The laboratory and research team is also involved in several educational projects targeting a wide variety of audiences. Undergraduate, graduate and K-12 students, as well as the public-at-large all gain exposure to the emerging technologies being developed in the lab through the following programs:
Research Experience for Undergraduates in Infrastructure Innovations, Assessment and Management (REU)
Supported in part by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense [1998-2003, EEC-9820506] and [2004-2006, EEC-0353718].
Civil engineers are the builders of the infrastructure of the world. Today’s civil engineers face challenges such as developing strategies to enhance a structure’s ability to withstand severe dynamic loading due to natural and man-made hazards, effective utilization of advanced materials to increase the safety and ductility of structures, appropriate assessment and management of structures and highways, and the innovative use of composite materials to improve durability.
Research Experience for Undergraduates in Japan (REUJAT)
Supported by the National Science Foundation. [2002, INT 0202630] and [2003-2005, EEC 0243809]
The REUJAT program provides support for up to eight undergraduate research assistants annually working on research projects focusing on advanced technology in civil engineering (structural control, structural health monitoring, and advanced materials) to spend five weeks during the summer of 2005 working on those projects with colleagues in Japan. The research assistants would spend three additional summer weeks working with their research advisors at institutions in the U.S. More details on the program are available under Program Description.
UCIST (University Consortium on Instructional Shake Tables)
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation. [CCLI. DUE-9950340]
To encourage more formal training in structural dynamics and earthquake hazard mitigation in the undergraduate level, 23 institutions drawn from the three national earthquake centers got together in 1999 to cooperate in the purchase of a bench-scale shake table for each institution. The equipment has been used to integrate earthquake engineering into the undergraduate and graduate curricula at each of these institutions. Since the inception of UCIST, nearly 80 additional institutions within the US and abroad have obtained the UCIST shake tables, joining forces in this unique cooperative educational effort.
Mini-MOST: A NEES experiment
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation. [CMS-0117853]
The MOST experiment was the first proof test of NEESgrid software capabilities using three sites, including two experimental and one analytical. Following the success of the MOST experiment, the need for a smaller, more portable experiment was realized. The mini-MOST experiment combines a physical experiment with analytical model to pseudo-dynamically model the effects of an earthquake on a one-storey building. Since it is a relatively experiment to set up, it has been chosen as the experiment to evaluate the Network for the George E. Brown, Jr. Earthquake Engineering Simulation. This allows researchers to remotely operate and view experiment.
Graduate GK12 Fellowship Opportunities
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation. [DGE-0138624]
The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Washington University has developed a partnership with Gateway Middle School, Steger Sixth Grade Center and the Department of Education to improve the opportunities for students at these St. Louis schools. The partnership focuses on capturing sixth and eighth grade students' interest in mathematics, science, and engineering. LEAP is part of the NSF's GK-12 program.
GK12 Fellows (doctoral students), UGTAs (undergraduate teaching assistants), K-12 school teachers, and Washington University faculty will form 10 teaching teams, each with a specific area of expertise. Each teaching team will develop a Teaching Module and, over a period of 7 weeks(4 per year), instruct K-12 students on using the tools developed.
Our mission is to communicate our excitement about science, mathematics, and engineering to K-12 students through hands on classroom experiments and activities.
Graduate GAANN Fellowship Opportunities
Funded by the Department of Education.
The Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Fellowship Program provides fellowships, through the Civil Engineering Department, to assist graduate students with excellent records who demonstrate financial need and plan to pursue doctoral degrees in civil engineering in one of the relevant research areas.
The GAANN program at Washington University will provide to all fellows a stipend in the amount of the fellow's financial need not to exceed $30,000 in the 2005 fiscal year. Also provided is an institutional payment to cover the cost of the fellow's tuition. Each fellow is required to participate in the educational goals of the department by being a course instructor during their tenure at Washington University.
Contingent on a fellow's admission and acceptance to the program, the fellow is required to attend periodic teaching workshops held by the Washington University Teaching Center. Additionally, one year of 1/2 time teaching duties must be completed for one full academic year. Finally, fellows are required to attend quarterly GAANN meeting at which fellows will present on topics relating to there research and/or interests.
The Earthquake Awareness Weekend is held in Missouri the first week of February. The WUSCEEL participates in the activities held at the St. Louis Science Center during the weekend. The instructional shake table is used for demonstrations and experiments. Kids are able to build their own structure for testing on the shake table.
The Structural Control and Earthquake Engineering Laboratory at Washington University is also used for educational experiments. To understand the effect of earthquakes and other dynamic hazards on structures, civil engineers must learn to view structures as dynamic systems. Currently vibration experiments are being integrated into both the undergraduate and graduate curricula in the Department of Civil Engineering.
Earthquake Engineering Education: A Modern Approach
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation. [ILI DUE-9851198].
To expand this plan to support further educational activities, a grant from the National Science Foundation - Division of Undergraduate Education was awarded. Click here to see the ILI Program web page and see the following publications.
S.J.Dyke, "Experiences in Integrating Research and Education after the Engineering Education Scholars Workshop," Proceedings of the Frontiers in Education Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, November 5-8, 1997. (approximate size 32 KB)
S.J.Dyke, B. Nepote, J.M. Caicedo, S.M. Johnson and E.A. Oware, "Earthquake Engineering Education: A Modern Approach," Proceedings of the ASEE Annual Meeting, St. Louis, June 2000. (pdf format 38 KB)