2023 Undergraduate Seismic Design Competition
The 2023 Undergraduate Seismic Design Competition will be held in San Francisco, California, from April 11 to April 14!
We hope to see you at the 2023 Undergraduate Seismic Design Competition!
Please click through the above menu links for more information!
Announcements
Announcement 5: 01/15/2023
Hi teams, any damping device proposals are due by 11:59 pm PST on Tuesday, Jan 31, 2023. Additionally, as per the Official Rules, the top 9 proposals will receive bonuses during the competition. This list is as follows (in alphabetical order, NOT placement order):
Cornell University
Istanbul Technical University
Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra
Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
The University of British Columbia
Universidad Iberoamericana
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Victoria
We can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with and are excited to see y’all at the event in San Francisco, CA!! : D
Announcement 4: 01/06/2023
Hi teams, thanks to all of the teams that have submitted a proposal and congrats to all of the teams whose proposal has been accepted and invited to the competition!! The list of schools invited to the competition can be found below in alphabetical order:
Ain Shams University
Altinbas University
Brigham Young University
Cal Poly Pomona
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
California State University, Northridge
Cornell University
Helwan University
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
Instanbul Technical University
Izmir Katip Çelebi University
McMaster University
New York University
North Carolina State University
Oregon State University
Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra
Purdue University
Seattle University
Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
The University of British Columbia
The University of Memphis
The University of Texas at Austin
Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas
Universidad Iberoamericana
Universidad Politecnica Salesiana
Universitas Indonesia
University at Buffalo
University of California – Berkeley
University of California – Los Angeles
University of California – San Diego
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Michigan
University of Nevada, Reno
University of Southern California
University of Toronto
University of Victoria
Announcement 3: 11/21/2022
Hi teams, the Clarifications form is out now! Please go to the “Clarifications” tab and click on the “Clarification Submission” link to go to the form. Please fill it out and your question shall be answered as soon as possible. Answers for all clarification questions can be found on the “Clarifications” tab.
Thanks and good luck with y’alls proposals!! : D
Announcement 2: 10/29/2022
Hi teams, the rules for SDC 2023 are finally out!! Please refer to the “Rules & Competition Documents” Section to find all of the rules documents and read each one carefully. The proposal this year is due on Friday, December 16, 2022 at 11:59 pm PST. Good luck to all of the teams this year!! : D
If your team hasn’t filled out the interest survey but would still like to participate, it’s not too late! Just shoot an email to: sdc@eeri.org
Announcement 1: 10/04/2022
The 2023 Seismic Design Competition (SDC) season is fast approaching! While the rules and regulations are still being finalized by the Student Leadership Council (SLC)’s SDC chairs, the SLC wants to know in advance how many undergraduate teams are interested in competing next year! Please fill out the interest form below (One per school)!
SDC 2023 Interest Form
Important Dates
Please note that all dates are subject to change! Also all cutoffs are 11:59 pm PST.
| Milestone |
Date / Deadline |
| Interest Form |
Friday, November 4, 2022 |
| Rules Released |
Saturday, October 29, 2022 |
| Proposal Submission |
Friday, December 16, 2022 |
| Damping Proposal Submission |
Tuesday, January 31, 2023 |
| Final Registration Deadline |
TBD |
| Floor Area Calculations and Performance Predictions Submission |
TBD |
Clarifications
If you would like to submit a clarification request, please do so here:
Clarification Submission Form
Please click on the questions to see the answers!
1. Introduction
A: There are a total of 4 floors designated as retail space: floors f=1, f=2, f=n-1, and f=n. The floor designation is for both towers (i.e., floor f=1 consists of the bottom floor for both towers, even though they are not connected to each other). Figure 9, elevation A-A in the design guide is a helpful visual.
A: The location for the competition will be announced soon, but in the meantime you can go with downtown San Francisco.
A: The building model can be scaled only for render purposes to show any aesthetic features of the building if it would be constructed in real life. However, for the cost and revenue, no scaling is allowed as the FABI is based on the area of the wooden model.
6. Design Proposals and Damping Device Approval Process
A: The damping device is not required to be designed to be removable during the competition. This section is meant to specify that damping devices should not affect the stability of the structure, rather as a supplemental element to assist in energy dissipation. It will be obvious if stability is compromised if damping devices were to be removed from the structure. Hence, in case SDC Chairs determine that the damping devices must be removed, it would benefit teams to design their devices in a way that extraction of the devices would be relatively straightforward and wouldn’t compromise the structural integrity of the tower.
A: The due date of the damping proposal will be announced to the teams soon. It will be on a separate date from the design proposal submission.
7. Structural Model
A: The skybridges need to be centered between the two towers, i.e., they cannot be staggered from each other. This is further clarified in the Design Guide, Section 4, Floor Requirements.
A: The roof plate needs to be touching the two towers and the skybridges. We will accept that there are minor areas where the roof plate will not be touching anything, however, it needs to be centered in the building and touching the skybridge and the two towers. Please click here to see illustrative sketch (not drawn to scale).
A: Curtain walls as non-structural elements should not be in the actual physical model but can be added in the architectural rendering. Furthermore, gusset plates are not curtain walls. Gusset plates are permitted but shall not be in contact with any wall members. A gusset plate shall be in contact with and glued to at least two frame members in contact. Each gusset plate shall fit in a 0.100 in. by 1 in. by 1 in. box. Also, each individual wall member in its final state attached to the model shall fit in a 0.100 in. by 3.000 in. by 11.000 in. box.
A: Refer to Figure 12 in the Design Guide, especially to the top left X bracing orientation for the floor rentable area. For an area to be counted as rentable area, a span from any point perpendicular to a beam bordering the opening has to be 2.5 inches or less.
A: There is no restriction on how to connect the sky bridges to other structural elements as long as you abide by the other rules mentioned in the “Design Guide”. The topmost skybridge has to have two crosswalks.
A: No, If you use the area on the roof of the skybridge, you will use it for your rentable area. So you are not allowed to put any members on the top of the skybridge as the roof is not counted as a rentable area!
8. Strong Ground Motion Testing
A: The floor dead loads are installed at specific floor levels only. The details can be found in section 8.3 of the ‘Official Rules’ and section 5 and 8 of ‘Design Guide’.
A: Please refer to section 8.3b of the ‘Official rules’.
11. Judging and Appeals
A: The teams will be able to work on the first day of the competition until we start the preliminary judging. Roughly the students have until 6 pm of that day to fix any damages that might occur from the transportation process. However, once we start the preliminary judging the students are not allowed to touch the building.
A: Yes, dedicated space with a mailing address will be provided. The details will be provided soon.
A: No, you do not need to have the student chapter officially established. We understand that it takes time to establish the chapter, and you are actively working on getting the approval for an official chapter. We welcome your participation and encourage you to follow up with EERI about your student chapter status.
