b'EDUCATION & RESEARCH COUNCIL NEWSG.L. Kulak Award RecipientABOLFAZLASHRAFIISA third-year PhDstudentattheCivilandEnvironmental EngineeringDepartmentoftheUniversityof Alberta.HereceivedhisM.Sc.inStructural EngineeringfromSharifUniversityof Technology,Iran,in2015.Beforestartinghis PhD,heworkedasaStructuralEngineerin Tehran,Iranfortwoyears.HisPhDresearch focuses on the seismic response and design of steelmulti-tieredeccentricallybracedframes and is being conducted under the supervision of Dr. Ali Imanpour at the University of Alberta CISC Centre for Steel Structures Education and Research (the Steel Centre).Steelmulti-tieredbracedframes(MT-BFs) arecommonlyusedasthelateralload resisting system of tall single-storey buildings suchasconventioncentres,sportsfacilities, warehouses,chemicalplantsorindustrial applications. In multi-tiered configurations, the frame height between the ground and roof levels is divided into multiple bracing panels, because often the application of a single braced panel with long and large braces is neither practicalFIGURE 1A four-tiered concentrically braced frame in an industrial building. nor economical (Fig. 1). Although multi-tiered concentrically braced frames (MT-CBFs) are often preferred in practice, multi-tier eccentrically braced frames (MT-EBFs) could represent a cost-effective solution in seismic design aseccentricallybracedframes(EBFs)offerahighlyductileandstable response in earthquake.As of today, there is no research into the seismic behaviour of MT-EBFs. No distinction is made by the current Canadian steel design standard (CSA S16-14) between these frames and EBFs as part of multi-storey structures. Thisresearchaimstostudytheseismicresponseofsuchframeswith emphasis on the column and link beam stability response. In addition to theresponseevaluationusingadvancednumericalsimulationsandfull-scale experimental testing, seismic analysis and design requirements will be proposed in the framework of the CSA S16. The findings of this study will help structural engineers to achieve a safe and efficient design as well as code developers to improve the current seismic design provisions for steel MT-EBFs. AS14|WINTER 2020 ADVANTAGE STEEL'