On March 31, an earthquake measuring magnitude 6.7 on the Richter scale will shake student dormitories in Los Angeles. And if the building architects find the shuddering eerily reminiscent of 1994's Northridge temblor, that's because the movements from this simulated quake will be exactly the same as that frightening natural disaster.

During the 2006 Pacific Southwest Regional Conference of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), students will have the chance to test out their scale-model dormitory buildings against the Northridge quake - as replicated by the recently completed "Shake Lab" at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science.

The annual student conference, which runs from March 30 to April 1, is being hosted by UCLA Engineering this year and will bring nearly 500 civil engineering undergraduates from Southern California, Arizona and Nevada to Los Angeles to engage in tasks that include designing and building an earthquake-safe building, constructing and racing concrete canoes, and erecting a model steel bridge.

A key highlight of the conference is the relatively new seismic design challenge - or "Earthquake Shake" - for which teams from seven California schools have been selected based on pre-submitted design proposals.

UCLA, California Polytechnic State University, Pomona; California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; California State University, Los Angeles; San Diego State University; University of California, Irvine; and University of California, San Diego, all have student teams competing in the quake competition.


This year's seismic design challenge is to build a three-story, scale-model wood dormitory that meets specific land size and cost requirements. All of the models will be tested on the shake table with ground motions recorded during medium and large earthquakes - with the large one this year mirroring the Northridge quake. The winning building will be the one that satisfies the pre-set design criteria, falls within cost parameters and emerges with the least amount of damage after the "big one" hits.

Teams from all of the universities have been preparing for the challenge since fall 2005. The students have had four months to complete their designs, from conception to execution.

"I've been involved in ASCE since my sophomore year, and I think it's really valuable to be part of the organization," said Jerry Lee, a senior at UCLA Engineering and co-chair of the school's seismic design event team. "The conference events give you practical experience. You learn these things in class, but a lot of it doesn't click until you really try to build something."

"We're training future civil engineers to understand how buildings react in an earthquake, and in the process, the students also are having fun working with their peers," said Jonathan Stewart, UCLA civil and environmental engineering professor and adviser for the student chapter of ASCE, which is organizing the event.

The National Science Foundation-funded George E. Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation, or NEES, sponsors operation of the NEES@UCLA earthquake simulation facility. NEES was created to promote better understanding of earthquakes and their effects, and is a shared national network of 15 experimental facilities. Collaborative resources shared by the sites aim to promote new discoveries in the ways buildings, bridges, utility systems, coastal regions and natural materials perform during seismic events.

Lab Director Bob Nigbor said, "Rarely do engineers have the ability to view the impact of a large quake on a building from start to finish as it happens, so this experience is invaluable. It's a particularly great setup this year, with real-time instrumentation, allowing participating students to view the performance of their model buildings as they are on the shake table. We're fortunate to have the NEES facility at UCLA Engineering, and fortunate to have the NSF funding that allows fun and educational events, as well as important earthquake research we hope will ultimately lead to reduced losses in the future."

The seismic design event during the annual ASCE conference is one way to involve students in earthquake research taking place across the nation. The ASCE student conference seismic design competition began two years ago, with the 2005 competition held at California State University, Fullerton, and the inaugural competition in 2004 held at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Ranked among the top 10 engineering schools among public universities nationwide, the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science is home to six multimillion dollar interdisciplinary research centers in space exploration, wireless sensor
systems, nanotechnology, nanomanufacturing and nanoelectronics, funded by federal and private agencies. For more information, visit http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/.

For inquiries on competing in the 2006 Pacific Southwest Regional Conference of the American Society of Civil Engineers, please contact Carrie Leung at carrie.leung@gmail.com or visit http://www.seas.ucla.edu/asce/pswrc2006/rules.html

2006 Pacific Southwest Regional Conference
American Society of Civil Engineers
Hosted by the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science

Seismic Design Challenge schedule:
Friday, March 31

9 a.m.-9:45 a.m. Cal State LA
9:45 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
10:30 a.m.-11:15 a.m. UCLA Engineering
11:15 a.m.-12 p.m. San Diego State

12 p.m.-1 p.m. Lunch break

1 p.m.-1:45 p.m. UC San Diego
1:45 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Cal Poly Pomona
2:30 p.m.-3:15 p.m. UC Irvine

For detailed schedule information for the entire conference, visit http://www.seas.ucla.edu/asce/pswrc2006/rules.html and click on "Itinerary."