Last month, five members of the APA technical staff presented papers at the 9th World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE), held this year in Portland, Oregon. This five-day conference featured over 300 presentations by wood industry professionals and was a great opportunity to discuss and learn about the latest technological advances, research and design in timber engineering.

The conference included a diverse group of 525 delegates representing 45 countries. APA and its member companies were well represented at this conference. APA’s technical staff members presented papers on topics ranging from adhesive performance to the history and performance of wall bracing. Their presentations, which will be available for you to download, revealed new information on the latest research and tests performed on engineered wood products.

Look for presentation summaries on the following topics to be posted on the blog soon. These blog entries will include downloadable PDFs of the full presentations. We encourage your comments and questions.

• Adhesive Performance at Elevated Temperatures, posted 9/8/06 
• The Evolution of Lateral Load Design in Residential Construction, posted 9/18/06 
• Nail Withdrawal and Pull-Through Strength of Structural-Use Panels, posted 9/20/06 
• Fire Performance of Fiber Reinforced Polymer Glued Laminated Timber, posted 9/27/06 
• Development of Narrow Wall Bracing and Effects of Boundary Conditions, posted 10/5/06