​​​​Stephen Amiandamhen, a PhD student in theForest and Wood Science Department, was awardedthe second prize of 250 US dollars for oral and posterpresentations at the 59th Society of Wood Science andTechnology (SWST) Convention held in Curitiba, Brazil,recently. Stephen also bagged a plaque in the studentposter session.His study focuses on the use of phosphate basedbinders, which have a lower carbon footprint comparedto cement based products. He used these binders toproduce wood composites from alien invasive tree speciesand showed that it is possible to produce products ofacceptable quality even without bark removal, which is arequirement for a majority of such products.Stephen’s trip to Brazil was made possible with supportfrom the National Research Foundation (NRF) and an 800US dollar sponsorship from the conference organisers.