Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER)

Student Council Takes Lead on Earthquake Engineering Education

Engaging students at all levels of study in learning about earthquake engineering is a key function of the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER), which is headquartered at the University of California at Berkeley. Undergraduate and graduate students at PEER are playing a key role in the center's outreach to their peers.

For six years, the Student Leadership Council has been an influential contributor to the PEER Education Committee and administration in achieving the goal of involving students. The council plans an annual Student Day that occurs at the same time as PEER's annual meeting. The group is entirely responsible for coordinating the annual Seismic Design Competition, which brings together undergraduate civil engineering students to build balsa wood models of high-rise office buildings to withstand earthquake motions. The students are judged on the mock buildings' rental income, initial costs, and seismic cost, architectural design and a presentation.

The Student Leadership Council is also active in working with K-12 students. The council's members aid in PEER outreach programs such as the "Minds in Motion" program at California State University at Chico, and the "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day" held at the California Institute of Technology. Both of these programs introduce K-12 students to earthquake engineering and future career opportunities in science and engineering.

By exposing K-12 students to the university environment, the Student Leadership Council and PEER plays an important role in developing the future generation of the earthquake engineering field.

To learn more about this topic:
Visit the PEER web site at http://peer.berkeley.edu/students/photos.html.

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Student Leadership Council representative teaches
K-12 students about earthquaie engineering and
what structural engineers do to make buildings safe.

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Last modified: April 8, 2007