SFPE Announces Program and Speakers for Upcoming Engineering Solutions Symposium on Mass Timber
August 24-25, 2023, in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
June 16, 2023: GAITHERSBURG, Maryland – The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), the world’s leading professional society for fire protection and fire safety engineering, invites fire protection engineering professionals to the SFPE Engineering Solutions Symposium on Mass Timber on August 24-25, 2023, in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
This SFPE symposium will provide engineering solutions on the topics of fire protection with new high-performance mass timber products, construction with encapsulated mass timber, competency needs for the fire-safe design of tall timber buildings, job site safety, and much more.
The symposium will include a site visit to One Young Street in Kitchener, Ontario, the first modern building in the Waterloo region featuring a mass timber structural system. The symposium will also highlight perspectives from the insurance industry and building officials, new research, case studies, panel discussions, ongoing fire tests, academic connectivity, and future research needs, with speakers as follows:
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- Understanding Competency Needs for the Fire Safe Design of Tall Timber Buildings, by Jose Luis Torero, PhD, CEng, FSFPE, University College London
- Next-Generation Wood Construction – A Comprehensive Mass Timber Research Program, by Prof Ying Hei Chui, PhD, P.Eng, FCAE, University of Alberta
- Mass Timber Construction and Regulatory Risk, by Kieran Ager, MSc, P.Eng, CP, CEng, PMSFPE, CFPS; LMDG
- Encapsulated Mass Timber: A New Construction Type for the 2020 NBC; Marc Alam, PhD, E.I.T., Canadian Wood Council
- Case Studies, Lessons Learned, and Regulatory Process, by Jack Keays, Vortex Fire
- Mass Timber Construction Fire Safety, by Raymond O’Brocki, American Wood Council
Insurance Perspective, by Neil Chaudhuri, P.Eng., FM Global
- Mass Timber Construction – Perspective of a Fire Official, by Rick Cheung, P.Eng., CP, FEC, Vancouver Fire Rescue Services
- Mass Timber Buildings and the 2021 International Building Code, by John "Buddy" Showalter, PE, International Code Council
- Towards Reduced Research Gaps for Mass Timber Fire Engineering Solutions, by Felix Wiesner, PhD, MEng, University of British Columbia
- Fire Dynamics and Testing, by Beth Weckman, PhD, University of Waterloo
- Large Scale Fire Tests, by Joseph Su, PhD, National Research Council of Canada
- Fire Research Needs for Mass Timber Construction, by Steven Craft, PhD, P.Eng., CHM Fire Consultants
- Plus, two panel discussions on the role of building officials and industry-to-academic connectivity
The symposium has limited capacity and is expected to sell out. Early-bird registration discounts are available through July 20. To learn more or to register for the SFPE Engineering Solutions Symposium on Mass Timber, visit www.sfpe.org/timbersymposium today.
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About SFPE:
Engineering a fire-safe world since 1950. Headquartered near Washington, DC, and in Brussels, BE, the Society of Fire Protection Engineers is the world’s leading professional society for fire protection and fire safety engineering. Learn more at sfpe.org.
SFPE media contact:
Kevin Mlutkowski
Director, Community Engagement, Marketing, and Communications
Society of Fire Protection Engineers
kmlutkowski@sfpe.org