Engineering News, October 3, 2005

October 3, 2005 Vol. 77, no. 6F

CALL TO ACTION: CEE professor Bob Bea calls on students during a meeting of those interested in getting involved with Katrina research and recovery. (Photo Credit: Rachel Jackson)

How you can help in recovery and research efforts after Hurricane Katrina

Have you seen the pictures from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast? The devastation is catastrophic. As an engineering student, there is much you can do to help. Right after the hurricane, a group of Berkeley professors and students joined forces to form the Katrina Recovery Task Force (KRTF). The task force will study the effects of the damage and serve as consultants and advisors to those charged with restoration and rebuilding. All majors are encouraged to join. Both undergraduate and graduate students will earn research credit. Paid internships may also be available.

“We know you’re busy this semester, so if you can only give a few hours a week, that’s okay,” CEE professor Bob Bea told students during a task force meeting held on September 22. “We need your help in developing websites and databases, researching literature, and archiving photos, for example. You can do marvelous things. It’s just a matter of mobilizing your talents.”

To volunteer, go to http://citrissrv2.eecs.berkeley.edu:8888/drupal/crisis/volunteer and fill out the volunteer form.

If you’re interested in a specific topic, KRTF has formed three rapid response teams to collect and analyze data in a particular specialty. When you fill out the volunteer form, indicate your area of interest.

1. Societal Dynamics will research the responses of critical organizations and is led by Haas School of Business professor Karlene Roberts.

2. Flood Protection will research the performance of levees, drainage systems, and pumping stations and is led by CEE professor Ray Seed.

3. Coastal and Offshore Facilities will research the performance of coastal facilities (refineries, ports, land bases) and offshore facilities (Gulf of Mexico oil and gas drilling, and production platforms and pipelines) and is led by CEE professor Bob Bea.

Each team will be in the field during October and November. In addition, Bea offered these other suggestions to students who want to contribute:

Integrate Katrina-related topics into your everyday academic life. Do class projects that relate. Initiate class discussion about important issues.

Immerse yourself in the topic through library searches, web searches, newspaper and magazine publications searches, professional journal searches, and book reports on special topics that relate to the current or potential initiatives.

Help KRTF launch a website, including site development, data and information archiving (database development), data analyses and summaries, literature searches, reports, graphics developments, and archiving key published technical papers.

Organize town hall forums on campus to discuss Katrina problems and brainstorm possible solutions. Look ahead to future disasters such as the Delta levees breaking after a major earthquake.

Work with faculty to identify a special research and development project.

Finally, deliver special presentations at student professional and honor society meetings and conferences.

KRTF is sponsored by UC Berkeley’s CITRIS (the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society) and the National Science Foundation.

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