UVA CEE 2016 Seminar

Dr. Aktan and Dr. Moon presented at Nov. 4, 2016, 12PM - 1PM in University of Virginia Civil and Environmental Engineering (UVA CEE) seminar hosted by Professor Steve Chase.

The topic of Dr. Aktan's presentation is "Livability, Sustainability & Resilience of the Urban Built Environment", and the details is described below:

Many city, state and national infrastructure systems, even in first world countries, are on the verge of failure and often in a state of triage. The constant need for (disruptive) maintenance, repair and/or replacement constrains their operations and greatly impact the quality and productivity of urban life. Clean water, storm-water and sewers; streets, tunnels and highways; rail and transit; gas, power and communication systems are often in close proximity in dense urban environments and cascading failures under normal operating conditions are common in older cities. There is a critical and strategic need for engineers to divert attention to revitalizing these systems and their components since they are so intimately tied to the livability, sustainability and resilience (LSR) across nations and in growing urban centers. As infrastructure condition and capacity diminish demands keep growing. Disruptions increase due to both natural and man-made hazards, and even frequent hazards such as storms and/or fires may lead to widespread loss of infrastructure services to large numbers of people for an extended period. Approaching the lifecycle and limits of effective performance of existing infrastructures is not a simple problem, and most engineers may not be equipped to fully understand the complex systems aspects of the geriatrics of aging built environments. This seminar will discuss the need for a new breed of civil engineer who understands complex socio-technical systems behavior and qualified for coordinating policy-makers, planners and architects to plan for the livability, sustainability and resilience of a dense urban built environment.

Presentation material can be found here.