Oregon State University graduate student Kyle Sullivan has a natural curiosity for innovation. It’s a key personality trait which appealed to DCI Engineers and HDG Architecture when it came to selecting a winner for the 2015 European Scholarship, a program sponsored by both firms. DCI and HDG proudly offered this annual scholarship again for a college student studying structural or construction engineering, architecture, or interior design to experience Europe’s history of design and modern day industry practices.

Kyle will be traveling to Amsterdam, Prague, and Berlin this summer for 21 days to blog about his encounters and perspectives of each city’s architecture and structural sites. The trip will be a tangible means for him to appreciate the craft of built environments in countries he has never visited.

He is researching cross laminated timber (CLT) for his master thesis, particularly for its seismic performance, sustainability, and building efficiencies. CLT is an engineered wood product first developed in Germany and Austria during the 1990s and commonly used for constructing low to mid-rise buildings in European countries. This trip will bring him closer to recently constructed CLT buildings which can be built taller than traditional wood-framed buildings.

“Europe is about a decade ahead of us in terms of the use and development of cross laminated timber,” Kyle said.

“Canada is actually ahead of us as well. I might even venture to say they have more programs and more emphasis on engineered wood product research than we do.”

While on his trip, Kyle intends to learn more about the material and its new applications, as well as make connections with manufacturing or engineering experts. He considers CLT relevant to the Pacific Northwest and western Canada because of the area’s recognized natural resources and established forest industry.

Bookmark DCI’s travel blog page and watch for Kyle’s blog posts this June. You can vicariously experience Europe through the eyes of a budding structural engineer!