Hannu Boren

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Introduction

My name is Hannu J. Boren, and I am a Finnish wood and pole expert, inventor, development and sustainability professional with more than 30 years of experience in wood technology, wood preservation, strength grading, utility poles, standardization and forest-based product development. During my career I have combined academic research, industrial product development, and business leadership to advance sustainable solutions for the wood products sector. My continuing interests focus on improving the durability, sustainability, and performance of wood products and advancing innovation within the global forest-based bioeconomy.

Roots and Family

I was born in Himanka, Finland, in 1970 with family traditionally working with fishery and church. I live in Nurmes, Finland with my lovely wife, Riikka, and our four children. Nearby is the European largest wood pole factory run by Scanpole Oy. We lived 1,5 years in Norway 2018-2019, when I was working in Scanpole AS. Since then, my kids have been “Scandinaviks” and three of them have been either studying or working in Sweden and Norway.

Education

I studied at University of Joensuu in Faculty of Forestry 1991-1995. I was interested in wood science & technology and got interesting project 1993 from Agricultural Research centre of Finland (VAKOLA) to study drying of wood chips with simple field dryer by utilizing solar energy collectors and then suctioning heated air through to wood chips. The project was successful and I got second project to study strength properties of round pine and spruce. Again after successful project, I was hired as Project researcher to EU-project Round Small Diameter Timber for construction (FAIR CT 95-0091) run by VTT. The project had participants from five EU countries and I got materials to Doctoral desertion from project as well.
I received my PhD in Forest Sciences from the University of Joensuu, Finland, in 2001. My doctoral research focused on factors affecting the knottiness, twisting, strength, and stiffness properties of Scots pine and Norway spruce timber obtained from thinning operations in Southern Finland, contributing to improved utilization wood of thinning. I have served as Researcher at the University of Joensuu, coordinating market studies for roundwood products in the United Kingdom and Germany. Subsequent appointments included Senior Researcher at the Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla), Production Director and Quality and Environmental Manager at Höljäkkä Oy, Research Director and Project Manager at Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences, and R&D Expert at Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences. I have also worked with very small companies and global ones, like StoraEnso.

Career

At the moment, I work in leading European wood pole company Iivari Mononen Group (Scanpole and PrimaTimber brands) as Sustainability Director being responsible for product development, certifications (CE, PEFC, FSC, ISO9001&14001&45001&50001) and sustainability including GHG accounting.
Throughout my career, I have coordinated and managed numerous publicly and privately funded research and development projects related to strength grading, wood preservation against biological activity, weather and fire, impregnation technologies, utility poles, biomass utilization, wood drying, wood modification, pellets and briquettes, and new applications for forest-based materials. I have authored and co-authored scientific publications, technical reports, and industry articles covering structural timber, roundwood construction, wood preservation against biological activity, weather and fire, small-diameter timber utilization, and modern impregnation technologies. I have also lectured on wood mechanics and wood modification at Finnish universities. I am the inventor of four patented technologies, including novel methods for wood drying and preservative treatment using vegetable oils and water-glass-based systems.

Influences

During my Pro gradu and Doctoral dissertation I was privileged to be supervised by leading wood experts like Prof Matti Kärkkäinen (University of Joensuu, Metla), Prof Erkki Verkasalo (Metla/LUKE) and Prof Alpo Ranta-Maunus (VTT). I have never worked in VTT, but I spent three fantastic years (1995-1998) in Otaniemi (VTT, TKK Wood Science and engineering school) studying in and working with real wood experts like Senior researchers & engineers Antti Nurmi, Veikko Tarvainen, Holger Forsen and Antti Hukka. As a young researcher I very much enjoyed stimulating discussions with leading wood experts at that time. It is my privilege to share historical information and knowhow obtained from fantastic 20th century experts with younger experts working now in wood business.

This bio was written for inclusion with the September 2026 IRG Newsletter.