Before Tu Ho began designing mass timber connectors, he spent nearly a decade researching how mass timber performs in real-world conditions. Today, he applies that knowledge to every product he develops, helping ensure that innovation is backed by the rigorous engineering and testing that customers need and depend on.
Tu’s passion for innovation began while pursuing his civil engineering degree in Vietnam. After graduating, he moved to the United States in 2014 to earn his Ph.D. at the University of Alabama, where he researched cross-laminated timber (CLT) structures. He later accepted a research position at Oregon State University in 2019. As he continued researching mass timber in this position, Tu developed the technical expertise that would later help him transition from studying these systems to designing the connections that support them.
During his time at Oregon State University, Tu took part in several research projects related to mass plywood panels (MPP), a newly developed mass timber product. As one of the first researchers studying MPP, he helped characterize MPP’s mechanical properties and evaluate how the material performed in full-scale construction by testing a three-story building in the lab. By applying lateral loads to the structure and analyzing how its floors, walls and columns responded, Tu and his team generated valuable data that helped advance the understanding of mass timber construction.
Through these research projects, Tu was also introduced to Simpson Strong-Tie. Long before joining the company, he worked alongside Simpson Strong-Tie through university collaborations, utilizing donated products and technical expertise to support large-scale testing and research. Those collaborations gave Tu firsthand experience working with the products and engineering expertise that would later inform his career. In 2023, after years of contributing to mass timber research, Tu brought that experience to Simpson Strong-Tie.
After spending his first year learning the company’s product development process, Tu transitioned from researching mass timber buildings to developing the products that support them. During his second year, he helped develop the MPSC™ mass timber point-supported column connection, applying his research background to the product’s engineering design, calculations and testing before its release in August 2025.
The project also underscored one of the biggest differences Tu had noticed between academic research and product development. “During my research at universities, I had to be involved in every part of the process,” Tu says, “but at Simpson Strong-Tie, you realize that everyone has a different role in developing a successful product. It takes all of us working together.” That shift from doing everything himself to collaborating across disciplines has become one of the greatest strengths of Tu’s work. By collaborating with product managers, engineers, manufacturing teams and customers throughout development, Tu helps ensure that every product benefits from a wide range of expertise before reaching the market.
Years of researching mass timber and performing large-scale testing continue to shape the way Tu approaches engineering today. His understanding of how mass timber behaves allows him to design connectors that meet demanding performance expectations while he collaborates with teams across the company to create economical, real-world solutions that engineers and builders can rely on. From researching full-scale buildings to developing the next generation of mass timber connectors, Tu has spent his career advancing innovation through research, collaboration and rigorous testing. By turning years of research into practical engineering solutions, he is helping to ensure that customers have the trusted products they need to build safer, stronger structures for years to come.
