Ronjie Aquino Civil Engineering ﾛﾝｼﾞ工学科

Another kind of extreme wind event

2011-12-10T12:31:00.000+08:00

Santa Ana winds image from NASA We all know how typhoons/hurricanes/cyclones create tons of damages and injuries over and over and over again. These usually affect cities and even large metropolitan areas just above the equatorial belt, and which are relatively near a large body of water to the east. The Pacific Ocean, for example, affects Japan, the Philippines (except its southernmost areas

10 FAQs on earthquake safety of buildings in the Philippines

2011-12-05T20:07:00.000+08:00

Pinoy-OFW.com This is a must-read-for-all article in the Inquirer by Dr. Benito Pacheco answering "10 Frequently Asked Questions" related to the earthquake safety of buildings in the Philippines.

You know those huge electrical transmission towers?

2011-10-21T12:08:00.000+08:00

(c) Bidgee, Wikipedia I did a study about their structural design for my master's thesis. Anyways, there was this contest in the UK for the best modern replacement shape for the almost-one-century-old tapered steel lattice/truss form. There were plenty of submissions, most of them very interesting. The first concern I had in mind, having my structural engineer's goggles on, is that it has to

Remembering 9-11, 10 years later

2011-09-12T21:59:00.000+08:00

(c) KimCarpenter NJ, Wikipedia In this case, from a civil engineering perspective. Go to the American Society of Civil Engineers' tribute website at http://www.asce.org/ASCE-Remembers-9-11/. Listen to "podcasts" showcasing interviews with engineers involved in the investigation of the World Trade Center towers' collapse and reconstruction of the memorial, as well as get handy access to links

Malaya: Interview of RWDI HK Rep on Wind Engineering

2011-09-08T14:47:00.002+08:00

Yes. Wind engineering is still mostly unknown in the Philippines. There is practically no one Filipino in the Philippines who is actually into wind engineering. Consider this one thing that wind engineering is for: to minimize and possibly prevent typhoon-induced damages. Very relevant to us in the Philippines, right? What with an average of 9 landfalling tropical cyclones per year, 5 being at

Engadget: Detroit DIYer cooks up stronger, lighter steel, shames scientists

2011-09-03T08:10:00.001+08:00

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Ars Technica: Irene's path illustrates the challenges of hurricane forecasting

2011-09-03T07:42:00.000+08:00

Read this article on Ars Technica. It's yet another piece on why I think we Filipinos are expecting too much from PAGASA. Here, the troubles of the US equivalent are illustrated vis-a-vis the most recent hurricane to threaten highly populated New York and other east coast cities. The key point is that there are things we can predict about typhoons and there are things we can't. I think what's

"Pedestrian Level Wind Environment Studies"

2011-08-25T14:06:00.001+08:00

Imagine yourself - you are around 50 to 100 kg in weight - in this 500-km-diameter typhoon with winds up to 200 kph sweeping through your city, funneling through the tall buildings along the street you are walking on. What are the things that could happen? While the subject matter of "pedestrian level wind environments" is a very serious one - it is a a key topic of wind engineering - this blog

Yet Another Wind Disaster

2011-08-14T14:10:00.000+08:00

First, take a look at this video: Indiana Stage Collapse: Why Was Warning So Late? The story is the same. Structures collapsing and killing people under relatively low winds - around 60 mph (~95 kph, or ~27 m/s) only. There were questions raised about the warning system. Maybe so. But in this author's opinion there definitely was no issue on the weather bureau's part. Except maybe that they

ICWE13 Presentation

2011-07-16T02:38:00.000+08:00

I had the privilege to attend and present a paper at the 13th International Conference on Wind Engineering, held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from the 10th to 15th of July, 2011. It was a successful conference with over 600 papers, and more than 500 participants from all over the world, including a large majority from Asia. In 5 days of the conference proper, there were 6 plenary sessions,

A curious application for wind engineering

2011-06-06T12:01:00.003+08:00

Wind engineering deals with the interaction of wind and the built environment. So usually, wind engineers would determine wind loads and appropriately design houses, tall buildings, bridges, wind turbines, and so on. As you all might agree, those are important stuff that warrant careful design. But what about things like... scaffoldings? temporary staff housing? trees? temporary concert stage

Japan, tsunamis, Katrina, and other natural hazards

2011-04-29T15:22:00.001+08:00

I haven't blogged in a long time, and yes, although we were probably 300 km away from the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear triple disaster this past March, that event was one reason. But the truth is I mostly got really busy with my work. Now I just wanted to share second-hand information from a Japanese, about Japan and its battle against earthquakes and tsunamis, and to talk about the

Engineering Companies

2011-01-26T17:26:00.000+08:00

I've been with a few. And I've seen the two sides of the coin. I hope we won't be doing it wrong in the 21st century. After all, we are already past the industrial age. Something to remember for engineering consulting firms, old and new. Watch this talk by Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation, a video on TED.com: I heard about this video from this likewise very interesting

"A journey around the edge of wind engineering"

2011-01-25T11:28:00.005+08:00

This is a report on ‘A journey around the edge of wind engineering,’ an Intensive Course lecture by Prof. Chris Baker, that I submitted as part of the requirements in my PhD study. 1. OVERVIEW OF INTENSIVE COURSE The intensive course (IC) entitled “A journey around the edge of wind engineering” delivered by Prof. Chris Baker from the University of Birmingham aimed to show a range of research

Thermal Comfort

2010-09-02T19:16:00.001+08:00

One important important environmental criterion to be satisfied is thermal comfort. Often this would mean indoors, but it could also mean outdoors. After all, what happens outdoors sort of dictates what happens indoors. Let's say you own a business, like say Tiendesitas in the Philippines, where you have a big roof over everything (i.e. you provide protection from solar radiation) but you do

Reply to a reader question on engineering design practices in the Philippines

2010-08-09T13:22:00.001+08:00

The comment went as follows: Hi, I am a "young" engineer practicing structural engineering. I would like to ask why, As i have observed, engineers in our country use the AISC code to design LC members (cold formed light gage steel). Our NSCP code for steel is purely based on AISC but most structural engineers here use this to design Cold formed shapes (mostly LC for purlins or girt). design of

Reply to a reader question on IBC vs ACI minimum reinforcements + New URL / Web Address

2010-07-26T11:44:00.004+08:00

This Ronjie Aquino Civil Engineering website has a new URL (or web address): engg.ronjie.com. A reader read through my article about the UBC and IBC seismic provisions, and posted a question-comment not related to seismic provisions though, and this time talking about ACI and IBC minimum reinforcement provisions for concrete. My reply and the original comment is shown below. jojitsan said...

What is Engineering? + New Engg.RONJIE.COM Look

2010-07-20T23:16:00.004+08:00

If this isn't your first time here (http://ronjie-engg.blogspot.com/), you would have noticed the new look of this website that is all about engineering, from the RONJIE.COM perspective. What is Engineering? I like this definition by Eric H. Brown posted in this article called "Taking Lessons From What Went Wrong." According to the article, Brown is “a British engineer who developed aircraft

Change in Website

2010-06-28T20:35:00.000+08:00

With the creation of Wind.PH, there needed to be a dividing line between what is posted here (RONJIE.COM/engineering) and on Wind.PH. This website will soon host only my online essays and details of my publications, as well as non-wind-engineering-related events and other information, applicable to the Philippines and to other parts of the world. Wind.PH will document the existence of any

New website on wind engineering in the Philippines launched

2010-06-26T16:38:00.001+08:00

Wind.PH was created on 16 May 2010 and was spurred by the same idea behind the ASEANwind network. It is a site that is aimed at establishing a focal point for wind engineering related literature for Filipinos or by Filipinos, wind engineering networking in the Philippines and effectively establish an "engineering virtual organization," and encouraging research and education on wind engineering

Envi discussions

2010-05-12T13:00:00.002+08:00

This morning's class was just dedicated to discussion about 3 things: 1. "Energy saving for household appliance" 2. Emission trading 3. Environmental tax for fossil fuels Regarding #1, I think there are 3 ways to achieve this: a. improving the product designs (to be more energy efficient) - manufacturers, scientists, businesses, b. education campaign to encourage reduced GHG emissions -

Wind-Related Disaster Risk Reduction for Haiti

2010-05-10T01:01:00.001+08:00

We all know about the thousands of deaths and damages recently in Haiti due to a very strong earthquake. Efforts in rebuilding are now on-going, and of course, people are now trying to build homes that are more earthquake-resistant. But earthquakes are not all that Haiti needs to prepare for. Haiti is also in a hurricane-prone area, being just next to the Atlantic Ocean. Our graduate school’s

PhD in Wind Engineering

2010-05-09T18:31:00.000+08:00

Last April 16, 2010 I came back to Tokyo Polytechnic University in Atsugi, Japan, but this time as a PhD candidate particularly in the field of (structural) wind engineering. I hope to share with you all some of the things I learned and some of my work. Actually my post on May 3, 2010 is an example of school work (a class report specifically) that I prepared while here.

Maintaining GDP growth while reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Asia-Pacific region

2010-05-03T22:05:00.001+08:00

A report submitted to Prof. Masaaki Ohba on 12 May 2010 by Ronwaldo E. R. Aquino (PhD Student, Tokyo Polytechnic University, Atsugi, Kanagawa, Japan) Introduction It has been a recent global concern that excessive greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are causing the so-called Global Warming phenomenon, which means an increase in average global temperatures by 1.1 to 6.4 degrees Celsius in this

Code of Ethics for Civil Engineers

2010-04-21T12:07:00.000+08:00

Taken from the PICE website on 23 March 2010. Fundamental Principles Civil engineers uphold and advance the integrity, honor and dignity of the civil engineering profession by: 1. using their knowledge and skill for the enhancement of human welfare and the environment; 2. being honest and impartial and serving with fidelity the public, their employers/employees and clients; 3. striving to