Two Inspiring Conferences: EMI 2025 at UC Irvine and ICOSSAR 2025 at USC

The past few weeks have been incredibly rewarding as I had the opportunity to attend and present at two major conferences: the ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI) 2025 Conference and the 13th International Conference on Structural Safety and Reliability (ICOSSAR 2025).

At the EMI 2025 Conference, held in late May in Anaheim, CA and hosted by the University of California, Irvine, I co-organized and chaired a technical session titled: "Innovative Response Modification Methods and Devices for Resilient Structures and Civil Infrastructures: Experimental, Mathematical, and Numerical Advances."

This session brought together researchers from around the world who are working on advancing the seismic performance and resilience of structures through innovative technologies and methods. I also presented my latest research on: "Retrofit of Existing Structures with Rocking Walls" — a study that integrates numerical modeling and experimental validation to investigate how rocking wall systems can significantly reduce residual drifts and enhance the post-earthquake functionality of buildings.

Shortly after EMI, I had the privilege of participating in ICOSSAR 2025, held in early June at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. ICOSSAR is a premier international forum focused on safety, reliability, and risk-informed decision-making in civil infrastructure systems. It was an honor to present my ongoing research in this global setting and to engage with leading scholars and engineers working at the forefront of uncertainty quantification, structural reliability, and resilient infrastructure systems.

Both conferences offered invaluable opportunities to share ideas, gain insights from leading experts, and build new collaborations.