Professional Development

Certificate in Wood Design

From furniture to landscapes, the ability to understand and design our most basic of raw materials provides a competitive advantage over traditional craft and wood science programs. The Certificate in Wood Design offers students the opportunity to gain a fundamental understanding of the nature of trees and wood, and how specific biological aspects affect the design of wood structures. Each class within the certificate deals with a specific design principle, such as joinery or bending, and investigates the science behind the design and the effects different designs can have on structural integrity. This type of knowledge base is extremely useful for those in design fields, such as landscape architecture, wood scientists looking to understand the end uses of their research, engineers who design with wood, and woodworkers seeking to better understand their material. Numerous summer contact courses are available for those who wish to continue their education with a more hands-on approach.

Course Descriptions

Introduction to Forest Biology and Management (fall term)
This course introduces basic concepts of forest biology, sustainable forest management, and common forest measurements. Students will develop a fundamental understanding of tree growth and stand development, how to manipulate these processes to meet different management objectives, and how to use basic forest inventory data to guide forest management and planning. This course provides students with the skills and background they will need to develop an advanced understanding of forest biology, silvicultural systems, and ecologically-based forest management in later courses.

Pre-requisites: none

Required Text: TBA

Wood Anatomy and Properties (fall term)
This course serves as a basic introduction to the anatomy and properties of hardwood and softwood tree species, and their role in the modern world. Students will learn about wood macro and microanatomy, basic wood ID skills, wood strength properties, the interactions of wood and water, and wood composites. This course will give students the basic wood background necessary to continue their education in forestry, wood design, and/or wood science.

Pre-requisites: none

Required Text: Forest Products and Wood Science, an Introduction by Bowyer, Shmulsky, and Haygreen; Identifying Wood. Accurate Results with Simple Tools by R. Bruce Hoadley

Joinery and Construction (spring term)

This is a cross-disciplinary course meant to bridge the information gap in wood design and technology between artists, designers, architects, engineers, and scientists. This course will focus specifically on joinery techniques both on the small scale (furniture) through large scale (construction). Throughout the course, students will gain an understanding of the importance of joinery in design of wooden structures in terms of strength properties, decay resistance, aesthetics, art, and cultural importance. The historic role of joinery from both an eastern and western perspective will be addressed. This course will culminate with a design project in which the knowledge gained, combined with the unique background of each student, will be applied to a final project. This course should prepare students to design and/or build structures that integrate sustainable building techniques with modern construction practices.

Pre-requisites: Introduction to Forest Biology and Management; Wood Anatomy and Properties

Required Text: Wood. Craft, Culture, and History by Harvey Green; Art of Japanese Joinery by Kiyosi Seike

Wood, Water, and Design (spring term)
This is a cross-disciplinary course meant to bridge the information gap in wood design and technology between artists, designers, architects, engineers, and scientists. This course will focus specifically on interactions between wood and water, and how such interactions affect wood design. Specific topic areas include microbial and insect decay, strength properties, elasticity and bending, and wood coatings. The class will contain strong steam bending and bioart components. Throughout the course, students will gain an understanding of the mechanisms by which water effects wood, and how such effects can be prevented, encouraged, and utilized. The historic uses of steam bending in Eastern and Western traditions will be discussed, as well as modern wood water topics in design, such as spalting. This course will culminate with a design project in which the knowledge gained, combined with the unique background of each student, will be applied to a final project. This course should prepare students to work in a wood protection field, wood microbial lab, or to design and/or build structures that integrate steam bending and/or water protection elements with modern furniture or construction practices.

Pre-requisites: Introduction to Forest Biology and Management; Wood Anatomy and Properties

Required Text: Wood. Craft, Culture, and History by Harvey Green; Wood Bending Made Simple by Lon Schleining

University of Toronto

Faculty of Forestry

Certificate in Wood Design

Course Descriptions