mission & goals membership

2014-2015 Annual Report

University of California, Irvine Student Chapter Earthquake Engineering Research Institute

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May 1, 2015 This document summarizes the membership and activities conducted by the University of California,

Irvine Student Chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute during the 2014-2015 academic year.

Mission & Goals The mission of the EERI Student Chapter at UCI is to protect society by expanding member knowledge of earthquake engineering. UC Irvine currently does not provide earthquake engineering courses to undergraduate students. Therefore, the Chapter’s objective is to provide a platform for students to research earthquake engineering design and construction in order to build a foundation of knowledge on the topic. This objective was achieved by providing seminars about earthquake engineering that

involved both undergraduate and graduate students. Moreover, the EERI undergraduate students had

a further chance to be involved in the earthquake engineering research by attending the Seismic Design Competition. The SDC Team’s goal is to build an earthquake resistant structure that survives all three ground motions and places in the top ten out of all the schools attending the annual conference.

Membership The EERI UCI Student Chapter had a total of twenty-seven members in 2014-2015.

Officers and SDC Team Captains Role Name EERI Member

Number Email Student

Status

President Camilla Favaretti 17412 [email protected] Graduate

Vice-President George Yap 17276 [email protected] Graduate

Secretary Megan Hanrahan 17612 [email protected] Undergraduate

Co-Treasurer Crystal Mena 17865 [email protected] Undergraduate

Co-Treasurer Haley Rogers 17770 [email protected]

Undergraduate

Co-Webmaster, Structural Captain

Armand Terzian 17642 [email protected]

Undergraduate

Co-Webmaster Heather Tran 17634 [email protected] Undergraduate

Co-SDC Advisor Luis Herrera 17838 [email protected] Graduate

Co-SDC Advisor Pablo Torres [email protected] Graduate

SDC Team Captain

Francisco Magallon 17616 [email protected]

Undergraduate

Public Relations July Aye 17685 [email protected] Undergraduate

Architecture

Captain

Stephanie Catubig 17679 stephaniecatubig@gmail

.com

Undergraduate

Architecture Captain

Sara Dabzadeh 17890 [email protected] Undergraduate

Strength

Testing Captain

John Sanchez 17627 [email protected]

om

Undergraduate

Cost Estimating Captain

Saman Shaolian 17680 [email protected] Undergraduate

Rules Compliance

Captain

Rachelle Habchi 17640 [email protected] Undergraduate

Construction Quality Control Captain

Sam Farsai 17683 [email protected] Undergraduate



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*not all officers pictured



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Faculty & Industry Advisors ***Dr. Farzin Zareian

Email: [email protected] Phone: (949) 824-9866

General SDC Team Members Name EERI Member

Number Email Student Status

Andrew Ho 17635 [email protected] Undergraduate

Shawn Dalipe 17686 [email protected] Undergraduate

Alexander Talebi 17674 [email protected] Undergraduate

Andrew Lund 16985 [email protected] Undergraduate

Lorica Subida 17698 [email protected] Undergraduate

Brenda Maldonado 17367 [email protected] Undergraduate

Riccardo Cappa 17625 [email protected] Graduate

Timmy Tang 17633 [email protected] Undergraduate

John King 17652 [email protected] Undergraduate

Juliana Andrews 17891 [email protected] Undergraduate

Board meetings were held every Tuesday at 2:00pm in the conference room of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. SDC Team meetings were held every Friday at 4:00pm

before the construction sessions. Meetings were open to everyone in the chapter.



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Budget and Financials Budget Estimation (Prior to Beginning Construction)



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2014-2015 Budget Breakdown

Budget Update (After Beginning Construction)

Financial sponsors Name Amount

NMG Geotechnical $300

UCI CEE Affiliates $500

ASCE OC Chapter $500

UCI Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program

$2,500



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Board and SDC Team Meetings ***NOVEMBER 4TH, 2014

DISCUSSION TOPICS: - Chapter officer and team captain elections

- Introduction to the Seismic Design Competition (March 31st – April 3rd )

- Guest speaker: Carter Cox, UCI alumni and former SDC team member

- Formed the UCI SDC Team

ASSIGNMENTS: - Secretary: organizing the 2014-2015 Annual report

- Webmasters: updating the website and adding pictures from the meeting

- Treasurer: looking for funding within the campus and department

- Vice-president & SDC Advisors: organizing the 1st SDC Meeting (November, 10th 2014)

- All members sign up for registration and pay dues through website

***NOVEMBER 19TH, 2014

DISCUSSION TOPICS: - Discussion about different fundraising options on campus, department and off campus

(industries)

- Discussion about possible collaborations with other UCI clubs (e.g. SWE, ASCE. Chi Epsilon,

ESC, AAEES, EWB) and organization of joint events such as speaker events, or career fair

- Discussion about SDC proposal

- Presentation of the new website

ASSIGNMENTS: - Secretary: organizing the 2014-2015 Annual report

- Webmasters: keep on updating the website, adding pictures and get more contents

(collaborations with President and Vice-President)

- PR: to look for a restaurant in UTC and organize fundraising (Week 9)

- SDC Team Captain : organizing the 2nd SDC Meeting and submitting proposal by Nov, 21st

- President and Vice-President: applying for “Friedman Family Visiting Professionals” in order to

get speakers for next quarter

- President and Vice-President: look for economic resources in the CEE department

***DECEMBER 4TH, 2014 DISCUSSION TOPICS:

- Discussion of initial building design submitted in proposal

- Discussion of the next steps necessary for everyone on the team

- Team decision on whether or not to use a viscous damper and whether or not this can be

modeled in SAP

- Videos of past EERI competitions shown to inspire team and spark discussion on alternative

ideas

- Upcoming important dates and deadlines

ASSIGNMENTS:

- Architectural Captain: Look into design for building

- Strength testing captain: Look into availability of structures lab on campus for testing

- SDC team: Come up with a design alternative for next meeting and if time permits, start

drawing/modeling individual ideas



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***JANUARY 6TH, 2014

DISCUSSION TOPICS: - Fall Quarter Recap: Sponsor letters sent out, Design proposal approved, Invited to breakfast

with CEE Affiliates, Invited to ASCE OC Brunch, New co-treasurers appointed, Created

prospective cost estimate for materials and team flight and hotel expenses

- Officer Updates

SDC Team Captain: Created proposal form for UCI Undergraduate Research

Opportunities Program (UROP) to formally ask for funding

Treasurers: Corresponded with Blaze Pizza to set up a fundraising event, Prepared

sponsor material

Public Relations: Worked on outreach ideas

Web-Masters: Updated team website with pictures, videos, EERI mission, winter

activities, and links

ASSIGNMENTS: - SDC Team Captain: Collect donations from team members to start ordering testing materials

- Strength Testing Captain: Start strength testing

- Treasurers: Start setting up business meetings with potential sponsors

- President: Book meeting rooms for the rest of the quarter

***JANUARY 9TH, 2014 DISUCSSION TOPICS:

- Testing materials will be purchased this week

- Discussion of winter activities for attendance and transportation purposes

- Discussion of better group communication, decision to utilize groupme

- Group collaboration on building design idea

- Election of new construction quality control captain

- Group education on lateral force resisting systems

- Workgroup updates:

Architecture captain: deciding to wait until structure is built and then provide

aesthetics

ASSIGNMENTS: - Strength Testing Captain: Scheduling testing appointments when materials come in

- Structural Captain: Finalize group building ideas, come up with two ideas for more alternatives


DISCUSSION TOPICS: - Winter Quarter event update

- Review of laser cutting training session

- New schedule: Model structure in SAP2000, optimize the model, export structure to Revit,

Reference BIM file to construct balsa model

- Group approval to only construct one structure instead of two

- Discussion of hotel reservations and plane tickets for the annual meeting

- Officer Updates

ASSIGNMENTS: - Captain: Finish SAP2000 model

- SDC Team: Start looking into Airplane tickets

- Alex Talebi: Input all of the competition algorithms into google spreadsheets



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DISCUSSION TOPICS: - Discussion of rides to the UCLA Reconnaissance workshop

- Discussion of groups attending Simpson Strong-Tie Student day

- Pablo will be leading the SAP2000 Workshop – discussion of possible times to hold the

workshop

- Received a donation from our first sponsor, NMG Geotechnical

- Materials have come in; strength testing will commence this week

- The first SAP model has been completed and the team is working on making more alternatives

ASSIGMENTS: - Treasurer: Set up club status with Engineering Student Organizations to receive donations and

create an account through UCI Student Life and Leadership in order to hold our next

fundraiser

- SDC team: Start testing different glue formulas for structure

- SDC Captain and President: Prepare presentation for ASCE OC Brunch

***JANUARY 23RD, 2015

DISCUSSION TOPICS: - New member introductions and assignment of new tasks

- Discussion of UCLA Reconnaissance workshop taking place tomorrow

- Discussion of current SAP model for new suggestions and alternatives

- Strength testing will take place on Tuesday

ASSIGNMENTS:

- Captain: Finalize list of people going to conference in order to book hotel and flights

- SDC Team: Start making multiple SAP models to settle on a final design

***JANUARY 30TH, 2015 DISCUSSION TOPICS:

- Two hotel rooms booked at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel

- Election of a connections captain to start coming up with connection designs: Sara D.

- Materials testing took place this week, proved to be problematic since the machines are

designed for testing steel; a second materials testing will take place next week

- SAP models are updated

- Damping device proposal was submitted thanks to Alex Talebi; discussion of proposed

damping device design

- Team Captain was able to reserve a space in the structural lab for construction and storing

materials

- Discussion of the SDC agenda

ASSIGNMENTS:

- Strength testing captain: set up time for next material testing

- Structural captain: set up laser cutting appointment for next week to start cutting materials

- SDC team: Continue making more SAP model alternatives



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***FEBRUARY 3RD, 2015

DISCUSSION: - The team received a $500 donation from ASCE OC Branch, most of the donations the team

has received will go towards registration fees

- Discussion of opening a bank account and credit card to pay for SDC team registration

- Discussion of outreach during E-week

- Discussion of events that recently took place and upcoming events

ASSIGNMENTS: - Fundraising Chair: Work on sending out more donation letters to structural firms

- Public Relations Chair: Get in contact with the Engineering Student Council president to talk

about E-Week outreach

- Secretary: Update the annual report and post to the online drop box

- Webmasters: Update the website with pictures from winter quarter events

***FEBRUARY 6TH, 2015 DISCUSSION:

- Strict Deadlines created by team captain:

Architecture complete - Feb 6th (Today)

SAP model needs to be done - Feb 16th

Construction complete - March 9th

- $5 donation from all team members to make up for the remainder of registration costs

- SAP model updated with new design and to be approved by faculty advisor before construction

begins

ASSIGNMENS: - Rochelle: create a construction log for team members to fill out the hours they are available to

build

- SDC Team: sign-up available hours on construction log

***FEBRUARY 17TH, 2015

DISCUSSION: - EERI will have an information booth at the National Engineers Week Engineering Student

Organization Involvement Fair from 11am-3pm on Monday, February 23rd

- Discussion of new possible fundraisers

ASSIGNMENTS: - Volunteers to design posters and information pamphlet for booth at ESO Involvement Fair

- Publicity captain: arrange a sign-up sheet for volunteers at the involvement fair

***FEBRUARY 27TH, 2015 – MARCH 24TH, 2015

- No more meetings, construction takes place



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Special Events ***FUNDRAISING EVENT AT BLAZE PIZZA (TUESDAY, JANUARY 13TH, 2015)

The EERI UCI chapter held a fundraising event at Blaze Pizza near the UCI campus. The establishment donated 20% of the proceeds for every pizza bought as long as it was purchased with an EERI club flyer. A minimum of 50 people were required to attend the event. The event was a success. Chapter members enjoyed eating pizza together and the event

ultimately raised $119 for our team.

***LASER CUTTING TRAINING SESSION (TUESDAY, JANUARY 13TH, 2015)

A group of members on the SDC team attended a laser cutting training session with the on-campus 3D-printing lab, RapidTech. The group was instructed on how to use the lab’s laser

cutter starting from just a drawing on a computer. The group has decided that this method will provide the most precision in cutting our balsa wood materials. The engraving feature on the laser cutter will also provide a unique way to add architectural finishes on our structure.

***SAP 2000 WORKSHOP (FRIDAY, JANUARY 23RD, 2015) One of our team advisers, Pablo Torres, held a SAP 2000 workshop for all team members. This

workshop was extremely helpful as the 4th year undergraduates are currently taking a class on how to use the program and the 3rd year undergraduates have no previous experience with program. Our team plans to utilize the skills they learned at this workshop to make and test multiple models of our building with different alternative designs.



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***EERI EARTHQUAKE RECONNAISSANCE DATA COLLECTION TRAINING WORKSHOP

(SATURDAY, JANUARY 24TH, 2015) A group of SDC team members, along with the team’s vice president George Yap, attended the Earthquake Reconnaissance workshop at UCLA. The workshop consisted of education on

seismic retrofitting as well as an introduction to the software application that will be used at the EERI conference to collect post-earthquake data. The goal of the workshop was for team member’s to understand how data will be collected in order to increase their performance in the competition.

***VISIT TO SIMPSON STRONG TIE WITH CHI EPSILON AND ASCE (FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH,

2015) For this event, EERI teamed up with the ASCE and Chi Epsilon chapters at UCI to tour the

Simpson Strong Tie Facility in Riverside, CA. Simpson Strong Tie is a structural engineering

construction firm (www.strongtie.com)that is specialized in making steel connections. Students had the chance to take a tour of the plant and witness strength testing demonstrations.



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***FRIEDMAN FAMILY VISITING PROFESSIONAL PROGRAM: SEMINAR BY MR. DAVID

COCKE(THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH, 2015) The EERI UCI Chapter was selected to participate to the “Friedman Family Visiting Professionals Program” sponsored by EERI with the purpose of foster a better understanding and communication between earthquake practitioners and academics. Our Chapter had the

honor to host Mr. David Cocke, president of Structural Focus, a Los Angeles based structural firm. The presentation, titled “Structural Engineering Is More Than Designing A Building”, focused on the aspects of structural engineering that most young engineers don’t learn about until after college, such as sustainability, public safety, the aesthetics of our built environment, community resilience and recovery from disasters, preservation of historic structures and our client’s needs for a viable facility.



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***SEMINAR BY DR. STEPHEN A. MAHIN (MONDAY, APRIL 27TH, 2015)



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Outreach Activities

***ASCE OC BRUNCH (THURSDAY, JANUARY 29TH, 2015)

The team captain, along with vice president George Yap, attended the ASCE Orange County brunch and presented a PowerPoint with the team’s proposed design ideas and cost estimations. The OC Branch had only positive things to say about the team so far. The team

hopes to receive funding from not only the OC branch, but the Los Angeles branch as well.

***PUBLICITY BOOTH AT E-WEEK ENGINEERING STUDENT ORGANIZATION FAIR (MONDAY,

FEBRUARY 23RD, 2015)

During National Engineers Week, Engineering Student Council at UCI held a small fair where

they allowed engineering clubs to have booths to publicize what their organization does. The EERI at UCI chapter brought out an old structure from a previous year’s SDC team for people to see. We had a sign-up sheet where people could sign up if they were interested in helping

out with construction. The event helped the chapter gain a few new members and gain recognition from the Dean of Engineering’s office.



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Seismic Design Competition Team The first SDC team meetings were reserved purely for logistics and planning. First, the team decided what kind of lateral force resisting system they wanted to use. From there it was a matter of aesthetics and architecture. The team shared an online google drive folder and a drop box folder that every member had access to. The folders contained SAP and Revit files that everyone was welcome to

make edits to. The folders also contained any information the team felt would be useful throughout the design and construction process. Once the building design was finalized, the team put in about three weeks of labor to construct the building. An entire week as spent purely on making formwork and cutting members to assure a smooth construction process. The team worked on a rotating basis so that there was always someone working on the structure.



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Results, Outcomes and Lessons Learned - Predictions: It seems that our team’s predictions of story drift and acceleration were extremely

high. This could be due to the large amount of irregularities in balsa wood which cause highly inaccurate SAP results.

- Presentation: Our poster received a high grade, which makes sense with the amount of time and effort that was put into it. On the other hand our actual presentation received a low grade. This is because the presentation contained the bare minimum that was required. We

thought that would suffice, but now next year’s team will know to put as much time and effort into the presentation as they can.

- Lessons learned: After attending the completion, the team learned that one of the most

important aspects of grading is rentable floor space. We thought it would be a good idea to

sacrifice floor space in order to have a heavier structure, this ended up docking a lot of points from our final score. It also caused our structure to stand out in a negative way amongst all

the other structures at the competition

- Overall performance: Everyone on the team was thoroughly shocked that our structure stood (without any damage) throughout all three ground motions and that it could not be broken with the sin wave. Even though we may have performed poorly in the logistical aspects of the competition, our actual structure performed amazingly, reaching the 14th position in the

overall ranking.

mission & goals membership

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