News

Looking for new members!!

We are looking for new members to create our team for this year’s competition. If you or anyone you know might be interested, please email: eeri.pdx@gmail.com.

Seismic Design Competition

SDC 2018

The EERI PSU student chapter participated in their second Seismic Design Competition (SDC) this year, which took place alongside the 11th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering in Los Angeles, CA, from June 25-29. The challenge is to design and construct a 5-foot tall balsa wood building, that is lightweight, and performs well under a simulated earthquake. The competition starts with the submission of a design proposal, and out of all the schools across the world that applied, PSU was one of the 40 teams that were accepted this year. Since the news of PSU’s acceptance in early January, the team has been tirelessly working to create and perfect their design. Up to the time of the competition, the team had created over 70 SAP2000 models, done dozens of component and small-scale tests, and completed four full-scale building models.

So far, only the top three placing SDC teams have been revealed, from first to third: UC Berkeley, UC Los Angeles, and Technical University of Cluj-Napoca. While the PSU SDC team didn’t place top three, their building design was strikingly similar to Berkeley’s first-place design, indicating that some more careful designing and construction considerations could’ve netted them a top finish. Videos of all school’s shake day performances can be watched on the EERI Student Leadership Council Facebook page, along with PSU’s performance at the end of session 2, around 2:08:00. Attending the 2018 SDC for PSU was great, not only for the competition, but also for the opportunity to attend a Post-Earthquake Reconnaissance Workshop, a walking tour of downtown L.A., to meet with professionals such as Ashraf Habibullah and David A. Friedman, and to network with engineering and architecture students from all over the world. It was a fun, educational, and memorable experience.

EERI PSU is looking forward to having an even better performance at next year’s competition in Vancouver, BC. If you are interested in the SDC, or other aspects of the EERI PSU student chapter, please contact us at eeri@pdx.edu to see how you can get involved, or follow us on our Facebook page for more news and updates.

Events

Winter 2018 General Meeting

When: Monday Feb 12th from 12pm to 1pm
Where: Engineering Building, Room 260

We will be talking about the Seismic Design Competition (SDC) and updating you on what we have been working on and how you can participate this term. We also want to share with you the process of bringing one of the largest disaster preparation events to PSU. EERI PSU is working with ASCE to have a successful event on April 9th, an event that will be open to the public- we are expecting a large turn out. If you want to be a part of organizing this event come to the General Meeting and find out how to get involved.

Finally, we have been looking on how to get our members certified as neighborhood first responders- come find out how EERI PSU will make that possible.

Lunch Provided!

Disaster Preparation Event

When: Monday April 9th- 6pm to 9pm
Where: Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom

The Disaster Preparation Event (DPE) will be the largest event organized by EERI PSU. It will be a 3-hour event with the first hour designated to a screening of the OPB documentary “Unprepared”. During the second hour we will hold a town hall meeting where the audience can ask questions to our panelists. Our panelists are: Allison Pyrch and Jay Wilson- featured in “Unprepared”, Ed Quesenberry from Equilibrium Engineers, and Emma Stocker, Director of Emergency Management at PSU. The third hour will then be dedicated to tabling from multiple different companies and organizations, with the audience (aiming for 200+ people) being free to move from table to table to learn and listen to each of the organizations.

Seismic Design Competition-SDC

Monday Meetings

When: Every Monday from 12pm to 2pm
Where: Engineering Building, Room 260

Workshop Meetings

When: Every Saturday from 12pm to 7pm (Drop-in)

Please contact Joy Sherman-Lewis if you plan to attend (jps4@pdx.edu)
Where: Engineering Building, Room 260

There are no other events scheduled at the moment. Please check back soon!

Email eeri.pdx@gmail.com with any questions.