Upcoming Seminars
Sustainability and the Structural Engineer
May 07, 2025 - 12:00 pm
Speaker: Sara Means
Structural materials such as steel and concrete account for more than 10% of the global carbon emissions, and structural engineers have a responsibility to reduce these carbon emissions in the built environment. This presentation will give an introduction to embodied carbon. What is embodied carbon, how do you calculate it, and how do you reduce it? We will discuss which materials are most sustainable and how to reduce embodied carbon in your projects. We will also give an overview of a simple Life Cycle Assessment.
Past Seminars
Non-Invasive Subsurface Site Characterization for Seismic Ground Response Analyses
April 11, 2022 - 12:00 pm
Speaker: Professor Brady R. Cox, Ph.D., P.E.
Numerical earthquake wave propagation simulations, known as ground response analyses (GRAs), are commonly performed in an attempt to estimate the site-specific, frequency-dependent amplification of seismic waves (i.e., site effects) as they travel from a reference bedrock condition up through soil layers to the ground surface. The importance of accurately predicting site effects for engineering infrastructure projects in seismically active regions cannot be overstated.
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Application of Particulate Models to Problems in Energy Geotechnics
Speaker: T. Matthew Evans
A diverse array of (broadly defined) energy applications is an increasingly large part of the geotechnical engineer’s portfolio, both in research and practice.
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“Understanding the Use of Bentonite as a Buffer Material for the Geological Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste: Experiments and Numerical Modeling
Speaker: LianGe Zheng
Disposal of high-level radioactive waste in geologic repositories involves a multi-barrier system that comprises of an engineered barrier system (EBS) and the host rock (or natural barrier system). One of the common components of the EBS is a bentonite buffer material which has several beneficial features such as a low permeability as well as a high swelling and retardation capacity. Bentonite is a very complex geo-material: it is composed of swelling clay minerals (i.e.
FRP-Confined RC Columns with Transverse Steel Confinement: From Finite Element Modeling to Reliability-Based Calibration of Design Equations
March 02, 2022 - 12:00 pm
Speaker: Michele Barbato, Ph.D
External confinement of reinforced concrete (RC) columns with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) wraps is a technique extensively used for strengthening and retrofit of structurally deficient columns. Due to modern design codes’ requirements, new RC columns tend to have higher amounts of both longitudinal and transverse steel when compared to older columns.
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Sequential Excavation Method (SEM) for the San Diego Courthouse Commons Tunnel Project
Speaker: Tom Pennington, PE, P.Eng, M. ASCE
This seminar will present the recent application of Sequential Excavation Method (SEM) tunneling techniques used for construction of the Courthouse Commons (COCO) Tunnel in downtown San Diego. The COCO Tunnel is a component of the larger Courthouse Commons Development Project and involved construction of a 300-foot long, 28-foot diameter tunnel located directly beneath an existing multi-story building.
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Sequential Excavation Method (SEM) for the San Diego Courthouse Commons Tunnel Project
Speaker: Tom Pennington, PE, P.Eng, M. ASCE
This seminar will present the recent application of Sequential Excavation Method (SEM) tunneling techniques used for construction of the Courthouse Commons (COCO) Tunnel in downtown San Diego. The COCO Tunnel is a component of the larger Courthouse Commons Development Project and involved construction of a 300-foot long, 28-foot diameter tunnel located directly beneath an existing multi-story building.
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Safety and Certification of Discontinuous Fiber Composites (DFCs) For Aerospace Applications: Design, Testing, and Computational Modeling
Speaker: Marco Salviato, PhD
Composite materials are finding increasing use across the most important industrial sectors including e.g. aerospace, automotive, and wind energy. This is owed to their excellent specific mechanical properties and their taylorability paving new avenues for structural optimization and weight savings. Engineering marvels such as the Boeing 787 have already proven the benefits of composites and showed that it is possible to adopt these materials in the commercial sector.
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Understanding Seismic Retrofit, Adaptive Reuse and Rehabilitation of Existing Buildings
Speaker: Matt Skokan, Ph.D., S.E. & Robert Randall, S.E.
This seminar will provide an overall understanding of seismic retrofit and adaptive reuse of existing buildings. Topics covered will include a discussion of the following:
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Geotechnical Conceptual Design for the Planned Redevelopment of Treasure Island, California
Speaker: Jeff Braun, Kevin McFadden, Manasa Vijayakumar, & Christopher Stouffer
The presentation addresses mitigation concepts for the geotechnical challenges that face the proposed redevelopment of Treasure Island. The island is manmade, created in 1936-1937 for the World’s Fair. It was constructed by placing approximately 30-million cubic yards of dredged sand fill over a sand shoal. After the World’s Fair in 1940, the Navy assumed control of the island through an exchange with the City of SF for Mills field in Millbrae. During WWII, Treasure Island became an active naval base until it was decommissioned in 1997.
Physics-based Modeling of Heterogeneous and Additively Manufactured Materials: Combining Finite Element and Data-Driven Approaches
February 02, 2022 - 12:00 pm
Speaker: Maryam Shakiba
This presentation discusses finite element and physics-based data-driven modeling of progressive damage in fiber-reinforced composites microstructure. We focus on two- and three-dimensional representations of additively manufactured composites. Such simulations are critical in order to design optimized composites for additive manufacturing. In fiber-reinforced composites, cracks initiate around the fibers aligned transversely to the loading direction.