NEES/E-Defense Collaborative Earthquake Research Program
9th Planning Meeting

The NEES/E-Defense Joint Technical Coordinating Committee is pleased to announce the 9th NEES/E-Defense Collaborative Earthquake Research Program Planning Meeting. This meeting will be held in Japan on Friday and Saturday, August 26 and 27, 2011. Members of the Joint Technical Coordinating Committee (JTCC) include Julio Ramirez, Farzad Naiem, and Steve Mahin.

During the first Japan-U.S. Workshop on Science and Technology for a Secure and Safe Society (held in February 2004), the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF) agreed to discuss opportunities for cooperative activities related to earthquake research, citing NEES/E- Defense collaboration as a specific example of such cooperation. To realize the cooperation, the First Planning Meeting for NEES/E-Defense Collaboration was held in 2004, and the basic scheme for a five-year joint research program was established. To formalize the collaboration, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was executed between NSF and MEXT in September 2005. The first five year phase of the program was formalized in a MOU between the NEES Consortium Inc. (NEES Inc.) and the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) of Japan in July 2005.

nees_edefanseThe second phase of the program is formalized by a MOU between NIED and NEES comm. The second phase focuses on six project areas proposed from the earlier meetings, namely:

  1. New materials and new technologies
  2. Base-isolation and vibration control
  3. Geotechnical engineering (underground structures)
  4. Energy facilities
  5. Computational simulation
  6. Monitoring and health monitoring

To facilitate planning of the overall research program, disseminate findings, and encourage participation in collaborative research, a joint meeting is held annually.

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