Center Research
The ultimate vision of MCEER is to help establish disaster resilient
communities.
This vision, along with MCEER's focus on engineered systems, are embodied
in our mission statement:
The overall mission of MCEER
is to be a leading multidisciplinary research center that focuses on the development of innovative and integrated solutions to enhance the resilience of infrastructure against extreme events (natural disasters, technological disasters, and acts of terrorism against our society), and is known worldwide for its ability to deliver superior products on time and budget to its sponsors.
The vision and mission statements are built on our strong legacy of research in earthquake engineering, conducted through the following projects.
Major Research Activities
MCEER's research is conducted under the sponsorship of two major federal agencies: the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the State of New York through the University at Buffalo. Significant support is derived from the Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency (DHS-FEMA), other state governments, academic institutions, foreign governments and private industry.
National Science Foundation-sponsored research seeks to increase resilience by developing seismic evaluation and rehabilitation strategies for the post-disaster facilities and systems that society expects to be operational following an earthquake; and to further enhance resilience by developing improved emergency management capabilities to ensure an effective response and recovery in the aftermath of a disaster. The program is divided in several major research thrust areas:
- Seismic evaluation and retrofit of lifeline
systems (Thrust Area 1)
- Seismic retrofit of acute care facilities (Thrust Area 2)
- Response and recovery (Thrust Area 3)
- Mitigation of infrastructure against multi-hazard extreme
events
- Overarching Center-wide cross program research activities
- User networks
Federal Highway Administration-sponsored Highway Project develops improved seismic design, evaluation, and retrofit methodologies and strategies for new and existing bridges and other highway structures, and for assessing the seismic performance of highway systems. The FHWA has sponsored three major contracts with MCEER under the Highway Project, two of which were initiated in 1992 and the third in 1998. The current program, "Seismic Vulnerability of the Highway System" focuses on the following topics:
- Development of formal loss estimation technologies and methodologies for highway systems
- Analysis, design, detailing, and retrofitting technologies for special bridges, including those with flexible superstructures (e.g., trusses), those supported by steel tower substructures, and cable-supported bridges (e.g., suspension and cable-stayed bridges)
- Seismic response and modification device technologies (e.g., hysteretic dampers, isolation bearings)
- Soil behavior, foundation behavior and ground motion studies for large bridges
Other Projects with Industry
Electrical Utilities Consortium (EUC)
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
Other Major Research Projects with MCEER Involvement
The George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering
Simulation (NEES):
Four MCEER-affiliated institutions with large-scale experimental testing capabilities, the University
at Buffalo (UB), University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute (RPI) and Cornell University are home to NEES laboratories. Many MCEER investigators are playing key roles in the on-going development and operation of NEES. MCEER plans to become both a major user
of the NEES facilities, and a facilitator of multi-institute research
using these facilities.
Resources and Tools
MCEER offers many tools and resources to share the results of its research
with investigators and practitioners including:
