News Release

Learning about earthquakes and research as part of NSF's Research Experience for Undergraduates program

Leah Seifert, right, and Emersen Liauw, took part in the Research Experience for Undergraduate program at UC San Diego's shake table this summer.

Sept. 4, 2024--One had never done research before. The other had eight months of research experience. They both are learning a lot this summer during the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program. Emersen Liauw and Leah Seifert are working at UC San Diego’s NSF-funded earthquake simulator, also known as a shake table, one of the three largest in the world and the only outdoor facility of its kind. 

Seifert is a junior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and will be involved with a test that will take over the earthquake simulator for much of the next year. Researchers at UC San Diego and Johns Hopkins will build a 10-story steel-framed building and put it through several earthquake tests. Then the Cal Poly team will set fire to parts of the building to see how it fares. Seifer has been involved with the project since February. She is working on the various sensors that will be installed in the building to take measurements during the fire tests. She is also working on the building’s sprinkler system. She learned a lot while taking part in the process, talking to experts, contractors and researchers, she said. “It’s very eye opening.” 

Liauw is a Civil Engineering senior at Cleveland State University in Ohio. This is her first time doing research. She is working on developing a robust and user-friendly data acquisition system that will keep track of weather conditions at the shake table. Weather events such as rain and wind could influence the results of the tests conducted by the site, she explained. “I’m not just getting an introduction to natural hazards,” she said. “I am also getting an introduction to research.”

She worked closely with Koorosh Lotfizadeh, the operations manager at the UC San Diego shake table. 

“From circuit building to software development, Emmie stepped out of her comfort zone and got it done,” Loftizadeh said. “The work Emmie has done this summer will be useful for future research here at the shake table facility.”

The NHERI Large High Performance Outdoor Shake Table (LHPOST6) is part NSF's Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI). 

Media Contacts

Ioana Patringenaru
Jacobs School of Engineering
858-822-0899
ipatrin@ucsd.edu