The ARC Future Timber Hub is pleased to advise that from the week commencing 8 February to 12 February it will be showcasing its research and partners facilities through a series of lunchtime webinars being held at 12pm to 1:15pm AEST. Further details on each webinar presentation and how to register will be soon listed on futuretimberhub.org. In the meantime, please register your interest by clicking here.
The ARC Future Timber Hub project "Impact of continuous drying on key production and performance criteria of engineered wood structural elements", led by Dr Chandan Kumar is currently completing a large scale trial with the Forest Product Innovation team at Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to investigate the impact of continuous drying kiln (CDK) technology on various quality parameters of Australian Southern Pine timber.
In 2020 the ARC Future Timber Hub (FTH) commissioned the Australian Institute for Business and Economics (AIBE), to undertake an analysis of the potential economic, environmental and social impacts of four of our current marquee ARC FTH research projects. AIBE engaged Tulipwood Economics to assist with the preparation of the report. The conclusion of this report emphasises the need for, and opportunities in, continuing engineered timber focused, industry relevant research projects that specifically target resolution of performance gaps and development of commercially viable, safe and sustainable timber-based solutions.
This webinar held on 9 December 2020 covered significant opportunities within the current timber supply chain to utilise our natural timber resource in a more efficient, and valuable, way. Researchers from The University of Queensland and ARC Future Timber Hub presented new computational design approaches for resource-adaptive timber construction, and designer-led development of resource-efficient building products and systems.
The ARC Future Timber Hub is very proud of Harry Mills, ARC Future Timber Hub PhD student at The University of Queensland, who's Gottstein project: "Underutilised Timber (UUT) Acceptance through North America and Europe" has featured as cover story of the Timber & Forestry Enews, issue 634.
In 2019 Harry was awarded the Gottsten Fellowship. The fellowship enabled Harry to travel to leading areas of timber manufacturing and design in the Northern Hemisphere, where he was able to meet with professionals from forestry and manufacturing, design, research and education. The grant was used on Harry's project 'The Potential for Underutilised Timber in the Built Environment' and enabled him to investigate and bring back new ideas, learnings and insights which he developed into this report.
The University of Queensland (UQ) held a free Leaders of Influence Webinar on 25 November 2020: 'Assessing fire safety of timber - a 21st century building material'. Hosted by the UQ's School of Civil Engineering, the webinar showcased the state of the art fire safety research of timber products, unravelled some myths about the fire performance of wood products and discussed the challenges arising from building with timber. This webinar featured UQ’s Dr Felix Wiesner, who has been involved in large scale timber fire research in multiple countries.
To view recording click here.
The Queensland Government Department of Agriculture & Fisheries (DAF) scientists working with the Future Timber Hub, at the DAF Salisbury Research Facility, are highlighted in the article "New mass-panel product research aims to optimise connection design, performance" on page 8 of the latest edition of Timber & Forestry Enews, Issue 633. DAF scientists are currently involved in three areas of research within the Future Timber Hub – optimising wood-based, mass-panels for Australian building systems; the impact of continuous drying on engineered wood; and the structural behaviour of reinforced timber composite products.
See Hub Projects:
In 2019, Harry Mills, ARC Future Timber Hub funded PhD student at UQ, was awarded a Gottstein Fellowship. The fellowship enabled Harry to travel to leading areas of timber manufacturing and design in the Northern Hemisphere, where he was able to meet with professionals from forestry and manufacturing, design, research and education. The grant was used on Harry's project 'The Potential for Underutilised Timber in the Built Environment' and enabled him to investigate and bring back new ideas, learnings and insights which he has developed into a report. This Gottstein Fellowship Report by Harry Mills, on Underutilised Timber (UUT) Acceptance through North America and Europe, covers the findings from this research project.
The 6th CLT large-scale fire test for the Future Timber Hub Project "Exploring the self-extinguishment mechanism of engineered timber in full-scale compartment fires" was live streamed on the morning of Thursday 15th October at the QFES Live Fire Training facilities in Whyte Island. The test involved a compartment with two exposed CLT surfaces and a wood crib as fuel load.
The Suspended Remnants - Timber Pavilion, which received a prestigious Good Design Award Gold Accolade in the Engineering Design category of the 2020 Good Design Awards has made front cover in the Timber Forestry Enews - 17 September 2020 issue 626.
This issue also highlights the Future Timber Hub in an article, pg5, showcasing the work done by the Salisbury Research Facility team, "CLT panels project further strengthens confidence in mass timber construction”.
The winners of Australia’s peak international design awards – the highest honour for design and innovation in the country were announced on the 9 September 2020 during the 2020 Good Design Week.
The Suspended Remnants - Timber Pavilion, which is a structure created from a collaboration between two ARC Future Timber Hub Projects, Alternative uses for under-valued sawmill products in innovative timber structures and Prefabrication and digital fabrication strategies for large-scale timber construction, received a prestigious Good Design Award Gold Accolade in the Engineering Design category in recognition for outstanding design and innovation.
Future Timber Hub Chief Investigators, Dr Joe Gattas & Kim Baber, showcase the University of Queensland's School of Civil Engineering & School of Architecture in this UQ film "Can my walls talk?". The fillm has had over 12,000 views since its launch in early August. It demonstrates how The University of Queensland is at the forefront of two Future Timber Hub Projects that aim to reduce wastage and emissions in the timber industry, while adding value, knowledge and character at the same time. These Hub projects are:
Alternative uses for under-valued sawmill products in innovative timber structures
ARC Future Timber Hub Chief investigator, Dr Juan Hidalgo, was guest speaker at this Mass Timber Webinar held on 3 Sept 2020 organised by IFE Australia.
Dr Hidalgo's presentation provided an overview of critical research questions that need to be addressed for enabling a fire safety design framework for timber buildings. Highlights from the research developed by The University of Queensland within the ARC Future Timber Hub will be presented. See Hub Project: Exploring the self-extinguishment mechanism of engineered timber in full-scale compartment fires
Research projects and future pathways at the ARC Future Timber Hub were highlighted in the Timber Forestry Enews - 23 July 2020 issue, pg 3.
This issues cover story also highlights the Salisbury Research Facility "Welcome to Wood World: A 'Theme Park' for Research". Project Investigator, Rob McGavin, cover photo - middle, leads the Future Timber Hub Project "The optimisation of wood-based mass-panels for Australian building systems".
The latest large-scale CLT compartment fire test for the Future Timber Hub Project “Exploring the self-extinguishment mechanism of engineered timber in full-scale compartment fires” has been showcased on the ARC Research Highlights. There will be more large-scale compartment fire tests later this year!
The Suspended Remnants - Timber Pavilion, which is part of the Future Timber Hub Research Project "Alternative uses for under-valued sawmill products in innovative timber structures" has been entered into the 2020 Good Design Awards. Thank you to our research collaborators, Swinburne University of Technology (special mention to Canhui Chen), who submitted the entry with The University of Queensland.
On the 22 June 2020 a group of delegates from the ARC Future Timber Hub, which included delegates from The University of Queensland, Griffith University, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) and Hyne Timber were showcased the timber construction of the Monterey Apartments building site at Kangaroo Point, Brisbane, Australia. Simon Betteridge and members of the team at the Gardner Vaughan Group hosted the tour which highlighted the key drives and learnings for this market leading project.
Dr Joe Gattas, Chief Investigator from the Future Timber Hub, was interviewed by Channel Nine News, at The University of Queensland's Structures Laboratory, to showcase Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) which is being used to build the Monterey Apartments at Kangaroo Point in Brisbane, Australia. The news aired on Saturday, 6 June 2020 - Brisbane's 'Timber Tower'.
The CLT supplied for the project is from XLam, and the glulam supplied by Hyne Timber.
The Future Timber Hub are appreciative of Hyne Timber and Lendlease, who are both Future Timber Hub interdisciplinary partners, being involved in the ‘Building Greener Cities’ episode by ABC Catalyst.
The Future Timber Hub is proud of this 2019 TEDxUQ presentation by Carmen Gorska Putynska on "Self-extinguishing timber buildings: a climate change solution?".
Carmen is a Fire Safety Engineer, and recently finished her PhD at The University of Queensland. During her PhD studies she assisted on the Future Timber Hub Project "Exploring the self-extinguishment mechanism of engineered timber in full-scale compartment fires".
Please see news article from Timberbiz promoting our recent CLT fire test for the ARC Future Timber Hub project "Exploring the self-extinguishment mechanism of engineered timber in full-scale compartment fires".
