Podcast feature with the Engineering Management Institute

| July 2025

Dr. Zahraa Saiyed joined a podcast with hosts Mathew Picardal and Alex Daddow on empowering communities through Disaster Risk Reduction. She talks about the role of structural engineers in and beyond building codes, equity and social vulnerability in disaster risk reduction, and how to advocate for safer communities as a practitioner and a citizen. Listen to the video and podcast below!

Watch the Engineering Management Institute’s latest podcast featuring Dr. Zahraa Saiyed

SE3 2025 Symposium

| May 2025

Zahraa participated in the 2025 SE3 symposium held in Berkeley, CA. This special symposium included a reflection by past chairs on 10 years of SE3 and also discussed mental health in our profession. Learn more at the link below:

http://www.se3project.org/events.html

The Structural Engineering Channel Podcast

| April 2025

Dr. Saiyed discussed resilience, equity, policy, and disaster risk reduction on The Structural Engineering Channel’s podcast. Hosted by Alex Daddow and Mat Picardal, The Structural Engineering Channel (TSEC)’s podcast is a weekly podcast with a goal that focus on helping structural engineering professionals stay up to date on technical trends in the field. Stay tuned for the published podcast!

https://engineeringmanagementinstitute.org/podcasts/

SE3 Panel on Racial Equity

| August 2024

Scyma invited to participate in a panel discussion on the importance of racial equity in the Structural Engineering Profession. Thank you SOM SF for hosting!

https://www.seaonc.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1874058&group=

IEM's Disaster Smith Podcast

| February 2024

Zahraa Saiyed of Scyma is invited to join a new podcast by IEM called DisasterSmiths. Along with Jono Anzalone, we discuss the Power of Resilience. Check out this and other podcasts by clicking below!

https://iem.com/iem-unscripted-disastersmiths-podcast/

Scyma @ The Northern California Hazards Workshop 2024

| January 2024

Zahraa Saiyed presented research on Equity and Social Vulnerability for Earthquake Mitigation Policy at the 2024 Northern California Hazards Workshop (USGS) - The Too Many Earthquake Anniversaries Edition

Read more here: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/esc/workshop/2024-NCEHW-Agenda.pdf

EERI Public Policy Climate Change and Earthquake Policy Paper

| November 2023

Zahraa Saiyed is supporting the development of a policy position and white paper on the overlaps of climate change and earthquake risk reduction - more information on this needed topic to be shared soon!

Read more here: https://www.eeri.org/advocacy-and-public-policy/public-policy-what-is-eeri-currently-doing

4th Kenji Ishihara Colloquium Series on Earthquake Engineering

| September 2022

Zahraa Saiyed facilitated a panel on the Impact of Climate Change on Community Earthquake Resilience featuring leading researchers on social vulnerability, environmental justice, and climate justice.

Read more here: https://sandiego.eeri.org/4th-kenji-ishihara-colloquium-series-on-earthquake-engineering-2/

Earthquake Engineering Research Institute - Board of Directors

| December 2021

Scyma CEO Zahraa Saiyed elected as the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute’s newest Board Director starting 2022.

Read more here: https://www.eeri.org/about-eeri/news/11534-2022-eeri-board-of-directors-election-results

Regional Chapter EERI Citizen Advocate Guidelines Released!

| June 2021

A companion document to EERI’s Citizen Advocate Toolkit specifically for EERI Regional Chapter seismic safety advocacy has been released! Check out the full guide here and the Toolkit on EERI’s Citizen Advocate page.

Graphic courtesy of EERI.

Economics for Disaster Prevention and Preparedness - European Commission

| April 2021

Working with the World Bank on a project for the European Commission, Zahraa Saiyed of Scyma completes a study on the economic impacts of natural disasters in Europe and evaluates preparedness and prevention investments at national and EU levels. The report, Investment in Disaster Risk Management in Europe Makes Economic Sense, is one of three studies within the project. Check out the summary report and this short video with overview of the project and its results. Landing page with all project components can be found here.

Graphic courtesy of European Commission and The World Bank Group.

Advocating for Functional Recovery

| May 2021

This week AB 1329 (Nazarian) will be heard on the Assembly floor. EERI, SEAOC, and other related organizations have submitted letters of support for the bill. You can learn more about functional recovery in the following links. Scyma has been supporting this effort over the past several years and is looking forward to a favorable outcome in California with this important piece of legislation.

New Report Charts Path Toward Superior Earthquake Recovery (Jan. 2021)

Recommended Options for Improving the Built Environment for Post-Earthquake Reoccupancy and Functional Recovery Time.

NCSEA SE3 Discrimination and Harassment Topic Brief

| May 2021

The SE3 Committee of NCSEA published the Discrimination and Harassment Topic Brief based on the results of the 2020 national survey. You can find the Topic Brief here along with all committee publications here.

“The satisfaction of respondents who have been harassed or discriminated against suffered, and they were more likely to consider leaving the profession. Among those who have already left, discrimination and harassment was the third most cited reason for leaving. Furthermore, it is clear from the data…that discrimination and harassment is prevalent in our profession and has a significant negative impact on our colleagues. As a profession, we must recognize this impact and work toward reducing it.”

Image courtesy of NCSEA SE3 Committee

Scyma participates in CA Legislative Visit Week

| May 2021

The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) organized a Legislative Visit Week with the Amreican Public Works Association (APWA), The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the California Geotechnical Engineering Association (CalGeo), and the Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC). Thank you to Representatives Lee, Quirk, and Rivas and Senators Wieckowski and Cortese (along with many others) for allowing us the opportunity to discuss our infrastructure and resilience priorities.

Virginia Tech Policy Lecture - EERI Student Chapter

| April 2021

Scyma Consulting presented a lunch-time lecture for the EERI Student Chapter at Virginia Tech entitled, “Systems Approach to Disaster Resilience: Your contributions to Wicked Problems.” Always re-iterating that your contribution to disaster risk reduction can start today!

Advocating for Earthquake Safety in Alaska

| April 2021

The EERI Alaska chapter hosted an informative discussion that covered the history of seismicity and resilience planning in Alaska. Zahraa Saiyed discussed advocacy actions that technical constituents may consider when enhancing seismic safety in Alaska. Thank you to Jessica Feenstra (Golder Associates, EERI Alaska Chapter Chair) for hosting, Sterling Straight (Alaska Seismic Hazards Safety Commission), and Mike West (State Seismologist) for contributing to this important topic.

Centering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Our Disaster Resilience Work

| March 2021

Zahraa will be co-moderating the Thursday 2/25 plenary session for the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute’s virtual 2021 annual meeting with an incredible group of panelists! Read more about the session here. (Image courtesy of EERI).

50th Anniversary of the San Fernando Earthquake

| January 2021

The Structural Engineers Association of Northern California has produced a reflective piece for this month’s newsletter on the 1971 San Fernando earthquake. Read more here!

Image courtesy of SEAONC.

Webinar: Advocating for Seismic Safety in Washington State

| November 2020

Kyle Steuck and Stacy Bartoletti of Degenkolb Seattle along with Zahraa Saiyed deliver a webinar for EERI’s Washington State Chapter on the history of seismic safety, current legislation, and how to activate membership on seismic risk reduction in Washington.

Image courtesy of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.

Webinar: Citizen Advocacy - Tools to Advance Seismic Safety Policy

| October 2020

Zahraa Saiyed and Jack English (UT Austin) deliver a webinar for EERI’s Young Members Committee on becoming effective earthquake safety public policy advocates. Learn more here.

Image courtesy of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.