BlackboardKarla Villarreal
Karla majored in Civil Engineering and studied the performance of buildings and other structures in earthquakes. She completed an Honors Thesis titled, "Effects of MR Damper Placement on Structure Vibration Parameters" under the direction of Dr. Makola Abdullah. Earthquakes can cause millions of dollars worth of damage to city infrastructure whenever they strike. As a means to reduce the effects of earthquakes on buildings, mechanical devices called Magneto-Rheological (MR) dampers are placed on buildings to absorb vibration.
Most of Karla's research was conducted at Tokyo University in the summer of 2004 during the Research for Undergraduates in Japan in Advanced Technology (REUJAT) program sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Karla is currently pursuing a master's degree in Civil Engineering at FSU.
