V OLU ME 3 2 NUMBER 1 SPRIN G 2 0 09
arizonaengineer Published by the College of Engineering • Online at www.engineering.arizona.edu/news
INSI D E T HIS E DIT ION
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NSF Career Awards for Jennifer Duan and Roman Lysecky
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Aerospace alum wins new TMAL award for shaping the future Courtesy of Jennifer Eufemi
Movers and Shakers—Doctoral students Matt Schoettler of UCSD (left) and Dichuan Zhang of UA (center), and Professor Robert Fleischman (right) inspect the second floor of the 500-ton test parking structure at the Englekirk Structural Engineering Center.
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Mary Poulton named as director of new minerals institute
Solar racing team completes gruelling 2,400-mile race
Earthquake Engineering Project Will Save Lives and Billions of Dollars $2.5 million study will lead to improved building codes The 6.7 magnitude earthquake that struck the Los Angeles community of Northridge at 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994, killed 57 people, injured more than 5,000, and caused an estimated $20 billion in damage, making it the
costliest seismic disaster in U.S. history. Structures that should have withstood the quake, such as parking garages and freeway overpasses, collapsed and set in motion a major overhaul of building codes. “If the earthquake had happened three hours later…” The potential horror of what could have been
causes Professor Robert Fleischman’s speculation to trail off. Fleischman, who holds the Delbert R. Lewis Distinguished Professorship in Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, is about to finish the first phase of a 5-year, $2.5 million earthquake engineering study that will lead to improved building codes, C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 2 1