DesignSafe Radio

Sustainable Functional Recovery: A New Engineering Design Paradigm with Andre Barbosa

Episode 3: Sustainable Functional Recovery: A New Engineering Design Paradigm   The novel Converging Design research project merges post-earthquake functional recovery with sustainability. Project PI Andre Barbosa discusses potential results from this effort, such as building code updates and new building products. Other tangible outcomes: successful industry-academia partnerships — and a cohort of engineering students who will take lessons about _sustainable functional recovery_ into the ...

Shake-Table Testing Earthquake-Resistant Building Components with Dr. Andre Barbosa

Episode 2. Shake-Table Testing Earthquake-Resistant Building Components   Earthquake engineer Andre Barbosa joins us to describe the fascinating NHERI Converging Design project, currently testing earthquake-resilient building components on the NHERI at UC San Diego shake table. Barbosa describes U-shaped flexural plates (UFPs), which can deform and dissipate energy – and with post-tensioning rods, recenter. Also, the team is testing buckling restrained braces, which function like replaceab...

Improving seismic resilience and sustainable design with Andre Barbosa

Andre Barbosa Professor, Structural Engineering Oregon State University   Episode 1. The NHERI Converging Design project merges functional recovery with sustainability. Project PI Andre Barbosa of Oregon State University joins us to discuss how the shake table experiments at UC San Diego shake table will lead to improved building codes in seismically vulnerable zones like the Pacific Northwest.   Get background info on the multi-institutional NHERI Converging Design project: https://ta...

Lehigh University's ATLSS Facility with Alia Amer Part 2

Alia Amer Postdoctoral Researcher NHERI Lehigh Facility ATLASS Research Center Lehigh University       Hybrid simulation at Lehigh tests structural resilience In our second episode with NHERI Lehigh engineer Alia Amer, find out how this engineering lab performs real-time hybrid simulation, RTHS. This sophisticated, cost-effective testing method connects a numeric model of a substructure — with a physical model or device. Then researchers apply a natural hazard – wind, earthquake or w...

Lehigh University's ATLSS Facility with Alia Amer

Alia Amer Postdoctoral Researcher NHERI Lehigh Facility ATLASS Research Center Lehigh University   Research engineer Alia Amer gives us an overview of ATLSS research center, core of the NHERI facility at Lehigh University. Amer shows examples of complex, large-scale tests – multi-hazard simulations – at Lehigh. The lab designs accurate, complete simulations, including soil-structure-interactions, of natural hazard events such as earthquakes and windstorms. Dynamic, quasi-static, and hy...

Testing novel pressurized sand dampers at NHERI Lehigh with Nicos Makris

Makris episode 2 Testing novel pressurized sand dampers at NHERI Lehigh   Nicos Makris explains his innovative protective damper system made with pressurized sand, which obviates problems presented by traditional dampers that use oil. In partnership with the NHERI Lehigh experimental facility, Makris is performing component testing and developing the numerical model in preparation for hybrid simulation testing, also at Lehigh. The cyber-physical tests allow researchers great flexibility w...

Nicos Makris: Dampers: shock absorbers for buildings

Nicos Makris, Professor and Chair of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering Southern Methodist University   Makris episode 1   Dampers: shock absorbers for buildings Earthquake engineer Nicos Makris joins us to discuss protective dampers, large-scale devices that function like shock absorbers for buildings and bridges. Dampers built into a structure absorb and isolate earthquake, wind, and traffic vibrations. Prof Makris reveals a new type of damper he’s designed that uses ...

SPECIAL EPISODE: NHERI Science Plan (Spanish Audio)

Este episodio se publicó originalmente en 7 nobiembre 2023.   Formas de aprovechar las instalaciones financiadas por la NSF en la investigación sobre riesgos naturales   Acaba de publicarse la 3ª edición del Plan Científico del NHERI. Esta completa guía de investigación de 130 páginas describe las formas en que los investigadores pueden utilizar las instalaciones financiadas por la NSF para estudiar los daños causados por los peligros naturales y su prevención. El autor principal, Ian Ro...

SPECIAL EPISODE! NHERI Science Plan, Part 2

Special Episode 2 November 13, 2023 SCIENCE PLAN SPECIAL EPISODE: Moving civil engineering research into practice   Editor Ian Robertson provides details on using the NHERI Science Plan, Third Edition, as a practical guide to successful civil engineering research, including technology transfer and interdisciplinary research teams.   NEW in the third edition: · NHERI SimCenter simulation software for estimating damage and simulating mitigation measures. · NHERI CONVERGE social science...

SPECIAL EPISODE! Introducing the NHERI Science Plan, Third Edition

SPECIAL EPISODE! Introducing the NHERI Science Plan, Third Edition Ways to leverage NSF-funded facilities in natural hazards research   Just released: the NHERI Science Plan, 3rd Edition! This comprehensive, 130-page research guide outlines ways researchers can use NSF-funded facilities to study natural hazards damage and prevention. With lead author Ian Robertson, research engineer with the University of Hawaii.   NEW in the third edition: · NHERI SimCenter simulation software for est...

Understanding major storms: key to coastal resilience

Episode 3 Understanding major storms: key to coastal resilience   Understanding the behavior of coastal systems requires specialized researchers, including engineers, to instrument shorelines before a major storm — and to collect and analyze the resulting data. Woods Hole scientist Britt Raubenheimer reiterates the vital importance of federal funding, including NSF funding, which allows for multidisciplinary teams like NEER to perform nested, coordinated reconnaissance missions with NHERI ...

NEER Episode 2 : Nearshore breakwaters and unintended consequences

Britt Raubenheimer, PhD Senior Scientist, Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Principal Investigator, Nearshore Extreme Event Reconnaissance team, NEER     Episode 2 NEER: Nearshore breakwaters and unintended consequences   Coastal scientist Britt Raubenheimer describes NEER’s data reconnaissance missions before, during, and after Hurricane Laura, which struck southwestern Louisiana in 2020. NEER data revealed that breakwater structures could sl...

NEER: Improving resilience of the nearshore during extreme events (Spanish version)

NEER: Improving resilience of the nearshore during extreme events

Britt Raubenheimer, PhD Senior Scientist, Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Principal Investigator, Nearshore Extreme Event Reconnaissance team, NEER   NEER: Improving resilience of the nearshore during extreme events Woods Hole scientist Britt Raubenheimer talks with host Dan Zehner about coastal resiliency. Raubenheimer is principal investigator for NSF-funded Nearshore Extreme Event Reconnaissance team, NEER. NEER deploys multi-disciplinary r...

Frank Lombardo Episode 3

Episode 3: A new experimental facility for simulating windstorms The National Science Foundation is funding a new, multihazard experimental facility called “NICHE,” still in the planning stages. As a co-principal investigator, Frank Lombardo is to helping to design methods for re-creating non-synoptic winds and wind profiles — storms of short duration and limited in space, like thunderstorms, derechos, and tornadoes.   Learn more about NSF-funded NICHE, the National Full-Scale Testing Inf...

Frank Lombardo Episode 2: Triangulating clues to tornadoes

Episode 2: Triangulating clues to tornadoes   Although dust devils can provide clues to tornado winds, U of Illinois wind engineer Frank Lombardo says tornadic behavior is still largely a mystery – and a bigger risk than researchers previously thought. He details ways wind engineers are piecing together answers, including simulations and damage surveys.   Wind Engineering Research Lab, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign https://publish.illinois.edu/ftlombardo/about/   Keep up with...

Frank Lombardo Episode 2:

Frank Lombardo Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Director, Wind Engineering Research Lab Co-director, Extreme Wind Resilience Center University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign   Wind Engineering Research Lab, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign https://publish.illinois.edu/ftlombardo/about/   Keep up with Lombardo and the UIUC Wind Engineering Lab on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WindLaboratory/ @WindLaboratory   Subscribe to the DesignSafe Radio audio pod...

Episode 1: Wind engineers hunt dust devils with Frank Lombardo

Episode 1: Wind engineers hunt dust devils   Dust devils! Understanding how these short-lived whirlwinds behave may help wind engineers understand tornadoes. In field studies, U of Illinois wind engineer Frank Lombardo collects data on dust devils, which occur more frequently – and are easier (and safer) to capture – than their high-powered relatives. Lombardo’s team has recorded more than 50 of these brief, 45 MPH windstorms. Find out how, where, and what the data show.   Wind Engineeri...

Pedro Fernandez-Caban: Full interview

Wind engineer Pedro Fernández-Cabán conducts experiments at the NHERI University of Florida wind tunnel, trying to discover how to prevent roof failure in low-rise buildings during hurricanes. In this episode he describes how he uses a special component of the UF wind tunnel that creates large and long-lasting wind gusts: the Flow Field Modulator. See it in action: a cell from the Flow Field Modulator. Hold your ears! https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ErHtAUU8Wns Pedro Fernández-Cabán also de...

Pedro Fernandez-Caban: Episode 2: Wind tunnel research to protect low-rise buildings from hurricane winds

Episode 2: Wind tunnel research to protect low-rise buildings from hurricane winds   In this episode, Pedro Fernández-Cabán describes specific ways roofs can be altered to redirect windflow and reduce suction pressure – and roof damage. Parapets, for instance. Another goal for his project: use the UF Flow Field Modulator to develop a roadmap for wind conditions, revealing how different locations are subject to specific sorts of damaging wind fields – and to provide mitigation advice to bui...

Pedro Fernandez-Caban: Designing roofs to resist hurricane winds

Pedro Fernandez-Caban Assistant Professor Florida A&M University-Florida State University College of Engineering   Episode 1: Designing roofs to resist hurricane winds Wind engineer Pedro Fernández-Cabán conducts experiments at the NHERI University of Florida wind tunnel, trying to discover how to prevent roof failure in low-rise buildings during hurricanes. In this episode he describes how he uses a special component of the UF wind tunnel that creates large and long-lasting wind gusts...

Stephanie Pilkington Episode 2: StEER reconnaissance: how does it work?

Episode 2: StEER reconnaissance: how does it work? StEER’s Stephanie Pilkington covers virtual damage assessments, travel and data-sharing logistics, and the business of deciding the types of damage data to collect. Field-mission complexities include coordinating w/local authorities and EM teams – and federal agencies like FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, and in the case of hurricanes, NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).   Visit the StEER website https://www.stee...

Stephanie Pilkington Episode 1: Post event reconnaissance with StEER, the Structural Engineering Extreme Events Reconnaissance network

Episode 1: Post event reconnaissance with StEER, the Structural Engineering Extreme Events Reconnaissance network   Engineer and UNC professor Stephanie Pilkington introduces the StEER network, a group of volunteer experts who perform post-event recon missions after extreme events like hurricanes and earthquakes. Learn about StEER data collecting and how you can get involved.   Visit the StEER website https://www.steer.network/   Connect with StEER leaders on Twitter: Stephanie Pilkin...

Reed Zimmerman Episode 1

Reid Zimmerman, PE, SE Technical Director, KPFF Consulting Engineers Two approaches to engineering. For the NHERI Tallwood research project, practicing engineer Reid Zimmerman has been working with engineers in academia to produce a full-scale, 10-story wood building. The Tallwood structure is an experimental specimen that also looks and functions like a “real,” engineer-designed building. In this episode, Zimmerman talks about working with fellow engineers in the “applied research” capaci...

Jeffrey Berman Full Interview

NHERI Tallwood Megaproject: a research and industry partnership. DesignSafe Radio host Dan Zehner catches up with Jeff Berman, NHERI Tallwood co-PI and earthquake engineer from the University of Washington. Berman explains how “mega-projects” like Tallwood simply can’t be done without significant collaboration between academia and industry experts at companies such as Simpson Strong-Tie, Swinerton and others with expertise in building construction, engineering, and mass timber design.   Th...

Jeffrey Berman Episode 3

EPISODE 3 NHERI Tallwood: Testing earthquake performance of mass timber products In our final episode with NHERI Tallwood co-PI Jeff Berman, we learn about some of the wood products used in this 10-story wood structure — such as mass-plywood panels, cross-laminated timber, and laminated veneer lumber. Industry partners like Boise Cascade and Freres Engineered Wood have donated many mass-timber components, wanting to discover if they are resilient to earthquake loading. “This ten-story bui...

Jeffrey Berman Mini Episode 2

NHERI Tallwood: Rocking walls in tall buildings. In our second episode with NHERI Tallwood co-PI Jeff Berman, we nerd out on “rocking walls.” How do these seismic-protection systems keep tall structures safe during earthquake shaking?   The NHERI Tallwood project is funded by the National Science Foundation, with support from many industry partners.   Follow the NHERI Tallwood project via the live video stream at UC San Diego: http://nheri.ucsd.edu/video/.   More #NHERITallwood partner...

Jeffrey Berman Mini Episode 1

NHERI Tallwood Megaproject: a research and industry partnership. DesignSafe Radio host Dan Zehner catches up with Jeff Berman, NHERI Tallwood co-PI and earthquake engineer from the University of Washington. Berman explains how “mega-projects” like Tallwood simply can’t be done without significant collaboration between academia and industry experts at companies such as Simpson Strong-Tie, Swinerton and others with expertise in building construction, engineering, and mass timber design.   Th...

NHERI Tallwood: EQ performance of walls and windows

U of Nevada earthquake engineer Keri Ryan shows us the external wall units on the 10-story NHERI Tallwood building: spandrels with ribbon windows and glass curtain walls, called mullions. Architects as well as engineers want to see how such non-structural elements perform under earthquake loading. During the March 2023 shake table test, more than 750 sensor channels will record behaviors like drift, acceleration, and joint slip and movement.   Follow the NHERI Tallwood project with the liv...

NHERI Tallwood and its non-structural wall designs

In this episode, earthquake engineer and #NHERITallwood co-PI Keri Ryan gets specific about #NHERITallwood nonstructural components: non-loadbearing walls — elements extremely prone to earthquake drift and damage. Ryan shows us the cold-formed-steel exterior-wall subassemblies and some of the innovative building components that can prevent non-structural deformations due to ground shaking. CEMCO @CEMCO_steel Construction Specialities Group @csinconline Simpson StrongTie @strongtie Need t...

Special Episode: Touring Tallwood

In this special DSR episode, earthquake engineer Keri Ryan takes us on a 20-minute walking tour of the NHERI Tallwood structure. See the 10-story mass-timber building under construction — from the outside in! This milestone experiment is taking place at UC San Diego on the world’s largest outdoor shake table. For the first time, researchers are developing and validating a resilient seismic design methodology for tall wood buildings. The work is funded by the National Science Foundation, with...

NHERI Tallwood: A Primer with Keri Ryan

Today we chat with Keri Ryan, a co-principal investigator on the NHERI Tallwood project. We catch up with her onsite at the enormous UC San Diego shake table, a NHERI experimental facility. Ryan, an earthquake engineer at University of Nevada Reno, provides a succinct primer on the Tallwood research project, a 10-story wood building designed to resist earthquake loads. Curious? More background on NHERI Tallwood: http://nheritallwood.mines.edu/  Follow the NHERI Tallwood project with the li...

Special Episode: Introducing the NHERI Hackathon!

Machine-learning expert Krishna Kumar joins host Dan Zehner to discuss the annual NHERI Hackathon. Kumar details this exciting event, which takes place every year at the Texas Advanced Computing Center. Leveraging DesignSafe data and computational resources, participants have three days to code solutions to natural hazards problems using machine learning. Kumar is an assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering at University of Texas professor. #naturalhazards #hackathon #mach...

Full Interview with Barb Simpson

The full interview episode with Stanford-based structural engineer Barbara Simpson — in person at the Oregon State University Wave Laboratory, a NHERI experimental facility.

Women in Engineering - Barb Simpson

What’s it like to be a young woman in engineering? Barbara Simpson shares some undergraduate and PhD experiences and talks about the importance of having positive, confidence-building mentors. Now a research engineer at Stanford University, she says, “This is where I was meant to be.” Ultimately, she says, diversity in engineering makes for more ideas, perspective and fun. Follow Simpson’s blog: https://simpsoba.wordpress.com And follow her on Instagram: @simpsoba Twitter: @StanfordEng @H...

Real Time Hybrid Simulation with Barb Simpson

Onsite at the NHERI OSU wave laboratory, Dan Zehner and Barb Simpson talk about “real time hybrid simulation.” This technique joins numeric models with physical experimentation enables engineers to deal with those pesky problems of scale. In a current project, Simpson is studying wind, wave, and soil behavior at play in offshore wind turbines — which in 2016 had average hub-heights of over 330 feet. #RTHS #hybridsimulation #windturbine #SSI #SFI #womeninengineering #windengineering LinkedI...

Soil-to-Fluid Interactions with Barbara Simpson

Today we have an exciting meet-up with Stanford-based structural engineer Barbara Simpson — in person at the Oregon State University Wave Laboratory, a NHERI experimental facility. Simpson’s passionate about building computer programming skills in undergraduate engineers, particularly those in underrepresented groups who may lack such experience. She applies parallel processing in her own investigations in soil-to-fluid interactions in floating offshore wind turbines. Read more about Simpso...

Engineering Education with Jeremy Waisome - Full Interview

Today we delve into engineering education with Jeremy Waisome, instructional assistant professor at the University of Florida. As well as being an engineer and researcher, Waisome is an eloquent science communicator. She’s dedicated to educating the next generation of engineers — and the public — about vital engineering concepts. Among her many roles, she leads education and outreach efforts at the NHERI University of Florida facility. Waisome describes a variety of pathways to engineering ...

Engineering Education as a Career Path - Jeremy Waisome

In our final episode featuring Jeremy Waisome from the NHERI University of Florida facility, we learn the importance of exposing high school and college students to engineering education as a college major. Waisome explains enriching opportunities such as the NHERI Research Experiences for Undergraduates program and the importance of having role models and mentors who come from one’s own community. She also talks about her own podcast: Modern Figures, which features Black women in compu...

Misconceptions about Engineering - Jeremy Waisome

Misconceptions about engineering. Engineering educator Jeremy Waisome describes a variety of pathways to engineering and why having a diverse workforce is so important. “There’s so much that we underestimate what we do as engineers — and the impact it has on other people’s lives.” she says. At the University of Florida, Waisome trains high school teachers at Title 1 schools to incorporate engineering projects into their classrooms.   #engineeringeducation #diversity #DEI #engineeringworkfor...

Engineering Education - Part 2 with Jeremy Waisome

Engineering Education with Jeremy Waisome

Today we delve into engineering education with Jeremy Waisome, instructional assistant professor at the University of Florida. As well as being an engineer and researcher, Waisome is an eloquent science communicator. She’s dedicated to educating the next generation of engineers — and the public — about vital engineering concepts. Among her many roles, she leads education and outreach efforts at the NHERI University of Florida facility. #engineeringeducation #sciencecommunications #rolemodel...

NHERI RAPID Director Joe Wartman - Full Interview

Tune in for our full interview with NHERI RAPID Director Joe Wartman. After major earthquakes, hurricanes and floods, the RAPID team springs into action with specialized tools for data reconnaissance missions. Wartman discusses the RAPID equipment, key missions — and how engineers use perishable data to make our communities more resilient. #NSFfunded #naturalhazards #engineering #research  LinkedIn: @Joseph Wartman Twitter: @NHERI_RAPID, @NSF  Facebook: @RAPIDNaturalHazardsRecon Click h...

Post-disaster Reconnaissance Missions

Since operations began in 2018, the NHERI RAPID facility has deployed reconnaissance teams and equipment to more than 80 sites around the world. Director Joe Wartman describes several, including a mission to Florida after Hurricane Michael that helped change building codes and an emergency deployment to Miami after the Surfside Condo collapse in 2021.  #naturalhazards #reconnaissance #datareuse #buildingcodes #extremeevent #tsunami #wildfire #community #resilience #surfsidecondo #NIST #GEER...

Post-processing Natural Hazards Reconnaissance Data

What happens after a reconnaissance mission using NHERI RAPID tools? In this episode of DesignSafe Radio, RAPID director Joe Wartman discusses the post-processing phase, when collected perishable data gets converted into a form researchers can use. The RAPID team, with its knowledge and experience, smooths the way for research teams — from planning to obtaining practical output.  https://rapid.designsafe-ci.org/ #NSFfunded #naturalhazards #extremeEvents #fieldresearch #reconnaissance #lida...

RAPID Toolkit for Natural Hazards Reconnaissance

Facility director Joe Wartman details the NHERI RAPID tool kit. Natural hazards reconnaissance teams can deploy the RAPID’s laser scanners, drones, multi-spectrum cameras, listening devices – even a bathymetry boat. With many years of collective field experience, the RAPID team itself provides invaluable technical expertise. https://rapid.designsafe-ci.org/ #NSFfunded #naturalhazards #extremeEvents #fieldresearch #reconnaissance #lidar #RAPP #bathymetry #accelerometers #seismometers #struc...

NHERI RAPID - Joe Wartman

Joe Wartman Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Washington  Principal Investigator, NHERI RAPID facility Wartman introduces his NSF-funded natural hazards reconnaissance facility, called the NHERI RAPID. He clarifies the term “RAPID” (in all caps), which is a kind of generic term (not an acronym) inherited from the National Science Foundation. The actual name of Wartman’s University of Washington-based group is the “Natural Hazard and Disaster Reconnaissance Fac...

Testing Seismic Isolation with Real-time Hybrid Simulation

University of Oklahoma earthquake engineer Scott Harvey is developing a base isolation system to protect valuable and sensitive contents inside buildings. He employed the shake table at the NHERI Lehigh University experimental facility to learn how his isolation system behaves under shaking. In his next experiments, Harvey will deploy the magic of real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS) to numerically simulate buildings with his physical device -- using NHERI Lehigh’s well-known RTHS capabilities...

Protecting Valuable Equipment from Earthquake Damage- Scott Harvey

Protecting valuable equipment from earthquake damage Rolling base-isolation system keeps objects safe within data centers, hospitals, and museums. Scott Harvey, earthquake engineer from the University of Oklahoma, is developing a base-isolation system for protecting critical equipment and objects inside buildings: things such as data center computers, power systems, medical equipment -- even artworks. Harvey uses the multidirectional shake table at NHERI Lehigh experimental facility to tes...

NHERI Graduate Student Coucil - Holly Davies

We learn about the NHERI Graduate Student Council from its president Holly Davies.  GSC members are young researchers studying natural hazards in fields as diverse as engineering, social sciences, computer simulation, urban planning. Follow the GSC on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NheriGsc And on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ngsc/ Interested in joining NHERI’s Graduate Student Council? Visit the website: https://www.designsafe-ci.org/learning-center/nheri-graduate-student-council...