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Four Civil Engineering students from the Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, accompanied by Dr. Yimiao Huang, have returned from Taiwan, after competing in the International Earthquake IDEERS (Introducing and Demonstrating Earthquake Engineering Research in Schools) Challenge. The team competed against 80 universities from around the world, where they placed 16th within the competition and 1st among the other Australian universities involved.

Participants were challenged to design a structure that would survive a minimum intensity of 250gal and hold a minimum of 25kg. Structures were loaded up with weights and subjected to a simulated earthquake on Taiwan’s National Centre for Research Earthquake Engineering shaking table.

The University of Western Australia’s structure withstood a 700gal earthquake simulation, resulting in the structure being one of the last 10 standing among 50.

Mark Machado, Civil Engineering student said, "I am honoured to have been given this amazing opportunity, and to have led a team of fellow civil undergraduates from UWA in the design and construction of an Earthquake resistant structure.”

“The International IDEERS Challenge in Taiwan proved to be an invaluable experience professionally, personally and academically. I feel I have come out humbled by the raw power of natural earthquakes and with a huge amount of respect for all the time and dedication structural engineers put into leading their teams and optimizing their designs to ensure people retain their lives during an earthquake,” said Mark.

The team would like to thank Professor Barry Lehane for his support and encouragement, The UWA Civil Society, and The University of Western Australia and The University of Taiwan for providing financial support.

Media references

Hannah Carlisle (Marketing Officer, Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences) (+61 8) 6488 5079