ATC Announces Free Webinar: Building Codes

Webinar on Building Codes – Why They Matter

Wednesday, October 5, 2016
12:00 – 1:30 pm Pacific
Registration Cost: Free
2,000 registrations (sites) maximum

To register, click here.

Purpose. Building codes are regulations governing design, construction, alteration, and maintenance of structures, and are the foundation for community resilience. This webinar will provide an overview of the building code pertaining to earthquake effects on buildings and underline the importance of code adoption and enforcement.

Intended Audience. This webinar is intended for a non-technical audience, and in particular, decision makers, such as city officials. Engineers and building professionals who are interested in communicating the importance of building codes to decision-makers may also find this webinar useful.

Webinar Presenter: Michael J. Griffin, P.E. is a Principal and Partner at CCS Group, Inc. in Chesterfield, Missouri. Griffin has over thirty years of extensive experience in the assessment of natural hazards—earthquake and high wind, for structures and nonstructural components, equipment, and systems. Griffin routinely provides training and education sessions to engineers, management personnel, and students in natural hazards and risk assessments. He holds both a Master and Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Irvine and is registered as a licensed Professional Engineer in seven states.

Professional Development Hours (PDHs). Each participant of this webinar will receive a certificate in PDF format documenting 1.5 PDHs. Each additional participant sharing the registrant’s computer may request PDH documentation following the webinar.

Registration Information. The webinar is funded by the National Earthquake Technical Assistance Program (NETAP*) and is limited to 2,000 registrations. To register, click here.

About *NETAP. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) developed NETAP as a mechanism for delivering direct assistance to the public through State, local, or tribal government entities, to increase their knowledge and ability to analyze their risk, make a plan, and take actions aimed at reducing their earthquake risk and supporting overall community resilience.

Webinar Handout. The following webinar handout is available for immediate download:

• Building Code Webinar PowerPoint Presentation

Technical Requirements. A computer with access to the internet, and speakers or a phone line are required.

Welcome to the ATC Team!

As a former Principal at Magnusson Klemencic Associates in Seattle, Mike 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.

Retired from federal service as a Senior Geophysicist with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Mike 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.