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Expanding the Boundaries of Engineering DiscoveryGrand Opening Ceremony
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(From left to right) Michael Constantinou, Mark Karwan, President John B. Simpson, A. Galip Ulsoy, Andrei Reinhorn and Michel Bruneau unveil the plaque dedicating the new facility. |
On Friday, September 24, 2004, the University at Buffalo celebrated the Grand Opening of its George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) Facility, the largest investment in the National Science Foundation's $81.9 million nationwide network of 15 advanced engineering facilities, and one that is expected to vastly enlarge the scope of earthquake engineering research at UB, in the United States, and in the world.
The grand opening ceremony, held in the afternoon, officially inaugurated the new laboratory expansion and its twin relocatable shake tables. It also kicked off a month-long celebration of events to mark the inauguration of the University at Buffalo’s 14th president, John B. Simpson.
Mark Karwan, Dean of UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, presided over the grand opening. Remarks were made by President Simpson, A. Galip Ulsoy, Director of the National Science Foundation’s Division of Civil and Mechanical Systems, New York State Senator Mary Lou Rath, and Michael Constantinou, Professor and Chair of UB’s Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering. Collectively, they spoke of the promise of the new facility for UB, the field of earthquake engineering, homeland security and other developing fields.
MCEER Director Michel Bruneau introduced a multimedia presentation that highlighted the history of earthquake engineering accomplishments at the University at Buffalo and MCEER, and Andrei Reinhorn, Clifford C. Furnas Professor of Structural Engineering, Principal Investigator for NEES, Director of the Structural Engineering and Earthquake Simulation Laboratory (SEESL) at UB and longtime MCEER researcher, gave an inaugural demonstration of the facility’s twin shake tables. Dr. Edmond Gicewicz, member of the University at Buffalo Council, and Dr. Satish K. Tripathi, UB provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, assisted Reinhorn by activating the controls to start the tables in motion.
The demonstration featured a scale model of a five-story building, located on one shake table. The model was equipped with seismic dampers in the east-west direction. On the second shake table, was a full-scale model of a room within the five-story model.
The building model on shake table #1 was subjected twice, to ground motions from a moderate size earthquake: once in the east-west direction, whereby it was protected by the seismic dampers; once in the north-south direction, where no damper protection was provided. Simultaneously, the room on the second shake table, was subjected to the motions experienced on the second floor of the building model during the tests; first with dampers, then without.
The demonstrations clearly illustrated the protection provided by seismic dampers, as no damage occurred during the first test, and substantial damage was caused within the room when the building was shaken in the north-south, or unprotected direction.
In addition to the “live” demonstration, the audience also viewed the tests via real-time video, streamed through the Internet. The Internet feed, or “tele-observation” capability, is a critical feature of the NEES program. NEES is designed as a national resource or “co-laboratory,” which connects the user community to the 15 facilities via high-definition video and high-performance Internet. The combined video and Internet capabilities of NEES allow for viewing (tele-observation) or operation (tele-operation) of NEES tests from remote locations.
The ceremony concluded with the unveiling of a plaque to mark the dedication of the facility, as well as a reception and tours of the facility.
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