The George E. Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES): Reducing the Impact of Earthquakes and Tsunamis on Society
Dr. Julio A. Ramirez
Professor of Civil Engineering
Director Neescomm Center and Chief Officer of the George E. Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES)
Purdue University
The George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) is a network of 14 advanced shared-use laboratories (https://nees.org/sites-mainpage/laboratories) connected by a cyberinfrastructure that fosters collaboration in research and education (https://nees.org/). In the 9th year of operations, over 400 multi-year, multi-investigator projects have gone through NEES, yielding many advances in earthquake engineering and a wealth of valuable experimental data. At the center of the NEES cyberinfrastructure is the NEES platform for collaboration, NEEShub, providing convenient access to tens of thousands of users from over 190 countries to the NEES central data repository (Project Warehouse). It hosts tools for data visualization, analysis, hybrid simulation, education, and collaboration. Herein brief descriptions of some of the many research, outreach, information technology, and educational accomplishments of NEES highlighting the impact of the efforts of the NEES community towards improving the resilience of our society against earthquakes and tsunamis are illustrated.
Biographical Information
Fellow of the American Concrete Institute (FACI), Dr. Julio A. Ramirez is Professor of Civil Engineering at Purdue University, and a member of several technical committees of professional organizations. He currently is the Chief Officer of the $105 million National Science Foundation funded George E. Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) and Director of the NEEScomm Center, headquarters of NEES Operations in Discovery Park of Purdue University. He has received the 2000 Delmar Bloem Award and the 2006 Joe W. Kelly Award of the American Concrete Institute.