On April 1st, 2019, Dr. Frank Lam, Professor of the Department of Wood Science, University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada, was invited to ICBR for academic exchanges and gave a presentation entitled "Opportunities and Challenges for Wood Buildings" in the seminar hosted for his visit. The seminar was chaired by LI Zhiqiang, Deputy Director of the Department of Postgraduate Affairs and well-attended by more than 20 people, including FEI Benhua, Executive Deputy Director General of ICBR and Chief Expert,  and researchers and postgraduate students of the Institute of advanced materials for Bamboo & Rattan of ICBR.

Dr. Lam’s research interests include seismic resistance of engineered wood, R&D of high-performance engineered wood, modelling of engineered wood structures, and development of codes and standards for wood structures. He introduced his research team and gave a detailed introduction on the application of large engineered wood, the advantages and challenges of multi-storey wood buildings, and exchanged ideas with the participants on some academic questions of common interest. This academic exchange is of great significance for the Centre to carry out research related to large structural bamboo materials and bamboo wood composites.