After extensive development work in an interdisciplinary team, we were excited to unveil our Guideline for Reusing Structural Steel and Timber Elements at the symposium “Less Träsh,” organized by the Ministry for Regional Development and Housing. In collaboration with KIT and the Technische Universität München (TUM), this guideline aims to provide actionable steps for reusing structural building components, helping to conserve resources in construction.
The key takeaway from our results is clear: the reuse of structural elements from steel and timber is not only feasible but can also be aligned with regulatory standards. In other words, it’s time for the building sector to roll up our sleeves and take action!

Congratulations to Sven Teichmann on being awarded the Professor-Blaß-University-Prize 2024 for his master's thesis. Under the title ‘Brittle failure modes in timber connections with laterally loaded fasteners - A comparison of design proposals’, the work highlights the design model for brittle failure modes in connections. The results of the work have a direct influence on the revision of Eurocode 5. Presenter Andreas Hettich emphasised the outstanding scientific depth and practical relevance of the work. The prize was awarded for the first time and is sponsored by the association of tool manufacturers for timber screws.

From 25-29 August, the 11th meeting of the International Network on Timber Engineering Research (INTER 2024), chaired by Prof. Dietsch, took place at Università degli Studi di Padova. Over the course of four enriching days, 75 dedicated scientists from 18 countries and 4 continents came together to present, analyse and discuss 24 high-quality papers.

We are pleased to announce that our colleague Alexander Weese has been awarded the "Freunde der Versuchsanstalt für Stahl, Holz und Steine e.V." 2024 sponsorship prize for his master's thesis entitled "Extension of Beam-on-Foundation models for timber connections subjected to earthquake loading". The association promotes science and research at the KIT Research Centre for Steel, Timber and Masonry. This award recognises Mr Weese's work in the field of FE modelling of dowel-type fasteners.

Congratulations to Michael Steilner! Michael Steilner was awarded the NwT 2023 teaching prize for his course "Building Construction - Excercise". The award ceremony took place on June 10 as part of the NwT annual celebration. In their assessment, the students emphasized the practical and well-explained content and Michael Steilner's dedicated teaching style. The additional course hours offered for NwT students were particularly impressive.

Congratulations to Simon Aurand on Successfully Defending his Doctoral Thesis! Entitled "A contribution to friction in timber connections", Simon Aurand demonstrates how surface modification of steel or timber members significantly enhances load-carrying capacities of connections, especially with inclined screws.

We feel honored and grateful that our innovative hybrid timber-steel beams have been recognized as one of the awardees of this year's KIT Innovation Prize, presented at the NEULAND Innovation Competition. The innovation is described here: Hybrid Timber Structures

Modern adhesive technology now enables bonding steel profiles to timber beams without premature timber failure under significant bending loads. Our large-scale 4-point-bending tests show improvements in bending stiffness (up to 250%) and load-carrying capacity (up to 120%) compared to traditional glulam beams. These findings suggest competitive and resource-efficient solutions, particularly for multi-storey buildings requiring large floor spans. This paper provides simple engineering calculation models for reliable design of this innovative solution: doi.org/10.3390/ma17051164

KIT Timber Structures and Building Construction performed large-scale tests on earth-willow-wood hybrid ceiling components, as part of the WILLOW WEAVE project. The collaborative research project WILLOW WEAVE investigated digitally prefabricated earth-willow-wood hybrid ceiling components with the aim of expanding and diversifying the range of regrowing and recyclable building materials through digital design and fabrication methods. Click here for more info

50 years ago, the forefathers of timber structures and research met for the first meeting of CIB-W18. Since then, more than 1300 papers were presented and discussed in 56 meetings of CIB-W18, now INTER. These papers are the foundation of todays timber design & standards, the CIB Code being the basis for a draft ISO timber design code as well as the first Eurocode 5. Read more about the 50-year history here: PDF

During the annual celebration of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Prof. Dietsch was given the honour of being awarded the KIT Faculty Teaching Prize 2023, a prize that is awarded on the recommendation of KIT students. Video at youtube

A few weeks ago, Prof Dietsch had the opportunity to give his inaugural lecture as part of the symposium celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Research Institute for Steel, Timber and Masonry. "I put my heart and soul into this subject and therefore also into this lecture. I was all the more pleased about the positive feedback from the colleagues present and the numerous enquiries from colleagues who were unable to make it to our symposium. In order to fulfil the wishes of our esteemed colleagues, we have produced a video of this lecture, which is now available on YouTube." Video at youtube

Happy days and excellent exchange timber engineering research and standardisation at INTER 2022 in Bad Aibling. INTERaction between 75 recognised researchers, INTERest in 26 high-quality papers, INTERface between research and standardisation! Thanks to all authors for their contributions! And special thanks to our hosts Simon Aicher and Stefan Winter!

It was a great pleasure for us to present our results and innovations from the pan-European CLT project, InnoCrossLam, live to the wood community at the ForestValue Conference in the Sara Cultural Centre, Skelleftea. In this context, we were able to collect the most important future topics for solid wood construction from the experts present. Despite corona, our research group has really grown together and we look forward to continuing to work with these outstanding researchers.

Since this 25th edition, Prof. Dietsch has had the honour of being responsible for Chapter 9 "Timber Construction" together with Prof. Colling. This chapter is only good for everyone involved if the 70 pages available provide you with the best possible information. Therefore, please let Prof Dietsch know if you notice any errors or ambiguities, which topics you would like to see covered in more detail, which content you think could be reduced and, in general, what other suggestions you have for improvement. Your feedback (LinkedIn or by e-mail) will help us to respond even more precisely to your needs in the next edition. Thank you!