Relief Efforts Underway for Haiti Earthquake Victims
UN Photo/Logan Abassi
Downtown Port-au-Prince after a 7.0M earthquake on January 12, 2010.
Following the 7.0M earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, MCEER became involved in
coordinating relief efforts. MCEER and the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG) teamed up to dispatch a relief team of French-speaking structural engineers to evaluate the structural stability of hospitals and other crucial infrastructure in the earthquake-stricken region. The team of engineers, which includes MCEER Director Andre Filiatrault, arrived in Haiti on January 21. More
Read a companion article published by the University at Buffalo News Center on MCEER's participation in relief efforts.
AIDG has launched a special fundraising campaign to cover the cost associated with the relief mission. Donations can be sent by check (please note "Haiti Structural Analysis Fund" or "Haiti Relief Fund” on check) to AIDG, P.O. Box 104, Weston, MA 02493 or donate by credit card.
Virtual Disaster Viewer Used to Disseminate Images from Haiti Earthquake
Beginning on January 20, 2010, a World Bank-ImageCat-RIT airborne remote sensing data collection, disseminated by MCEER, began over the earthquake stricken regions of Haiti. The reconnaissance involves daily flights over a five day period to collect remote sensing imagery in the visible and infrared, as well as light detection and ranging (LiDAR) topography in the area around Port au Prince, Haiti. The data collected each day will be processed and made available through the Virtual Disaster Viewer on the MCEER website. More
Additional MCEER Resources on the Haiti Earthquake:
MCEER's 2010 Haiti Earthquake Profile includes information about the relief effort, research and media articles about MCEER's response to the disaster.
MCEER's Information Services has compiled an extensive listing of facts, maps, imagery and news related to the Haiti disaster.
Damage Assessment Project - Read about how Chris Renschler and his students are helping assess damage in Haiti using images hosted by Google Earth and Virtual Disaster Viewer.
Speaker to Present Evolution of AASHTO Bridge Design
Specifications
Monday, February 8, 2010 Room Update: The class will now be held in Clemens Hall, Room 120.
John Kulicki, Chairman & CEO of Modjeski & Masters, Inc., will give a talk on the "Evolution of AASHTO Bridge Design Specifications" as the next speaker in the Bridge Engineering Distinguished Speaker Series. Kulicki will trace the issues and decisions that led to the development of the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications. He will describe the major changes and additions since initial adoption. The presentation will then shift to how lessons learned from natural disasters and bridge failures have influenced bridge design and evaluation specifications and policies.
Distinguished Speaker Series Features Experts in Bridge Engineering
Some of the nation's leading experts in the field of bridge engineering will visit UB this spring as part of a new Bridge Engineering Distinguished Speaker Series. Held on Monday evenings at 5:00 pm, the presentations will cover a wide variety of topics in bridge engineering, including project development, public policy and learning from bridge failures. The series was established in collaboration with AASHTO’s Subcommittee on Bridges & Structures, and with the support of the Federal Highway Administration. For more information, visit http://mceer.buffalo.edu/education/Bridge_Speaker_Series/default.asp.
Measuring Community Resilience is Aim of NIST-Sponsored Project
MCEER investigators are expanding the resilience concept to establish a framework to measure the disaster resilience of communities in a new project sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). "A Framework for Defining and Measuring Disaster Resilience at the Community Scale" will build on previous research at MCEER linking the four resilience properties (robustness, redundancy, resourcefulness, and rapidity) and resilience dimensions (technical, organizational, societal, and economic). Andrei Reinhorn, University at Buffalo, is the principal investigator of the project.
MCEER and Calspan Partner for Full-Scale Bridge Test
In partnership with Calspan, MCEER will develop two full-scale bridge tests at Calspan’s 700-acreAshford facility. The Ashford facility will enable Center researchers to subject two adjacent single lane bridges equipped with state-of-the art isolation technologies to harsh, real-world conditions and earthquake vibrations.
The MCEER-Calspan partnership will leverage the infrastructure-research skills of MCEER with the testing expertise of Calspan Corporation, internationally recognized for its rich heritage of innovation and proven excellence in technology and science.
MCEER Research Focuses on Improving Earthquake Response of Substation Equipment
MCEER researchers are working on a series of studies supported by $1.2 million from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the California Energy Commission (CEC). The research will continue a long-time MCEER focus on the seismic resilience of electric power substation equipment. The projects are led by Andrei Reinhorn, in collaboration with Andre Filiatrault and Michael Constantinou. They also include a project advisory committee comprising industry participants that will provide continuing guidance to the research program.
Some of the nation's leading experts in the field of bridge engineering will visit UB this spring as part of a new Bridge Engineering Distinguished Speaker Series. Held on Monday evenings at 5:00 pm, the presentations will cover a wide variety of topics in bridge engineering, including project development, public policy and learning from bridge failures. The series was established in collaboration with AASHTO’s Subcommittee on Bridges & Structures, and with the support of the Federal Highway Administration. For more information, visit 
MCEER researchers are working on a 
