Natural Disasters

David C. Duchscherer, PE, president, Wendel Duchscherer Architects and Engineers of Amherst, was honored as the University at Buffalo Engineering Alumni Association's 2009 Engineer of the Year: Shaping the Way People Move.

In 2007, University at Buffalo computer scientist Sargur Srihari, Ph.D., one of the world's experts on pattern recognition and its application to fingerprints and handwriting, was selected by the National Academy of Sciences to serve with other national experts on its Committee on Identifying the Needs of the Forensic Science Community. The NAS released the panel's findings in a report called "Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward"

After a collective trauma, such as Thursday's crash of Continental Flight 3407, an entire community (or even the nation) can be exposed to the tragedy through media coverage and second-hand accounts, according to Mark Seery, Ph.D., University at Buffalo assistant professor of psychology.

Snow that blows and drifts across roadways has long troubled road maintenance crews and commuters alike, creating treacherous driving conditions and requiring additional maintenance resources to mitigate the problem. Now, a University at Buffalo engineer has led the development of "SnowMan," a user-friendly, desktop software package that puts cost-effective solutions to the snow drift problem at the fingertips of highway designers and road maintenance personnel.

News of any earthquake spreads quickly among the dozens of earthquake engineering researchers and students at the University at Buffalo. But Wednesday's magnitude 6.4 quake in southwest Pakistan held particular interest for two researchers visiting UB and MCEER this semester from Pakistan's NWFP University of Engineering and Technology in Peshawar.

A new transportation research specialization at the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences will provide New York State's government agencies and municipalities with access to innovative technologies and systems that address critical transportation issues facing the region and the nation.

Andre Filiatrault, Ph.D., Eng., a professor at the University at Buffalo and leading expert on shake-table testing of structural and nonstructural building components, has been elected to a two-year term as director of MCEER, a national center of excellence focused on multi-hazard engineering, headquartered at UB.

In the case of an extreme event or disaster, many areas in upstate New York are ill prepared for a large-scale evacuation of people who don't own personal vehicles, says a University at Buffalo transportation and evacuation expert.

People who live in flood-prone areas naturally aren't thrilled about the uncertainty they must cope with each hurricane season, but research conducted by a University at Buffalo engineer is based on the idea that a better understanding of this uncertainty is key to helping mitigate damage from floods.

So far, reports from the field suggest that the mandatory evacuation of New Orleans in advance of Hurricane Gustav is proceeding in a reasonable manner, says a University at Buffalo researcher who spent eight days in New Orleans in 2005 studying evacuation plans and decision making in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.