At the University of British Columbia, Maximilian Closen and his fellow research assistant, came up with the concept for MyTiCon while working on a research project testing connection systems for the UBC Bioenergy Building. Extensive testing was done on connection systems at the Timber Engineering and Applied Mechanics lab but self-tapping fasteners were by far the easiest to install. The only problem was self-tapping screws were unavailable in North America.
Image courtesy of naturallywood.com
Working on a student budget as Masters’ students and research assistants the partners used the resources they had in bringing self-tapping screws to North America. After some negotiating with the manufacturer, MyTiCon found a partner and they sent the screws to North America. My-Ti-Con got its first order. Delivering screws to the construction site on their lunch break Max and his partner ensured one of the first mass timber buildings in North America went up with MyTiCon's self-tapping screws. The Bioenergy building at UBC has been operational since 2012.
Image courtesy of natureallywood.com
Their first order complete, the new partners settled on the name MyTiCon for the new corporation to signify strength, in connections, mighty (MyTi) connectors. Operating out of storage space in the University research facility they soon began to wear out their welcome and had to find somewhere else to store their growing inventory of structural wood screws. Searching for warehouse space throughout the lower mainland, Max settled on the only space they could afford in far-out Surrey. This is also when Max and his partner parted, his partner continuing to pursue a career in academia and Max building what was to become Mass Timber Connections (MTC) Solutions.
MyTiCon attended its first Wood Solutions Fair in Vancouver in 2013 with specification sheets created after visiting all of the manufacturers in Western Canada in a rented hatchback. The booth was a hit, all of the specification sheets disappearing right away! This success was repeated at a Wood Design Symposium in San Francisco and MyTiCon got its first US project in Montana. The Montana project lead to more projects in the USA. My-Ti-Con fasteners have been used in some of the most prominent Mass Timber projects in North America such as Brock Commons, Carbon 12, First Tech Credit Union, and the Rocky Ridge YMCA just to name a few.
Educating the industry on Mass Timber Connections has been a primary focus for MyTiCon and now MTC Solutions from the beginning. MyTiCon was the first company to secure CCMC approval in Canada and later with the help of SWG, ICC approval in the United States. Today MTC Solutions continues the original mission of educating the Engineering and Design communities with Design Guides, White Papers, Webinars and Technical Learning Sessions.
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