JAMA launched an in-house Research and Development Division with the addition of Dr. Farzad Naeim. Respected by scientific and engineering communities worldwide, JAMA was subsequently awarded local and national agency-sponsored research grants to study earthquakes and their impact on seismic design practices, to develop the first multi-media earthquake encyclopedia for the State of California, and produce textbooks, lectures, and white papers on seismic design and structural engineering used in engineering schools.