Prof. Fei Benhua, doctoral supervisor and Executive Deputy Director General at the International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan (ICBR), China, is an influential scholar in the field of wood and bamboo materials science and technology. He received his doctoral degree in wood science and technology from the Chinese Academy of Forestry in 1999 and joined its faculty afterwards. In 2001, he worked at the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Japan as a visiting scholar. He served as Director General of Beijing Forestry Machinery Research Institute, State Forestry Administration, China, from 2005-2009, then as Deputy Director General of ICBR from 2009-2013. Since February 2013, he has been serving as Professor, Doctoral Supervisor and Executive Deputy Director General at ICBR. He is also Vice President of Chinese Society of Forestry, Member of the Specialists Panel for “Construction Technology of Chinese Modern Wood Frame” under Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of China (MOHURD), Chairperson of ISO Technical Committee on Bamboo and Rattan (ISO/TC 296), IAWS Fellow, and SWST Member.

Dr. Fei has been long engaged in the education and research of wood and bamboo science and technology, with a focus on the structure of bamboo cell wall and bamboo and wood-based structural materials. He has headed more than 10 national research projects to satisfactory completion, including projects of the National Science and Technology Support Program, National High-Tech Research & Development Program and National Natural Science Fund, and won one first prize and three second prizes of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, and three first prizes of Liang Xi Forestry Science and Technology Award. Over the years, Dr. Fei has obtained 20 national invention patents and 34 patents of utility model, published over 300 academic papers, including 110 SCI papers, authored over 10 monographs, including Characterization and Application of Mechanical Properties of Wood Cell Wall, Materials Sciences in Timber Architecture, Wood Properties of the Global Important Tree Species, and Secondary Xylem Biology: Origins, Functions, and Applications, and supervised 43 postgraduate students.