The Department of

Civil Engineering

Distinguished
Lecture Series S imin Naaseh is a registered structural engineer in
California and a Principal with Forell/Elsesser En-
gineers in San Francisco. She has 24 years of experi-
ence in the structural engineering field, during which
Presents she has served as project manager for many large and
complex projects including seismic retrofit of many
historic buildings. Ms. Naaseh is a leading expert on

Simin Naaseh innovative seismic design technologies, such as base

isolation. She served as Project Manager for over seven
years for the seismic retrofit and base isolation of the

S.E. complex San Francisco City Hall Project for which

Forell/Elsesser acted as prime consultant to the City of
San Francisco. In that role she managed the efforts of
Principal, Forell/Elsesser Engineers thirteen consultants. She has also managed the seis-
San Francisco, California mic isolation retrofit of Berkeley Civic Center, as well
as seismic isolation of San Francisco’s new 911 Emer-
gency Communications Center. She is currently in-
volved in the seismic isolation and retrofit of the Utah

“Seismic Isolation – State Capitol. She has lectured world-wide, sharing

her knowledge of structural and earthquake engineer-

Why, Where and How?” ing and the use of energy dissipation mechanisms to
minimize seismic damage to buildings.

Ms. Naaseh has been an active member of the Struc-

The seismic design considerations have evolved immensely over the years. As building
codes started including seismic design provisions, a search for simplified design guidelines
began so as to allow all buildings to have a minimum level of seismic protection as a
baseline. This minimum level was established as life safety protection, primarily for eco-
tural Engineers Association of Northern California, and
has served as a Board member of SEAONC as well as
chairing several committees. She currently serves as
the SEAONC Vice-President. She is also a Trustee of
the California Preservation Foundation.

nomic reasons. Over the years there has been a quest for finding more effective seismic
protection solutions. This search has led to development of advanced seismic pro-
tection technologies and energy dissipation systems. Base isolation is one of these
technologies that most effectively respond to the need for more comprehensive seis-
mic protection. This technology has been used for seismic protection of many func-
tionally critical buildings as well as important historic buildings.

Friday
April 9, 2004
12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Avaya Auditorium Inaugurated in Fall 2002, the
ACES Building 2.302 Civil Engineering Distinguished
Lecture Series provides a venue
for internationally recognized
engineers and scholars to inter-
act with students, faculty, and the
general public.
The University of Texas at Austin