WELCOME ADDRESS
OF
PROF. M. SEMIH YÜCEMEN
DIRECTOR, EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTER 

FOR THE OPENING SESSION OF THE
SEMINAR SERIES ON EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING:
ESSENTIALS AND APPLICATIONS

METU, July 18-20

Distinguished Guests, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is indeed a great pleasure for me to welcome you all on behalf of the Organizing Committee for the 3-day Seminar Series with the theme Earthquake Engineering: Essentials and Applications.

As all of you are well aware, Turkey suffers frequently from earthquakes; in fact, it can be considered as a vast earthquake laboratory. The recent major earthquakes and the expectation of a destructive earthquake in Istanbul have caused an awareness of the earthquake danger at all levels, whether administrative, environmental, rural or urban. The active and increasing interest of the Universities in developing analytical and experimental research initiatives for scientific studies on earthquakes and their effects on the built environment has to be acknowledged.

At the Earthquake Engineering Research Center (EERC) of Middle East Technical University (METU), research related to Earthquake Engineering is being conducted at the highest levels, with significant numbers of theses, technical reports and papers being published every year. Contacts between professors at EERC and other research institutions in Earthquake Engineering are also long-standing, and have led to much cooperative work and projects in this area.

The Earthquake Engineering Research Center was established within the Department of Civil Engineering in 1976 to coordinate and promote research and education in earthquake engineering at METU and also to disseminate information. Over the years the Center has contributed significantly to the earthquake engineering research and practice both nationally and internationally. This Seminar Series is an outcome of the original founding purposes of the Center and its well established international collaborations.

The objective of this seminar series is to increase the awareness of the Turkish academia and engineering community about the recent developments in the essentials of earthquake engineering. For this purpose an international group of professional engineers and academicians who are actively involved in the application and development of novel procedures in earthquake engineering have been invited as lecturers. In order to enrich the context of the seminar and to increase the interaction between the participants and the lecturers, Turkish academicians, who were involved in the development of the new National Seismic Code will also give talks, particularly on the recent modifications in the national seismic provisions.

The main focus of the lectures will be on the performance assessment methods for existing structures subjected to strong-ground motions emphasizing the inherent relationships between structural behavior and ground motion. The close connection between the topics to be covered during the Seminar Series and the technical content of the new seismic provisions that will be implemented in the near-future will result in much benefit especially to practicing engineers.

This seminar series is organized by the Earthquake Engineering Research Center in collaboration with the Ankara Branch of the Chamber of Civil Engineers. The Scientific Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), Department of Civil Engineering and Earthquake Engineering Research Center of METU were the major sponsors, providing the necessary funds.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our invited lecturers, some of whom have to make a very long journey, for taking time off from their busy schedule and come to this meeting.

There are many individuals who have helped get this Seminar off the ground. I will not single them out, except to acknowledge the untiring efforts of Dr. Sinan Akkar, who has been involved in every stage of the organization of this Seminar Series.

Once again, let me offer my greetings and welcome to all participants. I sincerely hope that the Seminar will be inspiring and fruitful for all involved.

Thank you for your attention.