Senior technologist Rosie Sargent started as a scientist with Scion (now part of the Bioeconomy Science Institute) 25 years ago, when it was the Forestry Research Institute. She’s led various projects for nine years and became a senior technologist in 2020.
Her work is centred on processing wood, mainly drying and modification. On any given day, she could be reading literature, figuring out logistics for a processing trial, analysing data, or driving the forklift and stacking timber.
Sargent has always been interested in science and holds an engineering degree from Canterbury University. She said her current role offers a good mix of curiosity and discovery in science, along with the practical side of working with equipment and machinery.
She also worked over the 2020/21 summer at Carter Holt Harvey Tissue (now Essity) in Kawerau, helping improve the pulp mill's operations.
Currently, Sargent has been helping some commercial clients scale up a new process from the lab scale to the sawmill.
“It’s exciting. We’ve been helping them find the best processing conditions and monitor the process to make sure it’s working the way they want,” said Sargent.
She and her team have also commissioned a new control system for kilns in the timber drying lab. This will provide more functionality and update the control system used in most New Zealand and Australian sawmills.
“Part of my job is to help sawmills better manage their drying processes, so being familiar with the latest control software is an important part of that.
Working with mills has given Sargent memorable career moments. She said that setting up and running a mill trial is a real achievement.
“You have a process that works on a smaller scale, then you are asking a whole mill full of people to stop what they’re doing and try your new process. It takes a huge amount of planning, but seeing something new working on an industrial scale is really exciting.”
Outside the lab, Sargent enjoys mountain biking, tramping, a bit of trail running and other adventures with her partner. She also enjoys making things.
“I have three sewing machines, plus a workshop with metalworking and basic woodworking tools. I do enjoy gardening, but it gets neglected at the bottom of the list of hobbies. Mostly, I grow hops, which I brew into one or two batches of IPA each year to enjoy with friends.”
Looking ahead, 2026 will bring plenty of challenges for Sargent and her team as they plan to start a project processing redwood timber. More and more redwood is being grown in New Zealand, and in 15 to 20 years, there’ll be enough being harvested to justify a purpose-built redwood sawmill.
“For this to happen, we need to start learning more about what products we can make from different parts of the redwood tree, and to understand how best to process them.”
Sargent recently ran a two-day timber-drying course for staff from Windsor Engineering and Automation & Electronics (A&E). The feedback was excellent, and she also hoped to run further courses.
“People love the look and feel of wood. Sometimes people want to look at or touch my research samples. I’m not sure that would happen if I were working with concrete or steel.”
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