The National Science Foundation plans to invest $19 million to add three components into a network of research facilities dedicated to wind, water and earthquake hazards.
NSF said Wednesday the five-year investment will cover the establishment of a network coordination office; a computational modeling and simulation center; and a post-disaster, rapid response research facility for the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure.
Grace Wang, acting NSF assistant director for engineering, said the planned investment in NHERI will support knowledge on fundamental design that can aid preparedness amid natural hazards such as storm surge, strong winds or seismic activity.
Purdue University will lead work for the network coordination office; the University of California-Berkeley will develop the computational modeling and simulation center; and the University of Washington will establish RAPID, NSF noted.
NSF issued awards in 2015 to build NHERI’s cyber infrastructure and seven experimental facilities.
The foundation works with the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program and the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program in efforts to share knowledge and tools and create resilient designs to protect lives and property.
