2019 NIST Disaster Resilience Symposium

Agenda Dates: August 7th-8th, 2019

7-Aug

Day 1 Item Speaker

8:00 AM Registration / Sign-in

9:00 Welcome and Overview Symposium Chairs (Green Auditorium)

9:15 Keynote - Building a 

Resilient Society in Response 

to Wildfires

Albert Simeoni

10:15 Break*

10:45 WUI Research @ NIST Nelson Bryner

Earthquake Research @ 

NIST

Steven McCabe

Anchorage Earthquake 

Reconnaissance

John Harris

11:45 Lunch (food for purchase in cafeteria)

Concurrent Sessions

Liquefaction-Targeted 

Ground Motion Parameters

Steven Kramer 

(University of 

Washington)

Imaging pyrometry of 

smoldering wood embers

Dennis Kim 

(University of Maryland / 

NIST)

Decision-Oriented Column 

Simulation Capabilities for 

Enhancing Disaster 

Resilience of Reinforced 

Concrete Buildings

Wassim Ghannoum 

(University of Texas, 

San Antonio)

Development of 

Methodology for 

Determination of Ignition 

Propensity by Firebrands in 

Wildland-Urban Interface

Babak Shotorban 

(University of Alabama, 

Huntsville)

2:30 Break*

Resilience of Steel Moment 

Frame Systems with Deep 

Slender Column Sections

Jason McCormick 

(University of 

Michigan)

Improving Disaster 

Resilience by Quantifying 

WUI Community Ember 

Exposure

Nigel Kaye 

(Clemson University)

Seismic Assessment, Retrofit 

Strategies and Policy 

Implications for Vulnerable 

Existing Steel Buildings

Gregory Deierlein 

(Stanford University)

Biomacromolecules as 

Flame Retardants for WoodBased Construction

Douglas Fox 

(American University)

Performance Assessment of 

RC Framed Structures 

accounting for Concrete 

Aging and Reinforcement 

Corrosion

Petros Sideris 

(Texas A&M) 

Firebrand ignition of attic 

insulation: Characterization 

of heat transfer 

mechanisms

Ofodike Ezekoye 

(University of Texas at 

Austin)

6:00-7:30 Networking Event Courtyard Gaithersburg Washingtonian Center, The Bistro (2nd floor)**

Moderator: Matthew Speicher Moderator: Jiann Yang

3:00 - 5:15

Track 1 = Earthquake (Heritage Room) Track 2 = Fire (Portrait Room)

1:00 - 2:30

Professor and Interim Department Head, Department of 

Fire Protection Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic 

Institute, Worcester MA

Chief, Fire Research Division, NIST

Director, NEHRP, Leader, Earthquake Engineering Group, 

NIST

11:15

Acting Deputy Director, NEHRP, Research Structural 

Engineer, Earthquake Engineering Group, NIST
8-Aug

Day 2 Item Speaker

8:00 AM Registration / Sign-in

(Green Auditorium)

8:45 NIST, Engineering 

Laboratory and Disaster 

Resilience 

Howard Harary Director, Engineering Laboratory, NIST

9:00 Keynote - The Evolution of 

Structural Engineering to 

Resist Earthquakes

James Harris

10:00 Structures/Wind Research 

@ NIST

Joseph Main

10:30 Break*

11:00 Disaster and Failure Studies 

@ NIST

Judith Mitrani-Reiser

11:30 Huricane Michael 

Reconnaissance

Fahim Sadek

11:45 Camp Fire Reconnaissance Alex Maranghides

12:15 Lunch (food for purchase in cafeteria)

Moderator: Marc Levitan

Improving Disaster 

Resilience Through Scientific 

Data Collection with UAV 

Swarms

Falko Kuester 

(University of 

California, San Diego)

Coastal Inundation Events in 

Developed Regions

Andrew Kennedy 

(University of Notre 

Dame)

Development of Tornado 

Design Criteria for Buildings 

and Shelters Subject to 

Tornado Induced Loads

Sudhan Banik (Applied 

Research Associates 

Inc.)

3:30 Closing Symposium Chair

3:35 Tours of National Fire Research Laboratory (NFRL) or Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility (NZERTF) 

*coffee and refreshments for purchase in the cafeteria

**transportation to hotel is on your own unless you booked under the block rate

Track 3 = Wind / DFS (Portrait Room)

1:15 - 3:30

Wildland Urban Interface Fire Group, NIST

President, J. R. Harris & Company, Denver, CO

Director, Disaster and Failure Studies Program, NIST

Research Structural Engineer, Structures Group, NIST

Research Structural Engineer, Structures Group, NIST