Yumei Wang receiving the 2018 Le Val Lund Award for Practicing Lifeline Risk Reduction from Craig Davis. Photo/ Kirsten Briggs
On November 2, USC, Caltech and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) held the fourth annual Le Val Lund Lecture and Student Symposium on USC’s main campus attended by students, researchers and members of industry. Organization of the event was led by Craig Davis, a manager at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and supported by USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Le Val Lund, Jr. was a professional engineer who devoted his career to public service. He was an expert on critical infrastructures known in the industry as urban lifelines – which include water, gas, electricity and transportation – and how to protect them from natural disasters like earthquakes. As such, each year, the lecture focuses on lifeline infrastructure and community resilience and the Le Val Lund Award for Practicing Lifeline Risk Reduction is given to an individual who contributes to the reduction of lifeline risks and community preparation for hazardous events.
This year’s award recipient and lecturer is Yumei Wang, a professional engineer working at the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries. In her talk, titled “Disasters, Resilience and the Next Generation,” she spoke about the importance of resilient infrastructure and the need for coordination between system designers and operators.
A student symposium took place throughout the day prior to night’s lecture and dinner event. The symposium included technical presentations from local university undergraduate and graduate students on topics ranging from urban planning, to fire safety, to public policy. It concluded with a panel discussion with four industry professionals including a research scientist from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a retired Los Angeles Fire Department Battalion Chief, a senior manager from Southern California Edison and the assistant director of the LADWP Water Quality Division.
To see photos of the Le Va Lund Lecture, click here.
Published on November 20th, 2018
Last updated on November 30th, 2018
