The Wood Education Institute was created in 2008 to address the glaring lack of wood design education in civil engineering undergraduate programs.  The national recognition of the value of the eco-friendly construction materials has elevated the need for using wood beyond residential construction.  Wood is  recognized as renewable, biodegradable, carbon negative, cost effective and a naturally pleasing material. It is the only trully sustainable construction material. The understanding of this material and its expanded and effective use in construction of non-residential structures is consistent with our National Goals and International obligations related to  good stewardship of our natural resources.

The primary focus of WEI is the development of  rich media content in a modular format for use in undergraduate, graduate and continuing education curriculum.  The start-up costs of the this project were funded and supported by collaboration between the Wood Products Council and the Cal Poly Pomona as a representative of the California State University (CSU) system.  During the first phase of the project a team of university professors representing number of CSU campuses and out of state campuses offering Civil/Architectural/Structural Programs, practicing professionals and the representatives of the forest products industry collaborated to develop an online wood education curriculum which is intended to be available to the universities and continuing education programs nationwide.

The WEI governing body consists of the  Advisory Board and Development Board. The Development Board is responsible for hands-on development of the educational material. If you are interested in serving on the Advisory or Development Board please feel free to contact Mikhail Gershfeld, S.E. Chair WEI at mgershfeld@cpp.edu.