To promote the sustainable use of timber in construction, Jigme Namgyel Engineering College launched a 10-week Certificate Course in Timber Engineering on February 17, 2025. The course was designed to equip engineering professionals with a comprehensive understanding of key principles in timber engineering. The course was taught by distinguished professors — Prof. DI Michael Flach, Prof. DI Dr. techn. Anton Kraler, and Prof. DI Dr. techn. Maderebner Roland — from the Institute for Construction and Material Sciences, Unit of Timber Engineering, University of Innsbruck, Austria.
The course successfully concluded on April 30, 2025, marked by the inauguration of a Smart Timber Grid Shed constructed by the course participants as a part of their practical training. Additionally, Prof. Henrik Davidsson and Ms. Marziyeh Taghizadeh from Lund University, Sweden, delivered more than 20 hours guest lectures focusing on energy efficiency in buildings, further enriching the participants’ learning experience.
Smart Timber Grids are spatial structures bearing loads in two directions. On the contrary to simple beams orientated in a single direction, the timber grid is a “redundant system” where crossed layers of beams are interconnected to allow the stronger sections to support the weaker sections in case of local failure. The individual weakness is compensated by a group effect of interconnected beams, so that the system only fails as a group, ensuring higher bearing capacities with medium strength values and not because of the weakest values of a single peace. Nature uses systematically the “redundancy” to strengthen the group capacities by interconnections and symbiosis, social and health systems use it to protect the weakest members by the stronger members of a social group.
