A short course on Seismic Design of Steel Structures under the National Programme on Earthquake Engineering Education (NPEEE) was inaugurated on Monday, 27 September 2004 at IIT Kanpur. It is a five day training programme (27 September – 01 October 2004) being conducted by IIT Kanpur for faculty members from different engineering colleges and polytechnics across the country and practicing engineers. Thirty five faculty members and fourteen professional engineers from all parts of the country are undergoing this training. The course was inaugurated by Prof. Bithin Datta, Head, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Kanpur. The course is being conducted by Professor C.V.R. Murty, Professor Sudhir K. Jain and Professor Durgesh C. Rai of the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Kanpur.

Professor Datta in his inaugural speech stressed on the importance of steel structures and their design for earthquake loads. He hailed the efforts of group of faculty members in the area of earthquake engineering at IIT Kanpur. Professor Sudhir K. Jain, the National Coordinator, NPEEE mentioned the progress of the training programmes being undertaken by other IIT’s and IISC. Bangalore and express his satisfaction on the progress being made in this important area. He stressed that there is need to train the faculty members as well as design engineers so that they understand the basics of earthquake resistant design of structures. He also mentioned that earthquake engineering is totally different than conventional engineering studies since the effect of dynamic forces generated during an earthquake can not be compared with normal forces like gravity, wind, etc. and there is a lack of such provisions in the current Indian standards.

Professor C.V.R. Murty, Course Coordinator welcomed the course participants and informed them about the unique features of the course and the work being done at IIT Kanpur in the area of earthquake engineering. Dr. K.K. Bajpai, proposed the vote of thanks. List of participants and course schedule is enclosed herewith. Venue is Pioneer Batch Continuing Education Centre (PBCEC), Visitor’s Hostel at IIT Kanpur campus.