Addressing the knowledge gap

Edinburgh Napier University established the Centre for Timber Engineering (CTE) back in 2003 with significant support from the Forest Products Industry and local Scottish funding. This was recognition of the growing trend and potential for the construction industry, to utilise timber and wood products in an ever increasing way.

By 2012 the university had restructured and established a number of research institutes, covering various different disciplines. However, as chair of the Advisory Board of the Forest Products Research Institute (FPRI), I became very aware of the lack of bright undergraduates applying for postgraduate MSc learning opportunities, in timber and forest products courses that uniquely Edinburgh Napier University could offer. I headed up a small project team to launch a new initiative designed to develop and build a scholarship support programme in timber and forest products to be funded by organisations and companies within the timber related sector.

Among civil and structural engineers (as well as architects) in the UK there is limited knowledge of the current 'Timber Proposition' and so, by offering the opportunity for a one year Postgraduate MSc, specifically designed with this in mind, Edinburgh Napier is starting to address this knowledge gap.

Given how the whole certification protocols and process relating to domestic and internationally sourced timber supply chains has changed, the timber proposition is now very persuasive. Government policies today highlights renewables and sustainability, green building methods, offsite construction and the carbon economy and this is where timber scores.

The timber industry has embarked on new product development programmes bringing intriguingly new and exciting products to the market (LVL Glulam, MDF, OSB, CLT, I- Joists, modified wood etc.), hence it is essential that the specifiers of the future are as knowledgeable with the myriad of new excellent wood based products that are now available, as they are with concrete, steel, glass and masonry.

At undergraduate level in the UK, within the current four-year civil and structural engineering and architectural degree syllabuses, students today are currently given very little exposure or time to learn about timber products and their potential. This needs to be tackled.

However, by taking an extra year in Edinburgh to follow one of the industry funded MSc courses on offer - MSc Timber Engineering, MSc Advanced Structural Engineering and MSc Timber Industry Management - this knowledge gap can now be addressed through spending 12 months focussed on and understanding better what the forest products industry can provide.

With the continuing flow of spectacular and exemplary buildings, both large and small, featuring timber and wood product elements being seen in the UK there is a positive indication of the importance of timber and that its potential is beginning to be increasingly recognised.

As one of the main driving forces behind the scholarship programme, it is fantastic to see now that industry support has increased over the years from the initial student prizes and undergraduate scholarships, to 3 Master scholarships in 2013 - and now in 2014/15, ten active partnerships of MSc students & companies.