The nees@berkeley lab participated in the National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC) program at U.C. Berkeley again this summer. Over 200 high school students came to our lab for an afternoon of activities. The afternoon started with a lecture on earthquake engineering by Bozidar Stojadinovic. He presented basics about earthquake engineering as well as earthquake safety.

 
The students were introduced to a project, building a structure with K'nex, to be tested on our small shaking table. The students broke into teams to build their structures. There were four different sets of instructions consisting of four different bracing designs. The most earthquake resistant structure (per testing group) and the most creative design overall would receive awards.

After the students completed their structures, they went on a tour of the lab. The students were broken up in to four groups (consisting of four building teams).

Four structures were placed on a small shaking table and simultaneously tested with a harmonic signal. The frequency was slowly and gradually increased to demonstrate the resonant frequencies of the structures. Then the structures underwent shaking caused by a broadband earthquake signal (developed at EERC for IEEE-693). The most earthquake resistant structure in each group, as judged by maximum relative acceleration of the top level, was determined. In addition, the most creative structure design was selected by nees@berkeley staff.

Certificates were awarded to the teams who built the winning structures. The students were also given the plots of relative acceleration data recorded during the tests. The students had the opportunity to evaluate the program and provide feedback for nees@berkeley staff.  After completion of the program, the students returned to the U.C. Berkeley campus.