University of Texas at Arlington - Spain Collaborative Research on Hazard Mitigation of Civil Infrastructure

University Of Texas At Arlington, Arlington TX

Investigators

Abstract

Technical Description The objectives of the three-year IRES project are to: (1) expose IRES students to international high quality focused research experience on hazard mitigation of civil infrastructure with foreign expert mentorship; (2) increase the awareness of the students on the importance of global professional engagement, global engineering networking and the world wide criticality of the research topic; and (3) recruit and train students in the program, especially from under-represented groups, attract and retain them in engineering programs, and motivate them for graduate studies. The research projects will be held at AIDICO, Technological Institute of Construction, Valencia, Spain. AIDICO provides R&D services to improve building materials/systems, energy efficiency, safety and disaster resistance. AIDICO has an ongoing collaboration with UT Arlington covering research, student/staff exchange and educational activities. Six civil engineering or civil engineering bound undergraduates per year will be recruited from two universities and several community colleges for the 6-week summer program (18 total). The common theme of the IRES site is Hazard Mitigation of Civil Infrastructure. Six novel IRES research projects (one for each student) that stem from ongoing AIDICO projects have been designed. The AIDICO projects have excellent correlation with the Disaster Mitigation Group at UTA, a multi-disciplinary effort of faculty members and public/private sectors. Significant collaboration among students, graduate students, faculty and mentors during and post summer, plus extensive dissemination activities are included. The proposed IRES project includes an effective assessment component that will gauge the impact of the project on the IRES students. Non-Technical Description The program will train students to solve hazard mitigation issues for civil infrastructure involving natural, man-made and accidental events. This is especially important with the increased worldwide occurrences of natural, man-made and accidental disasters in recent years, the deteriorating infrastructure with widespread failure and extensive human, economic and social effects. The project provides an excellent opportunity to integrate research and education. Students will be involved in hands on cutting-edge research under expert mentoring, field trips, presentations, workshops, intellectual and continuous collaboration, all well-designed to broaden the student's educational experience. The early academic research exposure is expected to eventually produce global scientists and engineers. The program is designed to inform students of and motivate them for engineering degrees and graduate education. The faculty members and foreign mentors have extensive expertise in the research topic. Excellent resources from various sources will be leveraged. The project will produce improved knowledge in critical hazard mitigation issues on the building construction area. A majority of the recruited students will be from under-represented groups from the partner universities and colleges. IRES/non-IRES faculty members from these groups will be role models and mentors on research and career choices. The project will nurture long-term partnerships with the students, faculty members and AIDICO collaborators through continuous academic year focus group meetings, faculty mentoring and virtual/social media contacts. Results will be disseminated broadly through journal publications, conference presentations, student workshop and chapter presentations, dedicated website/blog, and social media. The societal benefits are: the student's increased awareness of and ability to devise hazard mitigation efforts, increased interest in engineering education/careers, capacity to develop foreign collaborations, and finding original/imaginative and critically needed solutions for a global societal challenge.