Newswise — The following faculty members from The George Washington University are available to comment on earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural disasters.

Earthquakes and Civil Engineering

Majid ManzariProfessor of Civil and Environmental EngineeringMajid Manzari has served at GW since 1994. In addition to research in geomechanics, Manzari has conducted research on active control of structures and soil-structure systems during earthquakes, constitutive modeling of ferroelectric ceramics with domain switching behavior, and behavior of mixed finite elements in hyperbolic heat conduction. From 1986 to 1990, Manzari held a faculty position in the School of Engineering of Tehran University. Manzari received B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Civil Engineering from Tehran University in Iran, and a Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Davis. He has been a visiting researcher at Sandia National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif.

Pedro F. SilvaAssociate Professor of Civil and Environmental EngineeringPedro Silva's areas of specialty include development of performance-based procedures for the seismic design and retrofit of civil structures; blast resistance of structures; use of fiber-reinforced polymers for the structural rehabilitation of structures. He received a Ph.D. from the University of California at San Diego.

Shahram SarkaniProfessor of Engineering Management and Systems EngineeringAuthor of more than 100 technical publications and presentations, Shahram Sarkani is a civil engineer who focuses his research on the study of how earthquakes and other natural forces affect buildings, bridges, and other human-made structures. Using a National Science Foundation grant, GW's Laboratory for Infrastructure Safety and Reliability constructed an earthquake simulator in 2001 to study earthquake forces and their effects on buildings and other structures. From these studies, the laboratory develops cost-effective ways to protect people against the destructive power of earthquakes. Known simply as the "shake table," this simulator moves with six degrees of freedom and is capable of producing every motion a building or structure may experience during an earthquake or severe vibration. The platform weights two tons and supports weights of up to 18 tons. Hydraulic power is used to move the table moves about 8 inches in each of the 6 directions.

Sameh BadieAssociate Professor of Engineering and Applied ScienceSameh Badie specializes in advanced concrete materials, corrosion resistant reinforcement, and the application of pre-stressed concrete in buildings and bridges. Badie earned a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is affiliated with Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, American Concrete Institute, and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Kim RoddisChair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Kim Roddis specializes in civil and structural engineering; bridge, industrial, and commercial building design, frame stability; and the fatigue of highway bridges. She also studies the application of artificial intelligence and advanced computing to civil engineering, Web enhanced teaching of engineering design, nondestructive testing and evaluation of structures, and the design of computer-aided tools for civil engineering. Roddis received a Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is affiliated with the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management

Jack HarraldCo-Director of The George Washington University Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management and Professor Emeritus of Engineering Management and Systems EngineeringProfessor Harrald has been actively engaged in the fields of maritime safety, emergency management, and crisis management, as a researcher in his academic career and as a practitioner during his 22-year career in the U.S. Coast Guard. He has written and published in the fields of crisis management, management science, risk and vulnerability analysis, and maritime safety. Harrald is the co-coordinator of the Corporate Crisis Management Roundtable and is a founding member, director, and president of The International Emergency Management Society. He is also a director of the Disaster Recovery Institute. Harrald was the principle investigator for recent maritime risk studies in Prince William Sound, Alaska, the Port of New Orleans, and Washington State, and for earthquake vulnerability studies funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the American Red Cross. Funded by NSF quick response grants and Red Cross projects, he studied the responses to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Loma Prieta Earthquake, Hurricane Hugo, Hurricane Andrew, and the Northridge Earthquake. On Sept. 15, 2005, Harrald testified in front of the House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform regarding lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina.

Jonathan DeasonProfessor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Jonathan Deason's areas of expertise include national parks, water resources, environmental sustainability and management, alternative and fuel efficient vehicles, energy policy, hydrogen economy, national parks, and water resources. Deason received a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and is affiliated with the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Engineering Management, and the American Water Resources Association.

Joseph A. Barbera, M.D.Co-Director of The George Washington University Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management and Associate Professor of Engineering ManagementProfessor Barbera was the lead medical consultant for the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the development of the National Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) Response System, and participates as a medical officer for the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance International Search & Rescue Program and the FEMA US&R Incident Support Team. He has participated in responses to hurricanes, mine disasters, earthquakes (Baguio City Philippines, Northridge California, Tou-Liu Taiwan), mass terrorism (the Oklahoma City Bombing and the 9-11 Pentagon and World Trade Center attacks), and biological terrorism. An M.D. by training, Barbera has completed multiple research projects focusing on health and medical systems in emergency preparedness and response.

Global Humanitarian Response and Nonprofit Involvement

Amitai Etzioni GW University Professor and Professor of International Affairs Professor Etzioni is the author of over thirty books, including The Monochrome Society (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001), The Limits of Privacy (New York: Basic Books, 1999), The New Golden Rule (New York: Basic Books, 1996), which received the Simon Wiesenthal Center's 1997 Tolerance Book Award, The Spirit of Community (New York: Crown Books, 1993), and The Moral Dimension: Toward a New Economics (New York: Free Press, 1988). Outside of academia, Etzioni's voice is frequently heard in the media. He appears often on radio and television programs, and is regularly consulted by print media as well.