A seismic engineer, his studies have allowed the construction of buildings of great height, dams and nuclear power stations in regions of the planet where there is a risk of earthquakes.
Born in Mexico sixty-five years ago at the time of writing. Emilio Rosenblueth has spent thirty years dedicated to the investigation of seismic phenomena, and particularly to the study of the behaviour of buildings when faced with earthquakes. He has also taught for the last three decades at the Institute of Civil Engineering of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He his a doctor of the University of Illinois, USA, ex-vice-minister of education of his country, advisor to UNESCO and to the Organisation of American States (OAS) in seismic and scientific research matters, and has taken part as a quest lecturer and advisor in scientific programmes in Canada, Great Britain, China, the United States, and other Latin-American, asiatic and Mediterranean European countries. In 1985 he was honoured with the title of National Researcher, the maximum decoration granted to a scientist in his country.
A member of a family of outstanding researchers, he became interested in seismic phenomenology due to Mexico's own location in one of the most active earthquake areas of the globe. In his opinion the design of structures for buildings in seismic risk areas, is not only a technical question, but also an ethical one, as the engineer is forced to take decisions which have repercussions for society. This belief leads him to a commitment, considered as a humanistic aspect of his work, which he sees as a form of social contract.
His speciality, Anti-Seismic Engineering, is currently of great importance. Research in this field is being carried on on three fronts: the probability description of the seismicity and frequency of the occurrence of tremors; the study of soil dynamics; and the design of ideal structures to resist these movements. With the progress of these three aspects buildings are ever-safer in seismic high risk areas. Thanks to the latest studies, and in large part due to the discoveries of professor Rosenblueth, it has been possible to construct buildings of considerable height, dams and such complex constructions as nuclear power stations, which require structures of absolute precision and safety, in countries periodically affected by earth tremors.
Emilio Rosenblueth has applied probability calculus to this and other fields of engineering. His works have been taken as a point of reference for the drafting of guidance regulations for the construction of buildings, the parameters for which vary with the future use of the building, the type of terrain upon which it stands and its seismicity.