Moore Medical Center in Oklahoma following the Newcastle-Moore tornado, May 20, 2013. New grants awarded by NIST and NSF will support research into making buildings more resilient to natural disasters.
Credit: NIST
GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have awarded more than $7.6 million in grants to fund research that will improve the ability of buildings, infrastructure and communities to hold strong against natural hazards. The agencies are funding 20 projects to be conducted across 24 institutions through the Disaster Resilience Research Grant (DRRG) program, which they manage together.
“Each year, U.S. communities are increasingly impacted by disastrous natural hazards, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires,” said Joannie Chin, NIST’s Engineering Laboratory director. “While we can’t eliminate these tragic events, we can help communities reduce their vulnerabilities and increase their resilience with science-based resources. These awards will support efforts to unlock fundamental scientific and engineering insights that will enhance building designs, codes and standards.”
To identify the grant recipients, panels of reviewers with expertise in wildland-urban interface (WUI) fires, earthquakes, windstorms or community resilience assessed 260 applications. Of the 20 selected research projects, the eight funded by NIST are:
Arizona State University ($400,000)For a thorough assessment of practices that would allow infrastructure systems to continue operating at a lower capacity when struck by windstorms. The research project also aims to establish methods of simulating the long-term performance of infrastructure under either current or future climate conditions.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute ($399,999)For an investigation into how small burning debris, called embers or firebrands, are generated and carried through the air. The analysis could prov ..
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