1st Annual NHERI-NIED/E-Defense Collaborative Meeting, Oct 31 & Nov 1

[announce at designsafe-ci.org]

Announcing the 1st Annual NHERI-NIED/E-Defense Collaborative Meeting
Akasaka, Tokyo - October 31 to November 1, 2017

Renewing earthquake engineering research collaborations between the U.S. and Japan
Organizers announce the first annual NHERI-NIED/E-Defense earthquake research meeting

Engineering administrators from the U.S. and Japan are pleased to announce a key meeting between researchers from the Natural Hazard Engineering Research Infrastructure, NHERI, and Japan's National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience, NIED.
The 1st annual NHERI-NIED/E-Defense earthquake research collaboration meeting will be held at the Kobori Research Complex Inc. in Akasaka, Tokyo, on October 31 and November 1, 2017.
Leading researchers from both countries, as well as representatives from the National Science Foundation, Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and other government agencies, will be invited to attend and discuss in plenary and breakout sessions research plans for NHERI and NIED/E-Defense collaboration. Annual meetings will facilitate planning of the overall research program, disseminate findings, and encourage participation in collaborative research.

We urge all NHERI researchers involved in earthquake engineering to attend. Some travel support is available. See below and complete the form at DesignSafe-CI.org to register and request travel support by Noon Eastern on October 6, 2017.

Background
U.S.-Japan collaboration on earthquake engineering research began in 2004. A meeting between NSF and MEXT representatives and researchers laid the groundwork for an initial joint research program related to improving understanding of seismic effects and reducing the seismic vulnerability of bridges and steel buildings. The emphasis of the program was to conduct experimental research using the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) equipment sites in the U.S. and NIED's three-dimensional full-scale earthquake testing facility (E-Defense) in Japan. Successful collaborations took place though 2015.
In July 2017, a new phase of collaborative earthquake engineering research between the U.S. and Japan got off the ground. Representatives from NHERI and NIED gathered for a planning meeting to discuss details of a new collaboration and implementation process for the next five years. A formal agreement was reached for a new round of facility sharing between NHERI and NIED on earthquake engineering research - using E-Defense and NHERI facilities.
The collaboration is under the umbrella of the five-year MEXT- and NIED-funded Tokyo Metropolitan Resilience Project, Sub-Project C: Collection and Synthesis of Data Regarding Structural/Non-structural Combined Performance and Damage Evaluation, under the direction of Prof. Akira Nishitani from Waseda University and Dr. Koichi Kajiwara from E-Defense. The report from the meeting as well as all presentations can be found at: https://www.designsafe-ci.org/facilities/nco/partnerships/nied/

Travel Support and Registration
Requesting travel support. Limited funds have been requested from NSF to support travel to the meeting. Individuals having ongoing projects funded by NSF under NEES or NHERI/E-Defense collaborations are expected to attend these meetings as part of their projects and are not eligible for travel support.
Selection of individuals to receive travel support will be based on:

1.      Achieving adequate technical expertise in each of the four major themes identified under this collaboration:

a.      Theme 1: Wood

b.      Theme 2: Reinforced Concrete

c.       Theme 3: Steel, Monitoring + Protective Systems

d.      Theme 4: Nonstructural Elements



2.      Attracting new researchers and students to participate in US-Japan collaborative research.

3.      Insuring that NHERI/E-Defense research collaboration efforts benefit from a diverse and geographically distributed cross-section of the earthquake engineering community, including women, disabled individuals and under-represented minorities.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER and REQUEST TRAVEL SUPPORT<https://www.designsafe-ci.org/facilities/nco/partnerships/nied/collaborative-meeting-2017/>. Deadline is Noon (ET) on October 6, 2017.
U.S.-based individuals must complete the form to register interest in attending the meeting. The meeting venue is
Akasaka KI Building
Kobori Research Complex
KI Building
6-5-30, Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan

The Akasaka Subway Station is the closest public transit to Kobori Research Complex Inc.
The hotels within walking distance from the Akasaka Station and lodging costs can be found at the meeting announcement and registration page on DesignSafe-CI.org.
Participants will need to purchase airfare and make hotel reservations.  Deadline for registration is October 6!!  You will be informed within a few hours if you have been selected or not for travel support. At that time you will be asked to confirm participation and to make travel arrangements. We look forward to your participation.

Prof. Julio A. Ramirez
NHERI-NCO Center Director
ramirez at purdue.edu<mailto:ramirez at purdue.edu>

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