Scientists at Mississippi State's Forest and Wildlife Research Center, in cooperation with the Weyerhaeuser Co., are expanding the distribution of a free software-training program for design and quality-control engineers in the furniture industry.

Developed at the university, the "ChoiceFrame" program models 13 different joints used throughout the industry, according to Bob Tackett, a university research assistant and one of the program's developers.

"A designer can experiment with joints by interchanging different materials or by changing the sizes of the material or fastener sizes and types," Tackett said.

The software is provided at no charge to furniture manufacturers following completion of a training seminar. With ChoiceFrame, a designer can create joint designs in minutes because the layouts already are set up in a Windows program