Franco Bulian – born in Udine in 1960, married and father of two sons – is the new chief director of Catas, one of the most important European testing laboratories for the wood and furniture industry, which carries out more than 50,000 tests a year at its sites in San Giovanni al Natisone (Udine) and Lissone (Monza Brianza).

Bulian joined Catas’ chemical department in 1987 and a few years later took on the role of deputy director as well as marketing director. He is also a contract professor in the “Materials and Technologies of the Furniture Industry” course at the University of Trieste and the author of numerous books and technical publications.

His long commitment to Catas has made him an active part of the company’s overall activities and an important protagonist of its positive development.

“I am really proud to complete my journey in Catas with this new and prestigious challenge,” he commented. “I would like to thank the Board of Directors and the President Lucia Cristina Piu for their trust and I am sure that together with all the excellent people of Catas, their enthusiasm, passion and skills, we will be able to achieve new and ambitious goals, with the renewed aim of contributing to the improvement of the safety and performance of the products of this important industrial sector.”

Bulian thus takes the place of Andrea Giavon, who is leaving the Institute to enjoy a new phase in his life. Giavon received the thanks of the Board of Directors and all employees and staff of the Institute for the tremendous contribution he has made to the growth of Catas, where he joined at a very young age in 1984. To welcome Giavon, the staff and collaborators of Catas collected a sum of money that, at the request of the outgoing director, was donated to the Hospital of Santa Maria della Misericordia in Udine for “Covid-19” emergencies.