wood 101

huangyhg

wood 101
i need to talk about wood 101 for entry level engineers and cad designers in my office. this will go about an hour. i am wondering how do i start? what types of information about wood design i can talk about? i would appreciate your suggestions based on what you would do or you had done in this situation.
post and beam construction?  standard stick framing? wood quality, type and treatment of.  fire treated.  wood against earth. youngs modulus of various species.  wood trusses, engineered joists (and where not to put the penetrations) plywood properties, osb properties...
the best way to test something is to squeeze it, slowly, until it breaks!
i would talk about the differing strength for load applications and the grading of wood to determine design values.  i would also try and get a price guide and availability of the species in your area so your designers don't design everything for select structural when they can use more widely available grades.
good luck
sorry for the double post ...
then you need to spend most of the time discussing the various connections used in timber construction.  in timber, it is all about the connections.
since it's for cad designers also, i would talk the basics:  where is a double top plate, single bottom plate, strap connections, king stud, header, stud spacing, rim board, etc.  if it's like our office, most of our work is typical wood framing, not much exotic.  the overall concept of load-path would be great for the eits.
dont forget about the wood itself such as hows its graded, you could explian heartwood, moister content, etc.
jb
you might consider having a knowledgeable framer come in and describe some of the problems and concerns he has relating to the plans he sees in the field.  there are some real horror stories here we all could learn from so that we can avoid making the same mistakes.
mike mccann
mmc engineering
to echo mike, practical field experience is priceless, if your contract administrator(s) can routinely drag someone out to a job or two it will be worth the investment.   
don phillips
i feel that there should be two separate wood 101 sessions for young engineers and drafters.
for the drafters, discussions may include company standards and symbols related to wood construction, company detailing defaults (unless engineers tell them or mark-up otherwise), completing the load path in the details.
for engineers, most of the detailed design examples can be found in textbooks.  a presentation without numbers that talk about the various types of wood   
as others have said, i would start with the general behaviour of wood as opposed to other structures.
time related strength properties
creep
shrinkage
durability
also the fact that a 2x4 is not 2" by 4" and why.
only then would i go into conventional framing techniques, types of members and types of connections. how does a timber building stand up against gravity and the wind.
final topic (and most important) - common design/construction problems with timber construction and how to avoid them.