NSF PR 01-65 - August 27, 2001

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Earthquake Engineering Network: Design Goes to Illinois-Led Team


A larger version is here.
The cyber-network will encourage collaborations among earthquake engineering researchers.

Graphic Credit: National Center for Supercomputing Applications

Development of a national cyber-network for earthquake engineering research will begin in earnest with a $10 million award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The award launches the design and implementation of the George E. Brown, Jr., Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) which, when completed in 2004, will allow multiple researchers to share facilities, equipment and data via a high-speed Internet grid.

In developing the network, the university's National Center for Supercomputing Applications will partner with Argonne National Laboratory, also in Illinois, the University of Michigan, the University of Southern California and the TeraScale, LLC, company of New Mexico. The team recently completed a six-month scoping study to prepare for the design phase.

"The goal is to create a collaborative research network by linking researchers and engineering testing facilities across the United States and providing them with the latest computational tools," said Priscilla Nelson, NSF division director for civil and mechanical systems. "We expect this network to speed the simulations, experiments and data analysis that lead to better seismic design and hazard mitigation."

NEES will allow researchers to share and remotely operate experimental equipment at more than 20 advanced earthquake engineering facilities linked to the network and to more easily share data and computations. The equipment--including shake tables, geotechnical centrifuges, a tsunami wave basin, and laboratory and field stations--models and analyzes earthquake forces and helps engineers design buildings and infrastructure to withstand those forces. Early this year NSF awarded $45 million to 10 institutions to build and upgrade earthquake engineering equipment in anticipation of the shared-use network.

A community-led consortium will be selected in 2004 to manage and operate NEES through 2014.

For more information, see: http://www.eng.nsf.gov/nees

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