BLUE TRAINIf you would like to schedule an in-person training for ATC-20 Postearthquake Safety Evaluation of Buildings (Second Edition), ATC-45 Safety Evaluation of Buildings after Windstorms and Floods, please click here for details and to submit a request for more information. 

 

Call for Consultants

ATC is committed to building a workforce that is as diverse as the communities we serve. Are you interested in consulting? Join us!

Celebrating the Past, Engaging the Present, and Envisioning the Future
December 8, 2023   |   San Francisco
Click here to learn more!

As structural engineers, we frame our contributions to society through our professionalism and ethics in the duties we perform. In our practice, we serve society and are active participants in the fabric of the communities in which we live. As structural engineers, we cannot limit ourselves to solving only problems of science and engineering. Ignoring the social, economic, and political contexts surrounding our engineering work is a path to irrelevancy. Our active participation includes a moral obligation to right the social and ethical wrongs we observe.

Therefore, as part of our active strategic planning process, we will critically examine the ethical values, equity, and diversity present in our internal processes and practices related to our staff, clients, and consultants.  Please read our full statement here.

Diversity and Inclusion Training

CONVERGE Training Modules
CONVERGE Training Modules are part of a larger initiative to advance social science and interdisciplinary extreme events research efforts through identifying, mapping, and training a diverse group of researchers. The modules cover a wide range of topics and are designed to help prepare researchers to carry out extreme events research that is coordinated, comprehensive, coherent, ethically grounded, methodologically sound, and scientifically rigorous. https://converge.colorado.edu/resources/training-modules 

AIA's Guides for Equitable Practice
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Guides for Equitable Practice, done in partnership with the University of Washington and the University of Minnesota, and AIA's Equity and the Future of Architecture Committee (EQFA), are a vital part of AIA’s long-term commitment to lead efforts that ensure the profession of architecture is as diverse as the nation they serve. These guides will help you make the business and professional case for ensuring that your organization meets the career development, professional environment, and cultural awareness expectations of current and future employees and clients. https://www.aia.org/resources/6246433-equitable-guides-to-practice 

NCSEA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Webinars
In accordance with their Call to Action released earlier this year, NCSEA is working to identify and eradicate behaviors that perpetuate racism and inequality within the profession. NCSEA has partnered with a strategic diversity and inclusion practitioner to develop a series of webinars to introduce attendees to diversity, equity, inclusion, and speak to creating a multicultural organization via inclusive policies, programs, and practices. http://www.ncsea.com/topics/96/deiseries/ 

K-12 Engagement Opportunities

SESI Classroom Education and Outreach 
School Earthquake Safety Initiative (SESI) follows a charge to use education in the classroom to create an ongoing dialog with parents, teachers, and administrators and to develop advocates for earthquake school safety. They bring together EERI regional and student chapters to collaborate on delivering the activities and serving as expert resources for stakeholders. https://www.eeri.org/projects/schools/sesi-classroom-education-and-outreach/ 

Project Lead the Way 
Project Lead The Way (PLTW) empowers students to develop and apply in-demand, transportable skills by exploring real-world challenges. Through their pathways in computer science, engineering, and biomedical science, students not only learn technical skills, but also learn to solve problems, think critically and creatively, communicate, and collaborate. PLTW also provides teachers with the training, resources, and support they need to engage students in real-world learning. https://www.pltw.org/ 

High School Linked Learning
By combining its four pillars of rigorous academics, work-based learning, career technical education, and personalized comprehensive support, High School Linked Learning aims to prepare Oakland's students for college, career, and community success. https://www.ousd.org/linkedlearningold

NBSE Pre-College Initiatives
The National Society of Black Engineers (NBSE) provides numerous resources and opportunities to engage and expose K-12 students to engineering and technology, including hands-on activities and mentor programs. The NBSE Pre-College Initiatives provide activities to help students discover firsthand how engineering and technology relate to the world around them and discover the excitement of academic excellence, leadership, technical development and teamwork. https://nsbe.org/intro/k-12.html

Visibility and Inclusion

AAAEA
The Arab-American Association of Engineers and Architects (AAAEA) is a professional Arab American association dedicated to help, strengthen, empower and inspire its members for excellence. AAAEA promotes and advocates the Arab American Engineers, Computer Science and Architects in North America, by providing career and educational enhancement programs, technical exchange, fellowship, and community service. AAAEA is a non-profit, non-political and non-religious Professional Association. https://nationalaaaea.org/ 

AISES
The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) is a national, nonprofit organization focused on substantially increasing the representation of American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, First Nations and other indigenous peoples of North America in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) studies and careers. The vision of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) is for the next seven generations of Native people to be successful, respected, influential, and contributing members of the vast and ever-changing global community. https://www.aises.org/ 

CIE-USA
The Chinese Institute of Engineers – USA (CIE-USA) is a non-profit professional organization of Chinese-American engineers, scientists and other professionals. The objectives of CIE-USA are to promote Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) in all communities across United States and provide recognitions to the APA professionals at the national level. http://www.cie-usa.org/ 

NOMA
The National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) has been organized to foster communications and fellowship among minority architects, fight discrimination and other selection policies being used by public and private sector clients to unfairly restrict minority architects’ participation in design and construction, and be an effective source of motivation and inspiration for minority youth. https://www.noma.net/ 

NSBE
With more than 500 chapters and nearly 22,000 active members in the U.S. and abroad, the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) is one of the largest student-governed organizations based in the United States. NSBE, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1975, supports and promotes the aspirations of collegiate and pre-collegiate students and technical professionals in engineering and technology. NSBE’s mission is "to increase the number of culturally responsible Black Engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community." https://www.nsbe.org/home.aspx 

Qu-AKE
The Queer Advocacy and Knowledge Exchange (Qu-AKE) is a national, nonprofit, inclusive network for professionals working in the fields of civil engineering, architecture, urban planning, geosciences and construction. Qu-AKE exists to ensure visibility and protection of LGBTQ+ professionals in our fields, by facilitating networking opportunities, providing a forum for mentorship, and fighting discrimination against members of our community in the workplace. https://qu-ake.org/

SHPE Leading Hispanics in STEM
SHPE's mission is to change lives by empowering the Hispanic community to realize its fullest potential and to impact the world through STEM awareness, access, support, and development. SHPE’s vision is a world where Hispanics are highly valued and influential as the leading innovators, scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. https://www.shpe.org/ 

SE3
The Structural Engineering Engagement and Equity (SE3) Project was established with the mission of improving engagement and equity in the structural engineering profession in order to provide meaningful input on improving both of these metrics within the industry. The SE3 Project aims to advance the profession by engaging all structural engineers regardless of gender, age, experience, job title, firm, size, or location. We have affiliated groups in several major metropolitan areas. http://www.se3project.org/ 

WiSE
Women in Structural Engineering (WiSE) is a network of women structural engineers around the country. This group is not formally a part of any professional organization, rather just provides opportunities for women structural engineers to connect with one another. Their website provides a hub for the various groups formed around the U.S. so that events can be shared and advertised, and information exchanged. https://www.womeninstructuralengineering.org/ 

 

 

Additional Community Resources

Do you know of a resource that would benefit the structural engineering community? Is there a program that brings engineering concepts to young minds? Please let us know below! We will add relevant resources to this page.

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p.s. You might also be interested in working with ATC as a consultant. We'd like to learn about your skills and interests! Please complete this form and we may reach out with opportunities.

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ATC-137-2

Summit on Unreinforced Masonry Buildings in Utah

The northern half of Utah is divided down the middle by the 217-mile-long Wasatch fault zone, one of the longest and most active normal fault zones in the world.  The fault zone cuts through or alongside the state’s major cities, including Salt Lake City and Provo, and has historically produced magnitude 7+ earthquakes about every 300 years.  Due in large part to the many unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings in Utah, a 2015 EERI study estimated that a magnitude 7 earthquake on the Wasatch fault segment near Salt Lake City could cause more than $33 billion in short-term economic losses, about 53,000 people to seek temporary shelter, and 2,000–2,500 fatalities.

To accelerate statewide progress on URM mitigation, on June 25–26, 2019, the Utah Division of Emergency Management and FEMA Region VIII co-convened a summit on unreinforced masonry buildings in Utah.  The summit also was supported by the Applied Technology Council, the Utah Seismic Safety Commission, the Structural Engineers Association of Utah, FEMA’s Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration, and FEMA’s National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program team.  The purpose of the summit was to raise awareness about the risk that URM buildings pose to Utah communities, promote mitigation best practices, bring together diverse stakeholder groups, identify actions and solutions that should be prioritized to increase Utah’s resilience against large earthquakes, use recent earthquakes outside Utah to demonstrate the realities of the recovery timeline, and highlight mitigation funding opportunities. 

Proceedings for the Summit are available for free here. The proceedings present the summit agenda, include slides from the plenary presentations, and summarize the themes expressed during the breakout discussions.

     

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Project Title: Improving the Nation’s Lifelines Infrastructure to Achieve Seismic Resilience

Client: Federal Emergency Management Agency

Purpose: Review NIST CGR 14-917-33, Earthquake Resilient Lifelines: NEHRP Research, Development and Implementation Roadmap, and initiate activities of Program Element I.

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 COMPLETED PUBLICATIONS

2019

 

FEMA P-58 Series

FEMA P-58-1, Seismic Performance Assessment of Buildings, Volume 1 – Methodology, Second Edition

FEMA P-58-2, Seismic Performance Assessment of Buildings, Volume 2 – Implementation Guide, Second Edition

FEMA P-58-3, Seismic Performance Assessment of Buildings, Volume 3 – Supporting Electronic Materials, Third Edition

FEMA P-58-4, Seismic Performance Assessment of Buildings, Volume 4 – Methodology for Assessing Environmental Impacts

FEMA P-58-5, Seismic Performance Assessment of Buildings, Volume 5 – Expected Seismic Performance of Code-Conforming Buildings

FEMA P-58-6, Guidelines for Performance-Based Seismic Design of Buildings

FEMA P-58-7, Building the Performance You Need, A Guide to State-of-the Art Tools for Seismic Design and Assessment

FEMA P-58 CD, Seismic Performance Assessment of Buildings, Methodology and Implementation, Third Edition

 

FEMA P-1100 Series

FEMA P-1100, Vulnerability-Based Seismic Assessment and Retrofit of One- and Two-Family Dwellings, Volume 1 – Prestandard

FEMA P-1100-2A, Vulnerability-Based Seismic Assessment and Retrofit of One- and Two-Family Dwellings, Volume 2A – Plan Set for Crawlspace Dwellings

FEMA P-1100-2B, Vulnerability-Based Seismic Assessment and Retrofit of One- and Two-Family Dwellings, Volume 2B – Plan Set for Living-Space-Over-Garage Dwellings

FEMA P-1100-2C, Vulnerability-Based Seismic Assessment and Retrofit of One- and Two-Family Dwellings, Volume 2C – Plan Set for Masonry Chimneys

FEMA P-1100-3, Vulnerability-Based Seismic Assessment and Retrofit of One- and Two-Family Dwellings, Volume 3 – Background Documentation

 

Updated Reports

FEMA P-646, Guidelines for Design of Structures for Vertical Evacuation from Tsunamis, Third Edition

FEMA P-1024/RA2, South Napa Earthquake Advisory: Earthquake Strengthening of Cripple Walls in Wood-Frame Dwellings, Second Edition

 

 

Seismic Risk Assessment 

FEMA P-2018, Seismic Evaluation of Older Concrete Buildings for Collapse Potential

ATC-119-1, San Francisco Tall Buildings Study

ATC-142, Safety Prioritization of School Buildings for Seismic Retrofit Using Performance-Based Risk Assessment in the Kyrgyz Republic

 

Fire Modeling

NIST Special Publication 1245, Large Outdoor Fire Modeling (LOFM) Workshop Summary Report

 

Guidance and Continued Education

FEMA P-2055, Post-disaster Building Safety Evaluation Guidance –Report on the Current State of Practice, including Recommendations Related to Structural and Nonstructural Safety and Habitability

ATC-66-11, National Earthquake Technical Assistance Program (NETAP), A Resource Guide for Regional and State/Territory Earthquake Program Managers—2019-2020

 

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COMPLETED PUBLICATIONS

2020

 

 

Policy and Resilience

FEMA P-2090/ NIST SP-1254 Special Report, Recommended Options for Improving the Built Environment for Post-Earthquake Reoccupancy and Functional Recovery Time

ATC-137-2, Proceedings: FEMA-Sponsored Summit on Unreinforced Masonry Buildings in Utah

 

International Investigations

ATC-141, September 19, 2017 Puebla-Morelos, Mexico Earthquake: Seismological and Structural Observations by the ATC Reconnaissance Team

ATC-148, Methodology for Developing Efficient Investment Strategies for Safer and Resilient Schools


Short Period Building Investigations

FEMA P-2139-1, Short-Period Building Collapse Performance and Recommendations for Improving Seismic Design, Volume 1 – Overarching Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations

FEMA P-2139-2, Short-Period Building Collapse Performance and Recommendations for Improving Seismic Design, Volume 2 – Study of One-to-Four Story Wood Light-Frame Buildings

FEMA P-2139-3, Short-Period Building Collapse Performance and Recommendations for Improving Seismic Design, Volume 3 – Study of One-to-Four Story Special Reinforced Masonry Shear Wall Buildings

FEMA P-2139-4, Short-Period Building Collapse Performance and Recommendations for Improving Seismic Design, Volume 4 – Study of One-to-Four Story Steel Special Concentrically Braced Frame Buildings

 

Technical Guidance

CEA-EDA-01, Earthquake Damage Assessment and Repair Guidelines for Residential Wood-Frame Buildings, Volume 1 – General Guidelines

CEA-EDA-02, Earthquake Damage Assessment and Repair Guidelines for Residential Wood-Frame Buildings, Volume 2 – Engineering Guidelines

FEMA P-530, Earthquake Safety at Home

FEMA P-2078, Procedures for Developing Multi-Period Response Spectra at Non-Conterminous United States Sites

FEMA P-2091, A Practical Guide to Soil-Structure Interaction

 

Continuing Education

ATC-66-12, National Earthquake Technical Assistance Program (NETAP), A Resource Guide for Regional and State/Territory Earthquake Program Managers—2020-2021

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 Welcome to the ATC Team!

Valley Mike cropMichael Valley As a former Principal at Magnusson Klemencic Associates in Seattle, Mike Valley comes to ATC with more than 30 years of structural engineering experience in new design, evaluation and retrofit of existing buildings, applied research, and codes and standards development. Mike’s design experience includes the landmark Salesforce Tower in San Francisco, and his research and development experience includes the FEMA 356 Prestandard and Commentary for the Seismic Rehabilitation of Buildings, FEMA P-2012 Assessing Seismic Performance of Buildings with Configuration Irregularities (ATC-123 Project), and NIST GCR 10-917-9 Applicability of Nonlinear Multiple-Degree-of-Freedom Modeling for Design (ATC-76-6 Project).

Mike also has extensive experience as an ATC consultant serving as a reviewer, a technical contributor, and Project Director on multiple ATC projects. We look forward to how Mike’s unique experiences as a successful team member will contribute to ATC projects in the future.

Michael Mahoney
Michael Mahoney

Retired from federal service as a Senior Geophysicist with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Mike Mahoney comes to ATC with more than 30 years of experience in hazard mitigation program management and policy development, post-disaster response and recovery, and problem-focused research and development in support of FEMA’s efforts under the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP). He has led FEMA’s earthquake-related work with the International Code Council and has been involved with the development of national model codes and standards since 1984.

In his career at FEMA, Mike has led the development of countless major FEMA publications, including: FEMA 350 Recommended Seismic Design Criteria for New Steel Moment-Frame Buildings and its series of companion reports (ATC-41 Project series), FEMA P-58 Seismic Performance Assessment of Buildings, Methodology and Implementation (ATC-58 Project series), FEMA P-695 Quantification of Building Seismic Performance Factors (ATC-63 Project), FEMA P-2018 Seismic Evaluation of Older Concrete Buildings for Collapse Potential (ATC-78 Project), and FEMA P-2090/NIST SP-1254 Recommended Options for Improving the Built Environment for Post-Earthquake Reoccupancy and Functional Recovery Time (ATC-137 Project). With Mike’s extensive knowledge of federal government programs, and past collaboration with state and local agencies, hazard mitigation partners, and code development organizations, we look forward to how his unique experiences will help serve ATC’s client needs and objectives in the future.