Zhiyong Cai received his PhD from Purdue University. He is a Materials Research Engineer in the research unit of Engineering Wood Composite at USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, WI. Before this, he was an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University teaching Wood Structural Design and the Application of Wood Products. His research interests are mainly in the area of the performance and improvement of building wood products. He has also worked on various projects related to the nondestructive evaluation of wood products and wood structures since 1990. He has published numerous research papers directly related to the NDE of wood products and wood structures. He is a fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science and has co-chaired two international conferences.