The National Information Centre of Earthquake Engineering (NICEE) at IIT Kanpur has been conducting a workshop for undergraduate students in architecture in earthquake-resistant design practices since 2008. The 18th National Workshop for UG students of Architecture is conducted in a hybrid mode with online technical lectures distributed on 7th – 8th  June and offline studios to be held from 16th – 20th June 2025 at IIT Kanpur, in which 36 students who have completed six semesters of studies in their respective architecture programs participated from 9 institutes from all over India.

The general objective of the workshop was to sensitize the students to earthquake safety issues and in capacity building in the basics of earthquake-resistant design at a conceptual level. It is expected that lectures and hands-on studio sessions with a design assignment will help students in internalizing earthquake-resistant practices as an integral part of their design decision-making.
During online sessions, Dr. Hari Kumar, Geo Hazards, New Delhi delivered a lecture covering the topics about causes of earthquakes, basic terminology, earthquake ground motion, Prof. Atanu K Dutta of Jorhat Engineering College, Jorhat discussed the factors affecting earthquake loads on buildings. Prof. Keya Mitra IIEST, Shibpur, Howrah delivered lecture on EQ resistant structural systems and building configuration. Prof. Vasudha Gokhale of Dr. B.N. College of Architecture for Women, Pune, gave insight on Buildings Add-Ons.

The following faculty members, Prof. Vasudha Gokhale, Sujata Mehta & Meera Shirolkar of Dr. B.N. College of Architecture for Women, Pune; Prof. Bhavana Vimawala & Nehal Desai, Sarvajanik University, Surat Dr. Ruchira Das Women’s Polytechnic Chandernagore are the resource persons of the workshop.

The inaugural function was chaired by Prof. Priyanka Ghosh, Head, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Kanpur. He welcomed the participants to the IIT Kanpur campus. He expressed his happiness about NICEE taking up such flagship activities. He stated that this was the right time to ignite the minds of participants on the issues related to Earthquake Engineering and expressed his confidence in the participants becoming better Architects. He advised the participants not to shy away from asking questions.

Prof. Vasudha Gokhale welcomed the participants and advised them to be prepared for a tough and enjoyable workshop during the next five days.

Prof. Meera Shirolkar gave an insight of the workshop to the participants. During the three-day workshop, the participants will be given an architectural design assignment, where they will be required to design a complex containing a mix of various types of apartments and offices in addition to amenities and utilities. Participants will be exposed to RESIST software to test the adequacy of their designs from a seismic performance perspective, and this session will help them arrive at reasonable sizes of structural members. She advised the participants to be the ambassadors for this workshop and spread the word about the workshop in their colleges and to their friends.

Prof. Chinmoy Kolay told a brief history of NICEE and thanked Prof. Sudhir K. Jain for his contribution in the field of earthquake engineering and discussed briefly the past earthquakes that occurred in the country which lead to the foundation of the NICEE, which was further carried out by Prof. CVR Murty, Prof. Javed N Malik and Prof. Durgesh C Rai that "earthquakes don't kill but buildings do" so we should be more causes for making our structures the earthquake safe.

Professor Durgesh Rai welcomed participants and provided a succinct overview of NICEE's ongoing activities. He informed attendees that the workshop's primary objective was to engage with architects, acknowledging their crucial role in promoting earthquake-resistant building practices and disseminating vital awareness within the construction sector. The decision to convene this specialized workshop originated from a preceding NICEE Advisory Committee meeting, underscoring NICEE's commitment to fostering collaboration with all relevant stakeholders in the field of earthquake engineering.

Participants will work on designing a Working Women’s Hostel on a site in Srinagar, a city located in Kashmir Valley, Jammu & Kashmir Seismic Zone V.

The studio sessions will be a mix of desk work and informal lectures where individual cases will be used to illustrate earthquake engineering concepts to the entire class.

The design prepared by the participants will be evaluated on June 20, 2025, by a team of jury consisting of the following members.
a)    Ar. Vikram Hundekar, Practicing Architect, Pune
b)    Prof. Soumen Mitra, IIEST, Shibpur, Howrah

This workshop is supported by CSIESPL New Delhi and all donors and supporters of National Information Centre of Earthquake Engineering. Cdr Suresh Ailawadi, Retd., proposed a vote of thanks for all present.