Professor Eskijian

Contact information Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Southern California 3620 S. Vermont Avenue, KAP 210 Los Angeles, CA 90089-2531   Tel:  (213) 740-0603 main office Fax: (213) 744-1426 Email: eskijian@usc.edu  Work Web

Biographical information

B.S. — 1969 — Civil Engineering — University of Southern California
M.S. — 1970 — Applied Mechanics — University of Southern California
Engineer — 1976 — Civil Engineering — University of Southern California
M.S. — 1983 — Petroleum Engineering — University of Southern California

Civil Engineering, California
Petroleum Engineering, Texas

Association Memberships

• American Society of Civil Engineers
• Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
• Society of Petroleum Engineers
• Chairman, TS-13 Task Group on Piers and Wharves (2002-2004, NEHRP)
• Member, ASCE National Committee on Ports and Harbors
• Member, ASCE Technical Committee on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering - Ports and Harbors
• Member, Civil Engineering Technical Advisory Committee, Board of Professional Engineers, California
• Member, Lifeline Subcommittee of California Strong Motion Instrumentation Program (CSMIP)

Professional Experience

Mr. Eskijian is the supervisor of the Engineering Branch of the Marine Facilities Division of the California State Lands Commission.  He has worked for the Commission for the past 22 years, and for the past 14 has been associated with the Marine Facilities Division.  He is responsible for the creation and development of the "Marine Oil Terminal Engineering and Maintenance Standards" or MOTEMS, which is now an enforceable part of the California Building Code.   His current activities include a parallel effort for offshore LNG terminals along California's coast. 

Prior to this work, Mr. Eskijian was responsible for the structural integrity of oil platforms in California's waters, and was a part of the American Petroleum Institute (API) team to develop requalification standards for geriatric oil platforms.  During this time, he analyzed the platforms in California waters. 

Prior to joining the Commission, Mr. Eskijian worked for the Aerospace Corporation for seven years as a Member of the Technical Staff involved in seismic criteria for offshore platforms, and nonlinear dynamic analyses for classified programs.  Prior to that, Mr. Eskijian worked for Bechtel Power Corporation and was involved in the seismic analyses of nuclear containment structures around the world, and was the lead design/analyst for a steel turbine buildling in New Zealand.

Mr. Eskijian has participated in a number of port/harbor damage assessment surveys, including the Kobe, Japan earthquake of 1995, the Izmit, Turkey earthquake of 1999, and more recently the Sumatra earthquake/tsunami  of 2004.  His interest is in the behavior of port and harbor structures, subjected to earthquake and tsunami forces. 

Recent Honor

"Professional Achievement Award" from the Professional Engineers in California Government 1998

Recent Publications

"Port and Harbor Damage from December 26, 2004 Tsunami and Earthquake - South India and the Andaman Islands," presented at the 8th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, April 2006, San Francisco.

"Guidelines for the Periodic Inspection of  Marine Oil Terminals," co-authored with Gayle Johnson and William Bruin, presented at ASCE Ports 2004 Conference,  Houston, Texas,  April 2004.

"Mitigation of Seismic and Meterological Hazards to Marine Oil Terminals and Other Pier and Wharf Structures in California," presented at the Hazards 2002 Conference, Antalya, Turkey, October 2002; paper won the "Aykut Barka Award."

"New Engineering Standards for Marine Oil Terminal Design and Maintenance," co-authored with Ron Heffron and Thomas Dahlgren, presented at ASCE Ports 2001 Conference, Norfolk, Virginia, May 2001.

"Structural Monitoring and Control of Marine Oil Terminals in California," presented at the Second European Conference on Structural Control, Paris, France, July 2000.

"The Kobe, Japan Earthquake and Lessons for Port Facilities in California," presented at the California and World Ocean '97" in San Diego, California, March 1997.

"Monitoring and Structural Reassessment of Aging Offshore Platforms:  The Regulator's Viewpoint," co-authored with Leslie  Monahan, presented at the First World Conference on Structural Control, Pasadena, California, 1994.

"A Decision Model for  a Multi-Point Mooring of a Tanker with Tug Assist," presented at the PSAM II Conference, San Diego, California, March 1993.

"Requalification of an Older California Platform: API and Risk Based Approaches," co-authored with Tom Miller, Dan Dolan, Mike Craig, OTC Paper 6648, presented at the Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, Texas, May 1991.

(The above referenced papers are a partial list)