Welcome to visiting graduate student Thierry Beland, who is here on a travel fellowship sponsored by the province of Quebec.  He is a PhD candidate in the Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering at Ecole Polytechnique Montreal.  Thierry received his BS in Civil Engineering from Sherbrooke University and his MS in Civil Engineering from Poly.  He is working under the supervision of Prof. Robert Tremblay (Poly) and Prof. Larry Fahnestock, and is investigating the contribution of seismic resistance offered by gravity frames in concentrically braced frame buildings of conventional construction (Type CC in the Canadian building code).  This research is closely related to the ongoing project NEESR: Reserve Capacity in New and Existing Low-Ductility Steel Braced Frames.