On Friday, Feb. 24, Fairfield Prep students in engineering class learned about seismic waves and how to design earthquake-proof buildings in the McLeod Innovation Center.

The students were challenged with creating a structure that could withstand the sheer forces of an earthquake. Mike Lonergan, an engineer from Lockheed Martin, visited Prep to test students' earthquake-proof buildings using a shake table that simulates an earthquake. 

Each group had to place their building on the shake test and pass a displacement test. Mr. Lonergan also offered feedback on the designs and how the students could adjust their designs to withstand damage.

View a video of the exercise below.