N E W S Supercomputer simulates earthquake shaking “The other critical aspect is that these simulations are very intensive, they would take 100 days to run on a laptop computer. We make use of the University’s supercomputer to run the calculations in four hours. By having a semi-automated procedure for extracting earthquake information from GeoNet we are able to collect all the necessary data, run the calculation, and process the outputs within a day. This near real time information on ground shaking is extremely useful to understand the expect levels of damage in the region and inform decision making,” Dr Bradley says. UC’s supercomputing facility Bluefern was established by scientists and engineers to make it easier for researchers to use world-class supercomputers, and features the first IBM Blue Gene to be installed in the Southern Hemisphere. 9 – 10 November 2016 Claudelands Event Centre, Hamilton Lifting the Game of Maintenance Engineering www.engineeringnews.co.nz 11 Sponsor and Exhibitor Enquiries Welcome Expo Open Day 8 November More information: www.nmec.co.nz Christchurch 22-23 July EN008 Apprenticeships for a new generation New Zealand’s second annual Got a Trade Week will be held from 22-26 August. Got a Trade? Got it Made! is a national campaign to raise awareness of on-thejob training and careers in New Zealand’s trades and services. It also celebrates the talent and achievements of young people making headway in their chosen vocation. Launched in November 2014, the campaign is owned and managed by a consortium of seven forward-thinking Industry Training Organisations (ITOs), including BCITO, Competenz, Connexis, HITO, MITO, ServiceIQ and The Skills Organisation. Andrew Robertson, marketing and communications manager at BCITO, has been appointed chairman of the steering committee for 2016. A founding member of the consortium, he brings considerable experience in digital marketing strategy and content-based campaigns targeting Gen-Y. He has also successfully managed brands through recession, mergers and growth. “Apprenticeships fell off the radar 25 years ago. Now, we’re working to re-establish on-the-job training and careers in trades and services as aspirational opportunities for switched-on people. Little by little, we aim to reposition trades and services as ‘plan-A’ career paths in the minds of school leavers, teachers and parents.” www.gotatrade.co.nz Wondering what it looked like when the earth moved during the Valentine’s Day quake? University of Canterbury Professor in Earthquake Engineering Brendon Bradley has, using the University of Canterbury’s Blue Gene supercomputer, simulating the ground shaking from the 14 February earthquake. Professor Bradley uses a model that has been extensively validated in the previous Canterbury earthquakes to create the simulation. “We can use this model to predict the shaking in Christchurch depending on where the earthquake occurred. In the latter part of the simulation you can see that there’s different shaking depending on where you were. “Like dropping a stone in a pond, the ripples initially radiate outward in different directions. However, after a short while the complex geology of the region changes the way the waves propagate,” Dr Bradley says. From a physical perspective, the simulation shows shaking which is focused in the northwesterly direction towards Parklands, Kaiapoi and New Brighton with reduced levels of shaking in other directions, such as in the South and West towards Lyttelton and also towards Rolleston. Professor Bradley
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