Paul Cordova 

Paul Cordova, a Ph.D. candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, Stanford, California, has been selected as the 2003-2004 NEHRP Graduate Fellow in Earthquake Hazard Reduction. The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute awards this fellowship each year in a cooperative program with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. The award is given to foster the participation of capable individuals in furthering the goals and practice of earthquake hazard mitigation. The fellowship provides $12,000 for a nine-month stipend and $8,000 for tuition, fees, and research expenses.

Paul Cordova was chosen from a group of nine applicants. The applications were reviewed by Eric Williamson, University of Texas Austin; Mary Beth Hueste, Texas A&M & University; Bozidar Stojadinovic, University of California Berkeley; and Joseph Wartman, Drexel University. The candidates were drawn from seven universities in California, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia, and Washington. They represented the fields of geography and several disciplines within engineering, including structural, civil, geotechnical, and environmental.

 The focal point of Cordova's research is an innovative composite frame system that incorporates composite steel beams with reinforced concrete columns. The goal is to develop an understanding of the seismic behavior and performance criteria of these systems and apply this to the seismic design. Working under the direction of his advisor, Dr. Greg Deierlein, he played a role in developing a full-scale, pseudo-dynamic frame test tested in October 2002 in the National Center Research in Earthquake Engineering Laboratory in Taipei.

According to Greg Deierlein, Professor of Structural Engineering at Stanford University, "Cordova is researching topics in performance-based earthquake engineering of an innovative new composite system, which relate directly to NEHRP's mission and he can be credited with extending the components of this research into a larger collaborative program. Through interactions with other faculty and graduate students at Stanford, he has introduced valuable aspects of probabilistic seismic hazard analysis and reliability methods to the research."

The objective of EERI is to reduce earthquake risk by advancing the science and practice of earthquake engineering, improving understanding of the impact of earthquakes on the physical, social, economic, political and cultural environment, and by advocating comprehensive and realistic measures for reducing the harmful effects of earthquakes.

Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
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Oakland, California 94612-1934

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