In December 2013, the Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI) in Kyoto, Japan, hosted the 10th NEES/E-Defense meeting for planning U.S.-Japan research collaborations. The annual gathering of leading earthquake engineering researchers and representatives of government agencies is specifically intended to coordinate experimental research using the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) equipment sites and the three-dimensional full-scale earthquake testing facility (E-Defense) of the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) in Miki, Japan.
Group photo of 2013 NEES/E-Defense participants
Convened by Professor Stephen Mahin from UC Berkeley and Professor Masayoshi Nakashima from DPRI, the 2013 NEES/E-Defense meeting resulted in specific resolutions to continue collaboration on key focus areas, schedule regular planning meetings, increase personnel exchange, expand the scope of data evaluations and dissemination of findings, and encourage support from funding agencies.
A full report on the meeting, with recommendations and resolutions reached by the participants, appendices containing the list of participants, the meeting program and schedule, the materials presented during the plenary sessions, the minutes of the Joint Technical Coordinating Committee, and summaries on specific recommendations developed by the individual working groups can be found on the NEEShub website.
The US and Japanese students shown participated in a series of activities during the meeting to encourage the exchange of research ideas and develop bonds between the young researchers in both countries.