Students and faculty members from the University of Miami’s College of Engineering ventured across Biscayne Bay Saturday to Stiltsville, where they learned how to perform visual structural field assessments at the historic site. They also learned triage thinking, climate resilience, and accessibility, as part of these assessments, which are essential to historic preservation projects, said Nina Jean-Louis, a doctoral engineering student and teaching assistant that helped guide students through the assessment.
“This gave engineering students the opportunity to make Stiltsville their classroom,” said Jean-Louis, who worked as a structural engineer in historic preservation for eight years before starting her doctorate at the University.
The trip was also led by faculty members Derin Ural, professor of practice in civil engineering, who teaches a graduate course called “Risk Management and Resilience,” and leads academic initiatives at the Innovation, Technology and Design (ITD) program and David McMillan, research professor of neurological surgery at the Miller School of Medicine, and director of education and outreach at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, who is coteaching an architectural studio this semester on designing a maritime residential structure that is more accessible to the physically disabled. The boat trip was captained and made possible through the generosity of leaders at Shake-a-Leg Miami, a nonprofit based in Coconut Grove, that uses the local marine environment to improve the health and independence of children and adults with physical, developmental, and economic challenges in an accessible setting.
Photos: David McMillan and Derin Ural/University of Miami.
