Managing Mass Timber: From Forest to Future

Two professors are addressing the wood education gap with “Managing Mass Timber: From Forest to Future,” an interactive 500-square-foot traveling exhibit designed to provide both students and faculty access and insight into every aspect of mass timber construction.

During the Fall 2024 semester, the exhibit traveled to five leading engineering, architecture, and construction management schools across the Northeast and Great Lakes regions during the Fall 2024 semester. The exhibit kicked off with a two-week stop at Kent State University (KSU), where the exhibition was developed by mass timber experts and KSU construction management faculty Dr. Anthony Mirando and Dr. Lameck Onsarigo.

The exhibit addresses every aspect of the mass timber supply chain—from sustainable forest management, to fabrication, to how it all comes together on-site as a prefabricated kit of parts—to demonstrate how it compares to alternative materials. This approach both deepens foundational knowledge and fuels an interest to learn more. Students seized the opportunity to explore a gallery of mass timber product samples, connection mock-ups, assemblies, and data, providing a hands-on learning opportunity to expand their experience and guide learning and projects into the future.

The exhibit remained at SU for two weeks, installed prominently in the Link Hall Engineering Building lobby, where students and faculty from both SU and the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry explored mass timber products, systems, and their connection to the forest. Students gained hands-on experience with mass timber building materials, including CLT and glulam as well as dowel-laminated timber, nail-laminated timber, and connections and assemblies used in mid- and high-rise construction projects. 

As SU’s programs focus on training engineering students to design and build more sustainably and resiliently, “Managing Mass Timber: From Forest to Future” provided a realistic and complete examination of an alternative building material that can help students approach real challenges in their academic and professional careers. Reflecting on the exhibit, Yilei Shi, Associate Professor and Undergraduate Civil Engineering Program Director at SU, remarked, “we were thrilled to host the exhibition on the construction management aspects of the mass timber building industry, and to highlight the benefits of mass timber as a sustainable construction material.” Shi added: “this state-of-the-art exhibition and lecture can help bring our students up to speed and get them ready for the next generation’s AEC industry.”

Following the impactful installations at Kent State and Syracuse University, the 500-square-foot exhibit traveled to the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 3 Conference at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago; Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh; and concluded at the national NOMA Conference in Baltimore. Across all five stops, it engaged more than 1,200 students and 50 faculty, showcasing the benefits and applications of mass timber. 

The exhibit will return in Fall 2025, visiting four new campuses and conferences in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions.

To learn more or inquire about bringing the exhibit to your school, contact education@thinkwood.com.