Andre Filiatrault Named Deputy Director of Earthquake Engineering Research Center at UB

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Andre Filiatrault, Ph.D. -- a leading expert on shake-table testing of structural and nonstructural building components, including electrical substation equipment -- has been named deputy director of the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) headquartered at the University at Buffalo. MCEER is a National Science Foundation "Center of Excellence" in earthquake engineering.

Filiatrault, formerly a professor of structural engineering at the University of California-San Diego, will be responsible for coordinating MCEER's nationwide research program in advanced technology applications. He also has been appointed professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

"Dr. Filiatrault is an outstanding and prolific researcher who has received many awards for his work," said Michel Bruneau, Ph.D., MCEER director and UB professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering. "His extensive experience with shake-table testing will be especially valuable to research initiatives of MCEER and the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences upon completion of UB's state-of-the-art Structural Engineering and Earthquake Simulation Laboratory."

Filiatrault is past president of the Consortium of Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering (CUREE) and was project manager for testing and analysis for the CUREE-Caltech Wood Frame Project, a federally funded effort to develop reliable and economical methods of improving woodframe building performance in earthquakes.

His full-scale dynamic tests on a variety of structural and nonstructural systems and components over the past 15 years have led to improved seismic design standards.

Filiatrault has led or has been a member of several earthquake reconnaissance teams, including those that investigated the Nisqually Valley earthquake in Washington State in 2001, the Loma Prieta and Northridge, Calif., earthquakes in 1989 and 1994, respectively, and the Kobe, Japan, earthquake in 1995.

He is a recipient of the Moisseiff Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Gzowksi Medal from the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering. He has published 67 articles in scientific journals and is author of the textbook "Elements of Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics."

Before joining the University of California-San Diego, Filiatrault was professor of civil engineering at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal. He also continues to serve on the scientific board and faculty of the Rose European School for Advanced Studies in Reduction of Seismic Risk at the University of Pavia in Italy.

He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Sherbrooke, Quebec, and a master's degree and doctorate in civil engineering from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

He also is a member of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute and the American Society of Civil Engineers, and is a registered professional engineer in the province of Quebec, Canada.

He resides with his family in Clarence.

MCEER's mission is to reduce earthquake damage and losses through multidisciplinary team research and the application of advanced technologies that improve earthquake engineering, pre-earthquake planning and post-earthquake recovery strategies.

A $20 million expansion of UB's Structural Engineering and Earthquake Simulation Laboratory on UB's North (Amherst) Campus will be completed in 2004. Funded by the National Science Foundation and the State University of New York, the facility will be equipped with twin shake tables capable of real-time seismic testing of structures up to 120 feet in length. The facility is part of the National Science Foundation's George E. Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES), a nationwide "collaboratory" for earthquake engineers and students.