He was the first Indonesian engineer who was sent by the Indonesian government to specifically study earthquake engineering in Japan in 1962. After returning from Japan, he consistently pursues earthquake engineering for high-rise as well as non-engineered buildings in Indonesia.
He introduced the first earthquake resistant design code of buildings for Indonesia, and also the analysis of earthquake resistant buildings manually and subsequently using computers. He followed the development of earthquake engineering analysis and design, and he introduced the analysis from Strength Based Design to Performance Based Design. He introduced how to retrofit buildings damaged by earthquakes since 1992.
He founded PT Teddy Boen Konsultan in 1975, a structural engineering consultant, and as channel partner of CSI America in Indonesia. Later on, the company name has changed to be PT Teddy Boen Komputer.
Since 1964, he has published numerous papers, manuals related to earthquake resistant design concerning engineered as well as non-engineered construction, teached in various universities, and gave talks at numerous workshop, seminars, also published papers in journals.
Throughout of his life, he was chasing the earthquakes, surveyed and documented areas stricken by earthquakes, especially in Indonesia, and also in several places in other countries. The results was published in the book “Learning from Earthquakes Damage: Non-Engineered Construction in Indonesia”
At the end of his life, he still dedicated himself to construction of earthquake-resistant houses using ferrocement layers, a technology that applied to build back better and/or retrofit the houses in earthquake areas, as he extensively detailed in his 2014 dissertation.
He left behind a legacy of spirit for the younger generations, inspiring them to become valuable contributors to their community, nation, and country.
