UNBC engineering professor Thomas Tannert will be joining a group of elite scholars, as the newest Canada Research Chair.
Tannert teaches in the master of engineering in integrated wood design program and will be the new chair in hybrid wood structures engineering. Since 2000, the Canada Research Chairs program has been a federal initiative aimed at attracting and retaining top scholars in engineering and the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities and social sciences. Postsecondary institutions like UNBC are allowed to nominate researchers to fill their allocation of Canada Research Chairs.
"This new chair will strengthen research excellence in our wood engineering program and enable UNBC to attract more outstanding students and post-doctoral research fellows," said UNBC president Daniel Weeks. "The Canada Research Chairs Program recognizes the exceptional work Dr. Tannert is undertaking to create local solutions with global impact."
Dr. Tannert's work has sought to identify challenges and provide solutions to the structural design of tall wood buildings. His research explores several facets of engineering, such as seismic performance, the ease of constructability and wood connections.
"This area of research is at the centre of an international movement to put more of an emphasis on wood construction," Tannert said.
"Discovering innovative ways to use wood is an ideal solution to the challenge of reducing the carbon footprint of buildings."
Tannert's research will be based in the Wood Innovation Research Laboratory, currently under construction in downtown Prince George.
Tannert worked previously as the associate chair in wood building and design construction at UBC. Originally from Germany, he moved to Canada in 2003. He is one of six current UNBC faculty members who hold Canada Research Chairs.
