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Hello Mass Timber Community,
Spring is in full swing, and so is our mass timber momentum! March was a busy month, highlighted by the very multi-faceted International Mass Timber Conference experience in Portland, Oregon, where we were so pleased to facilitate connections among our Michigan delegation and a broader Great Lakes mass timber contingent. MSU faculty and students were especially well represented this year — check out the highlights below.
Now we’re looking ahead to more opportunities to connect, engage, and learn with the mass timber community. In May, George Berghorn and I are in Finland, where we’ll speak at an international wood building construction conference in Helsinki, sharing how we’re advancing mass timber in the U.S., especially right here in Michigan and the Great Lakes Region. I’ll also be joining several panels focused on similar topics, and we’d love for you to join the conversation.
As always, let me know how we can support your mass timber success!
Sandra Lupien
Director, MassTimber@MSU
lupiensa@msu.edu
| | 2025 International Mass Timber Conference Highlights | | | |
George Berghorn Spoke on Mass Timber University Education Panel
MassTimber@MSU's George Berghorn was a panelist on the Mass Timber University Education: Presentation & Networking Lunch. More specifically, George presented "Competency-Based Models for Mass Timber Education for Students and Faculty in AEC-Related Programs."
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MassTimber@MSU Hosts Michigan Welcome Reception
We hosted our annual Michigan Welcome Reception at the conference, with ~60 Michiganders and 40 or so special industry guests. Mass timber projects across the state were on display while folks enjoyed light bites and drinks, thanks to our reception sponsors: Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights and Element5 | HASSLACHER.
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Mass Timber Building and Facility Tours
During the conference, Sandra joined a tour around Willamette Valley, just south of Portland, on her first day to see some inspiring mass timber structures, including a CLT home.
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Stop #1 | Chemeketa Community College Agriculture Complex
Academic facility made with Mass Plywood Panels (MPP), Glulam, and veneer-based CLT.
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Stop #2 | The Məxiɫp Home
Mass timber home, made of cross-laminated timber.
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Stop #3 | Mass Ply Storage Warehouse
Freres Wood's mass timber warehouse made entirely out of Mass Ply Panels (MPP).
| | Highlights from the Exhibit Hall | | Calista and Sandra posing with Beni the Llama at the conference. Beni is a rescue and is now a part of a therapy herd. He lives on a farm not far from the Portland International Airport. | | “The Cambium Campfire Coil” Art Exhibit. Team: Sterling Structural, Cambium, RIOS Architecture, and Minimal Impact Engineering. | Left to right: Brian Brashaw (USDA-FS), Annie Perkins (SFI), Michaela Harms (Sterling Structural), and Sandra Lupien (MassTimber@MSU). | Calista Rockwell, MassTimber@MSU Outreach Coordinator & MI Healthy Climate Corp Member. | |
Student Posters at the Conference
Several MSU Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Management students displayed their mass timber-focused research posters in the conference’s massive exhibit hall.
| | From left to right: Olivia Palm (Environmental Engineering), Emily Schoepke (Civil Engineering - Structural Engineering Focus), and Cade Person (Civil and Environmental Engineering). | | Sai Lingannapeta, left, (MS in Construction Management, next to George Berghorn (right). | | Cade Person (left) and Emily Schoepke (right) next to their poster presentation. | | | |
Great Lakes Mass Timber Collaborative Meeting
At the end of the conference, MassTimber@MSU and Bedrock hosted a Great Lakes Mass Timber Collaborative meeting to share progress on the Great Lakes Mass Timber playbook/action plan and invite registrants to provide feedback on the draft and/or how to become involved in the Collaborative.
If you are in MN, WI, IL, IN, MI, OH, PA, or NY and would like to get involved, email lupiensa@msu.edu.
| | Upcoming Talks, Webinars, and More | | Nominations Open for the 9th American Forest Congress | | |
We are excited to share Sandra's participation in the 9th American Forest Congress on July 15–18, 2025, at the Omni Shoreham in Washington, D.C. Sandra has joined the Steering Committee and is a member of the Forest Products workgroup.
This year’s theme, Healthy Forests and Thriving Communities, focuses on co-creating solutions to the unprecedented challenges facing our forests and communities. Over 500 forestry professionals, community leaders, policy makers, and cross-sector partners will join and work together to build a new stewardship ethic for America’s forests and communities.
The Congress's success depends on voices and expertise from a broad range of sectors, backgrounds, geographies, and generations. To add yours, nominate yourself or a colleague.
| | | Timber, Tech, and Talent: Crafting KRESA’s Educational Hub | | Thanks to the Michigan Green Building Collaborative for inviting MassTimber@MSU to collaborate on this series, which will highlight four mass timber projects across Michigan. The next webinar is on May 1, covering the KRESA Career Connect Campus in Kalamazoo. | | 2025 Building Michigan Communities Conference | | Calista Rockwell, Outreach Coordinator and MI Healthy Climate Corp Member, is speaking at the 2025 Building Michigan Communities Conference in Lansing on May 14-15. Calista joins the "Decarbonizing Michigan's Rental Housing - Strategies for Success" panel alongside Matt Hollander of Edison Community Partners and Lindsey Elton of EcoAchievers. | | | Expanding Mass Timber in the U.S. Midwest: Michigan and the Great Lakes Region | | Sandra Lupien and George Berghorn will be in Finland next month and are speaking at the WoodBuild seminar in Helsinki, presenting “Expanding Mass Timber in the U.S. Midwest: Michigan and the Great Lakes Region.”The two-day international seminar focuses on wooden construction and architecture, with side events organized around the region surrounding the capital of Finland. The conference coincides with a multi-state wood building trade and study mission led by Business Finland, in which George and Sandra will be participating alongside several other mass timber leaders from Michigan. | | | Exploring Mass Timber for Community Development | | On May 29, CEDAM is hosting a webinar on the growing role of mass timber in community-driven development across the state, the Great Lakes region, and beyond. Sandra Lupien is moderating a discussion between panelists Matt Hollander (Edison Community Partners), and Jon Stimson (Homestretch Nonprofit Housing Corp). | | | MassTimber@MSU is a collaboration among the Michigan State University Department of Forestry; Extension; and the School of Planning Design and Construction, all housed within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Supported by funding from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. | | | | |
