St. John's centrifuge modelling facility

过去一年将因1月太子港7.0级地震、2010年4月石油勘探钻井平台“深水地平线”爆炸后的环境灾难以及今年亚洲季风季节伴随的毁灭性洪水和山体滑坡而被人们长久铭记。这些事件中的每一个都戏剧性地证明了土木工程基础设施受到地质灾害影响时产生的巨大社会和环境影响。然而，我们防范这些事件的能力受到我们对基础科学知识的限制。虽然已经学到了很多东西，但仍有许多尚未解决的问题影响着加拿大内外的城乡社区。

The past year will be long remembered for the Magnitude 7.0 Port-au-Prince earthquake in January, the environmental catastrophe following the April 2010 explosion aboard the oil exploration rig Deepwater Horizon, and the devastating flooding and landslides accompanying this year's monsoon season in Asia. Each of these events dramatically testifies to the enormous social and environmental implications that result when Civil Engineering infrastructure is impacted by geohazards. However, our ability to protect against these events is limited by our knowledge of the underlying fundamental science. While much has been learned, there are many unresolved issues affecting urban and rural communities in Canada and beyond.