Rensselaer Joins 14 Universities Across the U.S. To Form Earthquake Engineering Consortium
Rensselaer has joined 14 other universities in the United States to form the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The consortium is connected via a high-performance Internet network designed to shift the emphasis of earthquake engineering research and education from traditional physical testing to integrated experimentation and model-based simulation.
Rensselaer’s Geotechnical Centrifuge Research Center now includes an upgraded geotechnical centrifuge, several labs, and a state-of-the-art computer operations center and teleconferencing room where consortium members will interact in real time and perform integrated research via the NEES network called the NEESgrid. The facility upgrades were funded through NSF grants totaling more than $3 million. Rensselaer will receive an additional $4.5 million in NSF funding over the next five years to support operations and shared use of the facility. Rensselaer invested $150,000 for renovations of the center and has committed an additional $500,000 over the next 10 years for operational expenses.
Rensselaer will share resources with other sites while participating in remote observation and operation, of experiments through the NEESgrid, said Ricardo Dobry, director of the Geotechnical Centrifuge Research Center and professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rensselaer.
“The collaborative research will help lead to better, safer, and more economical designs for our country’s infrastructure, while creating a national resource for earthquake research and education,” said Dobry.
Applications for Rensselaer’s earthquake research include the development of seismic code requirements and seismic guidelines for buildings, bridges, and other structures, said Dobry.
In addition to Dobry, key faculty associated with the center include Tarek Abdoun, associate director of the center and assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering; Mourad Zeghal, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering; and Thomas Zimmie, professor of civil and environmental engineering. Other faculty associated with Rensselaer’s NEES operation and NEES-related research are Michael O’Rourke, professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Michael Symans, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.
Rensselaer marked the completion of its facility upgrade and the beginning of this new phase of the research partnership by hosting a tour of its facility, located in the J. Erik Jonsson Engineering Center. The Nov. 15 event was part of a network-wide kickoff of the collaboration, including a national briefing held at NSF headquarters in Arlington, Va., marking the beginning of operational funding for the NEES project, which runs through 2014.
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