Up to 500 delegates from around the world are expected to attend the Auckland event on July 15-19.

The event is aimed at engineers, architects, researchers and engineered timber manufacturers and jointly hosted by New Zealand and Australia.

Keynote speakers include Robert Malczyk of Vancouver-based design firm Equilibrium Consulting Inc which has pioneered timber technologies in British Columbia.

Naota Ando, of the University of Toyko’s timber engineering and construction department and current chairman of Japan’s Lumber Export Association, will also make a presentation. The development of "timber plastics" is one area of his research.

Cross-laminated timber is expected to be a major area of interest at the conference.