Christine Wittich

Dr. Christine Wittich

Contact Information:

City Campus (Lincoln)
362L WHIT
(402) 472-1915
cwittich@unl.edu

Personal Links:

• Research Group Webpage

Assistant Professor

Academic Degrees

  • Ph.D., Structural Engineering, University of California San Diego, 2016
  • M.S., Structural Engineering, University of California San Diego, 2012
  • B.S., Civil & Environmental Engineering, Lafayette College, 2010

Areas of Research and Professional Interest

  • Structural dynamics and engineering for natural hazards
  • Dynamics of rocking and freestanding structures
  • Full-scale testing of structures and components
  • Infrastructure and community resilience in rural and agricultural areas
  • Remote sensing and computer vision for structural assessment

Research Profiles:

In the News: Powered by the Nebraska Engineering News

Courses Taught

  • CIVE 898: Infrastructure Assessment Techniques
  • CIVE 842: Structural Dynamics
  • CIVE 441: Steel Design I
  • CIVE 341: Introduction to Structural Engineering

About Christine Wittich

Dr. Christine Wittich joined the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2017 as Assistant Professor with focus in structural engineering. Dr. Wittich received the B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Lafayette College in Easton, PA, followed by the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Structural Engineering from the University of California, San Diego.

Dr. Wittich teaches introductory courses in structural analysis, steel design, and computer programming, as well as graduate courses in structural dynamics and remote sensing. She has developed a new course, Infrastructure Assessment Techniques, focused on the practical application and interpretation of laser scanning, digital images, and modal analysis of civil infrastructure.

Dr. Wittich’s research incorporates full-scale testing, numerical simulations, and remote sensing of structural systems to enhance the resilience of civil infrastructure systems to natural hazards. Recent projects have focused on the dynamics of rocking systems, earthquake mitigation for historic structures, seismic hazard estimation based on fragile geologic structures, and remote sensing in post-disaster reconnaissance. For additional information and current research projects, please refer to the research group webpage.

Honors and Awards

  • Holling Family Teaching/Advising/Mentoring Award, UNL College of Engineering, 2021
  • Harold & Esther Edgerton Junior Faculty Award, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2020
  • Olsson Associates Faculty Teaching Award, UNL Civil & Environmental Engineering, 2020
  • Advancing Structural Steel Education Award, American Institute of Steel Construction, 2018
  • Scholar, Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS), 2014 – 2016
  • Association for Women in Science (AWIS) Award, 2015
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship, 2011-2015

Selected Publications

Please refer to the research group webpage or Google Scholar Profile for complete listing.

  • Saifullah, M.K.3­ and Wittich, C.E. (2021). Seismic response of two freestanding statue-pedestal systems during the 2014 South Napa earthquake. Journal of Earthquake Engineering. DOI: 10.1080/13632469.2020.1859004.
  • Stirling, M., Oskin M., Arrowsmith, R., Caklais, A., Grant-Ludwig, L., Kottke, A., King, T., Lozos, J., Madugo, C., McPhillips, D., Rood, R., Sleep, N., and Wittich, C.E. (2020). Evaluation of seismic hazard models with fragile geologic features. Seismological Research Letters. DOI: 10.1785/0220200197.
  • Wang, X., Wittich, C.E., Hutchinson, T.C, Bock. Y, Goldberg, D., Lo, E., and Kuester, F. (2020).  Methodology and validation of a UAV-based video analysis approach for tracking earthquake-induced displacements of buildings. ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CP.1943-5487.0000928.
  • Devkota, K.2, Wittich, C.E., and Wood, R.L. (2020). Case study on the dynamic effects of blast and collapse loads on nearby buildings at the roof level. ASCE Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0001501.
  • Loken, A.1, Wittich, C.E., Brito, L.1, and Saifullah, M.K.3. (2020). Digital reconnaissance and performance assessment of rural infrastructure in 2018 natural hazards. ASCE Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0001460.
  • Mohammadi, M.E., Wood, R.L., and Wittich, C.E. (2019). Non-temporal point cloud analysis for surface damage in civil structures. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information.
  • Liao, Y., Mohammadi, M.E., Wood, R.L., and Wittich, C.E. (2019). Post-fire damage geospatial assessment via point clouds of a highway bridge structure. Structural Health Monitoring Applications Case Studies Archive.
  • Wittich, C.E. and Hutchinson, T.C. (2018). “Rocking Bodies with Arbitrary Interface Defects: Analytical Development and Experimental Verification.” Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 47(1): 69-85.
  • Wittich, C.E. and Hutchinson, T.C. (2017). “Shake Table Tests of Unattached, Asymmetric, Dual-Body Structures.” Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 46(9): 1391-1410.
  • Wittich, C.E. and Hutchinson, T.C. (2016). “Experimental Modal Analysis and Seismic Mitigation of Statue-Pedestal Systems.” Journal of Cultural Heritage, 20(1): 641-648.
  • Wittich, C.E. and Hutchinson, T.C. (2015). “Shake Table Tests of Stiff, Unattached, Asymmetric Structures.” Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 44(14): 2425-2443.
  • Wittich, C.E., Hutchinson, T.C., Wood, R.L., Seracini, M., and Kuester, F. (2015). “Characterization of Full-Scale Human-Form Culturally Important Statues: A Case Study.” Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering (ASCE), 30(3): 05015001.

Recent Presentations

Please refer to the research group webpage or Google Scholar Profile for complete listing.

  • Saifullah, M.K.3 and Wittich, C.E. (2020). System identification and performance of manufactured housing in the US. 2020 National Earthquake Conference, Oral Presentation/Poster Presentation, San Diego, CA, March 4 – 6.
  • Saifullah, M.K.3 and Wittich, C.E. (2019). Post-earthquake assessment and numerical modeling of freestanding heritage structures. 12th Canadian Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Quebec City, QC, June 24-28.
  • Knickerbocker, T.2 and Wittich, C.E. (2019). Efficient intensity measures of slide-rocking structures for precariously balanced rocks. 12th Canadian Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Quebec City, QC, June 24-28.
  • Liao, Y., Wood, R.L., Mohammadi, M.E., Devkota, K.2, and Wittich, C.E. (2019). Damage assessment of a sixteen-story building following the 2017 central Mexico earthquake. 12th Canadian Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Quebec City, QC, June 24-28.
  • Brito, L.1 and Wittich, C.E. (2019). Response of agricultural components and resilience of rural communities to natural hazards. ASCE Structures Congress, Orlando, FL, April 25-27.
  • Devkota, K.2, Wittich, C.E., and Wood, R.L. (2019). Full-scale 13-story building implosion and collapse: effects on adjacent structures. ASCE Structures Congress, Orlando, FL, April 25-27.
  • Barnard, A.1, Saifullah, M.K., and Wittich, C.E. (2019). Scaled shake table tests: free-standing structures with varying footprint geometry. Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physical Sciences, Poster Presentation, Lincoln, NE, November 7 – 9. (**Best Poster Award)
  • Yanez Gonzalez, G.1, Saifullah, M.K.3, and Wittich, C.E. (2019). Resilience of rural infrastructure: shake table tests of scaled silos. Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physical Sciences, Poster Presentation, Lincoln, NE, November 7 – 9.
  • Barnard, A.1, Saifullah, M.K.3, and Wittich, C.E. (2019). Scaled shake table tests: free-standing structures with varying footprint geometry. American Geophysical Union Virtual Poster Showcase, Poster Presentation, Virtual Conference (No Physical Location), November 6 – 19.
  • Wittich, C.E., Saifullah, M.K.3, and Barnard, A1. (2019). Case study evaluation of interface geometry on fragility of precarious rock systems. 2019 Southern California Earthquake Center Annual Meeting, Poster Presentation, Palm Springs, CA, September 9 – 11.
  • Wittich, C.E., Wood, R.L., and Womble, J.A. (2019). Optimizing forensic damage investigations for post-disaster operations. National Tornado Summit & Disaster Symposium, Oral Panel Presentation, Norman, OK, March 4-6. 
  • Wittich, C.E., Wang, X., and Hutchinson, T.C. (2018). UAV-based motion tracking of a full-scale 6-story building during earthquake shaking. 11th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Los Angeles, CA, June 25-29.
  • Wittich, C.E., Hutchinson, T.C., Sandwell, D., and DeSanto, J. (2018). 3-D reconstructions and numerical simulations of precarious rocks in southern California. 11th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Los Angeles, CA, June 25-29.
  • Wittich, C.E. and Hutchinson, T.C. (2017). Experimental validation of a multi-physics model for the seismic response of freestanding structural systems. 16th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Santiago, Chile, January 9-13.