ABOUT EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING

Earthquake Engineering is a branch of engineering that studies how to prevent damage arising to various structures, buildings, monuments, natural formations in the event of earthquakes by reducing the risk to low levels. The aim of this course is thus to mitigate the damage that occurs from seismic events. This course helps in improving and creating structures that can withstand earthquakes. Subjects like Concrete Tech, Geology, Soil Mechanics etc., are taught in this course. During this course, the students are taught engineering plans, designing, construction, and managing these structures.

This course is a relatively new one to the market. However, it holds a tremendous value since almost 60% of the land is prone to earthquakes. The requirement for engineers who can reduce tremors is very high. Engineers are responsible for gathering information about their design and location and finding solutions to make these structures resistant to quakes. Aside from these, the engineers can also work on the field to collect information or under Research and development, which will mean private or public companies will scout for them.

WHAT IS EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING?

This course is about understanding the impact of earthquakes on buildings and other structures. Engineering graduates in this field are given insight into the design of these structures, analysing their characteristics and then making the right approach to ensure that the structures withstand these hazards. Graduates are also supposed to learn how prior earthquakes harmed these buildings and how those can be overcome in future disasters. Students also note reducing the cost, time used in construction and the causalities that may arrive with these hazards. Structural vibrations often can amplify the ground vibrations, so students are made aware of this. Graduates will also be collecting data from various sources and locations and then find solutions for these buildings.

The course will equip the students with boosts in their creativity, teamwork, communication, and analytical skills, which are necessary if engineers need to find creative ways to build structures that can withstand earthquakes. It will also be required of them to solve the problems of different subjects like buildings, bridges and railways.

The typical curriculum for this course includes the following: in semester 1, students will be taught the theory of vibrations, advanced structural analysis, fine element building, tall building design, and structural laboratory. Next semester, students will learn about optimisation techniques, fundamentals of earthquake analysis, and earthquake resistance designing. The next semester will deal with advanced RCC design, software laboratory and Structure Dynamics Lab. The final semester will focus on the dissertation of the previous semesters.

ELIGIBILITY AND CAREER IN EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING

This course is only available for Post Graduation. The candidate must have completed B. Tech with at least 60% aggregate obtained in the systems such as Electronics/Instrumentation/Biomedical/Electrical courses.

After graduation, these students can be hired as volcanists, petroleum geologists, earth science teachers, environmental geologists, structural geologists etc. Students can also be engaged in public or private organisations to construct space stations, bridges, ports, highways etc. The top recruiters of this field are GSI – Geological Survey of India, CGWB – Central Ground Water Board, ONGC – Oil and Natural Gas Commission, MMTC – Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation, Hindustan Zinc Ltd.