Ying Hei Chui, PhD

Area of Study / Keywords

Professor Engineering Department Executive Timber Engineering Structural Engineering U of A Engineering Research Chair Cross-Disciplinary Engineering

About

Dr. Ying-Hei Chui is the Nasseri Senior University of Alberta Engineering Research Chair in Advanced Wood Construction, Director of the Canadian Wood Construction Research Network (CWCRN), and a Principal Investigator of Next Generation Wood Construction (NextGen Wood), an NSERC-funded pan-Canadian research initiative advancing innovation in timber construction and engineered wood systems.

Dr. Chui obtained his BSc degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Southampton and his PhD in Timber Engineering from the University of Brighton, United Kingdom. He is internationally recognized as one of Canada's leading researchers in timber engineering and engineered wood products.

Prior to joining the University of Alberta, he served as the New Brunswick Innovation Research Chair in Advanced Wood Products and Director of the Wood Science and Technology Centre at the University of New Brunswick.

Dr. Chui has more than 30 years of research experience in timber engineering and has authored about 400 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings papers. His research expertise includes the structural and dynamic performance of timber building systems, timber connections, timber-concrete composite floor systems, timber-steel hybrid lateral load-resisting systems, non-destructive evaluation of timber members, and engineered wood products.

Previously, Dr. Chui served as the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Engineered Wood and Building Systems and as Scientific Director of NEWBuildS, a highly successful NSERC Strategic Research Network that brought together 23 professors from 13 Canadian universities between 2010 and 2015 to advance innovation in wood-based building systems.

Dr. Chui is actively engaged in building code and design standard development in Canada and internationally. He is a member of the National Model Code Committee on Climate Change Adaptation and several CSA technical committees related to timber structures and wood products. He currently serves as Chair of ASTM Technical Committee D07 "Wood" and Chair of ISO Technical Committee 165 "Timber Structures."

Education

• Ph.D. 1987 Timber Engineering, University of Brighton, United Kingdom
• B.Sc. 1982 Civil Engineering, Southampton University, United Kingdom

Professional Experience

NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Engineered Wood and Building Systems

Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta

Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor, Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management, University of New Brunswick

New Brunswick Innovation Research Chair in Advanced Wood Products, University of New Brunswick

Director, Wood Science and Technology Centre, University of New Brunswick

Scientific Director, NSERC Strategic Network on Innovative Wood Products and Building Systems

Assistant Dean, Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management, University of New Brunswick

Research Associate, Wood Science and Technology Centre, University of New Brunswick

Post-doctoral Fellow, Faculty of Forestry, University of New Brunswick

Professional Affiliations

  Canadian Academy of Engineering

  International Academy of Wood Science

Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta

American Society of Testing and Materials

Membership of Technical Committees

 ASTM Technical Committee D07 'Wood'

 ISO Technical Committee 165 ‘Timber Structures’

 CSA A370 Technical Committee ‘Lumber and Engineered Wood Products’

 CSA O86 Technical Committee "Engineering Design in Wood"

 National Model Code Committee - Climate Change Adaptation

Canadian Lumber Standards Accreditation Board

Research

Research Interests

• Timber – steel hybrid lateral load resisting system
• Timber-concrete floor systems
• Timber connections
• Engineered wood products and composites
• Wood quality and lumber properties
• Non-destructive evaluation
• Structural dynamics

Refereed Journal Publications

1. S. Keypoursagsari*, Z. Chen, Y. H. Chui and L. Diaco. 2026. Performance of self-tapping screw connections under moisture content change. Engineering Structures. 364, 123191 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2026.123191
2. N. Cheshmehkaboodi*, H. Nguyen*, H. Daneshvar* and Y. H. Chui. 2026. Capacity-Based Design of Timber Braced Frames: Methodology and Design Tool Implementation. ASCE Journal of Structural Design and Construction Practice. (Accepted June 5)
3. S. Zhang*, L. Zheng*, M. Gong and Y. H. Chui. 2026. Shear Behaviour of Self-Tapping Screws Connections in Composite Laminated Panels: Experimental and Analytical Study. Construction and Building Materials. 533, 146826 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2026.146826
4. H. Nguyen*, N. Cheshmehkaboodi*, Q. Mei, H. Daneshvar* and Y. H. Chui. 2026. Seismic response prediction for timber braced frames using machine learning: Performance, explainability and integration into fragility analysis. ASCE Journal of Structural Design and Construction Practice (Accepted May 19)
5. K. Gholamizoj*, J. Tremblay-Auclair, A. Salenikovich, P. Homami and Y. H. Chui. 2026. Seismic Performance of a Scaled Three-Story Braced Timber Frame Building with Elastomeric Damper Through Shake-Table Tests. Soil Dynamics & Earthquake Engineering. 206:110275 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2026.110275
6. L. T. Tsai*, C. H. Yang, Y. Chen and Y. H. Chui. 2026. Development of a human-robot collaborative process design framework and an associated planning tool for robotic building prefabrication. Construction Robotics. 10(8) https://doi.org/10.1007/s41693-026-00181-5
7. Y. Ahmed*, H. Daneshvar* and Y. H. Chui. 2026. Behavior of long-slotted perforated steel plate fuses in timber brace end connections. Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics. 0:1-23 https://doi.org/10.1002/eqe.70141
8. K. Gholamizoj*, H. Zhu, A. Salenikovich, M. Bezabeh and Y. H. Chui. 2026. Seismic Performance Assessment of Timber Braced Frames with Dowel Connections and Slotted-in-Steel Plates: Drift- and Energy-based Performance Indicators. Structures. 85:111155 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2026.111155
9. S. Esmaeildoust*, D. Tomlinson and Y. H. Chui. 2026. Long-term performance of timber-concrete composite (TCC) connections with inclined self-tapping screws. Structures. 84: 111092 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2026.111092
10. Y. Ahmed*, H. Daneshvar* and Y. H. Chui. 2025. Numerical analysis of perforated steel fuse in timber-braced frames. Structures. 83:110888  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2025.110888
11. S. Z. Sarothi*, H. D. Nguyen*, Q. Mei and Y. H. Chui. 2025. Monte Carlo tree search for mass timber building design optimization.  Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering. 40(31): 6242-6260 https://doi.org/10.1111/mice.70151
12. J. Cisneros-Gonzalez*, J. Cárdenas-Castañeda, P. Martinez, R. Ahmad and Y. H. Chui. 2025. Flexible manufacturing of robotic cross-laminated timber panel machining operations. Construction Robotics. 9:28 https://doi.org/10.1007/s41693-025-00170-0
13. H. D. Nguyen*, Q. Mei and Y. H. Chui. 2025. A genetic algorithm-based calibration procedure for hysteresis loops in timber structures. Engineering Structures. 346: 121622 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.121622
14. H. Xie*, Q. Mei and Y. H. Chui. 2025. AI Applications for Structural Design Automation. Automation in Construction. 176: 106496 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2025.106496
15. K. Gholamizoj*, A. Salenikovich, Y. H. Chui, H. Zhu, M. Bezabeh. 2025. Structural Performance of Dowel Connections with Slotted-in Steel Plates for Mass-Timber Braced Frames. J. of Building Engineering. 112:113959.   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2025.113959
16. M. Aqib, M. Hamza, Q. Mei and Y. H. Chui. 2025. Fine-tuning large language models and evaluating retrieval methods for improved question answering on building codes. Smart Construction. 2025(3):0021. https://doi.org/10.55092/sc20250021
17. H. Xie*, Q. Mei, Y. H. Chui and H. Yu. 2025. A transformer-based approach for similar layout retrieval and difference detection in architectural drawings of wood frame buildings. J. of Building Engineering. 111:113438.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2025.113438
18. H. Daneshvar*, N. Cheshmehkaboodi*, B. Qi* and Y. H. Chui. 2025. Enhanced particle swarm optimization technique for parametrizing of hysteresis response of timber dowel-type connections. Structures. 79:109312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2025.109312
19. Y. Ahmed*, H. Daneshvar*, T. Tannert, Y. H. Chui and C. Dickof. 2025. Responses of perforated steel plates in timber connections to different reversed cyclic loading protocols. Construction and Building Materials. 488:142131.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2025.142131
20. S. Zhang* and Y. H. Chui. 2025. Quantifying the effect of end support restraints on vibration serviceability of mass timber floor systems: Analysis and design approach. Engineering Structures. 339:12063 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120643
21. F. B. T. Imamura*, Y. Chen, L. Deng and Y. H. Chui. 2025. Methodological Approach to the In-situ Monitoring System of Cross-Laminated Timber Basement Walls. J. of Civil Structural Health Monitoring. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13349-025-01010-z
22. Z. Huang*, D. S. Huang, Y. Shen* and Y. H. Chui. 2025. A simplified method to determine the load-bearing capacity of CLT panels under the axially compressive load parallel to the longitudinal laminations. Structures. 77:109165  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2025.109165
23. F. B. T. Imamura*, Y. Chen, L. Deng, and Y. H. Chui. 2025. Dimensional changes of cross-laminated timber basement walls under ambient humidity variation. Bioresources. BioResources 20(2), 4568–4589. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.119919
24. M. T. Khan*, S. Keypoursangsari*, C. Ni, Y. H. Chui and Z. Chen. 2025. An analytical model for predicting the axial stress distribution of self-tapping screws due to axial load and moisture-swelling of mass timber products. Buildings. 15(8), 1297. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15081297
25. D. Wang*, M. Zhang*, M. Gong and Y. H. Chui. 2025. Evaluation of bending performance in full-scale cross-laminated timber made from trembling aspen lumber. European J. of Wood and Wood Products. 83:100   https://doi.org/10.1007/s00107-025-02251-x
26. Y. Ahmed*, H. Daneshvar*, T. Tannert, Y. H. Chui and C. Dickof. 2025. Behaviour of steel perforated plate seismic fuses in timber end brace connections. J. of Building Eng. 107: 112644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2025.112644
27. I. Joffe, G. Felobes, Y. Elgouhari, M. Talebi-Kalale, Q. Mei and Y. H. Chui. 2025. The framework and implementation of using large language models to answer questions about building codes and standards. ASCE J. of Computing in Civil Engineering. 39(4): 05025004-1. https://doi.org/10.1061/JCCEE5.CPENG-6037
28. C. Guo*, J. Zhou* and Y. H. Chui. 2025. Experimental and numerical investigations on vibration performance of mass timber slab floors with floating concrete toppings. Engineering Structures. 300: 119919.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.119919
29. T. Joyce* and Y. H. Chui. 2025. A systems approach to evaluating group effect factors with simulated inclined self-tapping screw connections. Canadian J. of Civil Eng. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjce-2024-0354
30. S. Zhang*, J. Zhou* and Y. H. Chui. 2025. Deflection Criteria for Controlling Timber Floor Vibrations: A 200-Year Evolution. Engineering Structures. 326: 119370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2024.119370
31. S. Esmaeildoust*, D. Tomlinson, Y. H. Chui. 2024. Performance of timber-concrete composite (TCC) systems connected with inclined screws: A literature review. Special Issue on Research on Sustainable Cement-Based Composites, J. of Composites Science. 9(1),13. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs9010013
32. H. Xie*, X. Ma, Q. Mei and Y. H. Chui. 2024. A semi-supervised transformer network for building wall layout segmentation with small datasets. Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering. 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1111/mice.13397
33. S. Zhang*, Y. H. Chui and D. Joo. 2024. Withdrawal Capacity of a Novel Rigging Device for Prefabricated Wood I-Joist Floor Panels. Buildings. 14, 2484. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14082484
34. D. Wang*, M. Zhang*, M. Gong and Y. H. Chui. 2024. Evaluation of Major Physical and Mechanical Properties of Trembling Aspen Lumber. Materials, 17(12), 2952. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17122952
35. A. Mowafy*, A. Imanpour, Y. H. Chui, and H. Daneshvar*. 2024. Development and Experimental Validation of a Hybrid Timber-Steel Beam-to-Column Connection with Replaceable U-Shaped Fuses. ASCE J. of Struct Eng. 150(11).  https://doi.org/10.1061/JSENDH.STENG-13342
36. M. Fakhrzarei*, H. Daneshvar* and Y. H. Chui. 2024. Numerical Parametric Study of Cross-laminated Timber Diaphragms under In-plane Loading. Construction and Building Materials. 429, 136387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2024.136387
37. F. B. T. Imamura*, Y. Chen, L. Deng and Y. H. Chui. 2024. Moisture and mould growth risk of cross-laminated timber basement walls: laboratory and field investigation. Construction and Building Materials. 428, 136150.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2024.136150
38. J. Dourado, L. Deng, Y. Chen and Y. H. Chui. 2024. Review of the State-of-Art Practice of Foundation Engineering in Northern Canada. Geotechnics. 4(1),285-308 https://doi.org/10.3390/geotechnics4010015
39. A. Mowafy*, A. Imanpour, Y. H. Chui and H. Daneshvar*. 2024. Experimental evaluation of a U-shaped steel plate as a seismic fuse. Journal of Constructional Steel Research. 215, 108525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2024.108525
40. A. Mowafy*, A. Imanpour and Y. H. Chui. 2024. A new hybrid steel-timber rocking seismic force resisting system equipped with U-shaped fuse connections. Can J. of Civil Eng. 51(7):769-783. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjce-2023-0319
41. M. S. Islam* and Y. H. Chui. 2024. Finite element analysis of a light-frame wood panelized gable roof. Engineering Structures. 302, 117333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2023.117333
42. S. Zhang* and Y. H. Chui. 2024. Quantifying the effect of end support restraints on vibration serviceability of mass timber panel floors: Testing. Engineering Structures. 301, 117189 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2023.117189
43. M. S. Islam*, Y. H. Chui and M.S. Altaf. 2023. Novel panelized roof design for offsite fabrication of light-frame wood residential homes. ASCE Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction. 9(2):04023071. https://doi.org/10.1061/PPSCFX.SCENG-1405
44. H. Daneshvar*, Y. H. Chui, C. Dickof and T. Tannert. 2023. Experimental parametric study of perforated steel plate fuses for mass timber seismic force resisting systems. J. of Building Engineering. 73, 106772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2023.106772&nbsp
45. Z. Huang*, D. Huang, Y. H. Chui and Z. Chen. 2023. A layered beam-based model for analyzing the stress of rolling shear for the cross-laminated timber panels under out-of-plane bending. Engineering Structures. 289, 116290  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2023.116290
46. M. T. Khan*, C. Ni, J. Wang and Y. H. Chui. 2023. Numerical Investigation of the Axial Stress Distribution of Self-Tapping Screws in Mass Timber Products during Wetting or Drying. Buildings, 13(3), 623. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13030623
47. L. Qi*, L. Zhang*, M. C. Zhao and Y. H. Chui. 2023. Low-cost Design of Vibration Inspection Equipment for Timber Beam. J. of Vibration Engineering & Technologies. 12:481-493 https://doi.org/10.1007/s42417-023-00854-3
48. M. Fakhrzarei*, H. Daneshvar* and Y. H. Chui. 2023. Analytical model development for CLT diaphragms loaded perpendicular to the length of panels. ASCE J. of Struct. Eng. 149(6): 04023059. https://doi.org/10.1061/JSENDH.STENG-11727
49. Y. Shen*, Z. Huang*, H. Daneshvar*, Y. H. Chui and D. Huang. 2023. Experimental study of CLT panels under combined out-of-plane bending and compression. Engineering Structures. 275, 115262 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2022.115262

*HQP supervised by Dr. Chui

Teaching

CIV E 479 Structural Design III (Winter)

CIV E 662 Structural Timber Design (Fall)

CIV E 662 - Structural Timber Design

The objective of this course is to provide students with a solid understanding of wood as a structural material and an in-depth review of design provisions in Canadian timber design standards for selected members, connections and assemblies. The topics covered include basic wood characteristics, physical and mechanical properties of wood, a review of traditional and modern engineered wood products, and design of timber members subjected to bending and axial loads, connections and lateral load resisting systems. This course will help prepare students for graduate thesis research in a timber engineering topic and for performing structural design of timber structures. Prerequisite: Structural engineering background at BSc level.

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