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MCEER investigations of New York’s World Trade Center complex following the attacks of September 11, 2001 served as a catalyst for the center’s transition to leverage earthquake engineering knowledge to enhance resilience against other hazards. The bridge photos depict similarities in earthquake damage to a bridge in Japan’s 1966 Niigata earthquake (inset), and storm surge damage to a Gulf Coast bridge following 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.

Since its inception in 1986, UB’s earthquake engineering center has achieved global stature. It began as the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (NCEER), when it was awarded National Science Foundation (NSF) funding as a national center of excellence, directed by Robert L. Ketter. In 1997, it became the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER), one of three such NSF-funded earthquake engineering research centers. Now, with an emphasis on earthquakes as well as other multiple hazards, the center is simply called MCEER.

As NCEER, the center pioneered the revolutionary concept of seismic damping, or shock-absorption, for buildings (see toggle brace photo). This development was made possible through synergy with industry, in this case, Taylor Devices of North Tonawanda, in adapting shock absorbing and isolation products – originally developed for defense and aeronautic applications – for use in the protection of buildings and bridges in earthquake-prone areas.

The center was also the first to integrate social science research with earthquake engineering studies, and consequently became known as the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research. MCEER was the only center using this approach, by which researchers incorporated economic and social considerations, for example, cost-benefit analyses, into their development of advanced engineering methods for infrastructure protection and emergency planning.

MCEER has also focused on solutions to better ensure operation of lifeline systems (power, water and highways) and hospital services, immediately after a disaster. Center researchers have devised a novel framework to quantify “disaster resilience,” so that disaster-stricken areas can better withstand and more readily rebound from natural disasters and other extreme events. MCEER’s Resilience concept incorporates “four R’s”: Robustness – ability to survive an impact, and to minimize loss when an extreme event occurs; Redundancy – secondary roads, hospitals, bridges, etc., which can absorb the capacity from damaged or disrupted primary systems; Resourcefulness – the capability to mobilize resources and react accordingly to minimize damage and disruption; and the Rapidity with which recovery can be realized.

As MCEER goes forward, it will apply its Resilience framework to other types of disasters, continuing to expand its focus on multi-hazard events for the nation and for New York State, according to MCEER Director Andre Filiatrault. This is timely, as the nation’s infrastructure is aging and critical roads and bridges require repair and rebuilding. It is also important as seismic design standards for new buildings grow more stringent; and in the face of other extreme events caused by nature (e.g., hurricanes) and by man (e.g., terrorism). (See photos at top of story.)

“Through the vision and leadership of its past directors, George Lee and Michel Bruneau, MCEER has redefined the field of multiple hazard engineering through the concept of disaster resilience,” Filiatrault said. “It is critical for the nation’s communities to harden their infrastructure, to make them more resilient against potential hazards. Many technologies that MCEER has developed for earthquake engineering applications will be applicable to other hazards as well.”

Filiatrault Elected MCEER Director

For 20 years, Filiatrault’s work has led to improved seismic design standards, through testing of structural and nonstructural building components. With colleagues, Filiatrault developed the world’s first and only Nonstructural Components Simulator, an apparatus for subjecting the costly equipment and systems found in critical facilities to vibrations they might experience during a strong quake. The pioneering research helps institutions comply with new legislation requiring facilities like hospitals to remain functional after a quake.

Since 2007, Filiatrault has been director of UB’s Structural Engineering and Earthquake Simulation Laboratory (SEESL), which houses twin, movable shake tables capable of real-time seismic testing of large-scale structures. In 2006, he and colleagues from other universities showcased the lab’s capabilities with the NSF-funded NEESWood project, in which a full-scale wood-frame townhouse and its furnishings were subjected to powerful quake-like forces. At 1,800-square-feet, it was the largest wooden structure ever shake-table tested in the United States.

Filiatrault has also participated in several earthquake reconnaissance teams, in the US and Japan, and has organized UB and MCEER reconnaissance teams after Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav. He will lead MCEER’s program to develop multi-hazard solutions for renewal and resilience of infrastructure in the US and New York State, and will continue to serve the research needs of the earthquake engineering community.

MCEER’s Successes

Taylor Devices’ toggle brace installed in the Yerba-Buena Tower in San Francisco is a structural damper configuration developed with MCEER.

Established by NSF, MCEER’s principal sponsors over the past two decades have been the National Science Foundation (NSF); the State of New York, and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Additional support comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), other state governments, academic institutions, foreign governments, and private industry.

Within MCEER’s strategic program, UB Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering (CSEE) faculty and researchers from other universities have engaged in projects to enhance our nation’s resilience against natural and manmade hazards. This successful track record provides a foundation for the UB2020 strategic strength on “Extreme Events: Mitigation and Response.” MCEER’s experience has given leadership and has resulted in investment, which has provided momentum to the development of this strategic strength. Major MCEER contributions include:

• NSF-sponsored research to improve seismic resilience of lifelines, hospitals, and response and recovery;
• An FHWA project on the seismic design and retrofit of bridges and highways, led by SUNY Distinguished Professor George Lee;
• CSEE Professor Andrei Reinhorn’s project to enhance the resilience of electrical power systems during earthquakes (funded by the California Energy Commission, and Oregon’s Bonneville Power Administration, with numerous external strategic partnerships);
• MCEER-deployed reconnaissance teams to disaster stricken areas, such as the World Trade Center in New York City, after 9/11/2001; the U.S. Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav; areas affected by the South Asian Tsunami of 2004; and earthquakes in Pisco, Peru (2007), Wenchuan, China (2008); and Bam, Iran (2003), to name just a few.
• A joint initiative with the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center of the University of California, Berkeley, to develop unified design guidelines for bridge bearings and seismic isolation bearings, funded by the California Department of Transportation and led by CSEE Professor Michael Constantinou.
• The development and commemoration of the world’s only Nonstructural Components Simulator at UB, to study the impacts of earthquakes on building equipment and contents.