Ottawa invests over $2M to support fashion and clothing SMEs A prototype base isolation system for residential houses has been developed by Professor of Structural Engineering Tim Sullivan and his team and is currently being put through its paces on a ‘shake table’ in UC’s Structural Engineering Laboratory. A room has been specially built for the trial with timber framing and Gib-lined walls on a concrete slab foundation. The structure is positioned on top of the newly developed, steel base isolation units. Underneath this, a shake table – one of the largest in New Zealand – is being used to recreate ground movements recorded at various locations during the damaging Canterbury earthquakes, as well as other strong historical earthquakes and a simulated Alpine Fault quake.