May 14, 2012
The “No Hazard” Solution
by Eve Hinman
You may have heard of multi-hazard and maybe even all-hazards, but what about no-hazard?
April 12, 2012
If You Live in a Glass Box…
by Eve Hinman
I have often wondered why there is so much focus on windows in antiterrorism design. The public’s concern over these fragile membranes seems to far outweigh concerns of building collapse or localized catastrophic damage to critical building elements… Is it because we have all been cut by glass at some time in our lives but never had an entire building fall on us so we can not relate?
March 15, 2012
Back to School
by Shalva Marjanishvili & Brian Katz
The Civil Engineering department at Santa Clara University took a bold leap in the Fall of 2011 and offered its students an Intro to Blast Analysis course taught by Hinman’s Technical Director, Shalva Marjanishvili… Encouraged by the positive response to this class, Marjanishvili is returning to Santa Clara University and offering a second course in the upcoming Spring 2012 school term.
March 15, 2012
The Year of Living Dangerously
by Eve Hinman
Disaster losses in 2011 exceeded ANY year ever before. That includes 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit. Last year’s grand total spent on disaster recovery was about $380B. The Fukushima Earthquake-Tsunami-Nuclear meltdown racked up over half the balance with $210B in losses. Much of the rest was due to the Thailand Flood, and tornado and flooding damages in the U.S.
January 25, 2012
Socio-Economic Factors in Disasters
by Eve Hinman
At the MMC annual meeting on December 7th in DC, I was pleased to see that the MMC is newly invigorated and tackling the key multi-hazard issues of the 21st century. The first decade of this new century is showing itself to be unlike anything we have seen before…
December 09, 2011
Building the Blast Library
by Shalva Marjanishvili & Brian Katz
Shalva Marjanishvili, one of Hinman’s own, recently collaborated with Steven Smith in compiling a design guide for blast resistant design of concrete masonry structures.
November 23, 2011
Decentralizing Energy
by Caroline Field
Who thought that it was a good idea to transmit energy in this way?...I would argue for an alternative solution that abandons the current state of our energy utility for one that takes the form of a localized and renewable energy source.
November 02, 2011
Energy Infrastructure - The Evil Within
by Eve Hinman
On August 31 of this year there was an explosion and fire in an apartment two miles from the San Francisco International Airport, caused by a leak in a natural gas pipe. Intrigued by efforts to respond to this crisis, I explored the matter a little further…
September 15, 2011
The Commoditization of Protection - Why Cheapest is Not Always Best
by Caroline Field
Integrating protective design into a building can be a costly business, especially if it is not well planned, thought out, integrated and executed… Over the past year or so, we have been seeing a trend in competitive bids for blast consulting, marked by inexperienced firms low-balling fees to get the work and ill-informed clients thinking that they are getting a bargain.
September 08, 2011
Thoughts on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 - Are We Safer Now?
by Eve Hinman
We learned a lot from that horrible day ten years ago and its painful aftermath. Although it is not easy for me to think back on those events, I feel compelled to do so because it is so related to my day-to-day at Hinman, where every day we do our best to lessen the impact of such attacks through effective design. Reflecting back on the last decade, these are the lessons we at Hinman have learned and shortcomings of current engineering practices that I am personally driven to change…
