Mosalam Receives Chancellor's Public Service Award

Featured Faculty: Khalid M. Mosalam
CEE Professor Khalid Mosalam, along with a team of 3 other Berkeley faculty, received a Chancellor's Award for Public Service.
 
Mosalam, along with Professors Mohamed Hamdouni Alami (Archaeology/Architecture), Mary Comario (Architecture), and Stefania Pandolofo (Anthropology) were members of a committee of academics, architects, engineers, governmental employees from Morocco, US, Peru, France, and more importantly local Moroccan contractors/workers, that developed design specification and regulations for seismic resistance of structures built from earthen material (mud).

 
Top row standing second from left is Mary Comario (Architecture), top row standing second from right is Mohamed Hamdouni Alami (Archaeology and team leader), top row standing fourth from left is Stefania Pandolfo (Anthropology), and bottom row squatting first from left, Khalid Mosalam.
 
"On a personal level, this was probably the most rewarding project I ever got engaged in," says Mosalam, "As well as learning a great deal from the rest of team and being happy with what I was able to contribute, it was inspiring to see this effort go all the way to adoption by the Moroccan government as a code to be followed in new construction."
 
The project was initiated by Alami, who assembled the international committee that included the Berkeley faculty, after a major earthquake in Morocco in 2004 killed more than 600 people living in earthen or mud housing.
 
In Morocco and in many parts of the world, earthen architecture and its associated construction technique is used for traditional and economical reasons. Both major structures of historical and public importance, as well as some very low cost housing, are made of earthen material.
 
  
 

In many of these countries, such as Peru, India, Northern Africa, the seismic risk is high. Thus, the development of seismic design specifications for this widely-used material could save many lives worldwide in future disasters.

  

The team needed to start from construction traditions using local techniques, materials, and architectural typology to develop engineering solutions that can be used by engineers and non-engineers.
 
"We hope to go forward with the future phases to develop codes for retrofitting existing rammed earth structures. This has the potential to save enormous number of lives in the event of an earthquake. We can also protect existing important historical structures while preserving local traditions and construction techniques," says Mosalam.
 

Examples of historical structures that could be protected with future phases of code development for seismic retrofitting.
 
Mosalam was surprised to receive the award. "Engineers are not used to being recognized for their public service efforts, although certainly many engineers do significant work for the public," he said.
 

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