N E W S - I N D U S T R Y M A T T E R S
Virtual reality an
educaction reality
in construction
Virtual reality technology is
being used to boost training and
employment opportunities in New
Zealand within the construction
sector.
The Ministry of Social
Development has partnered
with Joy Business Academy
(JBA) to develop the Skills for
Industry Virtual Reality Training
and Employment Tool to improve
opportunities for jobseekers and
employers in the construction
sector, upskilling people any time
and anywhere.
The project is an example of
how the Ministry of Social
Development partners with
organisations and sectors to
foster training and employment
opportunities for jobseekers and
employers.
Minister for Social Development
Hon Carmel Sepuloni says the
government is committed to
upskilling and training people on
benefit and this virtual reality tool
makes training more accessible
and saves time and money.
“Jobseekers can try out tasks like
driving a dump truck by using
the virtual headset. They can
make an informed decision about
whether it’s a job they’ll like to
pursue before going on expensive
training courses. These tools also
continued page 15
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14 September 2019
What a difference a decade makes in
earthquake engineering
It’s a brutal way to learn but if there
is any good to come out of the
earthquakes that devastated parts of
New Zealand over the last decade, a lot
more is now known about the ground
beneath our feet.
A lot more is also known about the
impact on our buildings and other
infrastructure when our ground shakes,
and how to build better for these shaky
isles.
Dr Liam Wotherspoon, associate
professor in civil and environmental
engineering will talk about what the last
decade has revealed at Raising the Bar
this month, an event at which 20 top
academics from across the University
will describe their research at 10 inner
city bars on one night.
He and fellow researchers at
QuakeCoRE, a national multiinstitutional
research centre, have
learned a lot since the Canterbury
earthquake sequence during 2010 and
2011, and the magnitude 7.8 Kaikōura
earthquake in 2016.
They have a better understanding of
the different soil types in different parts
of the country, for instance, and how
that affects the intensity of earthquake
shaking.
“A lot of areas around New Zealand
are big sedimentary basins filled with
layers of soil,” says Dr Wotherspoon.
“Ten years ago, we didn’t have a clear
understanding of how those basins and
soils respond in seismic events, but
observations from earthquakes and
extensive investigations have allowed
us to build that knowledge.”
They have a better understanding of
how the stiffness and thickness of soil
layers affects the characteristics and
intensity of the shaking at the ground
surface.
“So we now know more about how the
layers of soil can amplify the intensity
of an earthquake and how that could
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REN368
affect the seismic performance of
buildings,” he says. “A building on rock
is going to experience ground shaking
in a way that is quite different from a
building built on deep soil.”
Dr Wotherspoon will also talk about
what the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake
revealed about the capital over 60km
away, how the characteristics of the
soils of Wellington amplify the intensity
of earthquake shaking and how this
was able to damage relatively modern
buildings.
Earthquake engineering is an evolving
field, he says, but the more earthquake
engineers learn, the better equipped
we are to build more resilient cities.
All around the world, seismic design has
been shaped by New Zealand research
and as a result of research done in the
late 1970s and 1980s the focus has
been on ensuring buildings are able to
dissipate energy to keep people inside
the building safe.
There is now growing consensus that
designing for earthquakes needs to be
adjusted not only to ensure our safety
in an earthquake, but to ensure our
homes are livable and that businesses
can continue to function should one
occur.
The research is part of a growing
international understanding, he
says. “There has been investment in
significant amounts of research off the
back of those earthquakes, and much of
that data has been made internationally
available. That has driven world-wide
advances in research, with New Zealand
is leading the way. But there is still years
of research that needs to be done.”
Register for Dr Wotherspoon’s talk,
“Ten Years of Battling Earthquakes”, at
Raising the Bar, Tuesday 27 August.
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