A computer controlled dry kiln system, designed and assembled at Virginia Tech, was used in a comparison study of end check damage and acoustic emission count rate for red oak wood samples using two variations of a drying schedule based upon a standard 4/4 red oak drying schedule (T4D2). Time was the controlling variable for the system. In run A, the lumber samples were dried using eight large step changes in temperature and relative humidity. In run B, a similar charge was dried over the same time period using 48 smaller step changes in temperature and relative humidity. The lumber samples that were dried with the schedule featuring large changes in temperature and relative humidity suffered much more extensive end check damage than the wood samples dried with a schedule employing smaller changes in temperature and humidity. The acoustic emission count rate data were not recorded in the final tests due to equipment malfunction. Acoustic emission count rate data recorded from preliminary drying runs indicated that the acoustic emission count rate from a sample board increases with large changes in the ambient air temperature and relative humidity. It then decreases to zero as the wood surfaces achieve an equilibrium state. The automated kiln control system performed successfully. / M.S.