Natural Disasters

News about UB’s research and advocacy in extreme events and disaster response. (see all topics)

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  • Ready to Shake: UB to Open New Earthquake-Engineering Simulation Facility
    9/23/04
    A grand opening ceremony for the new National Science Foundation George E. Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) Facility at the University at Buffalo will be held 2 p.m. tomorrow (Friday, September 24, 2004) in Ketter Hall on the University at Buffalo's North (Amherst) Campus.
  • Andre Filiatrault Named Deputy Director of Earthquake Engineering Research Center at UB
    9/12/03
    Andre Filiatrault, Ph.D. -- a leading expert on shake-table testing of structural and nonstructural building components, including electrical substation equipment -- has been named deputy director of the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) headquartered at the University at Buffalo. MCEER is a National Science Foundation "Center of Excellence" in earthquake engineering.
  • Michel Bruneau Named Director of Earthquake Engineering Research Center at UB
    7/24/03
    Michel Bruneau, Ph.D., a leading expert on earthquake-resistant design and retrofit of buildings and infrastructure, has been named director of the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) headquartered at the University at Buffalo. MCEER is a National Science Foundation "Center of Excellence" in earthquake engineering.
  • UB Scientists to Discuss Urban Earthquake Risks
    7/19/02
    More than 800 of the world's leading earthquake specialists, including scientists from the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) headquartered at the University at Buffalo, will discuss urban earthquake risks at the Seventh U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering to be held in Boston on July 22-25.
  • Improving U.S. Resiliency and Response to Terrorist Attacks
    6/21/02
    Leading researchers in the fields of earthquake and blast engineering, as well as social scientists with expertise in disaster response, are gathering in New York City today to examine the events of 9/11 and explore ways to make structures more resistant to terrorist attacks and reduce risk to inhabitants and emergency responders. During a two-day workshop, organized by the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, headquartered at the University at Buffalo, the researchers are discussing lessons learned from the September 11 attack and will offer recommendations for how government leaders, engineers, emergency personnel and private citizens might better prepare for future terrorist attacks.
  • Scientists to Discuss How Earthquake Engineering Practices Can Be Used to Design Terrorism-Resistant Buildings
    6/5/02
    Structural engineers from the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER), headquartered at the University at Buffalo, will gather in New York City later this month to discuss how earthquake-engineering practices and blast-resistant designs can be used to create "terror-resistant" buildings.Their analysis will be part of a two-day workshop, "Lessons from the World Trade Center Terrorist Attack: Management of Complex Civil Emergencies & Terrorism-Resistant Civil Engineering Design," on June 24 and 25.
  • Au Sable Earthquake Points Out Need for Seismic Retrofitting Throughout New York State
    4/23/02
    Though the damage was relatively minor, Saturday's earthquake in Au Sable Falls, N.Y., points out the need for upgrading structures throughout New York State so they are better able to withstand future earthquakes, says an earthquake-engineering researcher at the University at Buffalo.
  • UB Researchers Developing Automated Systems for Improving Post-Disaster Emergency Response
    11/12/01
    The science of efficiently organizing and interpreting massive amounts of information -- a relatively new field called information fusion that originated from military applications -- is for the first time being applied to manmade and natural disasters by researchers at the University at Buffalo.
  • Team Focusing on How Earthquake-Engineering Techniques Can Help Buildings Better Withstand Terrorist Attacks
    10/3/01
    In the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, structural engineers are grappling with a question that a month ago would have been completely unthinkable: Can buildings be designed to withstand catastrophic blasts inflicted by terrorists? Ten days after the terrorist attacks on the twin towers, structural engineers from the University at Buffalo and the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research headquartered at UB traveled to ground zero as part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation.
  • $10.5 Million from NSF, $6 Million SUNY Investment to Bolster UB Earthquake-Engineering Research
    2/3/01
    The University at Buffalo's Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering has been awarded $16.5 million in federal and state funding to develop the world's most versatile earthquake engineering research facility designed to provide testing capabilities that will revolutionize the understanding of how even very large structures behave during earthquakes.