Based on An-Najah University’s message to serve the Palestinian Society and institutions, and according to the cooperation and coordination programs between the Engineering Association and the Seismic Engineering Unit at An-Najah, a training course on seismic design of buildings was successfully concluded.

Trainees consisted of fresh graduates and fifth year students at the Department of Building Engineering and Civil Engineering. The course was administered by Dr. Jalal Dabbeek, Director of the Urban Planning and Disaster Risk Reduction Center at An-Najah, and the Vice President of the National Agency for Disaster Risk Mitigation in Palestine. Attendees to the concluding ceremony were Engineer Muhammad Al-Shunnar, Head of the Nablus Branch Committee at the Engineering Association, and Dr. Musaddaq Al-Masri, Director of the Continuing Education Center at An-Najah.

Dr. Dabbeek focused on the importance of seismic design of buildings and the necessity that all engineers and institutions commit to the standards of seismic design. Moreover, he emphasized the importance of the relationship and coordination between the University and the Engineering Association and said that the University’s administration works according to a clear strategic plan to serve the society and its different institutions for which it adopts the integration and networking principle with the governmental and non governmental institutions.

Engineer Al-Shunnar spoke to the graduates about the interest of the Engineering Association in contacting the engineering students and fresh graduates, as well as its relationship with the local institutions and the necessity to stay informed regarding the different events and activities that the Association carries out.

Dr. Al-Masri welcomed the participants in the course and thanked the organizers for their effort to make this event a success. He also called upon the students to participate in further courses that the Continuing Education Center offers in various fields which would help them build their competency and expand their experience.

It is worth to mention that the Department of Building Engineering gives substantial attention to the issue of green buildings and seismic design of constructions, and that it is the only one in Palestine to offer the Seismic Design of Buildings course as a compulsory, not elective, course based on the recommendations and requirements of the international institutions related to disaster risk reduction.

Dr. Dabbeek mentioned that a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Engineering Association, the Urban Planning and Disaster Risk Reduction Center, the Ministry of Local Government, and the Public Works and Housing Ministry. According to this agreement, the Jordanian Code on Seismic Building for Seismic Design is adopted by a number of engineers in Palestine. On a later stage, the Supreme Organization Council approved the seismic design system and the Engineering Association is currently working on the implementation process.

The training course addressed a number of topics including: Introduction to Seismology and the Seismicity of the Region, the impact of the site’s soil on the seismic behavior of constructions, the mechanism of transferring seismic works from the soil to the constructions, the architectural and constructional formation of earthquake-proof buildings, calculation of the seismic forces to which constructions are exposed, the distribution of these forces on the elements of the building’s constructional elements, the design of constructional elements in earthquake-proof buildings, the evaluation the levels of damage in constructions, as well as the evaluation of damage aftermath and the reinforcement of existent buildings seismically. At the end of the course, certificates were presented to the students in recognition of their participation and interest.