AUA Hosts 8th World Seminar on Seismic Engineering

The American University of Armenia will be hosting the 8th World Seminar on Seismic Isolation, Energy Dissipation and Active Vibration Control of Structures, from October 6-10, 2003. Held first in San Francisco in 1989, the seminar is intended to bring together academic and field specialists from many countries of the world to exchange and disseminate information on new technologies in anti-seismic systems, and to promote the implementation of innovative technologies in seismic retrofitting and new construction of housing, industrial facilities, and structures of cultural heritage.

Participants from representing countries include Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, France, Germany, Greece, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, China, the Russian Federation, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. They will participate in oral sessions, poster presentations, an international exhibition, and technical visits to retrofitted and newly constructed apartment and school buildings, in addition to the Spitak Museum dedicated to the 1988 Earthquake.

AUA's College of Engineering and associated research center has been a pioneer among developing countries in the study of seismic isolation. "The holding of this important seminar in Armenia is a testament to the tremendous success that AUA researchers have had in investigating, developing and implementing the seismic isolation technology in Armenia. Dr. Mikayel Melkumian, senior researcher at the Engineering Research Center and Chair of the Seminar, is chiefly responsible for this important advancement," said AUA Dean of Engineering, Professor Armen Der Kiureghian.