PFI: Information Products Laboratory for Emergency Response

Rochester Institute Of Tech, Rochester NY

Investigators

Abstract

This Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) project--a Type II (A:B) partnership between the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), an NSF PFI graduate (0090569), and SUNY at Buffalo (UB), which hosted a NSF ERC (9701471)-- is focused on innovation in disaster management, with specific goals of developing disaster management tools based on remote sensing research and geospatial analysis technology. The three-tiered disaster management approach: disaster planning, disaster response, and disaster recovery is ripe for innovation through integrated knowledge and technology transfer efforts among university researchers, technology companies, and public sector responders. RIT brings extensive experience in basic and applied remote sensing research, a history of collaboration with local emergency response and emergency providers, and a special expertise in fire detection and fire behavior to the partnership. UB team members bring expertise in geospatial analysis of a variety of natural and man-made disasters, including fire and floods. Both universities have strong policy components. The integrated team will apply a systems engineering approach to define user needs in disaster management, perform targeted research and development of disaster management products, and form a sustainable infrastructure for knowledge and technology transfer. The two primary academic institutional components, RIT and UB, will leverage their collective experience to create a laboratory and resource, the Information Products Laboratory for Emergency Response (IPLER), to broaden the participation of all types of entities along the spectrum of disaster management. The IPLER will facilitate economic development by establishing and maintaining a continuous dialogue between the developers and providers of technologies and the people who use them in disaster response. The diffusion of technologies will improve the prevention and mitigation of disasters in the United States and lead to innovative tools for response and recovery with societal benefit. Students at RIT and UB will be actively engaged in the targeted research and will be uniquely qualified to contribute to disaster management research, development, and response. The IPLER is designed to grow and will incorporate new members from the academic, public, and private sectors. The outcomes of the IPLER include potentially life-saving innovations and will be broadly disseminated Partners at the inception of the project are Academic Institutions: Rochester Institute of Technology (lead institution), and SUNY at Buffalo; Private Sector Organizations: DigitalGlobe, ImageCat, Kucera International, and Pictometry International; Local, State and Federal Government Entities: Monroe County Office of Emergency Management; New York State Foundation for Science, Technology, and Innovation (NYSTAR), New York State Office of Homeland Security, and US Forest Service, Remote Sensing and Applications Center. .