Upcoming Seminars
Waterfront Facility Inspection & Rehabilitation Engineering Design
April 30, 2025 - 12:00 pm
Speaker: Bill Dubbs
More information coming soon!
Past Seminars
You Can't Turn Gravity Off: Case Studies of Structures Falling Down or Floating Up
January 10, 2018 - 12:00 pm
Speaker: Conrad Paulson
In California, design for seismic effects is typically at the forefront of the structural engineer’s mind. However, from time-to-time, gravity-related load effects result in poor structural performance. Several structural investigation case studies are presented were portions of structures have failed, or almost failed, or in one particular case, floated up, arguably under the effects of gravity.
Topology Optimization: Basic Theory, Application, and Challenges
December 04, 2017 - 1:00 pm
Speaker: Professor Gang-Won Jang
Since the pioneering work of Bendsøe and Kikuchi in 1988, tremendous amount of researches have been conducted on topology optimization (TOP), so that the level of completeness of the optimization method almost arrives at the final stage.
OpenMDAO: Efficient Multidisciplinary Optimization with Analytic Derivatives
November 27, 2017 - 1:00 pm
Speaker: Justin Gray
Each new generation of engineered systems must outperform the one that came before it. Sometimes performance gains can be had via the improvement of a single component or sub-system. Often, however, the largest gains can be achieved when multiple subsystems are designed synergistically via a multidisciplinary process.
Flutter: To Be or Not To Be
November 20, 2017 - 1:00 pm
Speaker: Dr. DongHwan Lee
Have you heard of flutter, which is one of the most important concepts in dynamic aeroelasticity? If you are an ordinary person living an ordinary life, you could live all your days without knowing about the details of these important phenomena. However, if you want to be an aerospace engineer, you will soon recognize how important aeroelasticity is even in everyday life.
Compatible Meshfree Methods
November 15, 2017 - 1:00 pm
Speaker: Dr. Pavel Bochev
Particle and meshfree methods offer significant computational advantages in settings where quality mesh generation required for many compatible PDE discretizations may be expensive or even intractable.
Nonlinear Response Structural Optimization Using the Equivalent Static Loads Method
November 13, 2017 - 1:00 pm
Speaker: Professor Gyung-Jin Park
Linear static response structural response has been developed quite well by using the finite element method for linear static analysis. However, development is extremely slow for structural optimization where a non linear static analysis technique is required.
The Real Deal - Experiences from Immediate Post-Earthquake Building Inspections Across the Planet
November 06, 2017 - 1:00 pm
Speaker: Professor Jason Ingham
When Jason was a student at UCSD in the early 1990s, California had had a regular run of major earthquakes whereas New Zealand had had several decades of benign earthquake activity. Jason happened to be in the centre of the city on the day that New Zealand’s second largest city crumbled.
Computational Design Optimization at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
November 01, 2017 - 1:00 pm
Speaker: Dr. Daniel A. White
There are two trends that are motivating research in computational design optimization. First, advances in manufacturing technology such as additive manufacturing (3D printing) have enlarged the design space and engineers need better computation tools to take full advantage of the manufacturing possibilities.
A Process Flow Guiding Additive Manufacturing of Metallic Components for Repeatable Microstructures and Mechanical Performance
October 23, 2017 - 1:00 pm
Speaker: Dr. Melissa Orme
A holistic process flow designed and implemented for Additive Manufacturing (AM) topologically optimized metallic components for use on flight hardware is described and demonstrated. The process flow aims to provide the framework for which AM parts can be fabricated with repeatable microstructure and mechanical characteristics.
Three Decades of Adaptive Structures: A Subjective Perspective
October 09, 2017 - 1:00 pm
Speaker: Dr. Jayanth N. Kudva
While ‘smart materials,’ particularly piezoelectrics, have been known and used by the scientific community for more than a century, the term ‘smart structures’ came into vogue in the 1980s. The impetus for the research at that time was sparked by the initial demonstration of embedded fiber optic sensors in a composite laminate.