Civil engineering faculty joins geo-disaster resilience training in Taiwan

#ProudViscan John Christian L. Gaviola, faculty member of the Department of Civil Engineering finished the international short-term course focusing on the science of landslides to address significant loss resulting from geo-disasters in Taipei, Taiwan.

He was among the 26 participants from 7 Asian countries who were accepted to take part in the weeklong training course organized by the Department of Civil Engineering of the National Taiwan University (NTU), the International Consortium on Geo-disaster Reduction (ICGdR), and the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL).

This training initiative was established in 2013 to reduce the impacts of slope land disasters by integrating fundamental knowledge to engineers in the academe and in practice and government officers.

Gaviola was granted full financial support including roundtrip air tickets, meals, and accommodation as sponsored by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) to all the selected participants from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

This is NSTC’s token to the attendees who are encouraged to be part of creating a safer world for all.

Participants visited the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering in Taiwan.

According to Gaviola, he has been interested in joining this kind of training for years. His master’s thesis even focuses on studying the mechanism of rainfall-induced landslides here in Leyte. And while he currently finishing his master’s degree at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), his AIT adviser informed him on the call for applications.

“My interest in civil engineering, particularly in soil mechanics, geohazards, and disaster risk management, has deep roots in personal experiences growing up in the countryside, where natural disasters are a recurring challenge. At the very young age of 7, I witnessed the devastating Guinsaugon Landslide in my hometown Saint Bernard Southern Leyte, the largest landslide in Philippine history, which tragically claimed thousands of lives,” he shared.

On top of finishing the international training, Gaviola was also awarded as one of the participants with outstanding performance throughout the course.

Last year, he participated in the 2023 Global Project-Based Learning focusing on Disaster Risk Reduction and Mitigation Technologies for Sustainable Cities and Communities at Shibaura Institute of Technology in Tokyo, Japan, respectively.

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