Michael N. Fardis is professor and director of Structures Laboratory, Civil Engineering Department, University of Patras, Greece. He holds a MSc in civil engineering (1977) and nuclear engineering (1978), and a PhD in structural engineering (1979), all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Fardis has written seven books, edited two books, and co-edited two more. He has also published more than 300 papers in international journals or conference proceedings. In addition, as chairman of the CEN Committee for Eurocode 8: ‘Design of Structures for Earthquake Resistance’ (1999–2005), he led the development of its six parts into European standards. Eduardo C. Carvalho graduated from the Technical University of Lisbon in 1974 as a civil engineer, obtained the specialist degree in structures by the National Laboratory for Civil Engineering (LNEC) in Lisbon in 1980, and was a principal researcher at LNEC for 30 years. He is currently the chairman of Gapres, a structural design office in Lisbon; the chairman of the CEN committee for Eurocode 8: ‘Design of Structures for Earthquake Resistance’ (CEN/TC250/SC8); chairs the Portuguese mirror group for the implementation of Eurocode 8 in Portugal; and is a member of the Technical Council of federation international du béton (fib). Peter Fajfar is a professor of structural and earthquake engineering at the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He obtained his PhD from the University of Ljubljana (1974), and is the leader of the implementation process of Eurocode 8 in Slovenia, the first country to implement Eurocode 8. Fajfar has co-authored the first comprehensive book on earthquake engineering in former Yugoslavia, co-edited three books published by international publishers, and authored several books. In addition, he has also published more than 200 scientific papers in journals and conference proceedings, and participated in more than 100 design projects. Alain Pecker is the president of Géodynamique et Structure, and professor of civil engineering at Ecole des Ponts ParisTech in France. He holds a degree in civil engineering from Ecole des Ponts ParisTech and an MSc from the University of California at Berkeley. He is president of the French committee for the development of seismic design codes, was a member of the drafting panel of EN 1998-5, and has been a consultant to major civil engineering projects in seismic areas worldwide. He has also authored two books, co-authored three books, and presented 130 papers in international journals or conference proceedings.