Reconstructing Christchurch

Dr. Michel Bruneau, Professor in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at the University at Buffalo, is recognized nationally and internationally for the impact of his research contributions to the design and behaviour of steel structures subjected to earthquakes and blasts. His work has been instrumental in the inclusion in national and international standards of specifications for ductile steel plate shear walls, tubular eccentrically braced frames, ductile bridge diaphragms, and ductile composite sandwich walls, leading to implementation in countless structures worldwide. For example, his development and validation of the tubular eccentrically braced frames concept for bridges was implemented in the $1B temporary supports of the new San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. He has authored over 500 technical publications, including over 150 articles in the leading peer-reviewed journals in his field. He is one of the most cited researchers in structural engineering and earthquake engineering. Notably, he is the lead author of the 900-page textbook Ductile Design of Steel Structures, used worldwide by structural engineers and considered by many to be the reference for the seismic design of steel structures, and the lead author of the 2003 pioneering paper "A framework to quantitatively assess and enhance the seismic resilience of communities", which has formulated the concept and expression of disaster resilience in a manner that has since driven research in this field. He also published four fiction books.

Bruneau has received several national awards and recognitions for his work and has been inducted as a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. He is also an ASCE Fellow, and a member of various AISC and CSA committees developing design specifications for bridges and buildings. He has conducted numerous reconnaissance visits to disaster-stricken areas and has served as Director of MCEER. He has also participated in various expert peer-review panels, project advisory committees, and special project design teams. A detailed outline of qualifications is available at www.eng.buffalo.edu/~bruneau.

Gregory MacRae works at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. He has lived through the earthquakes and the Christchurch rebuild. After working in a consulting company, he has spent 30 years conducting teaching and research related to structural and earthquake engineering in Japan, the USA, India and New Zealand. Key areas where he has initiated, or worked with others initiating, thought change that has been recognised in standards and practice include: steel structure design, structural earthquake stability and the residual displacement estimation, PREstressed Structural Seismic Systems (PRESSS), displacement-based design, the continuous column concept, frame stability, and friction connections. In particular, his current work focuses on low-damage construction, decision support tools, steel structures and structural dynamics. Results from his studies, disseminated in publications and keynote talks in various countries, have influenced the construction of many structures in New Zealand, Japan and the USA.

He is currently head of the Structural Engineering Cluster at the University of Canterbury, the New Zealand representative to the International Association of Earthquake Engineering, a member of standards committees related to earthquake and structural steel design, and a Quake Centre board member. Among other activities, he has been an associate editor for the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) Journal of Structural Engineering, the chair of the ASCE Seismic Effects Committee, the founder of the Earthquake Clearinghouse after the initial 2010 Canterbury Earthquake, and an author for the Royal Commission on the Canterbury Earthquakes. He has been a director of the board of the World Seismic Safety Initiative (WSSI) and a senior advisor to the board. Further information is available at https://sites.google.com/site/gregoryamacrae/home.