Title: Seismic Retrofit of URM Structures and Veneers

Robert Hudson is Vice President of Engineering at Python Fasteners, a firm founded by Engineers who ran the Canterbury Earthquake Royal Commission into URM structures in New Zealand following the 2010–2011 Christchurch earthquakes.

Specializing in seismic assessment and strengthening of existing structures, he has spent his career developing cost-effective seismic retrofits for URM structures to increase community access to these lifesaving structural improvements.
He now sits on The Masonry Society's existing masonry standard committee, and is involved in the development of International Code Council acceptance criteria for existing masonry products bringing many of the learnings from New Zealand over to local North American codes and standards.

• Understanding of common failure modes observed in earthquake reconnaissance for different URM retrofits and how to protect against them. 
• Understanding of common failure modes of anchors used in URM applications under seismic loading and how to protect against them.
• Awareness of different retrofit options available for URM structures and veneers, including their advantages, drawbacks, and common pitfalls.
• Awareness of the possible impacts of different retrofit options on the moisture movement behaviour in URM.