The Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER) is pleased to offer exciting opportunities for students to explore new directions in earthquake studies and research. In the summer of 2018, two undergraduate students from the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia (UNINORTE) participated in the PEER Internship Program. Below, they share some of the highlights and valuable learning opportunities they experienced during their summer internship.
Alejandro Duarte worked on the project "Bayesian Approach for System Identification Using Data from Smartphone's Accelerometers." The goal of the project is to develop cell phones as a low cost measurement device. Henry Teng (UC Berkeley Masters Student in Civil and Environmental Engineering), Phil Wong (UC Berkeley Civil and Environmental Engineering Lab) and Professor Khalid Mosalam (UC Berkeley Civil and Environmental Engineering) guided Alejandro during the internship, offering both professional support and first hand civil engineering knowledge and experience. "It was a dream to come to this University. I will definitely return to Colombia with a greater knowledge in structural health monitoring. I also look forward sharing my experiences with my university colleagues."
Giancarlo Figueroa Garcia worked with Professor Norm Abrahamson (UC Berkeley Civil and Environmental Engineering) in the development of a Ground Motion Prediction Equation for Colombia. The internship provided Giancarlo the opportunity to get hands-on experience that gave him a greater appreciation for the importance of ground motion models. "It was an unforgettable experience to develop this project at PEER. My experience taught me a great deal about ground motion models which will help me in the future professionally. I want to thank UC Berkeley and PEER for this special opportunity, especially Professor Abrahamson for his guidance and commitment to my project."