Using AI to Analyze Engineering Failures and Resilience

In this assignment, students analyzed the Fukushima nuclear disaster using Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering and Resilience Engineering frameworks. They evaluated the causes of failure, compared their analysis with Gemini-generated responses to identify AI hallucinations, and investigated post-Fukushima technological advancements.

Authors: 

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department

  • Kurt Walter Soncco Sinchi, PhD student
  • SoungEil Houng, PhD student
  • Mohamad Mahdi Hallal, Assistant Professor
  • Luis Alfredo Ceferino Rojas, Assistant Professor
  • Kenichi Soga, Professor

Course Number & Title: CIVENG170A/270A, Infrastructure Sensing and Modeling 

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Details
Assignment Title
 		Using AI to Analyze Engineering Failures and Resilience
Delivery FormatIn-person
Learning Objectives
  • Develop effective prompts to leverage GenAI for complex engineering analysis, technical research, and design assistance.
  • Critically evaluate AI-generated engineering outputs, identify potential hallucinations or inconsistencies, and discern the limits of AI reliability when applied to professional standards.
  • Apply the frameworks of Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering (PBEE) and Resilience Engineering (RE) to diagnose critical infrastructure vulnerabilities and evaluate system robustness.
  • Synthesize historical failure data with modern engineering advancements to assess the evolution of global safety practices and technological strategies over time.
Brief Summary of AssignmentThis assignment analyzes the Fukushima nuclear disaster using the frameworks of Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering (PBEE) and Resilience Engineering (RE). It tasks students with assessing failure causes, identifying critical components, and comparing personal analysis against GenAI (Gemini)-generated responses to detect hallucinations. By integrating academic papers with AI insights, students refine their understanding of engineering resilience and investigate post-Fukushima technological advancements, emphasizing the necessity of critical verification for all AI-provided information.
Guardrails Shared with StudentsN/A
Assignment Details
Content tags