SANTO DOMINGO – The recent graduation of 48 engineering and architecture professionals from the Civil Engineers Branch of the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors (Codia), North Regional Santiago de los Caballeros, brings the total to 196 professionals trained and certified through the Diploma in Building Evaluation, accredited by leading universities in the country.
In addition to the 48 professionals certified in Santiago through the fourth version of the diploma program, in Santo Domingo there were 47 in the first and 53 in the second, while for La Romana and the entire East, 48 participated in the third version.
With this training, the institutions involved seek to optimize building assessment processes at the national level.
The professionals trained in the four versions of the aforementioned diploma program already cover the Central Branch and the Eastern Regional Branch, as well as the aforementioned Northern Regional Branch of the professional association and will become part of the Network of Structural Evaluators and the Bank of Evaluators, enabled to contribute to the evaluation of the vulnerability of buildings pre and post earthquake, through the relief agencies.
The diploma in Building Evaluation was the result of a joint action of the National Office of Seismic Evaluation and Vulnerability of Infrastructure and Buildings (Onesvie), with the support of the presidency of the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors (Codia), the National Emergency Commission (CNE) and the Progeri-RD project financed by the European Union, a press release highlights.
It was conducted in face-to-face and semi-face-to-face formats, with accreditation and certification under the responsibility of the Technological Institute of Santo Domingo (Intec) and its Environmental Management Center (Cega Intec), the Central University of the East (UCE) and the National School of Risk Management (Esnagari).
The diploma course is taught through more than 48 hours of theoretical and practical instruction in the management and use of the "Standardized Methodology for Building Evaluation" which focuses on streamlining the processes of evaluation and data collection before and after earthquakes, determination and quantification of disaster risk and prioritization of evaluation measures for critical infrastructure.
Authorities with some of the graduates. (External source).
Leonardo Reyes Madera, general director of Onesvie, once again expressed his gratitude for the interest and dedication of the European Union, the Technological Institute of Santo Domingo (Intec) and its Center for Environmental Management (CEGA), the Civil Engineers Association (Codia), Civil Defense and its Progeri-RD project, the Central University of the East (UCE) and the National School of Risk Management (Esnageri), professors and all the graduates for marking a before and after in addressing the prevention and reduction of seismic vulnerability in buildings.
“As Onesvie, we are pleased with the completion of this important Diploma in Building Evaluation; today we deliver to the country, certified and accredited, 197 engineering and architecture professionals, qualified to be part of the Dominican Network of Structural Evaluators (REED) and the Bank of Evaluators.”.
He stated that the Dominican Network of Structural Evaluators (REED) will have the capacity to support the State's relief agencies in the task of pre- and post-earthquake evaluation, as well as being multipliers of prevention messages, which will guarantee true resilience.
Luis Rodríguez, representing the president of the National Emergency Commission (CNE) and executive director of Civil Defense (DC), stated that with the completion of the diploma program, the Dominican Republic will have engineering and architecture professionals prepared to carry out evaluation processes and thus guarantee the lives of the residents of Santiago and its surroundings.
Juan Antonio Villar González, national president of Codia, said that the diploma course in evaluation arose as a commitment that seeks to train engineers and architects to determine the vulnerability in buildings and infrastructure at the national level.
He stated that the training initiative was the result of an inter-institutional agreement between the professional association, Onesvie, and the other institutions involved, and encouraged the graduates to continue strengthening their skills and thus achieve a more resilient country.
Meanwhile, Juan José de los Santos, president of the Northern Regional branch of the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors (Codia) in Santiago, stated that with the completion of the diploma program they will have the tools to determine, pre- and post-earthquake, the vulnerability of buildings and work with the State's relief agencies in building assessment processes.
He motivated the General Directorate of Onesvie and the other institutions involved to continue with the training process through the Codia regional offices and thus allow other professionals to continue training.
The activity was carried out on Saturday, August 10, at the Northern Regional of the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors (Codia), in the city of Santiago de los Caballeros, and included the participation of Fanny Ramos, regional director of Onesvie; Galvy Núñez, in charge of the Northern Delegation and special guests.
