Feature Stories Archive
2020
NHERI REU Application Deadline: Feb. 3, 2021(opens a new window)
posted 12-15-20 | If you know undergraduate students who could benefit from the 2021 Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) program, now is the perfect time to encourage them to apply before the upcoming deadline in February.
NEW: EF Proposal Planning Meetings(opens a new window)
posted 12-15-20 | The Education and Community Outreach (ECO) team is helping turn the successful Summer Institute one-on-one virtual meetings into a permanent offering for connecting researchers to experimental facilities.
NHERI Impact in Frontiers in Build Environment(opens a new window)
posted 12-14-20 | The NHERI Network Coordination Office (NCO) has led an effort to publish informational articles in the journal Frontiers in Built Environment. Fifteen of the articles published there have been compiled into a program highlights e-book.
Zekkos Leads GEER Mission for Medicane Ianos(opens a new window)
posted 12-14-20 | Dimitrios Zekkos, associate professor at UC Berkeley, led a Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER) mission to survey damage from Medicane Ianos that impacted Greece in September.
Virtual Tour of LHPOST6(opens a new window)
posted 12-14-20 | While the six-degrees-of-freed upgrades to the Large High Performance Outdoor Shake Table (LHPOST) continue and COVID restrictions prevent on-site visits, UC San Diego staff have provided virtual tours of the facility.
NHERI Community Calendar(opens a new window)
posted 12-14-20 | Plan for upcoming educational, informational, and networking events, by consulting the NHERI events calendar on the DesignSafe website.
DesignSafe Announces Data Publishing Awards(opens a new window)
posted 12-14-20 | THe DesignSafe team recently announced the inaugural DesignSafe Dataset Awards to recognize outstanding datasets published in the DesignSafe Data Depot.
NSF's Joy Pauschke to Speak During 2020 AGU Fall Meeting(opens a new window)
posted 12-9-20 | NHERI's Program Director from NSF, Joy Pauschke, will make a presentation on NSF funding opportunities in natural hazards engineering on December 14th during the 2020 AGU Fall Meeting.
Novel Data Model Available for Field Research in Natural Hazards(opens a new window)
posted 12-8-20 | NSF-funded researchers have recently released a novel data model for field researchers in natural hazards. For the first time, social and behavioral scientists, engineers, and members of interdisciplinary teams have a data model they can use independently or in collaborative projects.
Inaugural DesignSafe Dataset Awards(opens a new window)
posted 12-7-20 | Nominations now open! These awards will recognize outstanding datasets published in the DesignSafe Data Depot between 2017 and 2020. Nominations will be accepted until January 31, 2021.
Natural Hazards Researchers Offer Networking Sessions at 2020 AGU Fall Meeting(opens a new window)
posted 11-20-20 | Representatives of the NSF-funded Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) will be available for formal and informal virtual meetings at the 2020 AGU Fall Meeting, December 1 through 17.
Disaster Database Cemented as Go-To Hub for Natural Hazards Research(opens a new window)
posted 11-12-20 | DesignSafe, the cyberinfrastructure component for the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded NHERI network, has been renewed with a $15.5 million grant to serve the natural hazards research community for another five years.
MECHS Announces Real-Time Hybrid Simulation Publication Library(opens a new window)
posted 11-06-20 | The NSF-funded Multi-Hazard Engineering Collaboratory for Hybrid Simulation virtual community, called MECHS, is now compiling a list of searchable and sortable publications in hybrid simulation.
Engineers Who Engage: The UC Davis Center of Geotechnical Modeling(opens a new window)
posted 11-05-20 | Faculty, staff, and students at the Center for Geotechnical Modeling work hard, and they support each others successes. Follow their exciting work on the CGM Facebook page.
NHERI Publishes Milestone Research Collection(opens a new window)
posted 11-03-20 | The NHERI network has published a new book, NHERI Impact 2020, a 70-page collection of illustrated articles detailing research in the field of natural hazards engineering featuring a wide-range of NSF-funded projects.
NSF-Funded CONVERGE Releases New Training Module: Conducting Emotionally Challenging Research(opens a new window)
posted 09-30-20 | The latest training module from CONVERGE draws on research literature to present personal stories of the emotional experiences that scholars have faced when confronted with the realities of natural hazards events.
Engineers Who Engage: Ahsan Kareem(opens a new window)
posted 09-28-20 | University of Notre Dame Professor Ahsan Kareem is featured as this month's NHERI engineer who engages with the community. In addition to his long career in academia, he is also the co-PI of the NHERI SImCenter.
Hurricane Season 2020 on NHERI Slack Channels(opens a new window)
posted 09-25-20 | During the 2020 hurricane season, NHERI researchers have been working around the clock, and the work of the community on these efforts can be followed in the DesignSafe Slack channels.
Winners of the MECHS Hybrid Simulation Video Competition(opens a new window)
posted 09-25-20 | Graduate and undergraduate students from around the world participated in the "MECHS 3-Minute Thesis" video competition, and the MECHS team has selected the winners!
NSF EAGER Grant to Reexamine Hazard Mitigation During COVID-19 Pandemic(opens a new window)
posted 09-23-20 | Supported by the NSF-NHERI network, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute-led project will explore development of a more flexible research agenda in hazard mitigation through an awarded NSF EAGER grant.
After Hurricane Laura, Recon Teams Capture Perishable Data(opens a new window)
posted 09-04-20 | Teams from the NSF-funded Structural Extreme Events Reconnaissance (StEER) Network deployed immediately after Hurricane Laura landfall to collect vital disaster area data before cleanup and repair efforts could alter it.
Innovation Award for SimCenter's Kareem(opens a new window)
posted 08-25-20 | Wiley-Blackwell publishers announced that the 2019 Hojjat Adeli Award for Innovation in Computing was awarded to Xihaier Luo and the NHERI SimCenter's Ahsan Kareem for their paper on deep convolutional neural networks.
SimCenter Article: Third-Most Read in Earthquake Spectra Journal(opens a new window)
posted 08-25-20 | In the past six months, the third-most read article in Earthquake Spectra highlights the NSF NERHI SimCenter workflow for seismic damage simulation and loss prediction of buildings in an urban area.
2020 Hurricane Season: NSF-Funded Experts Available for Comment(opens a new window)
posted 08-24-20 | For the 202 hurricane season, experts from the NSF-supported NHERI network are available to interested media as sources on hurricane-related topics such as storm surge, damage mitigation techniques, societal impacts, and post-disaster efforts.
Smallegan Awarded 2020 Early-Career Research Fellowship by National Academies' Gulf Research Program(opens a new window)
posted 08-21-20 | Stephanie Smallegan, NHERI community member and assistant professor of Coastal Engineering at the Universiy of South Alabama, is among the recipients of the 2020 Early-Career Research Fellowship awarded by the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM).
Engineers Who Engage: Elaina Sutley(opens a new window)
posted 07-31-20 | Accomplished engineer Elaina Sutley has a large body of published work in the public eye, representing her efforts at the University of Kansas and raising the profile of natural hazards research. She sets an excellent example of how engineers and researchers can impact the world.
NSF, NIST Team Up on Disaster Resilience Research Grants(opens a new window)
posted 07-10-20 | the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) plan to award a total of $3.1 million for scientific and engineering research through the Disaster Resilience Research Grants (DRRG) program.
University of FLorida's Wind Hazard Damage Assessment Group Publishes Three Key Papers(opens a new window)
posted 07-07-20 | Three papers of importance in the field of wind engineering were recently published by David O. Prevatt, PhD, his students and collaborators. Their efforts are helping reduce societal losses through application of their engineering research.
StEER Releases Report on June 23 Oaxaca Earthquake(opens a new window)
posted 07-07-20 | The Structural Extreme Events Reconnaissance (StEER) Network has released its Preliminary Virtual Reconnaissance Report (PVRR) summarizing its findings on the impacts of the 23 June 2020 Mw 7.4 earthquake in Oaxaca, Mexico, prepared by StEER's Virtual Assessment Structural Team (VAST).
Disaster Resilience Research Grants, DRRG(opens a new window)
posted 06-19-20 | NHERI and DesignSafe researches should be aware of Program Solicitation NSF 20-581, Disaster Resilience Research Grants (DRRG), a joint solicitation between the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), and the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST).
MECHS Collaboratory Video Competition(opens a new window)
posted 06-19-20 | The MECHS Collaboratory is pleased to announce the "MECHS 3-minute thesis" Video Competition for students conducting research related to hybrid simulations.
NSF-Funded CONVERGE Releases Institutional Review Board Training Module for Extreme Events Research(opens a new window)
posted 06-18-20 | The NHERI-CONVERGE facility, headquarterd at the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder, is excited to annoucne the release of a new training module that focuses on Institutional Review Board (IRB) procedures for extreme events research.
NHERI Virtual Workshop Slated for Early Career Faculty(opens a new window)
posted 06-03-20 | Early career engineering faculty can discover the research possibilities within the NSF-funded Natural Hazards Engineering Infrastructure (NHERI) at an upcoming webinar, June 29-30, which replaces the annual Summer Institute this year due to COVID-19 concerns.
Call for Participation: NSF/OSEEER Early Career Mentoring Program(opens a new window)
posted 05-07-20 | The NSF EAGER award Operations and Systems Engineering Extreme Event Research (OSEEER) network an affiliate of the NHERI CONVERGE project is calling for particpation in a new Early Career Mentoring (ECM) program. Applications are due by Monday, May 18th.
NHERI User Forum Update: 2020 User Satisfaction Survey, Member Elections(opens a new window)
posted 05-05-20 | The NHERI User Forum committee is hard at work preparing their annual survey to the natural hazards community and election for new committee members. These processes give the community a chance to be heard and have an impact within tthe governance of NHERI.
Updates on the NHERI REU and Summer Institute(opens a new window)
posted 05-05-20 | Given NHERI site closures and travel bans due to the COVID-10 pandemic, the in-person NHERI REU and the Summer Institute for Early Career Faculty have been postponed. The NHERI ECO is preparing details for how both of these programs will continue virtually later this summer.
StEER Reconnaissance Work in the News(opens a new window)
posted 05-05-20 | The Structural Extreme Event Reconnaissance (StEER) network affiliated with the NHERI CONVERGE program was recently featured on the FOX television station of Nashville, Tennessee, to highlight their work on preparing a report of recent tornado damage in the Nashville area.
SimCenter Seeks Feedback on State-of-Art Computational Simulation Report(opens a new window)
posted 05-05-20 | The NHERI SimCenter is updating an important 2019 report on the state of computational simulation and needs vital feedback from the natural hazards community in shaping the 2020 report to better guide the community in how computational simulation can help meet the NHERI Five-Year Science Plan objectives.
A Special Issue in MSSP Dedicated to the RTHS Benchmark Problem(opens a new window)
posted 05-05-20 | The February volume of the Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing journal specially features the study of benchmark problems in Real-Time Hybrid Simulation (RTHS) with guest editors for the special issue from the NHERI MECHS (Multi-Hazard Engineering Collaboratory for Hybrid Simulation) program.
SimCenter: New Software, Application Updates(opens a new window)
posted 05-05-20 | The NHERI SimCenter is hard at work developing new software and updating existing applications to advance the field of natural hazards computation simulation. The SimCenter has released two new educational applications as well as two new tools for artificial intelligence modeling.
Kareem Wins Best Paper for 2019 in ASCE's Journal of Structural Engineering (Structural Hazards)(opens a new window)
posted 05-05-20 | Ahsan Kareem, professor of engineering at Notre Dame and co-PI of the NHERI SimCenter, has won best paper for 2019 in Structural Hazards within the prestigious ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering.
Data Papers and Data Reuse Magnify Research Impact(opens a new window)
posted 04-15-20 | One way the DesignSafe team measures impact is by tracking research papers that cite DesignSafe and the data published on the site. In a recent article, The Impact of Data Reuse, the DesignSafe team details useful and creative ways that researchers are reusing DesignSafe data.
NHERI's Oregon State University EF Hosts Prestigious CERB Group(opens a new window)
posted 03-30-20 | Oregon State University recently hosted the executive session meeting for the Coastal Engineering Research Board, known as CERB, including a reception at the NHERI experimental facility to highlight cutting edge coastal engineering and science research.
Waves Meet Wind at Florida International University(opens a new window)
posted 03-30-20 | In March 2020, faculty and students from the NHERI at OSU experimental facility traveled to Miami for a first-hand look at the NHERI Wall of Wind (WoW) to better understand operations and research capabilities at the FIU facility.
NHERI Science Plan Now Published with DOIs(opens a new window)
posted 03-30-20 | The NHERI Science Plan has now been published to the DesignSafe Data Depot with DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) allowing researchers to include references to the plan in their writings with proper citations.
NSF-Funded CONVERGE Offers Award for COVID-19 Social Science Research(opens a new window)
posted 03-30-20 | Based on the outpouring of interest from the social science research community and the facility's mission to advance convergence science for the benefit of humanity, CONVERGE is offering $1,000 awards to those who wish to launch COVID-19 Working Groups for Public Health and Social Sciences Research.
NSF ECI Program Description Incorporates NHERI Resources(opens a new window)
posted 03-09-20 | The National Science Foundation has revised the description of the Engineering for Civil Infrastructure (ECI) program to directly encourage researchers to include NHERI resources in their proposals and experiments. ECI is an umbrella program for all NSF awards concerning natural hazards damage.
Reconnaissance Mission Aids a Community in Need(opens a new window)
posted 02-25-20 | The Structural Extreme Engineering Reconnaissance (StEER) Network deployed two teams of field researchers to the Bahamas to assess and report on the damage of Hurricane Dorian last September. The teams have reported their findings with the aid of innovative online mapping visualization.
FEMA Report on Hurricane Michael Now Available(opens a new window)
posted 02-24-20 | In late 2018 and early 2019, FEMA's Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration's Building Science Branch deployed a team of assessors to the areas affected by Hurricane Michael. A report of the damage has been released with 69 recommendations of actions to take ahead of future hurricane events.
NHERI's Vielma Joins Faculty at the UTSA College of Engineering(opens a new window)
posted 02-14-20 | Karina Vielma of the NHERI Education and Community Outreach (ECO) office has joined the faculty of the University of Texas at San Antonio in a first-of-its-kind position as assistance professor of engineering education, a position created in a new partnership by both the College of Engineering and the College of Education & Human Development.
Harish Joins SimCenter(opens a new window)
posted 02-14-20 | Dr. Ajay Harish has joined the software development team of the NHERI SimCenter to help their mission of combining interdisciplinary ideas from engineering, mathematics, and computer science to build simulation tools for the natural hazards research community.
Salna Inducted into Meteorologist Hall of Fame(opens a new window)
posted 02-14-20 | Meteorologist Erik Salna who helped construct the NHERI Wall of Wind experimental facility and is key to many hazards research programs at Florida International University has been inducted into the Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center Meteorologist Hall of Fame.
NSF-funded Science Plan for natural hazards mitigation released by NHERI(opens a new window)
posted 01-13-20 | The 2020 edition of the Five-Year Science Plan, spearheaded by NSF's Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI), calls researchers across disciplines to solve the pressing problems that natural hazards present to communities in the U.S. and around the world.