2023 Annual Conference

Ben Brungraber

Fire Tower Engineered Timber, Founder

Ben Brungraber, Ph.D., P.E., holds a Master of Science from Colorado State in Timber Structures and a Ph.D. in Mortise and Tenon Joinery from Stanford University. In his early years, Ben worked in the construction industry after acquiring his civil engineering degree from Cornell. His jobs included inspecting the concrete used in the Washington, DC, subway, and helping American Bridge build steel high-rise structures, long-span bridges, and steel mills. Tired of the bureaucracy involved with massive projects, he accepted an offer to teach at Colorado State, where his final project was a panelized and prefabricated timber-covered bridge.

Ready to take his show on the road, Ben was hired as lead engineer for a New York firm that designed log homes and manufactured housing. There he became a part of the revival of timber framing in North America, a passion that he took to his next post teaching at Bucknell, then later as a fellowship recipient at Stanford University. During his next three years as a teacher and Ph.D. candidate, he learned the niceties of surveying, design, and construction management.

With degree and two new sons in tow, Ben headed for the East Coast, where two years of teaching at the University of Connecticut finally got the professor bug out of his system; he dived into the business world as head engineer at Benson Woodworking Co, where he was able to help elevate engineering standards within the fledging timber framing industry. During his twenty years with Benson, Ben oversaw the engineering of more than $100 million in timber frame construction, and served on the Board of Directors for the Timber Frame Guild of North America.

Recognizing the time was ripe to start his own venture, Ben reconnected with his former student and colleague, Mack Magee, and started Fire Tower, which quickly evolved into one of the timber frame industry’s most ambitious and respected design and engineering firms.

ftet.com

Presentation

Mass Timber: Problem or Solution?
This panel session is not meant to be for or against "Mass Timber", but more about public awareness of the difference between natural timber and manufactured timber framing, impact on natural resources, traditional timber framers, and the Timber Framers Guild. Attendees will learn more about the meaning of mass timber, its history, the difference between "natural" timber and mass timber, and the difference between shop cut and manufactured timber buildings.

The Forces at Work in a Truss
Join us for a panel discussion and Q&A centered on a working understanding of trusses, why it is important for a timber framer to have that understanding, and how these lessons can be applied to understanding other structural components. The panel will be made up of working timber framers and timber frame engineers.