FOR RELEASE: Oct. 13, 1997
Contact: Blaine P. Friedlander, Jr.
Office: (607) 255-3290
Internet: [email protected]
Compuserve: Bill Steele, 72650,565
http://www.news.cornell.edu
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Earthquake researchers at Cornell University will share in
a $10 million grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to the
University at Buffalo's National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research
(NCEER). New York state will provide matching funds of an additional $10
million over five years.
Cornell's portion of the funding, estimated to be between $600,000 and $1
million annually for five years, will support the Cornell researchers' work
for the Center for Advanced Technologies in Earthquake Loss Reduction at
Buffalo.
"This will advance earthquake engineering and help us to reduce devastating
losses following earthquakes," said Thomas D. O'Rourke, Cornell professor
of civil and environmental engineering. "Past research efforts have helped
us to develop more effective emergency response systems."
Announced Oct. 6 in Washington, D.C., the $10 million grant provided to the
center in Buffalo is part of a $30 million federal commitment by the NSF to
expand earthquake research, and the remainder of the $30 million is being
used to fund three other earthquake engineering research centers.
The earthquake research facility in Buffalo, the oldest of the research
centers, has been in existence for 11 years. Centers being funded for the
first time include the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center, with
headquarters at the University of California at Berkeley, and the
Mid-America Earthquake Center, with headquarters at the University of
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Funding in the past has enabled Cornell engineers to study, predict and
reduce the vulnerability of structures and lifeline systems during an
earthquake.
Prior to the Loma Prieta earthquake in California in 1989 -- which struck
minutes before a World Series game between the San Francisco Giants and the
Oakland Athletics -- O'Rourke and Mircea Grigoriu, Cornell professor of
civil and environmental engineering, had studied the effects of the water
pipelines in the San Francisco area and determined that parts of the water
systems were vulnerable to devastating damage. Their study was used by the
fire department for effective emergency operations.
O'Rourke also visited Kobe, Japan, immediately after the 1995 earthquake as
part of NSF and National Institute of Standards and Technology efforts to
study geotechnical aspects and the performance of lifelines during and
after an earthquake. Following the 1994 Northridge, Calif., earthquake,
the professor worked with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to
develop a "digitized" water pipeline network. O'Rourke and his engineering
students helped to create a Geographic Information System (GIS) for more
than 11,000 kilometers of water pipelines so that if another earthquake
strikes, the company can quickly identify trouble spots in the network.
"Our new Earthquake Engineering Research Center will focus on developing
the advanced technologies needed to predict more accurately the behavior of
complete structural systems as they respond to earthquake ground motions,"
said Cornell Professor Richard White, a structural engineer in the School
of Civil and Environmental Engineering and one of four co-principal
investigators on the University of Buffalo proposal to NSF. He spoke on
behalf of his colleagues in structural engineering also involved in
Cornell's seismic engineering research program; they are Grigoriu,
professors Anthony Ingraffea, John Abel and associate professor Gregory
Deierlein. "One of the major thrusts will be to develop advanced
computational capabilities that can include all important elements of the
building or infrastructure facility under study, in a manner analogous to
the auto industry's recently developed computer simulation of
crash-worthiness testing of automobiles," White said.
George C. Lee, director of NCEER, said that under the NSF grant, the center
will intensify research in three areas: First, the center will quantify
earthquake threat by developing methods to better estimate losses from
future earthquakes; next, it will explore and develop new technologies,
such as high-performance computing, sensors and "smart" materials, to
bolster critical buildings and lifelines during earthquake events; and
finally, the center will seek to improve the effectiveness of emergency
response and crisis management through the use of advanced technologies.
In addition to the University of Buffalo and Cornell, other participating
research institutions include: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; the
Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware; EQE Center for
Advanced Planning and Research in Irvine, Calif.; University of Nevada at
Reno; University of Southern California; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University; and the Wharton Risk and Decision Process Center at the
University of Pennsylvania.
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