Note: This podcast interview was recorded before the CFS10 shake table tests, which took place in June and July of 2025. In this episode, earthquake engineers Tara Hutchinson, of UC San Diego, and Ben Schafer, of Johns Hopkins University, explain how they collect data from the CFS10 shake table tests.

Note: This podcast interview was recorded before the CFS10 shake table tests, which took place in June and July of 2025. In this episode, earthquake engineers Tara Hutchinson, of UC San Diego, and Ben Schafer, of Johns Hopkins University, discuss the long-term nature of seismic engineering research. The CFS10 structure currently on the UC San Diego shake table represents over a decade of steel-framed component testing. On the strength of that research, Hutchinson and Schafer built the CFS10 structure to ten stories, four floors above current building code. That’s an unabashed goal of the landmark CFS10 project: to advance building code for steel-framed buildings in seismic zones.

Tara Hutchinson and Ben Schafer, principal investigators for the NHERI CFS10 project, introduce us to cold-formed steel and their long-term research interest in this resilient material.

University of Florida Professor and coastal engineer Nina Stark dives into the logistics of post-hurricane data collection.

Nina Stark studies soil mechanics and soil responses to coastal and riverine stresses -- like hurricanes and related flooding. During hurricane season, you will find her in the field, collecting perishable data.

Earthquake engineer and cold-formed steel researcher Ben Schafer introduces the NHERI CFS10 project underway at the NHERI UC San Diego shake table facility.

The strength of cold-formed steel is not well-known. In this podcast, Johns Hopkins earthquake engineer Ben Schafer discusses academic-industry research projects with CFS and the current understanding of cold-formed steel as a building material.

Research engineer Ben Schafer provides an excellent primer on cold-formed steel, CFS, and its benefits in framing structures susceptible to natural hazards like earthquakes and high winds.

Research engineer Erica Fischer notes that engineers, such as those in the NSF NHERI natural hazards community, are working on multiple fronts to leverage their skills and knowledge to reduce damage from future urban-wildland conflagrations. Follow Erica Fischer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fischererica/ And on the X platform: https://x.com/erica_fischer

Oregon State University research engineer Erica Fischer discusses ways people can reduce wildfire risk.

Oregon State University researcher Erica Fischer explains how engineers collect post-fire data to characterize wildfires that burn into urban areas.

As wildfires increasingly affect communities and civil infrastructure, structural engineers like Oregon State University engineer Erica Fischer apply their expertise to protecting lifeline systems and structures.

Learn how the team embeds this 33-foot-high mobile weather station on the beach.

The Sentinel mobile weather station, embedded on the beach, collects real-time data from landfalling hurricanes.

Arindam Chowdhury, wind engineer and NICHE project PI, describes a variety of specific engineering problems this NSF-funded facility will enable researchers to tackle.

On today’s show, Florida International University wind engineer Arindam Chowdhury joins us to describe a new NSF-funded research lab called the National Full-Scale Testing Infrastructure for Community Hardening in Extreme Wind, Surge, and Wave Events — or NICHE, for short.

Geotech engineer Diane Moug is an authority on microbially induced desaturation, known as “MID.” This technique, developed at Arizona State University, prevents soils from liquefying in an earthquake. Moug describes how microbes desaturate soils, the benefits of the process, and her own, ongoing experiments underway in the Pacific Northwest. These include a site in Oregon’s Critical Energy Infrastructure hub – which is dangerously situated on liquefiable soil.

Obtaining an NSF CAREER Award is a milestone for academics in the sciences. Early-career geotechical engineer and researcher Diane Moug shares her experiences writing and applying for – and then (finally) successfully winning, a CAREER Award.

The cone penetration test (CPT) is a standard tool for geotechnical engineers; it's used for measuring soil sheer strength, stress history and type. Leveraging her NSF CAREER award, Portland State U researcher Diane Moug plans to improve the CPT, so engineers can make better interpretations of CPT data. Moug will employ NHERI at UC Davis centrifuges, numerical modeling, and lab experimentation.

CHEER researchers focus on understanding decision-making among all the players involved in sustaining a resilient coastal community. Davidson details how stakeholders – insurers, government agencies, and residents -- have different, reasonable, and conflicting goals. CHEER’s goal is to find policy solutions that will manage hazard risks as well as ensure economic development in coastal communities vulnerable to hurricanes. It’s a new approach to building a sustainable disaster risk management system in the U.S.