Furniture Production
July 29, 2024 2024-10-09 6:02Furniture Production
About the department
Address: Bulgaria, Sofia 1756, bul. “Kliment Ohridski” 10, University of Forestry
Department of Furniture Production;
Location: Administrative activity-building “EFC”, third floor, laboratory 312
Teaching staff – building А, I and IV floor; Educational Laboratory Corpus – I floor
Laboratories – building А – lab. No. 415, 503, 511; Educational Laboratory Corpus – No. 102, 310, 311; Laboratory Hydrothermal Processing of Timber.
Head of Department: Prof. Pavlina Minkova Vodenova
Quality assurance: Assistant Dr. Krasimira Alexieva Atanasova-Alexandrova
Organizer of Educational activities: Eng. Teodor Hristov Lulchev – building ”EFC”, third floor, laboratory 312, tel. 91907/442 E-mail: teodorhl72@gmail.com
History
The establishment of the “Furniture Production” department was dictated by a number of objective factors in 1974.
In the country, as a result of economic, industrial development and urban planning, it first responds to these changes. Huge housing complexes are being built in the cities, the migration process of moving the population from the villages to the cities is intensifying, and at the end of the 1960s it was planned to build 450,000-500,000 homes in 5 years. This requires the creation of furniture enterprises of a new type to meet the needs of growing cities for the furnishing of numerous apartment-type dwellings. It is natural to specialize the training of personnel for the increasingly developing furniture industry.
Higher education in Forest Industry began with the opening of the Forest Industry Department with two areas – Mechanical Wood Technology and Chemical Wood Technology in the Faculty of Forestry at the Agricultural Academy in 1949, headed by member-cor. Prof. Vasil Stoyanov. In the academic year 1950-1951, the first students were admitted to the specialty wood mechanical technology (MTD). Then the MTD department was founded, in which the main profiling technological disciplines are taught – wood carving, wood drying, plywood production, furniture production, wood science and labor protection. The first head of the department and one of the founders of higher education in mechanical wood technology was Prof. Petko Chernaev (1908 -1970). He is a pioneer in the teaching of technological disciplines and the author of the first textbooks on them.
The initial composition of the department was: associate professor P. Chernaev – head, assistant professor E. Enchev (later professor), assistant professor F. Filipov, who left in 1955, graduate students St. Nikolov (later professor) and P. Obreshkov (later professor in the “Woodworking Machines” department).
Later, G. Donchev (1954), G. Kyuchukov (1959), N. Yosifov (1961), Hr. Videlov (1966), A. Kavalov (1966). During this period, the department expanded its composition, the number of taught subjects increased. Since 1966, the head of the department has been Prof. St. Nikolov. During the same period, associate professor B. Gankov, associate professor K. Kirov and assistant professor N. Todorov worked in the department as teachers. Initially, G. Abrashev, K. Simeonov and P. Panayotov worked as graduate students at the department, and then as research assistants at the Problem Laboratory of Wood Modification.
The creation of a faculty structure of VLTI in 1974 was a prerequisite for the further development of the profiling departments.
At the beginning of 1974, the “Mechanical wood technology” department was divided into two independent departments:
– Department of “Furniture Production” headed by Prof. St. Nikolov;
– “Woodworking” department headed by Associate Professor G. Donchev.
The following continue to work in the “Furniture Production” department: Professor Svilen Y. Nikolov – head of the department, scientific head of the Problem Research Laboratory on wood modification and teacher of hydrothermal wood processing; Prof. Encho Enchev, wood science teacher; Prof. Georgi Kyuchukov (now professor) – teacher of furniture construction; Prof. Andrey Kavalov (now professor) – teacher of furniture technology; chief assistant Hristofor Videlov (now professor) – exercises on hydrothermal treatment of wood and Assistant Professor Nikolay Todorov – exercises on interior architecture.
Eng. G. Blaskova (now professor), Eng. Hr. Rusanov and Eng. Il. Dragozov.
In connection with new structural changes in 1984, the department adopted the name “Furniture Design and Production”. Eng. N. Terziev (1988), Eng. Ya. Genchev (1988), arch. R. Raicheva (1989), engineer V. Merdzhanov (1989), engineer V. Zhivkov (1992), engineer B. Kyuchukov (1992), engineer E. Trichkova-Vetova (1997), arch. E. Pisareva (1997), engineer T. Lulchev (1998) and as guest professor D. Ermenkov.
In 1988, under the leadership of Assistant Professor Ya. Genchev, a course on “Engineering Design” was created at the Free Faculty, and the teachers were both the members of the department and prominent artists and professors from the Academy of Arts. At that time, students from VLTI, VMEI, VIAS, VMGI showed great interest in studying in this course, more than 100 people enrolled in this course, and this served as a basis for creating a specialty with higher education.
In 1995, a new specialty was opened at FGP – “Engineering Design”, and the development of the curriculum was carried out by a team of chief assistant. Ya. Genchev, Ch. assistant arch. R. Raycheva and Chief Assistant V. Merdzhanov. Naturally, there was a need for the new specialty to be methodically managed by an independent, specialized unit, and the “Furniture Design and Production” department was divided into two departments in 1999:
– Department of “Furniture Production” headed by Assoc. Hr. Rusanov;
– “Interior and furniture design” department headed by Prof. G. Kyuchukov.
Eng. D. Angelski (2000), Eng. St. Hikov (2004), Eng. Zh. Georgiev (2009), Eng. Desislava Hristodorova (2015), and after structural changes were made in FGP in 2015, Assoc. Prof. Neli Staneva and Assoc. Maria Kyuchukova.
During the various periods, Hristo Boyadzhiev, Ph.D., Dimitar Boyadzhiev, Ph.D. Veselin Penchev, Ph.D. Boryana Glavleshka, Eng. Lyubomir Moskov, Eng. Svetoslav Asparuhov, Prof. Nezabravka Ivanova, Eng. Lubo Delchev and others.
The lecturers from the “Furniture Production” department, thanks to their hard work and dedication to their work, have respect and authority among the collegium and were elected to leadership positions – the deputy rectors of VLTI were Prof. A. Kavalov and Assoc. Il. Dragozov, deans of FGP – Prof. A. Kavalov, Prof. Videlov and Associate Professor Hr. Rusanov, deputy Deans of FGP – Prof. Dimitar Angelski.
Today, the composition of the "Furniture Production" department consists of the following members:
Study process
In recent years, the lecturers from the “Furniture Production” department have been leading 27 courses included in the curricula of various majors from FFP and FSU.
The Wood Technology specialty has more than half a century of history. During this period, it developed and established itself as an authoritative institution for the training of highly qualified specialists with a higher engineering education.
There are over 6000 engineers graduated from LTU and over 3500 have worked and are working in the furniture industry. Over 1700 students have graduated under the supervision and guidance of the lecturers of the Furniture Manufacturing Department. Students from Greece, Cyprus, Syria, Nigeria, Algeria, Ukraine and Macedonia have been trained in the department. After their graduation, they are successfully realized in their countries and around the world as leading specialists in the field of design, organization and management of furniture production and trade.
Modern teaching methods are applied in the teaching work – modern and cutting-edge technologies are presented through multimedia, promising design solutions are used in determining the structure of the furniture. Tracking the development of functionality and form-building of furniture, the properties and type of materials, the way of their application and determination of the shape, cross-sections and joints between the main structural joints are analyzed. Dozens of textbooks, manuals and books have been published, which are used by students in the preparation of individual disciplines, the development of course projects and theses. Along with this, the modern forms of distance learning used under Project BG051PO001-4.3.04-0052 “Development of the Centre for Electronic Forms of Distance Learning at the University of Forestry and Mechanical Engineering” help to increase the quality of education in the difficult to master technical disciplines.
Active students develop diploma projects that are in demand and find implementation in furniture companies. For example, the created programs of furniture in classical style in the diploma work of Ivan Mihailov and in modern interpretation of slabs and profiles of solid wood in the work of Polina Nikolova are implemented in the company Livers, exhibited at the Plovdiv International Fair were awarded with gold medals in 2010. The students show interest and innovativeness to the initiatives of the management of the FGP. After a competition, the project of Yordan Yordanov who won the first prize was implemented in the furnishing of the hotel part of the UOGS Yundola base, and others in the furnishing of the rooms in the student dormitories. Assisted by the lecturers in the department, creative solutions and ideas are often demonstrated in the development of projects and assignments during studies.
The engineers, successfully implementing the knowledge and skills acquired during their training, show creativity and daring in their work in the furniture industry, in the installation and commissioning of new facilities, in solving complex technical, technological and managerial tasks. Among the numerous examples of outstanding engineers is the system of furniture fittings developed by Eng. Г. Pantev in the 1980s – patented in 14 countries such as Germany, USA, Italy, etc.
The international recognition of the participation of the project of Eng. Ilian Milinov at one of the most popular international furniture exhibitions – Milan. The chair transforms into a table with one movement, is distinguished by its elegant shape, modern sculpture and was awarded as the chair of the year 2000. Along with the successful realization in Bulgaria, engineers from LTU find opportunities for work and expression abroad – in countries with developed furniture industry such as Italy, USA, Canada, Australia, France, etc. they occupy managerial positions in large associations, solve design, technological and construction problems, or have created their own companies.
Over the years, in addition to teaching in the full-time course of study, engineers from leading enterprises and institutions have been permanently admitted for further training and postgraduate specialization. Engineers from Bulgaria, as well as from the TU in Dresden, the Higher School in Vranje – Serbia, have upgraded their qualification, and those from the Faculty of Šumar in Skopje have prepared their master’s theses.
The authority of the department in the preparation of PhD students and postgraduates is undeniable – nearly 20 PhD students have defended their PhDs in scientific areas typical for furniture production, furniture and material design. Under the guidance of prof. Svilen Nikolov, prof. Kyuchukov and prof. Kavalov, PhD students from Syria, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia defended their theses.
Prof. Hr. Videlov has defended his dissertation for Doctor of Technical Sciences in the field of wood modification.
Scientific directions
The scientific interests of its members have been multifaceted over the years since the establishment of the Furniture Production Department. Problematic are the issues from the beginning of the creative process in the creation of new furniture and products, distinguished by creativity in form-building, through the determination of their structure, construction schemes of construction, functional and strength dimensioning. Particular attention is paid to the materials used and the study of methods for modifying and improving their properties, methods of processing, the possibilities of applying cutting-edge and rational technological processes. The application of protective and decorative coatings and ways of protecting furniture is a problem whose solution requires ingenuity and extensive knowledge in this field.
The themes developed and implemented are varied in nature, covering the whole spectrum of design, production, quality testing and furniture consumption. They can be succinctly expressed in the following directions:
The authority of the Department of Furniture Production as a leading factor in training and science in the industry is also reflected in the demand of the lecturers giving dozens of consultations, expert evaluations of State Development Institutions for small and medium businesses, companies in the industry, a number of state facilities furnished under the Public Procurement Act, the judiciary, etc.
It is endlessly satisfying for a lecturer when former students meet him after a while, when they share their projects, solved problems and achieved successes in their work and with a smile of appreciation they hear the words of gratitude to the LTU for the knowledge and skills they have acquired.
