Upcoming Seminars
Waterfront Facility Inspection & Rehabilitation Engineering Design
April 30, 2025 - 12:00 pm
Speaker: Bill Dubbs
More information coming soon!
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
Scaled Shake Table Model Experiments on Shallow Foundations in Liquefied Soils
April 26, 2017 - 1:00 pm
Speaker: Professor Ramin Motamed
Liquefaction-induced ground failure has accounted for major damage in structures and lifelines for several decades. Well-documented case histories have provided valuable insight into the mechanism of this phenomenon. Recent earthquakes such as the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence in New Zealand and the 2011 Great Tohoku earthquake in Japan revealed that the current engineering practice lacks proper consideration of this phenomenon in the design.
San Francisco International Airport Air Traffic Control Tower
April 19, 2017 - 1:00 pm
Speaker: Rafael Sabelli
The new San Francisco International Airport features a 220 foot tall air-traffic control tower surrounded by an integrated three-story, FAA office building. The tower’s iconic torch-like architectural design has become the symbol of the airport.
Faculty Life at a Major Research University: Getting the Job, What to Expect, and How to Survive
April 10, 2017 - 1:00 pm
Speaker: Professor Michael Todd
Ever wondered what it takes to get (and keep!) an academic job at a major research university, like UC San Diego? This presentation, originally developed for American Society of Engineering Education professional development series, discusses how faculty job searches are conducted, what to expect in the job search process, and then what to expect and how to survive an early career faculty appointment at a major research university. This seminar is targeted for anyone who might be interested in or is currently seeking a faculty position.
Overview of the MOMS Program at NSF
April 05, 2017 - 1:00 pm
Speaker: Dr. Kara Peters
This presentation will present an overview of the Mechanics of Materials and Structures (MoMS) program within the Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation Division at the National Science Foundation. The Mechanics of Materials and Structures program supports fundamental research in mechanics as related to the behavior of deformable solid materials and structures under internal and external actions. The program supports a diverse spectrum of research with emphasis on transformative advances in experimental, theoretical, and computational methods.
Extracting Heat from the Earth - Why does Micromechanics Matter
March 17, 2017 - 11:00 am
Speaker: Dr. Ingrid Tomac
Geothermal energy extraction via Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) is being explored at the pilot level, but still faces technical challenges related to hydraulic fracturing of rock, as well as placement of proppant into rough fractures to maintain a stable aperture for successful long-term operation. This presentation focuses on the role of micro-mechanical analyses in gaining a better understanding of the complex, coupled behavior associated with EGS development. The particular micro-mechanics tool used in this study is the Discrete Element Method (DEM).
Numerical Simulation of Cone Penetration for Development of Engineering Correlations
February 28, 2017 - 11:00 am
Speaker: Diane Moug
Correlations of cone penetration test (CPT) measurements to geotechnical soil properties have been well developed for clean silica-sands and sedimentary clays. However, CPT correlations that directly address intermediate soils, such as clayey sands, sandy silts, non-plastic silts, are often not theoretically informed, and furthermore these soils are not well represented in case history data-bases for empirical correlations. These gaps in engineering practice are addressed through a mechanics-based framework to develop correlations between CPT data and engineering soil properties.
Self-Consistent Clustering Analysis for Data-Driven Design of Multiscale Material Systems
February 27, 2017 - 12:00 pm
Speaker: Professor Wing Kam Liu, PE
The advent of advanced processing and manufacturing techniques provides unparalleled freedom to design new material classes with complex microstructures across scales from nanometers to meters. In this lecture a new data-driven computational framework for the analysis and design of these complex material systems will be presented. A mechanistic concurrent multiscale method called self-consistent clustering analysis (SCA) is developed for general inelastic heterogeneous material systems.
Nano-Engineering Materials and Structures for Aerospace Applications
February 24, 2017 - 12:00 pm
Speaker: Professor Ya Wang
Vibration energy harvesting is a demonstrated solution to power sensors, and even low power actuation systems. Most ambient vibration is rectilinear and broadband in nature and is particularly rich in the low-frequency regions. They exist in many different environments, encompass significant energy potential, and can be extracted with little to no (or even beneficial, e.g. damping control) impact on the environment. Examples include vibrations induced by large infrastructures (i.e. bridges, buildings) and our daily activities.
Earthquake Resilient Housing through Enhanced Light-Frame Uni-body Construction with Low-Cost Seismic Isolation
February 21, 2017 - 4:00 pm
Speaker: Professor Gregory Deierlein
While light-frame residential house construction generally performs well with respect to life safety, experience from past earthquakes indicates that widespread damage to houses can lead to large financial losses. The damage and losses are not entirely unexpected, owing to prevailing design philosophies that advocate reduced earthquake design forces using ductile seismic systems. In contrast to current approaches, a new seismic design methodology is proposed to reduce deformations and damage through an enhanced strength/stiffness limited ductility light-frame shear wall system.
Being a Valued Employee: Standing out Effortlessly
February 13, 2017 - 12:00 pm
Speaker: Lon McPhail
What your boss needs most of all - doing your job is half the battle
How to report findings and activities- short, sweet, and to the point
Delivering bad news- it's an art form... two to the chest, or one to the Head.
Everything you write matters! - understanding that every word you write down should be publishable, and why.