Robert has a deep knowledge of wood as an engineering material and fastening for wood structures from pallets to mass timber buildings. His knowledge is derived from his experiences as a university professor, the manager of engineering product compliance, and as an engineering manager for fastener product development. His extramural experience also includes work on ASTM committees, ISO committees, participation as journal paper and grant reviewer, and member of RILEM.
While a professorial faculty member at Oregon State University, Robert worked in the Department of Wood Science & Engineering and had a Graduate School appointment in School of Civil and Construction Engineering. During his 19 years on the faculty, he taught classes about wood science, wood as an engineering material, and timber engineering. He supervised more than two dozen graduate student and advanced student thesis projects and provided research and testing services for wood products applications. His academic research accomplishments were recognized through awards for innovation in construction materials, technical writing, research, and leadership.
Robert leaped from academia to the corporate world. His two decades of industrial experience included domestic and international engineering compliance of tools and driven fasteners and leadership of an engineering team that developed fasteners and screw driving tools while also providing support for fastening applications and building code compliance for fasteners that were designed for wood and cold-formed steel applications. His experience with design methods and codes, standards, and directives includes the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, and the UK.
Robert is a member of ASTM (committees D07, F16, E06, G01, F40), RILEM, and is ANSI appointed to ISO TC 165 WG7 – Timber Structures, Connections and Assemblies. He has authored more than 35 refereed journal publications, more than 48 proceedings and other technical papers, made more than 55 presentations at professional meetings, has more than 4 patents, and has presented at many ICC-ES hearings.