Episode 32 From Earthquakes to Other Hazards with John Van De Lindt

In part two of our interview with hazards engineer John van de Lindt, we learn how his career expanded from earthquake engineering to other hazards.
 
After the NEESsoft project, van de Lindt won a grant for investigating sustainable buildings, looking at tornado loading, trying to reduce damage and injury in expansive soils. The team’s structure provided safety by devising shelter in basement with sustainable backfill that prevents basement walls from being damaged. Ironically, during this time, his own family lived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and was caught in the famous 2011 EF4 tornado that ripped through the area. Although his house was not damaged, he worked on an NSF RAPID grant to do reconnaissance on the area damage. (NHERI’s own David Prevatt led that work, showing what a small world it is for natural hazards engineers.)
 
He explains that, interestingly, mitigation methods in one hazard can translate to other hazards, which is why collaborative work is so beneficial. He says it is a popular PhD dissertation topic these days: showing how it’s possible to port a method from one hazard to another.
 
Currently, van de Lindt is co-director of the Center for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning, a NIST-funded center at Colorado State University.
 
And he is still working on wood projects. He describes wrapping up a project focused on cross laminated timber, which he describes as plywood on steroids. (Take 2x6 planks, laminated with epoxy, and build a large wall) Like the Tall Wood project, it shows that wood is strong enough to be used for building 10 10-18 story structures.
 
FEMA P69 analysis, “rational” approach to establish perf factors. For CLT. To establish update to building code in ASCE 2022.
 
Although he admits engineers grumble about building codes, and the amount of work involved in creating them, but they are what make buildings in the U.S. and Japan the safest in the world.
 
He describes how, in hazards engineering, multiple fundamental projects often lead to one really focused project. Or sometimes it’s just a matter of an ASCE committee doing the work to return to other, related codes, or talk to engineering groups in other countries, to “find the missing pieces.” Committees try to fill in the gaps, he says, so the world can share the data that codes are based on. “It’s how stuff becomes code,” he says.
 
Indeed, Van de Lindt gives back to the engineering community in these important ways. As a member of NHERI’s Network Independent Advisory Committee (NIAC), he sits with academics and practitioners to review the NHERI quarterly reports and independent advice for the grant managers and NSF.
 
NHERI CENTRIFUGE USERS' WORKSHOP
Hosted by the UC Davis Center for Geotechnical Modeling
Friday, May 18, 8AM-5PM PST
Register on the DesignSafe website: 
https://www.designsafe-ci.org/learning-center/training/workshops/3rd-annual-centrifuge-users/
WORKSHOP DETAILS:
The Center for Geotechnical Modeling will be hosting a one-day centrifuge users’ workshop at the NHERI equipment facility at UC Davis on Friday, May 18th, 2018. The workshop will include tours and lectures by UC Davis personnel and outside users that will allow participants to understand the capabilities of the centrifuge facility, explore research opportunities and challenges, and discuss specific details toward developing proposals.
Participation will be limited and priority registration will be given to:
faculty planning to submit or participate in the development of NSF proposals to use the centrifuge facility at UC Davis;
research team members currently funded to use the centrifuge facility;
other individuals interested in learning about the NHERI equipment facility at UC Davis.
Limited travel support will be available for workshop participants and those interested in receiving travel support should indicate so using the workshop registration form on this page. Participants receiving funds will be reimbursed for actual expenses up to a pre-assigned threshold of $1000 (junior faculty) or $500 (senior faculty). Currently funded NSF research teams are expected to support their travel costs within their existing research funds.