on Wood: Materials. Spring Seminar of FPS Great Lakes Section in Grand Rapids, MI. (May 2000)
• Back 2 Future: Reevaluating design. IDSA Mideast District Conference in Cleveland, OH. (March 2000)
• The Role of Product Designers in Automotive Design. Michigan Chapter IDSA 2000, Ford Product Development Center in Dearborn, MI. (June 2000)
• Innovations in seating: the Design and Development of Steelcase's new LEAP Chair Design. Michigan Chapter IDSA. Steelcase, Inc. in Grand Rapids, MI. (September 2000)

Professional Societies

• Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) since 1997.
• Appointed as an expert in Furniture Construction and Technology (Membership #465) on June 21, 1978.
• Member of the Forest Products Research Society since June 1984.
• Member of Society of Wood Science and Technology since January 1987.
• American Society for Testing and Materials D-14 Membership #AA8155700 since 1988.

Professional Service

• Interim CMD Department Chair.
• Member of College Executive Committee.
• Chair of Four CMD Faculty Search Committees.
• Member of WMU Design Task Force Team.