Graduate Research Assistant Field Mission 2003
Thirteen graduate students, two faculty members and a staff person embarked on a whirlwind tour of earthquake laboratories and field sites in Italy. The MAE Center students were Carrie Wagener, UIUC, Ho Jung Lee, UIUC, and Bryant Nielson, GT. The faculty representative was Professor Phillip Gould from Washington University in St.Louis. From Monday, October 12 until Saturday October 18, the participants in the second Tri-Center Field Mission motored through Northern and Central Italy, from Milan to Naples in a fashion that a European colleague called a "genuine American trip".
The trip included stops at the Joint European Research Facility, ISPRA, the U. of Pavia the U. of Rome, the U. of D'Aquila, the village of San Giuliano, and the city of Naples. Numerous professors, laboratory directors, researchers and friends were exceedingly generous with their time and resources along the way and left a warm feeling for Italy and its people with the group. The sites visited presented leading edge analytical and experimental research topics, novel applications of new materials and technologies, practical engineering issues and also the human side of earthquake hazard mitigation, response and recovery. The accompanying photos illustrate some of the highlights of each site.
The stated objective of the mission was: To observe methods of seismic design, performance, recovery and retrofit in Italy, as compared to similar processes in the US and other countries, and to isolate unique, new potential areas of improvement that can benefit all countries. While several lessons have been learned from observation after many earthquakes, some of the same vulnerabilities continue to appear. What, if anything, can be done to advance the profession to avoid repeating historical damage?
The students were composed of seven MCEER representatives, three MAE representatives and three PEER representatives. Inter-center teams were organized and are preparing reports on various activities that captured their interest along the way. These reports will be included in a tri-center publication, perhaps volume 3 of the next annual report.
The issues that the students were to consider included:
- Impact of past earthquakes on structural and societal environment
- Influences of recovery and rebuilding efforts; assessment of effectiveness in both mitigation and retrofit
- General design and construction history in Italy
- Current design practices and philosophies; role of new International Building Code; cultural differences in application of code
- New methodologies and structural technologies being employed
- Treatment of historic structures
- Possible new strategies for improved mitigation and/or retrofit/recovery
While it was not possible to touch on all of the issues in depth, several were revealed at the venues. In summary, participation in a field mission is a unique experience afforded the research assistants of the EERCs and provides an excellent complement to the traditional academic and research activities of graduate students. The friendships established between the participants and with Italian contemporaries may well carry on into the professional careers of the students.
