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Darren Vian

Darren Vian poses in front of the soon-to-be completed Taipei 101 Building in Taipei, Taiwan.

Darren Vian is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at the University at Buffalo. The working title of Darren’s project is “Steel Plate Shear Walls for Seismic Design and Retrofit of Building Structures,” and his work is part of MCEER’s Thrust Area 2: Seismic Retrofit of Acute Care Facilities. His advisor is professor and MCEER director, Michel Bruneau.

Asked how he became interested in earthquake hazard mitigation, Darren explains “kind of by accident, actually. I grew up near New York City where earthquakes weren’t typically a concern of the general population. Then, I attended UB as an undergraduate to study civil/structural engineering, and by virtue of the NCEER/MCEER-related research conducted by many of the faculty members, I received exposure through coursework to various methods of earthquake engineering that were being utilized in practice, some of which, as a direct result of reseach conducted at UB.” Darren also said that “taking Dr. Bruneau’s course on Plastic Analysis and Design of Structures” in his first semester of graduate studies led to “working with him as a research assistant and my current work.”

Following his anticipated graduation in the fall of 2005, Darren would like to work in structural engineering practice for a few years, become a licensed engineer, and then possibly return to academia as a university professor. His interests outside of his studies, in no particular order, include hiking and camping, reading, running and volleyball—he played for the UB team during his freshman year. Darren also enjoys attending concerts, collecting music, and playing guitar.