Civilians and first responders utilize a temporary refuge area established in a parking lot to stay safe during the 2018 Camp Fire in California.
Credit: CAL FIRE
GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have awarded nearly $7.1 million in grants to fund research that will improve the ability of buildings, infrastructure and communities to withstand severe natural hazards. The projects are funded through the Disaster Resilience Research Grant (DRRG) program, which is jointly managed by NIST and NSF.
“These grants support science-based methods of improving resilience, including improved planning, policy, decisions, design, codes and standards,” said Joannie Chin, NIST’s Engineering Laboratory director. “They can also help educate the next generation of engineers and designers and ensure that a diversity of communities is considered and given the tools they need to protect their futures.”
Applicants were asked to consider natural hazards such as hurricanes and tornadoes; sustained rain, coastal and inland flooding, and tsunamis; wildland-urban interface fires; and earthquakes and how communities could reduce their vulnerabilities to them and increase their resilience.
“NSF’s investment aims to reduce the disastrous economic and societal impacts of natural hazards,” said Susan Margulies, NSF’s assistant director for engineering. “Our partnership with NIST accelerates the novel ideas and approaches we support into planning, building codes and decision-making — strengthening our nation’s resilience to natural hazards.”
The eight research projects funded by NIST are:
University of Notre Dame ($400,000)To improve predictions of the impacts storm wave- or current-carried debris could have on elevated structures, to support the goals of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Floo ..
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