Natural Disasters

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

Meet an Expert
  • Sustainable Transportation is Focus of IBM Grant Won by UB Professor
    5/5/11
    Each year, American drivers waste an estimated 3.7 billion hours, or the equivalent of five days, sitting in traffic, burning 2.3 billion gallons of fuel. Students at the University at Buffalo will soon be learning how to reduce that waste, creating less congestion and cleaner air, thanks to an IBM grant to Adel Sadek, PhD, UB associate professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering.
  • ASCE Awards UB's Reinhorn with the 2011 Nathan M. Newmark Medal
    5/3/11
    The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has chosen Andrei M. Reinhorn, PhD, Clifford C. Furnas Professor of Structural Engineering at the University at Buffalo, to receive the 2011 Nathan M. Newmark Medal.
  • Avoiding Outer-Space Collisions Is Focus of Air Force-Funded Research by UB's Puneet Singla
    4/21/11
    Puneet Singla, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University at Buffalo, was recently chosen to receive a prestigious Air Force Office of Scientific Research award to develop more robust mathematical models to assess space situational awareness. The highly competitive Young Investigators Research Program award will fund Singla's research into "Information Collection and Fusion for Space Situational Awareness."
  • To Learn How to Rebuild, Haitian Engineers from Government and Industry Attend Earthquake Engineering Seminars in Record Numbers
    3/17/11
    The outcome of Haiti's March 20 presidential election will determine much of the country's political future, but this week, more than 250 Haitian architects and engineers will take the future of Haiti's reconstruction into their own hands when they attend the third UniQ-UB/MCEER Earthquake Engineering Seminar in Port-au-Prince.
  • Japanese Tsunami's Effects Will Change How and Where Future Nuclear Power Plants are Built
    3/15/11
    The design of next-generation nuclear power plants and other critical energy facilities will undoubtedly be influenced by the Japanese tsunami and its devastating effects on Japan's nuclear reactors, says Michael C. Constantinou, PhD, professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering at the University at Buffalo.
  • Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami Created a 'Cascading Event'
    3/14/11
    The magnitude 9.0 earthquake off the coast of northern Japan and the tsunami it triggered demonstrate the need for an integrated approach to preparing for, mitigating and responding to extreme events, say researchers at the University at Buffalo, MCEER and the UB Center for GeoHazards Studies, who spoke to media in a briefing Friday on UB's North Campus. Video commentary from UB faculty experts is available here: http://bit.ly/eeUn1S
  • UB Scientists and Earthquake Engineers to Discuss Huge Japanese Quake
    3/11/11
    Scientists and engineers at the University at Buffalo and UB's MCEER (Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research) will be available to discuss with media the powerful magnitude 8.9 earthquake that struck the northern coast of Japan and has triggered tsunamis and evacuations throughout half the world.
  • Haitian Native, an Earthquake Engineering Student, Puts Training to Good Use in Home Country
    1/11/11
    Like most doctoral candidates, University at Buffalo student and Haitian native Pierre Fouche is a study in focus and determination and, if anything, the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake that struck his home country only intensified these traits.
  • One Year Later, Haiti's Engineers Are Acquiring Tools to Begin Rebuilding the Right Way
    1/10/11
    As Haitian citizens struggle to achieve some normalcy a year after the devastating Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake, its structural engineers and architects are demonstrating an unwavering resolve to rebuild the country the right way, despite the daily challenges.
  • Snow and Traffic: UB Transportation Project Could Help Region Better Manage Traffic During Bad Weather
    12/3/10
    Powerful, localized snowstorms can snarl traffic for hours or days, as Western New York saw this week when a section of the New York State Thruway closed for 24 hours. That's exactly the kind of scenario that University at Buffalo engineers hope to prevent when they complete a computer simulation of the area's roadways.