Alexander C. Schreyer

Bio Sketch

Mr. Schreyer is Program Director and Senior Lecturer in the Building and Construction Technology (BCT) program at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) in Amherst, MA. He teaches courses in BIM (Building Information Modeling) and CAD (Computer-Aided Design), building materials and construction methods, wood properties as well as a capstone graduate structural design class in the M.Arch. architecture program.

Combining backgrounds in structural engineering, wood science and digital design, Mr. Schreyer’s interests span the entire range of planning, design, and execution of buildings and structures. He specializes in the design and construction of mainly heavy-timber type (e.g. glulam) structural systems. This is complemented by a strong interest in technology applications and web-based solutions in structural engineering, construction and architecture.

In his research, Mr. Schreyer focuses on the behavior of wood-based structural systems with a particular interest in innovative connection systems for wooden structures. Other foci are development of software-based approaches in digital design and structural optimization as well as interactive web-based tools.

Mr. Schreyer is the author of “Architectural Design with SketchUp”, which provides a beginner- to intermediate-level overview of various techniques to “do more” with the popular 3D modeling application Trimble SketchUp. He is also co-author on the widely-used reference and textbook “Fundamentals of Residential Construction”, which provides a complete overview of the materials and methods used in single- and multi-family residential construction. Both books are published by John Wiley & Sons.