"We’re in the car, and my traveling companion and local guide Marco
Faggella is blasting the stereo. He wants me to hear the music of a
friend of his, who has reinterpreted southern Italy’s traditional
tarantella rhythms as intoxicating trance tunes. Over dinner the
previous evening, Faggella, a member of the Rotary Club of Roma
Nord-Est, filled me in on his Top Secret Plan to get his friend to play
at the Burning Man art festival. In that conversation, Faggella also
educated me on the finer points of Italian mysticism, Magna Graecia, and
Pythagoras.
Faggella is full of grand plans: When he launched a film festival in
2009 in the beach town of Maratea in partnership with Rotary District
2100 (in part to show off the Oscar-nominated polio film The Final
Inch), he called Francis Ford Coppola, whose grandparents came from the
region. Coppola ended up sending a video message.
I'm here to find out more about another of his big ideas, this one in
his professional life. Faggella, who was trained through a Rotary
scholarship, is a research associate in seismic engineering at Sapienza
University of Rome. He looks at how to construct buildings – or retrofit
existing ones – so that they don’t tumble down if an earthquake
strikes. It’s a passion that makes sense given the earthquake risk in
Italy, including in his hometown of Potenza, the city we are visiting at
the instep of Italy’s boot. "
The M 7.8 Gorkha Earthquake occurred at 11:56am local time in Nepal
on April 25, 2015. This earthquake and the many aftershocks that
followed significantly affected Nepal, causing human losses as well as
widespread structural damage and ground failure. The building stock in
the affected regions predominantly consists of poorly engineered
unreinforced masonry buildings. However, approximately 25% of the
buildings consist of reinforced concrete (RC) frames infilled with
masonry walls.This structural system was widely employed in the 1920′s
and 1930′s in California as well as in the Pacific Northwest; hence,
understanding their failure mechanisms has direct implications for a
large number of buildings in metropolitan areas in the United States
(US).
This project focuses on post-earthquake assessment of existing RC
building frames with masonry infill in Nepal. The team will acquire,
process, and archive architectural and structural data, including
building drawings, in residential buildings and critical facilities such
as schools and hospitals. The data will be obtained through traditional
methods as well as geo-referenced, 3D, ground-based lidar (GBL) scans
and Structure from Motion (SfM), i.e. 3D reconstructions from 2D
photographs, thus providing detailed, quantitative damage measurements.
This collected data will provide new earthquake reconnaissance case
studies of RC frame with infill buildings and will be used to evaluate
current US guidelines for assessment of existing structures. Moreover,
it will serve to inform local rebuilding and recovery efforts in Nepal
though close collaboration with local agencies in Nepal.
The research team collaborated with researchers and practicing
engineers from the US, Italy, Portugal, and Nepal. Hence, beyond its
intellectual and technical merit, this project provides foreign research
experiences to three graduate students and further strengthens ties
between the scientific research communities in the United States, Nepal,
and the European Union.
NSF-RAPID Project Team: Oregon State University
People: Dr. Andre Barbosa (PI), Dr. Mike Olsen (co-PI), Dr. Dan Gillins, Rajendra Soti, Patrick Burns, and Matthew Gillins;
Tasks: Coordination, detailed structural assessment of RC frames with infill, ambient vibration testing;
Equipment: Total
GPS stations, Laser Scanning Equipment, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
(UAVs), 360 panoramic camera (Thanks to PEER), rebar scanners, Schmidt
hammer, and cables and connections for PCB accelerometers and DAQ for
ambient vibration testing
University of Buffalo
People: Dr. Andreas Stavridis (co-PI) and Supratik Bose;
Tasks: Detailed structural assessment of RC frame with infill, ambient vibration testing;
Equipment: Accelerometers for ambient vibration testing
NSF-RAPID Project Collaborators: University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy
People: Dr. Enrico Spacone, Dr. Giuseppe Brando, Davide Rapone;
Tasks: Assessment of reinforced concrete structures and vulnerability assessment of masonry structures.
Equipment: Rebar scanners, Schmidt hammer, ultrasonic testing for concrete
University of Roma, La Sapienza, Italy
People: Dr. Rosario Giglioti and Dr. Marco Faggella;
Tasks: Earthquake damage assessment
University of Porto, Portugal
People: Dr. Humberto Varum, Dr. Nelson Vila Pouca, Dr. Hugo Rodrigues, Andre Furtado, and Joao Oliveira;
Tasks: Assessment of RC frames with infill, and monuments;
Equipment: Three seismometers with data loggers and five accelerometers for measuring wall panel vibration characteristics
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
People: Dr. Richard Wood;
Tasks:
Laser scanning and ambient vibration testing for assessment of RC
frames with infill, vulnerability of historic centers, and monuments;
Equipment: Laser scanning equipment and UAVs
Tufts University
People: Dr. Babak Moaveni;
Tasks: Ambient vibration data processing;
Equipment: Accelerometers and DAQ
National Society for Earthquake Technology, Nepal
People: Dr. Ramesh Guaragain, Surya Naryan Shrestha, Dev Kumar Maharjan
PEER – Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center
People: Dr. Stephen Mahin, Grace Kang
Tasks: Webinar support and database development;
Equipment: Panoramic 360 camera
NSF-RAPID Acknowledgements:
The project team and collaborators would like to acknowledge the support of several people and institutions, including:
Dr. Benson Shing, University of California San Diego
The
EU scientific board of the ELARCH project (Euro Latin America
partnership in natural Risk mitigation and protection of the Cultural
Heritage - www.elarch.org) gathered at Facoltà di Ingegneria, Sapienza
to set the scientific framework. The 4-years project will kick-off in
Matera on November 10-11-12, 2014, and is part of the Matera2019
European Capital of Culture Bid Book.
SUMMARY
Despite the advances of science and technology, natural risks are still
resulting in dramatic human and economical consequences in the world’s
most vulnerable regions for the natural and built environment as well
as for the cultural heritage. The capacity to mitigate the impact of
risks relies on implementation of research and technology results into
policy. Mitigation practices are more effective if incorporated into
academic research and higher education curricula in an international
and global context, representing an important opportunity for promoting
innovation and creation of new jobs, international cooperation and
dialogue.
Objective of this project is to establish higher education cooperation
between institutions across Europe and Latin America, through academic
mobility measures in natural risk reduction and preservation of the
cultural heritage. Researchers, future policy makers and practitioners
will strengthen their curricula in architecture, engineering,
geological sciences, environmental sciences, management and planning,
etc. Specific educational and interdisciplinary research activities
will focus on innovative practices in: conservation of the cultural
heritage, life-cycle analysis and resilient/sustainable design, health
monitoring and diagnostics, seismology, experimental studies,
social/economical impact evaluation, disaster and asset management,
national and international policy. Cooperation will take place between
universities and research centers active in protection of the cultural
heritage, environmental risk mitigation and training. Mobility will
involve 36 Undergrads, 32 Masters, 23 PhDs, 17 Post-Docs, and 11 Staff.
Universities, NGOs, Philanthropy groups, local and International
Authorities will develop a human resources infrastructure incorporating
credit recognition, joint degrees and UNESCO chair charters, innovative
E-learning platforms, field case-study laboratories, cultural policy
strategies, and social inclusion.
OBJECTIVE To establish higher education cooperation between institutions from
Europe and Latin America, to develop a comprehensive mobility scheme
for building curricula in global disaster reduction issues,
preservation of the cultural heritage and of the built and natural
environment.
EU-NICE, Eurasian University Network for
International Cooperation in Earthquake
M. Faggella, G. Monti, F. Braga, R.
Gigliotti, M. Capelli, E. Spacone, M. Laterza, T. Triantafillou, H. Varum, M.
Dost Safi, J. Subedi, A. Dixit, S. Lodi, Z. Rahman, S. Limkatanyu, Y. Xiao, L.
Yingmin, H. Kumar, W. Salvatore, A. Cecchini, P. Lukkunaprasit
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Despite the remarkable scientific
advancements of earthquake engineering and seismology in many countries,
seismic risk is still growing at a high rate in the world’s most vulnerable
communities. Successful practices have shown that a community’s capacity to
manage and reduce its seismic risk relies on capitalization on policies, on
technology and research results. An important role is played by education, than
contribute to strengthening technical curricula of future practitioners and
researchers through university and higher education programmes. In recent years
an increasing number of initiatives have been launched in this field at the
international and global cooperation level. Cooperative international academic
research and training is key to reducing the gap between advanced and more
vulnerable regions. EU-NICE is a European Commission funded higher education
partnership for international development cooperation with the objective to
build capacity of individuals who will operate at institutions located in
seismic prone Asian Countries. The project involves five European Universities,
eight Asian universities and four associations and NGOs active in advanced
research on seismic mitigation, disaster risk management and international
development.
The project consists of a comprehensive
mobility scheme open to nationals from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Nepal,
Pakistan, Thailand, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, North Korea,
Philippines, and Sri Lanka who plan to enrol in school or conduct research at
one of five European partner universities in Italy, Greece and Portugal. During
the 2010-14 time span a total number of 104 mobilities are being involved in
scientific activities at the undergraduate, masters, PhD, postdoctoral and academic-staff
exchange levels.
This high number of mobilities and
activities is selected and designed so as to produce an overall increase of
knowledge that can result in an impact on earthquake mitigation. Researchers,
future policymakers and practitioners build up their curricula over a range of
disciplines in the fields of engineering, seismology, disaster risk management
and urban planning. Specific educational and research activities focus on
earthquake risk mitigation related topics such as: anti-seismic structural
design, structural engineering, advanced computer structural collapse analysis,
seismology, experimental laboratory studies, international and development
issues in disaster risk management, social-economical impact studies,
international relations and conflict resolution.
COOPERATION AND SCHOLARSHIPS ABROAD EU-NICE: A MISSION TO ACCOMPLISH
Scientific cooperation between European and Asian universities, training in the field of seismic safety with the objective that fellows will go back to their country and contribute to reducing earthquake risk. (by Giorgia Cingolani). From March 2012 PAUL Magazine, Rotary District 2080, Lazio Sardegna Italy.
There are cases in which Rotary International has a function although not very well known. Often it is training and building specific skills that can lay the groundwork for improving our world. In this context, there is a project that sees Rotary International join hands with some University in the world, and with the European Commission. Creator and one of the protagonists of this project is Marco Faggella, a member of the Rotary Club Rome North-East. Marco moved to San Diego as an Ambassadorial Scholar from Rotary District 2120 Puglia and Basilicata (Sponsor Club Rotary Club Potenza). During the 4 years at the University of California San Diego within a PhD project with the University G. D'Annunzio in Pescara, Marco started to attend the Local Rotary and became a member of the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club. Here he met Rotarians Fary Moini and Steve Brown, currently serving as a Board of Trustees of the Rotary Foundation and very active in humanitarian projects in Afghanistan, who later became his mentor and sponsor in Rotary, and Brian Tucker, founder of the historic GeoHazards International. It is during this experience that the groundwork was laid for the project EU-NICE Erasmus Mundus, a partnership that joins earthquake engineering and capacity building for development cooperation. In an interview made for the Rotary magazine "Paul" Dr. Faggella
illustrates the contents of EU-NICE. This acronym indicates the project
Eurasian University Network for International Cooperation in
Earthquakes. It is made of 100 scholarships funded by the European
Commission within the Erasmus Mundus program and coordinated by the
University of Rome "La Sapienza", with the objective of promoting
scientific cooperation between Universities in Europe and Asia field of
seismic safety.
The project is intended to nationals from various
Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Pakistan,
Thailand, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, North Korea,
Philippines and Sri Lanka) that are interested in studying or working at
one of the partner universities of the project. The European
Universities are all centers of excellence for research and higher
education in seismic risk mitigation: in addition to the University of
Rome, partners are the University of Chieti- Pescara G. D'Annunzio, the
University University of Basilicata, the University of Patras in Greece,
the University of Aveiro in Portugal, along with Asian universities
including the University of Nangarhar in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, among
others.
The project is also supported by a number of Associations
and NGOs active in the reduction of earthquake risk (such as ANIDIS, the
Italian National Association of Earthquake Engineering and NGO
GeoHazards Society). Among these associations an important role is
played by Rotary District 2080, often a first actor in International
Development projects, together with the Rotary Club of Jalalabad, an
outpost of the large family of Rotary in Afghanistan. Marco will help us
to understand what precisely the role of Rotary within EU-NICE? "In San
Diego with Steve Brown we have discussed on how to involve Rotary in
seismic risk prevention projects in critical countries. This idea was
realized with the EU-NICE project that has among its objectives the
promotion of world peace through higher education and vocational
training. The result is under our eyes. The project started with a grant
of 2.5 Million Euros from the European Commission. And also thanks
Rotary, which played a role of aggregator among the various
stakeholders, and has understood that the capacity to manage and reduce
the risk of earthquakes cannot be separated from achieving technological
results and research through higher education programs. Rotary
understood that for achieving these goals it is essential to create a
network that would combine the side of science and education with the
humanitarian field that Rotary fully embodies. Somehow in the wake of
the educational program of the "Ambassadorial Scholarships", or the
"World Peace Fellowships". What are the scientific content the project? "Many of the home
Countries of Fellows are known to be very vulnerable to earthquakes.
These regions have also recently suffered the consequences of disastrous
earthquakes. Just think of Pakistan In 2005, it was hit by an
earthquake that caused a total of 80,000 victims, or Afghanistan, which
combines a high seismic risk condition with extreme conflict and
poverty. These are countries with endless metropolises where most of the
houses have come up without anti-seismic criteria. This is to say that
this development cooperation training focuses on methodologies for
studying and designing earthquake-resistant buildings, and simulation
techniques that can be used to model the response of structures to
seismic events and so on. The ultimate goal is that every Fellow will go
back in their country of origin with a stronger curriculum of higher
education to apply at home, obviously adapting the approach to the
characteristics and needs of their country. "
What 's your hope
for the future? "EU-NICE is a pilot project and has a duration of four
years. My wish is that it will become sustainable in the years with
private donors funding or with funds from other organizations, perhaps
the World Bank or the United Nations ".
"In San Diego with steve brown we discussed how to involve Rotary in
seismic risk prevention projects in critical countries. This idea has become
real in the EU-NICE project that has among its objective the promotion of world
peace through education and vocational training."
The Sapienza University of Rome MECRES Masters
programme has the objective to provide advanced training on concepts
and methodologies for seismic classification, hazard evaluation,
microzonation, anti-seismic design of new structures, retrofit of
existing structures, advanced performance-based analysis and risk
analysis.
The program relies on an international Teaching Body from international schools of earthquake engineering and seismology.
Training objectives are divided into two areas:
Definition of seismic input :
seismic sources,
seismic wave analysis,
management of macroseismic and instrumental ground motions databases,
seismic monitoring,
definition of design earthquakes,
deterministic and probabilistic methods for seismic hazard and risk evaluation,
evaluation of seismic response through geological surveys,
dynamic soil behavior,
laboratory testing,
on-site campaigns and measurements.
Evaluation of the response:
fundamentals of earthquake engineering,
static and dynamic modeling of earthquake input,
modal analysis,
earthquake protection devices,
design of retrofit strategies,
design and verification of structural components and members,
evaluation and analysis of damage on structures and buildings,
advanced analysis and risk analysis
For both areas subjects teaching is in the form of theoretical lectures and practical case study applications.
All
aspects are taught also under the simulation and modelling
perspective to introduce computer simulation tools used in current
practice.
The MECRES masters is open to Italian and International participants holding a University degree in the following fields:
Despite the remarkable scientific advances of earthquake engineering and seismology in many countries, earthquake risk is still growing at a high rate in the World’s most vulnerable Countries. Succesful practice experiences have shown that a Country’s capacity to manage and reduce its earthquake risk relies on capitalization on policies as well as technology and research results, and on strengthening technical curricula for future practitioners and researchers through university and higher education programmes. Cooperative international academic research and training is always key to reducing the gap between industrialized and more vulnerable regions.
Representatives of the EU-NICE consortium from Asian and European universities at the initiative kick-off meeting.
Based on these premises, the Sapienza University of Rome has taken the lead in a major scientific cooperation effort with asian partners. Representatives from 5 European Universities, 8 Asian Univerisities, and 5 Associate organizations and NGOs gathered in Rome on October 18-19 to launch EU-NICE initiative. The meeting was attended by Rector Prof. Luigi Frati who signed the Consortium Agreement, and by the Vice President of the European Parliament Mr. Gianni Pittella who addressed the international gathering through a videoconference speech. EU-NICE (http://www.eu-nice.eu) is an international cooperation and aid project under the Erasmus Mundus mobility scheme of the European Commission. The project focuses on capacity building and curricula strengthening in the field of earthquake mitigation and is targeted to University located in Regional Asian Countries.
Researchers, future policymakers and practitioners will build up their curricula over a wide range of disciplines in the fields of engineering, seismology, disaster risk management and urban planning. Specific educational and research activities will focus on earthquake risk mitigation related topics such as: anti-seismic structural design, structural engineering, advanced computer structural collapse analysis, seismology, experimental laboratory studies, international and developmental issues in disaster risk management, social-economical impact studies, international relations and conflict resolution. Cooperation will take place between leading European and Asian universities involved in advanced research on seismic mitigation, centers of excellence for higher education training on disaster risk management.
The Eurasian consortium comprises 5 European Universities: Sapienza University of Rome (Coordinator), (Italy), University "G. D'Annunzio of Chieti-Pescara (Italy), University of Basilicata (Italy), University of Partas (Greece), University of Aveiro (Portugal); 8 Asian Universities: Nangarhar University (Afghanistan), Tribhuvan University (Nepal), National Society for Earthquake Technology (Nepal), NED University of Engineering and Technology (Pakistan), University of Dhaka (Bangladesh), Prince of Songkla University (Thailand) , Hunan University (China), Chongqing University (China); and 5 Associate Organizations and NGOs: Geohazards International Society (India), Rotary Club of Jalalabad (Afghanistan), Rotary International District 2080 Lazio-Sardegna (Italy), Italian Association of Earthquake Engineering ANIDIS (Italy), Chulalongkorn University (Thailand).
Speech of the Vice President of the European Parliament Mr. Gianni Pittella.
The Erasmus Mundus Action Two Partnership programme is a cooperation and mobility scheme in the area of higher education launched by Europe Aid Cooperation Office and implemented by the Executive Agency Education, Audiovisual and Culture (EACEA).
The European Commission has launched this initiative to foster cooperation between higher education institutions. It aims to boost exchanges of students, researchers and academic staff and to support mobility, in particular from non-EU countries to EU member states. The European Commission launches call for proposals for different regions in the world and then funds partnerships between universities to implement the exchanges. Students, researchers and staff from the area can apply to the selected consortium for scholarships.
The EMA2 objective is to achieve better understanding and mutual enrichment between the European Union and Third Countries in the field of higher education through promoting the exchange of persons, knowledge and skills at higher education level. This will be achieved through the promotion of partnerships and institutional co-operation exchanges between European Higher Education Institutions and Third Country institutions and a mobility scheme addressing student and academic exchanges.
The EU-NICE scholarship programme is open to nationals from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Thailand, China, North Korea who want to study or work at one of the five European partner universities in Italy, Greece and Portugal. The project is also supported by a number of associate organizations active in earthquake risk mitigation and international development. A total number of 104 mobilities will be involved in scientific activities at the undergraduate, masters, PhD, postdoctoral and academic-staff exchange.
The first call for applications will open in November 2010. (Please visit http://eu-nice.eu for further details)
EU-NICE consortium Kick-off meeting at University of Rome Sapienza.
Steve and Fary are making a tremendous effort in the developement of Afghanistan, where they built and currently manage a school for more than 5.000 Afghan students. Other projects are on strengthening the academic curricula at the Nangarhar University focusing on IT, and engineering, (more info at http://stevebrownrotary.com/). Their latest project regards the construction of a suspended footbridge over the Kabul river in Jalalabad. The footbridge will connect a totally isolated village to the main town.
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