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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The September event </span><b style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Tornado
Hazard Wind Assessment and ReducTion Symposium (THWARTS)</b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> may appeal especially to researchers new to the hazards engineering field.</span><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The THWARTS symposium offers partial
travel funding for 30 to 50 attendees who are early career faculty or students.<span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span> </span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">What: <b>Tornado Hazard Wind Assessment and ReducTion</b><span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">When: September 26-28, 2018<span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Where: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – iHotel
and Conference Center<span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Why: To gain a better understanding of near-surface tornado
wind hazards and impacts<span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span> </span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The symposium focus will be on
severe storm meteorology, wind engineering and structural engineering
disciplines, but all related disciplines are welcome.</span><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)"> </span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">There will be strong representation
from the ASCE TWSE group – with special emphasis on young researchers and students.<span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span> </span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Additional details, including dates
of abstract submission, to follow.<span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span> </span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">For details, contact Frank Lombardo from the University of
Illinois:  </span><a href="mailto:lombaf@illinois.edu" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(5,99,193);text-decoration:underline"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">lombaf@illinois.edu</span></a><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">.<span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span> </span></span></p>






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