Project Profile
Multidisciplinary Program in Wind Science and Engineering
Texas Tech University
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Abstract
Due to an increase in population and economic development along the coast, our society is increasingly exposed to natural hazards including hurricanes and tornadoes. Every year these hazards cause many fatalities and injuries; major disruption in community lifelines such as power, communication and transportation; and large amounts of property damage… more »
Due to an increase in population and economic development along the coast, our society is increasingly exposed to natural hazards including hurricanes and tornadoes. Every year these hazards cause many fatalities and injuries; major disruption in community lifelines such as power, communication and transportation; and large amounts of property damage. The events of September 11, 2001, showed us that man-made hazards are likely to be part of our lives. Since, such natural and man-made hazards are unpredictable, we can curb losses through careful planning, effective public policies, and good engineering.
The objective of this IGERT program is to produce a cadre of professionals prepared for broader multidisciplinary research, comprehensive planning and balanced decision-making in the future. This objective will be met by integrating graduate research and training in a program that crosses the disciplines of atmospheric science, engineering, and economics leading to an interdisciplinary doctoral degree. The focus of the program is wind science and engineering and associated economics/risk management. Scientist and engineers at Texas Tech University have pursued wind-related research since 1970 when a devastating tornado struck near the university and destroyed much of downtown Lubbock. Over the past three decades the research program has continued to grow in the areas of building response and design, the atmospheric boundary layer and economics/risk management.
With close to twenty faculty members participating in the program, a variety of research projects are in progress at a given time. Some of the research areas are wind characteristics in tornadoes and landfalling hurricanes, post-disaster investigation of building damage and economic losses, deign criteria for shelters, full-scale building response in the field, wind tunnel studies, simulation of damage, forecast for wind power, hurricane evacuation and others. NSF IGERT Fellows will take core courses in atmospheric sciences, wind-related engineering, economic/risk management, ethics and GIS. The fellows will also be trained through a rotation of three laboratory courses in meteorological measurement, wind-related engineering experimentation and statistical analysis of random phenomena. A one-semester internship in a national laboratory, industrial organization or governmental agency is part of the program. This training along with selected courses in a specific discipline will prepare the Fellows to pursue multidisciplinary research in wind science and engineering. The goal is to complete a Ph.D. degree in four to five years after completion of the bachelors degree.
IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the multidisciplinary backgrounds and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. In the fifth year of the program, awards are being made to twenty-one institutions for programs that collectively span the areas of science and engineering supported by NSF. « less
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