Ronald O. Hamburger

Senior Principal, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc.

Performance-based Design: What, How, When, Why, and Why Not to Use It
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Friday, March 4, 2016– 4:30 pm

Location: Whitaker Lab 303, Lehigh University,5 E. Packer Avenue, Bethlehem, PA

Ronald O. Hamburger, Senior Principal, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc., San Francisco, CA: Ronald Hamburger has more than forty years of experience in design, construction, education, research, evaluation, investigation and repair of commercial, institutional, and industrial facilities.  He is an internationally recognized expert in performance-based structural, earthquake and blast engineering, and has played a lead role in the development of national structural engineering standards and building code provisions.  Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, Mr. Hamburger served as one of several investigators into the collapse of New York’s twin World Trade Center towers on behalf of the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  Mr. Hamburger has lectured at the University of California at Berkley, the University of California at Los Angeles, Stanford University, and numerous other academic institutions.  He is a past- Chair of the Structural Engineering Certification Board, a past President of the National Council of Structural Engineering Associations, a past President and Fellow of the Structural Engineers Association of California and the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California, and a past Director and Vice President of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.  His practice focuses on the design of major buildings and other structures for extreme loads.

Performance-based Design: What, How, When, Why, and Why Not Use It. Performance-based design is a powerful alternative approach to design in accordance with the building code.  It enables the use of structural materials and systems for which building code requirements do not presently exist; as well as the use of systems and materials beyond the limits prescribed by the building code.  It can also allow design of buildings capable of better or more reliable performance than would be obtained strictly by adherence to the code.  However, the use of performance-based design entails a number of risks that both the design professional and developer need to be aware of.  Mr. Hamburger will provide details of the basic process, its benefits and the associated risks.