The graduation of 48 engineering and architecture professionals belonging to the Nucleus of Civil Engineers of the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors (Codia), North Regional Santiago de los Caballeros, completes the sum of 196 professionals trained and qualified through the Diploma in Building Evaluation, accredited through important houses of higher learning in the country.
In addition to the 48 professionals certified in Santiago through the fourth version of the diploma course, in Santo Domingo there were 47 in the first and 53 in the second, while for La Romana and the whole East, 48 participated in the third version.
With this training, the institutions involved seek to optimize the building evaluation processes at the national level.
The professionals trained in the four versions of the diploma course already cover the Central and Eastern Regional Branches, as well as the Northern Regional Branch of the professional association and will become part of the Network of Structural Evaluators and the Bank of Evaluators, who will be able to contribute to the evaluation of the vulnerability of buildings before and after earthquakes, through the relief agencies.
The diploma course 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.
It was carried out in the classroom and blended mode, with accreditation and certification under the responsibility of the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (Intec) and its Environmental Management Center (Cega Intec), the Universidad Central del Este (UCE) and the Escuela Nacional de Gestión de Riesgos (Esnagari).
The course is taught through more than 48 theoretical and practical hours in the handling and use of the “Standardized Methodology for the Evaluation of Buildings” which focuses on streamlining the processes of evaluation and pre- and post-earthquake data collection, determination and quantification of disaster risk and prioritization of evaluation measures for critical infrastructures.
Leonardo Reyes Madera, general director of Onesvie, thanked the European Union, Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (Intec) and its Centro de Gestión Ambiental (CEGA), Núcleo de Ingenieros Civiles (Codia), Defensa Civil and its project Progeri-RD, the Universidad Central del Este (UCE) and the Escuela Nacional de Gestión de Riesgos (Esnageri), professors and all the graduates for marking a before and after in the approach to prevention and reduction of seismic vulnerability in buildings.
“As Onesvie we are pleased with the culmination 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 Network of Dominican Structural Evaluators (REED) and the Bank of Evaluators”.
He said that the Dominican Structural Evaluators Network (REED) will have the capacity to accompany the State’s relief agencies in the task of pre and post-earthquake evaluation, in addition to 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 the Civil Defense (DC), expressed that with the conclusion of the diploma course, the Dominican Republic will have engineering and architecture professionals prepared to carry out the evaluation processes and in this way guarantee the lives of the residents of Santiago and its surroundings.
Juan Antonio Villar Gonzalez, 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 of buildings and infrastructure nationwide.
He said 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 Region of the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors (Codia) in Santiago, said that with the completion of the diploma course they will have the tools to determine, pre- and post-earthquake, the vulnerability of buildings and to work with the State relief agencies in building evaluation processes.
He motivated the General Directorate of Onesvie and the other institutions involved to continue with the training process through the Codia’s regional offices and thus allow other professionals to continue their training.
The activity was held 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, was attended by Fanny Ramos, regional director of Onesvie; Galvy Núñez, in charge of the Northern Delegation and special guests.
Source:presidencia.gob.do
