- Leading national and international experts came together to address structural strengthening, retrofitting, evolving standards and multi-hazard resilience.
- The conference featured technical sessions, real-world retrofit case studies, an expert panel discussion, the Rising Engineers Competition, and the launch of two technical publications.
Hilti India, through its flagship knowledge platform Seismic Academy, hosted the fifth edition of its Annual Conference under the theme “Seismic Strengthening: From Shake to Safe”. The conference brought together engineers, academicians, consultants, researchers and industry professionals to address a critical challenge for India’s built environment: how to assess vulnerable structures and strengthen them through technically sound, practical and scalable interventions.
The discussions examined the full strengthening journey, from understanding seismic damage and India’s seismic zonation to selecting retrofit strategies, improving fire performance and applying advanced materials. National and international experts connected research and evolving standards with project experience, while industry case studies demonstrated how strengthening solutions can be applied to existing structures.
The conference also saw the launch of the Seismic Academy Retrofitting Book, “Seismic Assessment and Fortification Essentials (SAFE)”, and the IAStructE Post-Installed Rebar Guidebook. Together with an expert panel on assessment, policy, design and execution, and the Rising Engineers Competition for emerging professionals and researchers, the event reinforced the need to build capability across the engineering ecosystem.
Mr. Jayant Kumar, General Manager & Managing Director, Hilti India, said, “India’s infrastructure ambitions are significant, but progress is not only about what we build next; it is also about how safely and responsibly we strengthen what already stands. Seismic resilience must begin before vulnerabilities become visible, through sound assessment, engineering judgement and the right strengthening strategies. Seismic Academy helps bridge the gap between knowledge and application by bringing expertise, standards and real-world experience together. As we mark our fifth conference, our focus is to continue building the technical capability needed to make resilience integral to India’s built environment.”
Moving from risk to response, the technical session examined seismic strengthening through multiple engineering lenses. Experts explored how earthquake damage can be assessed and addressed through retrofit strategies, what India’s seismic zonation means for engineering practice, and how lessons from recent earthquakes can inform evolving standards. The session also widened the resilience conversation beyond seismic performance, with Dr. Venkatesh R. Kodur examining the challenges and strategies for enhancing fire resiliency in seismically strengthened concrete structures, and Dr. Andreas Lampropoulos presenting the potential of advanced high-performance materials in structural retrofitting.
Dr. Harshavardhan Subbarao, Chairman & Managing Director, Construma Consultancy and President, International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE), said, “Across bridges, buildings and other critical infrastructure, strengthening decisions have to balance structural behaviour, safety, constructability and long-term performance. That requires more than identifying a vulnerability; it demands rigorous assessment, the right engineering intervention and disciplined execution under real project conditions. The profession must now connect research, standards, design and construction more effectively so that proven strengthening approaches can be applied at scale. Seismic Academy makes a valuable contribution by bringing these perspectives together and keeping the focus on solutions that work in practice.”
Dr. Venkatesh R. Kodur, University Distinguished Professor and Director, Centre on Structural Fire Engineering and Diagnostics, Michigan State University, USA, said, “Seismic strengthening is essential, but it cannot be considered in isolation. The materials and systems introduced to improve earthquake performance can also influence how a concrete structure behaves when exposed to fire. Engineers therefore need to evaluate fire resistance alongside seismic response, understand how strengthening interventions perform under elevated temperatures and adopt strategies that protect structural integrity across hazards. My session focuses on these challenges and the engineering approaches needed to achieve safer, multi-hazard-resilient concrete structures. Seismic Academy provides a useful forum for advancing this integrated view of resilience.”
Prof. Sriman Kumar Bhattacharyya, Vice Chancellor, Shiv Nadar University Chennai and Former Director of Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, said, “Every existing structure has a history: the materials used, the loads it has carried, the deterioration it has experienced and the interventions already made. Effective strengthening begins with understanding that history through robust assessment and structural health monitoring. Rehabilitation and retrofitting must then be treated as a continuum, with the chosen solution responding to the structure’s actual condition and intended future use. The larger need is to take this knowledge from research into routine engineering practice. Seismic Academy helps create that connection between academia and practitioners, while building the technical confidence needed to intervene responsibly.”
The conference further translated knowledge into practice through retrofit case studies, a multidisciplinary panel discussion, and the Rising Engineers Competition. Closing the event, Pulkit Kukreja, Vice President – Engineering, Hilti India, highlighted the importance of sustained collaboration across academia, industry, professional bodies and policymakers to accelerate safer and more resilient engineering practices.
Established in 2019, Hilti’s Seismic Academy has developed as a knowledge platform connecting government bodies, academia and industry around earthquake engineering and resilience. Across technical journals, webinars, research collaborations, capacity-building workshops and its annual conference, the Academy has worked to strengthen technical dialogue and encourage the application of evolving seismic standards and retrofitting approaches. The 2026 edition marks its fifth Annual Conference, reinforcing the Academy’s focus on connecting expertise, standards and real-world application to move seismic strengthening from awareness to informed action.
