Dan Ridley-Ellis
Dan Ridley Ellis

Dr Dan Ridley-Ellis BEng MRes PhD FIMMM

Associate Professor

 0131 455 2449

  D.Ridley-Ellis@napier.ac.uk

  

Biography

Dan Ridley-Ellis is head of the Centre Wood Science and Technology at 麻豆社区. He is one of the UK鈥檚 technical experts on guessing the strength of wood and can talk for hours on the topic 鈥 which he frequently does if nobody stops him.

His main area of research is understanding the properties of wood, and how they are influenced by tree growth, forest management, and climate. He represents the UK at European Standards Committees for grading of construction timber, and the majority of structural sawn timber produced in the UK is now graded with settings he developed. He was named 鈥渨oodland hero鈥 for 2016 by Grown in Britain, and is also active in online learning, public engagement and science communication. He was the lead organiser of Bright Club Edinburgh from 2011 to 2023.

School

Research Groups

Themes

Research Areas

News

Events

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Expert witness (materials)
  • Timber in Construction Working Group (DEFRA etc)
  • Invited speaker at All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Forestry and Tree Planting
  • CSIC Innovation Champion
  • Judge, Structural Timber Awards 2019
  • Judge, Structural Timber Awards 2018
  • Leader, CEN TC124 (Timber Structures) WG 2 TG1 (Task Group for grading and strength properties)
  • Member - Scottish Forestry and Timber Technologies Skills Group
  • Advisory Board Member of TRADA
  • Secretary, CEN TC124 (Timber Structures) WG 2 TG1 (Task Group for grading and strength properties)
  • Member, CEN TC124 (Timber Structures) WG 2 TG1 (Task Group for grading and strength properties)
  • Member of the Board of the Wood Technology 麻豆社区 (IOM3)
  • Member, CEN TC124 (Timber Structures) WG 1 (Test methods)
  • Member, CEN TC124 (Timber Structures) WG 2 (Solid Timber)
  • Member, British Standards Committee B/518
  • Member, UK Timber Grading Committee
  • Northern UK representative for the Northern European Network for Wood Science & Engineering

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Local organising committee member for 2DCOS-11
  • COST Actions

 

Editorial Activity

  • Editorial board member of the European Journal of Wood and Wood Products
  • Editorial board member of the International Wood Products Journal

 

External Examining/Validations

  • External validator for Technological University Dublin
  • External validator for London Metropolitan University

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Scottish Forestry, Sir George Campbell Memorial Trophy
  • FIMMM
  • Edinburgh Beltane Public Engagement Fellow
  • Queens Anniversary Prize 2015
  • Grown in Britain Woodland Hero

 

Invited Speaker

  • Scottish Association for Metals
  • Invited speaker at ICF Innovation for Change Webinar
  • Guest lecturing at Hooke Park
  • Guest lecturing at Ecole Sup茅rieure du Bois (France)
  • Royal Forestry 麻豆社区's Lawrence Pilling Memorial Lecture

 

Media Activity

  • Quoted in Chemistry World news article
  • Interviewed on 2ser radio (Sydney, Australia) about Ethiopian tree planting
  • Quoted in Chemistry World news article
  • Quoted in news articles worldwide about Ethiopian tree planting
  • Guest on rialtalk podcast
  • Contributor on BBC World Service programme 鈥淭he Forum鈥 broadcast on 19 January 2015.
  • have discussed Bright Club live on BBC Radio Scotland鈥檚 Comedy Caf茅 (29 July 2011) and in pre-recorded interview on BBC Radio Scotland's "Good Morning Scotland" (14 November 2012). Performed live on BBC Radio Scotland's MacAulay and Co (25 May 2012).
  • BBC Bang Goes The Theory 鈥淎sk Yan鈥 expert 2009/10

 

Public/Community Engagement

  • Invited speaker at Lantra VirtRural careers event
  • Engineering Showoff Performer
  • STEM ambassador
  • Main organiser/trainer of Bright Club Edinburgh and Bright Club Scotland (in which academics do stand-up comedy).

 

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193 results

TG1/202211/04rev1: Derivation of Viscan Plus grading machines settings for the species combination Larch & Douglas fir (IE & GB, C classes)

Report
Gil-Moreno, D., Bacher, M., & Ridley-Ellis, D. TG1/202211/04rev1: Derivation of Viscan Plus grading machines settings for the species combination Larch & Douglas fir (IE & GB, C classes)
University of Galway, 麻豆社区, Microtec

TG1/202211/06rev1: Derivation of Viscan grading machine settings for the species combination Larch & Douglas fir (IE & GB, C classes)

Report
Gil-Moreno, D., Bacher, M., & Ridley-Ellis, D. TG1/202211/06rev1: Derivation of Viscan grading machine settings for the species combination Larch & Douglas fir (IE & GB, C classes)
University of Galway, 麻豆社区, Microtec

TG1/202211/05rev1: Derivation of Viscan Compact grading machine settings for the species combination Larch & Douglas fir (IE & GB, C classes)

Report
Gil-Moreno, D., Bacher, M., & Ridley-Ellis, D. TG1/202211/05rev1: Derivation of Viscan Compact grading machine settings for the species combination Larch & Douglas fir (IE & GB, C classes)
University of Galway, 麻豆社区, Microtec

A little about the verification of a lot (EN 14358)

Presentation / Conference Contribution
Ridley-Ellis, D. (2022, September)
A little about the verification of a lot (EN 14358). Paper presented at Northern European Network for Wood Science and Engineering (WSE) 2022, Goettingen, Germany
Sometimes it is necessary to estimate the mean and/or percentile of a certain population by limited sampling, in order to compare with target values. Done properly, the method...

The assessment of the mechanical and physical properties of in situ timber

Presentation / Conference Contribution
Bather, M., & Ridley-Ellis, D. (2022, September)
The assessment of the mechanical and physical properties of in situ timber. Paper presented at Northern European Network for Wood Science and Engineering (WSE) 2022, Goettingen, Germany
The refurbishment of existing buildings is a more sustainable option than demolition and reconstruction, leading to significant reductions in CO2 emissions and many other bene...

Can you guess the strength of timber? How (your) wood quality perceptions relate to reality

Presentation / Conference Contribution
Cramer, M., & Ridley-Ellis, D. (2022, September)
Can you guess the strength of timber? How (your) wood quality perceptions relate to reality. Paper presented at Northern European Network for Wood Science and Engineering (WSE) 2022, Goettingen, Germany
UK-grown timber is often perceived to have 鈥渓ow quality鈥, and most of the UK鈥檚 sawn timber is used for fencing and packaging material. Much of the resource could be used as co...

Correction of Evanescent Wave Influence on the Flexural Wave Velocity and Wavelength Estimation Based on a Mode Shape Function

Journal Article
Panteli膰, F., 艩umarac Pavlovi膰, D., Miji膰, M., & Ridley-Ellis, D. (2022)
Correction of Evanescent Wave Influence on the Flexural Wave Velocity and Wavelength Estimation Based on a Mode Shape Function. Archives of Acoustics, 47(4), 539-546. https://doi.org/10.24425/aoa.2022.142017
The aim of this research is to use a simple acoustic method of a very near field recording, which enables measurement and display of oscillation modes, to estimate the velocit...

Report On Machine Installation Check Testing

Report
Ridley-Ellis, D. Report On Machine Installation Check Testing. BSW timber

)
Ridley-Ellis, D. Report On Machine Installation Check Testing. BSW timber

Strength Grading of Timber in the UK and Ireland in 2021

Journal Article
Ridley-Ellis, D., Gil-Moreno, D., & Harte, A. M. (2022)
Strength Grading of Timber in the UK and Ireland in 2021. International Wood Products Journal, 13(2), 127-136. https://doi.org/10.1080/20426445.2022.2050549
This paper summarises the state of the art for strength grading of construction timber grown in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It includes the latest approval...

Material Compatibility and Optimisation for Home-Grown Mass Timber Systems

Report
Ridley-Ellis, D., Plowas, W., & Cramer, M. (2022)
Material Compatibility and Optimisation for Home-Grown Mass Timber Systems. Innovate UK
A report produced for work package 3.2 of the Innovate UK funded "Transforming Timber" project

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