SFPE Announces Program and Speakers for Upcoming Engineering Solutions Symposium on Mass Timber

June 16, 2023

The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), a world-leading professional society for fire protection and fire safety engineering, invites fire protection engineering professionals to the SFPE Engineering Solutions Symposium on Mass Timber, 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:

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

This SFPE Engineering Solutions Symposium is made possible with the support of Conspec Controls, LMDG, The Pontem Group, and Senez Consulting; a limited number of sponsorships and exhibit opportunities are still available.

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.