Hercend is a Principal at Timber Engineering Inc. and an expert in timber engineering and connection
detailing for mass timber buildings, including performance under seismic loads and disproportionate
collapse prevention designs. After completing his Ph.D. in timber engineering, he held a post-doctoral
position at The University of British Columbia (UNBC). Hercend then joined Katerra, where he worked on the
development of novel building components and structural systems for mid-rise and tall mass timber
buildings and large mass timber warehouses and led the design of numerous mass timber industrial,
commercial, institutional, and residential projects in both Canada and U.S. Hercend has numerous
publications in international journals and book chapters, and structural reports on novel structural design
and detailing for mass timber under abnormal and extreme loadings.