By Heather Hintze

EUGENE, Ore.--  Last spring, a large oak tree fell during a storm.  It fell on the University of Oregon Provost's car.

The Sustainability Department asked the Product Design class to transform the tree into furniture for Johnson Hall.

On Monday, a handful of students came out to get a first-hand look at what it takes to transform raw materials. "It's great to see how everything is working and how we're going to take this material and turn it into something. See it from the beginning product to the end," says UO Senior, Tyler Grossman.

Pony Boy Gilbert from Long Tom's Custom Saw Mill came out to do the cutting.  "It's old fashioned logging, it's old fashioned sawyering. They're very heavy pieces of material," says Gilbert.

Gilbert says reusing the tree is a great way to teach students about using sustainable resources, "We're going to put their hands on the material to show them where it comes from and that it can literally come from their own back yard."