A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK RELATING CIVIL ENGINEERING TO QUALITY OF LIFE

Read the full paper at https://www.academia.edu/128855799/

QOL is a comprehensive concept that encompasses the overall well-being of individuals and communities, incorporating physical, mental, emotional, and social dimensions. It is influenced by a wide range of factors, including health, education, income, the environment, safety, relationships, cultural enrichment, and access to resources and opportunities. 

Shown in Figure 1 are five domains as proposed by Felce and Perry (1995) plus a sixth domain. The six QOL domains are described below:

1)    Physical well-being focuses on aspects related to the health and safety of individuals or communities, encompassing factors such as physical health, safety, and access to healthcare.

2)    Material well-being pertains to living conditions, including income, housing, privacy, food security, transportation, and overall personal or community security.

3)    Social well-being emphasizes the quality of interpersonal relationships within families and friendships, as well as broader interactions and engagement within the community.

4)    Development and activity relates to factors that contribute to the personal or communal growth, such as competence, independence, and participation in functional activities like work, leisure, and education.

5)    Emotional well-being includes self-esteem, a sense of status or respect, and spiritual or religious faith, all of which contribute to an individual’s sense of fulfilment and stability.

6)    Environmental well-being - Although not explicitly part of Felce and Perry’s domains, environmental well-being can be seen as an implicit aspect of quality of life today. This domain refers to the quality of the natural and built environment in supporting human health, safety, and overall life satisfaction. It encompasses the conditions of air, water, soil, ecosystems, and the sustainability of urban and rural spaces.

Quality of Life (QOL) in the context of civil engineering refers to the enhancement of community living standards through the strategic design, implementation, and maintenance of infrastructure and services. Five key facets of civil engineering that significantly contribute to QOL are as follows:

1. Infrastructure Development: Enhancing well-being by supporting employment, income generation, mobility, health, recreation, and other essential needs through efficient and reliable infrastructure.
2. Water Supply and Sanitation: Safeguarding public health and hygiene through the development of sustainable water systems and effective sanitation solutions.
3. Disaster Resilience: Ensuring community safety and resilience by constructing robust structures that can withstand natural and human-made hazards, thereby saving lives, reducing injuries, and protecting physical assets.
4. Environmental Sustainability: Embedding eco-friendly practices in civil engineering design and construction to preserve ecosystems and reduce carbon footprints.
5. Climate Change Adaptation: Integrating sustainable urban planning and design to balance development with environmental stewardship, addressing the challenges posed by climate change.

The five CE facets can be aligned to the six QOL domains as follows: 

Table: Alignment of QOL Domains and Civil Engineering Facets

QOL Domain	Aligned Civil Engineering Facets	Explanation
Physical Well-being	Water Supply and Sanitation, Disaster Resilience, Infrastructure Development	Focuses on health, safety, and access to essential services.
Material Well-being	Infrastructure Development, Climate Change Adaptation	Supports financial security and access to material resources through employment and sustainable growth.
Social Well-being	Infrastructure Development, Disaster Resilience, Climate Change Adaptation	Enhances community inclusion, safety, and cohesion through inclusive planning and disaster management.
Emotional Well-being	Disaster Resilience, Environmental Sustainability, Infrastructure Development	Promotes security, comfort, and life satisfaction through safety and eco-friendly practices.
Development and Activity	Infrastructure Development, Climate Change Adaptation, Environmental Sustainability	Facilitates growth, learning, and meaningful activities through infrastructure and innovation.
Environmental Well-being	Environmental Sustainability, Climate Change Adaptation	Improves ecosystems, reduces pollution, and ensures sustainable living conditions.

• Oreta, A. (2025). “Introducing a QOL Provider-Receiver Model for Assessing Disciplinary Contributions to Quality of Life: A Civil Engineering Perspective,”  https://www.academia.edu/128855799/

• Felce, David and Perry, Jonathan (1995). “Quality of Life: Its Definition and Measurement,” Research in Development Disabilities, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 51-74, 1995, Elsevier Science, Ltd.

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING AND QUALITY OF LIFE

Quality of Life (QOL), as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), refers to “an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns.” 

The quality of life (QOL) is deeply influenced by the built environment and the infrastructure that supports daily activities. Structural engineering, as a specialized field within civil engineering, makes a unique and essential contribution to Quality of Life (QOL). From the perspective of a structural engineer, QOL encompasses the role of safe, resilient, and efficient structural systems in enhancing the well-being of individuals and communities. This involves the design and construction of buildings, bridges, and other infrastructure that go beyond meeting safety standards to also improve usability, accessibility, sustainability, and aesthetic appeal. By creating structures that are functional and adaptable, structural engineers contribute to better living and working conditions, fostering a sense of security and comfort in the built environment. 

Structural engineering also prioritizes minimizing risks associated with structural failures, particularly during natural disasters, by incorporating advanced techniques and materials to enhance resilience. Ensuring the long-term durability of structures reduces maintenance demands and associated disruptions, while the optimization of resources supports economic efficiency and environmental sustainability. Collectively, these contributions elevate the standard of living by promoting safer, more reliable, and sustainable infrastructure, aligning structural engineering with broader societal goals of well-being and progress. 

Structural engineering, as a specialized field within civil engineering, makes a unique and essential contribution to Quality of Life (QOL). To understand and assess the contribution of structural engineering to QOL, a conceptual framework is proposed. A preliminary conceptual framework, termed STE-QOL (Structural Engineering and Quality of Life), identifies 12 key facets associated with civil structures throughout their lifecycle—from planning to implementation. Each facet aligns with QOL domains and demonstrates how structural engineering integrates technical expertise with social and environmental responsibility. These facets are as follows:

1. Understanding of Community Impact – Addressing community needs to promote satisfaction, equity, and cohesion.
2. Safety and Resilience – Ensuring structures withstand disasters, accidents, and aging to protect lives and livelihoods.
3. Sustainability and Environmental Impact – Reducing carbon footprints, conserving resources, and promoting environmental harmony.
4. Accessibility and Inclusivity – Creating infrastructure accessible to diverse populations, promoting independence and equity.
5. Economic and Social Benefits – Supporting economic growth, job creation, and improved community connectivity.
6. Aesthetic and Cultural Considerations – Enhancing community identity, pride, and emotional well-being through thoughtful design.
7. Health and Well-being – Promoting physical and mental health through clean, functional, and recreational infrastructure.
8. Maintenance and Longevity – Ensuring infrastructure reliability and durability for long-term use with minimal disruptions.
9. Innovation and Technology – Incorporating advanced technologies to improve efficiency, sustainability, and adaptability.
10. Compliance and Best Practices – Ensuring adherence to standards, ethical practices, and safety requirements.
11. Collaboration and Communication – Engaging stakeholders for inclusive decision-making and improved project outcomes.
12. Post-Completion Evaluation – Assessing and improving projects to maintain long-term relevance and effectiveness.

The STE-QOL facets can be grouped based on type of activity or output: a) Design of the Structure, b) Design Practices and c) Designing with People.   The facets related to the three categories are shown together with the QOL domains. The STE-QOL facets can be associated to the domains of QOL. A checklist was designed using the 12 STE-QOL facets to assess the awareness and practices of structural engineers in relation to QOL of a community. A online survey will be conducted targeting Filipino structural engineers and design firms. 

NOTE: This blog is based on the concept paper (to be published or presented in a conference) on 

""DEVELOPING A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND CHECKLIST TO ASSESS STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS' CONTRIBUTIONS TO QUALITY OF LIFE" by Andres Winston C. Oreta and Ronaldo S. Ison, 17 Dec 2024

Read the Draft Paper. 

Experiential Learning about Seismic Performance of Buildings through Shake Table Competitions

Understanding the seismic behavior and performance of structures under earthquake ground shaking considering the various factors like structural stiffness, building period, soil properties and frequency of ground shaking becomes effective if lectures are supplemented with actual demonstration through model testing and videos. Experiential learning through shake table testing and competitions are opportunities to understand more about earthquakes. The introduction of shake table activities in schools can enhance students’ comprehension of earthquake-resistant designs. These activities also stimulate students’ creativity in seismic engineering.

“Experiential learning is an engaged learning process whereby students “learn by doing” and by reflecting on the experience.” Examples of ELE activities are hands-on laboratory experiments, internships, practicums, field exercises, study abroad and undergraduate research. Through ELE activities, the teacher aims to apply Kolb's theory on ELE which consists of a spiral of learning involving four phases (https://www.bu.edu/ctl/guides/experiential-learning/):

1. Concrete Experience – Engaging directly in authentic or real-world situation
2. Reflective Observation – Relating observations to past experience and knowledge
3. Abstract Conceptualization – Generating ideas and distilling perceptions
4. Active Experimentation – Testing new ideas and designs, honing new skills

To maximize and test the capability and performance of the shake table, a hands-on group exercise, “Shake the Tower Challenge” is introduced as a fourth hour activity in the undergraduate course on earthquake engineering with course code, STERQUA. A fourth hour activity is a student-centered learning activity which is accomplished outside of the regular class meetings at their own time and place. The main objective of the exercise is for the students to develop an understanding and an intuition regarding the dynamic nature of structures when subjected to ground shaking. The “Shake the Tower Challenge” is a group exercise where the students construct a 24-inch tall tower made of sticks glued together by glue stick. The shake table exercise as an experiential learning strategy is described as follows: 

Watch the Video of a Group Shake Table Construction and Testing

Through this exercise the students observed the swaying of the tower at different frequencies and the change of the swaying with respect to frequency and amplitude as the tower is damaged. The student feedback on the exercise is positive, to quote one student: “The Shake the Tower Challenge was a very interesting activity because I was able to view various towers and how they performed under various shake table settings. It helped me understand and appreciate the concepts related to structure stiffness, period, frequency, and displacement. It was fun building towers and experimenting with the shake table to create the competition parameters because I was able to apply the lessons learned (in structural dynamics). I noticed that the best towers were the ones that had designs that minimized the number of joints while still being able to provide bracings. This helped reinforce my understanding of building retrofitting and the design of earthquake resistant structures. I would definitely recommend this type of activity for future reference.” 

Related link: https://animociv.blogspot.com/2023/11/dce-faculty-presents-papers-at-icee.html

Reference: "Experiential Learning about Seismic Performance of Buildings through Shake Table Competitions" by Jade Vanessa Ching,  Aldrei Ong, Vicente Raphael Chan, Rei Kevin Tungcab, Rodolfo Mendoza Jr., and Andres Winston Oreta. Presented at the 9^th International Conference on Engineering Education Philippines (ICEE-PHIL) 2023, UPLB on Nov 10-11, 2023, Hosted by the Phil Association of Engg Schools (PAES). 

HERITAGE CONSERVATION ASSET VALUE RATING OF BUILDINGS IN A SCHOOL CAMPUS FOR DISASTER RISK ASSESSMENT - 8ACEE KEYNOTE LECTURE

Prof. Andres W.C. Oreta presented a keynote lecture on HERITAGE CONSERVATION ASSET VALUE RATING OF BUILDINGS IN A SCHOOL CAMPUS FOR DISASTER RISK ASSESSMENT co-authored with Corinne Wesnee D. Yu,  Carlyse Nicole L. Kah, Aldrei Charles C. Navera, Charles Janzen C. Sy and Rodolfo P. Mendoza, Jr. at the 8th ASIA Conference on Earthquake Engineering (8ACEE) held at Taipei, Taiwan on Nov. 9-11, 2022. 

ABSTRACT. A campus is an area occupied by the buildings of an educational facility, usually a university or college. A school campus, especially those located in hazard-prone regions, must be safe and resilient to various disasters like earthquake, wind or flood to protect the community of learners and teachers and to assure the continuous operation of the school. Hence, the existing buildings in a campus must be assessed to determine if immediate repair or retrofitting is necessary. Structural assessment and retrofitting is costly and time consuming, though, especially if there is a large population of school buildings in a campus. Hence, a rapid assessment that is not expensive and easy to implement must be conducted first before any detailed inspection and retrofitting be implemented. To prioritize which buildings need immediate detailed inspection, risk assessment using a disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) framework may be used. The disaster risk assessment framework involves the interaction of hazard, vulnerability, and asset. At the center of disaster risk assessment is the “Asset” which has an associated value that depends on the importance and function of the building. In this study, the value of a school building is viewed with a heritage conservation perspective. A simple and qualitative asset value rating of existing buildings in a campus considering educational function and the building’s architecture and  history is presented. The asset value rating can then be integrated to the DRRM framework for the overall risk assessment of existing buildings in a campus. A case study of the qualitative asset value rating and seismic risk assessment of De La Salle University campus in Manila, Philippines is presented. In the case study, two important buildings with significant heritage value to the university were identified.

Nagoya Adventures (Mad in Japan): Memories with Pinoy Students and Friends (1988 - 1994)

Living in a foreign country where you do not speak fluently the language like Japan makes one lonely and homesick. In my five and six months stay at Nagoya, Japan from 1988 to 1994 as a graduate student (M. Eng and D. Eng), keeping myself connected with my family in the Philippines kept me going and surviving. But in time, you will develop friendship with fellow scholars from other countries. But bonding with fellow Pinoys is really different and the experience is that "you may be faraway but feels like close to home." Presented in this blog are compilation of photos with my fellow Filipinos  (students, OFWs and friends).  Enjoy our Nagoya Adventures!

Nagoya Adventures #1 - Highlights: Our first bike tour around Nagoya - our team - Mel, Jerry, William, Joe, Cynthia and myself travelled by bicyle around Nagoya visiting the Nagoya Expo 89 passing through Tsurumai park. Other highlights are our Sunday sports activity at the Nagoya University Gymnasium, Bowling, Midnight Gomi Bazaar, Get-together at my apartment at Misato-en and Obon-o-dori with foreign students.

Nagoya Adventures #2 - A trip to Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Our outing at Toyohashi and Gifu with Pinoy students and friends, AFSA trip to Inuyama. 

Nagoya Adventures #3  - Highlights:My Kyoto Trip, Pinoy students participating in the AFSA Foreign Students' Night and Pinoy Get-Together at Sakurayama Foreign Students House. 

CE4L Webtalks - Civil Engineering for Good Governance and Sustainable Infrastructure

CE4L Lugaw ng Kaalaman Logo designed by Joenel Galupino.

The Civil Engineers for Leni (CE4L) hosted the "Lugaw ng Kaalaman (LK)" CE Webtalks as their contribution to the campaign for VP Leni Robredo as president and Sen. Kiko Pangilinan for vice president in the Philippine national election in May 2022. The LK project actually targetted  civil engineering students and young civil engineers to influence them to become responsible civil engineers and lead them to understand that "politics" and "engineering" are dependent; that is, good governance and leaders with integrity and qualification are key components towards achieving a sustainable infrastructure and built environment where civil engineers are the main actors. There were some negative reactions from some people and trolls that "we should not use our profession in politics." Really? When in fact the major agency where you can find the biggest corruption are agencies engaged in infrastructures. And politics is the major reason why corruption in infrastructure projects is rampant both in local and national levels. 

The LK webtalks project is addressed to all civil engineers in government, private practice and academe - whether you support pink, blue, red, green, yellow or any color. Only the corrupt and the  irresponsible will not support our efforts to educate our students and young civil engineers to be responsible and ethical professionals. 

The CE4L Lugaw ng Kaalaman Webtalks consist of ten topics plus one web Talk Show on OFW engineers. The topics are varied - safe design of houses, buildings and bridges, sustainable design vs wind, flood, earthquake and geotehcnical hazards, environmental protection and waste maanagement, sustainable transportation and responsible engineers in government.  Visit the FB Page or YouTube Channel to view the complete Lugaw ng Kaalaman CE webtalks.

> FB  - https://www.facebook.com/LugawngkaalamanCEWebTalks 
> YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBXa_nRLIek7QWvNXFKyeUg

Here is the the menu of the CE Webtalks. 

Here are the YT links to the LK CE Web Talks:

• #01 Safe na Bahay, Ligtas na Buhay! - Rannie Ison
• #02 Konkreto: Bakit ang Tibay Mo? - Rodolfo Mendoza, Jr.
• #03 Matibay na Tulay, Matuwid na Buhay! - Adam Abinales
• #04 Matatag na Bahay sa Malakas na Hangin! - Joshua Agar and Timothy Acosta
• #05 Puso man ay Masaktan, Huwag lang ang Kalikasan! - Tonette Tanchuling & Jeffereson Vallente, Jr.
• #06 Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka! - Marla Redillas & Gil Cruz, Jr.
• #07 Matibay na Pundasyon, Gusaling pang Habang Panahon - Jonathan Dungca
• #08 Ramdam ko ang Pulso at Kalusugan Mo, Building! - Fer Germar & Jaime Hernandez, Jr.
• #09 Inhiyero sa Mahusay na Gobyerno - Federico Alconcel & Rogelio Singson
• #10 Trapik at Tranportasyon: May Patutunguhan ka pa! - Dayo Montalbo & Alexis Fillone
• #11 Kwentong Inhenyero't Kabayang Overseas  - Jason Quizon, Analene Montesines &Mike Gotera

CE4L deeply appreciates the time, expertise and support shared by the resource speakers, moderators, donors and technical team members. We hope that our students and young civil engineers were enriched with new and useful knowledge and ideas that may guide in their professional practice as responsible and ethical civil engineers.

Lecture on Infrastructure Resilience and Making Cities Resilience for the MCDRM Scholars

 The Philippine Public Safety College offers a Master in Crisis and Disaster Risk Management (MCDRM) to scholars from government (DILG, AFP, DepEd, PSG, DOT, etc). It was an honor to be invited as a lecturer in one of the virtual sessions. My topic was "Building Infrastructure Resilience and Making Cities Resilient to Disasters: Assessment and Challenges to LGUs." Presented in my lecture are the 4R's of Infrastructure Resilience and the Ten Essentials for Making Cities Resilient (MCR) of the UNDRR. There was wa workshop held wherein the participants assessed a city using the preliminary score card for the MCR. The lecture was held for two batches: 14 Sept 2021 for the Public Safety Advance Course-MCDRM where most of the participants come from PNP, AFP and 29 Oct 2021 for the PPSC-MCDRM Batch 4. 

14 Sept 2021 

29 Oct 2021

The Making Cities Resilient has undergone two phases - the Hyogo Framework and the Sendai Framework. UNDRR is now calling for LGU participants to its third phase MCR2030. "MCR2030 aims to ensure cities become inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable by 2030, contributing directly to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG11) - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, and other global frameworks including the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Paris Agreement and the New Urban Agenda."

MEMORIES OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES AT NAGOYA UNIVERSITY, JAPAN

From 1988 - 1994, I pursued post-graduate studies in civil engineering: (a) Six-months intensive Japanese language course from Oct 1988 to Mar 1989, (b) Master of Engineering from April 1989 to Mar 1991 and (c) Doctor of Engineering from April 1991 to Mar 1994. 

Reviewing the photos with my Filipino, foreign and Japanese students and friends brings back good memories and relieves one of the stress of the present times. How I wish we can go back in time to enjoy the fun and good times. Thank you friends for the memories. You have been part of my life and shaped me to what I am today.

MADE IN JAPAN - 1: My first days at Nagoya with my Pinoy batchmates - Daisy Montesa and Dr. Mel Chan. Our sempai was Joe Pardales (+). Also shown here are photos of the Japanese Language class. 

MADE IN JAPAN - 2: The highlight of this video is our Golden Week trip outside Nagoya with Filipino student friends and one German friend, Alex who served as our tourist guide and driver. Places visited include Fukui, Kanazawa, Toyama and Tateyama. 

MADE IN JAPAN - 3: This video presents our experience with the seasons of Japan, in particular spring, summer and autumn. 

A BRIEF CODE-BASED SEISMIC DIAGNOSTIC TOOL FOR EXISTING RC BUILDINGS - Philippines

 A brief seismic diagnostic tool (BSDT) that is localized and based on the National Structural Code of the Philippines (NSCP) is developed as a tool for rapid visual screening of existing reinforced concrete buildings in the Philippines. A BSDT that uses seismic code parameters from the NSCP would be easier to use for local evaluators since local civil engineers are familiar with the NSCP parameters.  Vertical irregularities are also known to contribute to the vulnerability of buildings when subjected to ground motion. This study will also present push-over analysis simulations of buildings with vertical irregularities specifically (1) Vertical Geometric Irregularity, (2) Soft Story, and (3) Mass Irregularity. Vertical irregularity parameters are introduced in the simulations and these parameters are introduced to determine score modifiers for the assessment of vulnerability of buildings with vertical irregularities. The result of the study is a more refined qualitative/semi-quantitative brief seismic diagnosis tool for existing reinforced concrete buildings for the Philippines.

For more details: Oreta, A. and Dy, Adrian. "Development of a Brief Code-Based Seismic Diagnostic Tool for Existing RC Buildings Considering Vertical Irregularities,” International Conference in Commemoration of 20th Anniversary of the 1999 Chi-Chi Earthquake at Taipei, Taiwan held on September 15-19, 2019.

Read the paper at SCRIBD. 

Brief Code-Based Seismic Di... by Andy Oreta

My T-SHIRT Memories -Part 7 (Visiting University Moments)

 Part of my task as a professor is to visit universities abroad as a visiting researcher or professor or to promote networking and collaborative activities between my university and other universities. Buying souvernir shirts from the university cooperative store is one of my "things to do" whenever I visit a university. 

Nagoya University. I consider Japan as my second home. For five and a half years (1988-1994), I stayed at Nagoya, Japan to pursue my graduate studies (M.Eng. and D.Eng) in civil engineering at Nagoya University, Concrete Engineering Laboratory under the mentorship of Prof. Tada-aki Tanabe. Japan is my first trip abroad and living in Japan is my first experience to live alone outside of the comfort of home. Living in Japan then is very different now. Memories of Nagoya includes doing research with Japanese Lab members (Now Prof. Hikaru Nakamura, Dr. Denzil, Dr. Farahat, Dr. Wu, Dr, Yu and more), studying with foreign students (Dr. Suparat, Dr. Jerry Velasquez, Dr. Ge Hanbin) and surviving and enjoying life with Pinoy students and friends - Daisy, Mel, Cynthia, Pilo, Bong, Gilbert, Lani, Tess, Noemi, Nonoy, Edu, Prime, William, Glen, Sally, Jummy, Biboy, Arnel, Erwin, Indette, Ruth, Renan, Gerry, Roger, Ichie, Joe (+) and more. Whenever I visit Nagoya, memories of good times always come to me: hearing mass at Nanzan University Chapel and Mikokoro Church, volleyball games at Meidai Gym, Pinoy food get-togethers at Kaikan and our apartments, biking around Nagoya (Sakae, Osu, Fujigaoka), Midnight shopping for used goods, overnight outing at Gifu and Toyohashi, the Golden Week adventure trip at Fukui, Kanazawa and Nagano, the midnight mahjong games, AFSA trips and more. My family visited Nagoya in 2013 & 2014. Thank you friends for the memories!

Nagoya University

Tokyo Institute of Technology. I was a visiting scientist at Tokyo Institute ofTechnology through the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Core University Program on Environmental Engineering for the following programs:

• “Research Topic::  Public Awareness Initiatives on Natural Disasters and the Environment”), April 30 – May 13, 2008,  Host: Prof. Hideki Ohta
• “Research Topic:: Photo Archives on the Impact of Natural Disasters on Infrastructures and the Environment”, March 2006 (30 days),  Host: Prof. Hideki Ohta
• “Research Topic: Application of ANNs on Confined Circular RC Columns”,  Jan – April, 2001,  Host: Prof. Kazuhiko Kawashima 

It was at Tokyo Institute of Technology that  I met Professors - Kawashima, Ohta, Hirose, Miki, Otsuki and more. Through the JSPS program, DLSU CE Department  was able to sustain collaborative and cooperative activities like the students exchange visits, co-sponsoring conferences like WOW and TIT and DLSU professors serving as resource speakers in conferences and workshops. Through these visits I was able to discover interesting places at Tokyo City. 

Tokyo Institute of Technology

Kyushu University. I was a visiting professor through the AUN/SEED-Net Short Term Research in Japan (SRJP) with my host: Prof. Hemanta Hazarika at Kyushu University, Japan  on June 26-July 10, 2017 with my research topic: “Making Cities Resilient to Disasters: Learning and Adapting Best Practices from Japan." Fukuoaka was my entry city to Kysuhu. My 14-day stay including with my family who followed me in the last five days was both fun and challenging. Fun, because I was able to visit Fukuoaka landmarks, eat the famous Kyushu ramen and meet my co-student and now host, Prof. Hazarika. It was challenging because during my last days there when my family was arriving, there was astrong typhoon that affected the trains; hence cancelling our plan to visit sites outside of Fukuoka. Still the Kyushu trip was enjoyable for it gave us an opportunity visit the less busy places of Japan (very different with Tokyo and Osaka).

Nagasaki University. My visit at Nagasaki University was short but productive. I accompanied Apple in her trip on August 2019 to Nagasaki and I grab the opportunity to contact a professor at Nagasaki University for networking purposes. I was introduced to Prof. Horiyuki Nakahara (Human and Engineered Environmental Science, Division of Decision Science, Nagasaki University). I made the visit in August 10, 2019. The university was in vacation then. So it was a one-on-one meeting with Prof. Nakahara. We shared our research interests during the meeting. One of the outcome of this meeting was Prof. Nakahara accepted my invitation for him to be a keynote speaker in the ASEP SHAKE Conference in November 2019. I love Nagasaki. Life is slow and simple. Apple and I were able to visit the WWII Nagasaki Bombing museum and park and the museum for the Christian missionaries killed in Nagasaki. 

University College London. Through the PRISMH Project (System Resilience of School Infrastructure in the Philippines Exposed to Natural Hazards) funded by the Newton-Agham Institutional Links Grant Agreement 2016, I was able to visit the University College London (UCL) at London, UK in many occasions for meetings and workshops. With my DLSU colleagues, Dr. Lessandro Garciano and Engr. Ricahrd De Jesus and XU collaborator and advisee, Engr. Dexter Lo we visit UCL to meet our partners led by Prof. Dina D'Ayala, Dr. Carmine Galasso and more. In one visit in 2019, Apple was able to join me. London is a different city compared to Tokyo, Nagoya or Osaka which I have frequently visited. Going around is also very convenient through the Double Decker buses and the Tube (Underground Train). London is a place for meeting experts and shopping of fashion goods at discount prices at outlet malls. Food is relatively expensive and grocery is usually via TESCO. Of course, London is the place to visit museums and parks and landmarks like the Big Ben which we often see in movies.  Visiting London becomes convenient and fun because I meet my friends Art and Gina Fabia, London residents who always drive us around London and nearby cities like Portmouth and Coventry during our visits. This shirt is a souvenir given by our UCL colleagues. Thanks!

My T-Shirt Memories - Part 6 (DLSU CE Shirts)

It has become a tradition at the DLSU CE Department during  the College of Engineering Christmas Party to wear a CE Department shirt for the department presentation. Joenel Galupino and Daniel Valerio are usually assigned to design the shirts. Maybe the shirts are the lucky charm that inspires the CE Faculty members to perform well usually in dance number during the college X'mas presentations. Ever since, the CE Department has always been judged as the winner in the inter-departmental X'mas presentations. 

CE-Star.  Tala, tala, tala. Ang ningning ng mga tala'y nakikita ko sa 'yong mga mata. Tala, tala, tala. Ang ningning ng 'yong mga mata'y nahanap ko sa mga tala. These were part of the lyrics of the song when the CE  Faculty performed the dance rendition. I believe the expert dance and instructur of the dance number was Paolo Lucero, a former Animo Squad Cheer Leader. 

CE Zorro.  The theme of the CE Dance number was Zorro. I can't remember now the background music played but the CE faculty members were all in black with masks doing their thing in front of the captured audience. Of course, the dance number was led by the junior faculty members like Pao, Joe, Danny, Cheryl, Maricel. et al. And the senior faculty - the young once - do a little jiggle for audience impact and to get the judges' nod! As always, the winner is ..... CE Department!

There are more CE Department shirts in my collection as shown below. I think some of them were used for the Department Team Building Workshops.

 

My T-SHIRT Memories - Part 5 (ASEP Engagements)

This series of My T-Shirt Memories is related to ASEP or the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines.  Read more on My T-Shirt Memories Part 1 & Part 2. 

Struct-Whiz Challenge.  Quiz contests are popular activities for students. The Struct-Whiz Challenge is ASEP's quiz contest to promote interest on structural engineering to the students. The team of ASEP members composed of Rannie Ison. Ariel Santos, Joseph Manalo and I conceptualized the quiz which we termed, "Struct-Whiz Challenge." The quiz is supposed to select a Structural Engineering Wizard among the contestants who will first take a written qualifying exam in the morning (to qualify, a cut-off score is specified) and then if selected, has to sit in an oral competition. The top 3 contestants are awarded. But to be a Struct-Wizard, the contestant are challenged to score at least 75% or more.  In the seven editions of the quiz, no contestant has met the required minimum score to be a wizard. This shirt designed by Ariel Santos (Compliments of RI) is a souvenir of the last edition of the quiz. The lightning symbol is my idea; an inspiration from Harry Potter. When will the next "Struct-Whiz Challenge" be? Is there a wizard among the civil engineering students waiting to be judged as the 1st wizard of ASEP's Struct-Whiz Challenge?

Strict-Whiz Challenge

Creating your own T-Shirt Design is challenging. Some people like my son, Geof,  have the talent to draw their own images. In my case, my skills and talent in creating original drawings is very limited. So I just capture existing images and combine them with texts to come up with an "original design." 

Geof's City Design. The design shown was created by my son, Geoffrey when he was only six years old at Grade 1. He did a manual sketch of his idea of a city. I simply converted the sketch in digital form and added colors. Whoola! The design was used as the cover page of Proceedings of the 12th ASEP International Convention in 2007. ASEP T-shirts were also produced using Geof's design. Geof is now a college student taking Visual Communication at Ateneo de Manila University School of Fine Arts. 

Cover Design of 12AIC Proceedings with Geof''s Design

Geof's City Design in an ASEP Shirt

ACEE2004 Earthquake Designs. I gave an idea to  ASEP in 2004 (Engr. Rannie Ison was the president then) to organize an international conference where the advisory committee is composed of international experts and professors. The cocnept was accepted and the  Asia Conference on Earthquake Engineering or ACEE in 2004 was born. The founding advisers included Dr. Naveed Anwar and Prof. Pennung of AIT, Prof. Yamasaki of U. Tokyo, Prof. Kawashima of TIT, Dr. Solidum of PHIVOLCS and more. The ACEE has been continued by ASEP with cooperating institutions serving as hosts like AIT, TIT and NCREE. The latest or  7th ACEE was hosted by AIT on November 2018.  The 9th ACEE will be hosted by NCREE at Taipei, Taiwan probably in 2022. I created the ACEE2004 designs below by simply capturing existing images and added my own text. The first design shows different translation of "Earthquake" in Japanese, Filipino, Spanish and French. The second design has the message,"Earthquakes don't kill, Faulty design buildings do!" The message emphasized the need to practice seismic design of structures in earthquake countries like the Philippines.

ACEE2004 - Earthquake in various languages

  

ACEE2004. Earthquakes dont' kill ...!

SHAKE T-Shirt.  The final T-shirt is my own design for the ASEP SHAKE Conference held on November 2019.  SHAKE means Smart TecHnologies and Advanced Knowledge in Earthquake Engineering. I remember holding a brain storming at Century Plaza Hotel on the next ASEP conference with a committee led by Engr. Rannie Ison and some ASEP members, Mac Mendoza, Ariel Santos, GG Garciano and more. And in that brainstorming session, "SHAKE" was born. All  speakers to the conference were invited including colleagues and friends from Japan and NZ like Dr. Hazarika, Dr. Anil, Dr. Watanabe and Dr. Orense. To commemorate this 1st SHAKE Conference, I created my own design. I hope ASEP will continue to SHAKE the professional community with ground shaking and excellent conferences just like the ACEE. 

My SHAKE Shirt

Photos during the SHAKE Conference

My T-SHIRT Memories - Part 4 (CES Shirts)

My T-Shirt Memories - Part 4 like Part 3 will be posted in this blog. For Part 4, I will feature the T-Shirts I received from the Civil Engineering Society (CES), the CE student organization at De La Salle University Manila. CES started in 1987 and has evolved to be a very active student organization at DLSU. 

CES-01 Shirt.  I think this is the first T-Shirt I received from CES in 2008. If remember correctly, the design was done by Joenel Galupino, now faculty at the CE Dept. And the CES president then was Dan Aquino. I remember advising CES in their Popsicle Bridge Building Contest for several years. Read more about CES Bridge Building.  The Bridge Building Contest where bridges were constructed using popsicle sticks and glue was one of the traditional activities of CES that I supported. It is a contest of creativity and analytical thinking.

CES-01

CES-02 Shirt. This is one of my favorite CES shirts. The designer created caricatures of the CE Department faculty members - Dr. Adajar,  Doc Nenad, Drs. Dungca, Tanhueco, Fillone, Lejano, Doc E, Dr. Terante and more.  Can you identify the faculty in the T-Shirt design?

CES-02. CE Faculty Featured

CES-03

CES-04

CES-03/04.  Two more shirts I received from CES. Thank you CES. Hope to receive more souvenir shirts before I retire from DLSU. 😃👍

My T-SHIRT Memories - Part 3 (Civil Engineering Shirts)

I am posting My T-Shirt Memories - Part 3 in this blog since it is about civil engineering. Read Part 1 (UP Shirts) and Part 2 (Apple Moments) at http://goodlife4less.blogspot.com. 

November is "Civil Engineering Month" and it is timely to post my CE related shirts.

PICE III Technical Conference T-Shirt.  Let me start with my PICE shirt. This shirt is one of the token given during the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers Region III Technical Conference held on April 13-14, 2018 at Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel, Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Zambales. I remember giving two lectures then; one on "Seismic Assessment & Retrofitting Lessons from Japan" and "Making Cities Resilient." My lectures are very relevant to the T-shirt message of "Building Tomorrow, Today." Joining me as resource speakers were DLSU Faculty, Dr, Lessandro Garciano, Dr. Alexis Fillone and Dr. Marla Redillas. Dr. Romy Estanero, retired DLSU professor and now CE PRB member was also a resource speaker. Michael David, a DLSU BSCE alumnus was the organizer of the event.

PICE III Technical Conference Shirt

CE Changing the World.  I was a resource speaker at the Academe Session of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE) National Convention on October 29, 2019 at the SMX Convention Center. I presented a paper on "Implementing the CE Orientation Course in the Revised BSCE Curriculum" with co-authors L. Garciano, R. Mendoza, Jr. and K. Roquel.

During the break, I visited the exhibit area where various PICE shirts were sold. Most of the civil engineers were excited buying shirts with a PICE logo. In my case, I was looking for a unique design and this design caught my eye  - "CE: Changing the World: One Blueprint at a Time." Indeed, civil engineers are changing the world and contribute to building the quality of life. And that was the message on our Civil Engineering Orientation Course for Freshmen at De La Salle University.

CE Changing The World Shirt