UNBC’s Wood Innovation Research Laboratory will be receiving nearly $800,000 on behalf of the federal government.

The funding will come from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and will allow researchers to discover new ways to use wood for the design and construction of buildings.

Canada Research Chair in Hybrid Wood Structures Engineering Dr. Thomas Tannert will largely benefit from the investment as it will allow him and his team to access new equipment.  

“Researchers in the Master of Engineering program are discovering innovative, creative and high-tech solutions for using wood in the construction of new buildings and soon they will be able to test their ideas in the state-of-the-art new lab,” says UNBC President Dr. Daniel Weeks.

Tannert is an expert in hybrid design and is studying how wood can be combined with other construction materials to create designs.

"This goal is to develop next-generation high-performance wood and wood-hybrid structural elements, joints, components and systems,” Tannert says.

“The infrastructure will enable conceptual, experimental, numerical and analytical research regarding the development of novel wood-based hybrid connections, components and systems for structural applications in tall residential and non-residential buildings."

The equipment will be arriving at the lab over the course of 2018.

Visit the UNBC website for more information.