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

为期三年的IRES项目的目标是：(1)在外国专家的指导下，使IRES学生获得关于民用基础设施减灾的国际高质量重点研究经验；(2)提高学生对全球专业参与、全球工程网络和研究课题在世界范围内的重要性的认识；(3)在项目中招募和培训学生，特别是来自代表性不足的群体的学生，吸引和留住他们参加工程项目，并激励他们参加研究生学习。研究项目将在西班牙瓦伦西亚建筑技术研究所AIDICO举行。AIDICO提供研发服务，以提高建筑材料/系统，能源效率，安全性和抗灾能力。AIDICO与UT阿灵顿大学在研究、学生/员工交流和教育活动方面有持续的合作。每年将从两所大学和几所社区学院招募6名土木工程或土木工程专业的本科生参加为期6周的暑期课程（总共18名）。IRES网站的共同主题是减轻民用基础设施的危害。六个新颖的IRES研究项目（每个学生一个）源于正在进行的AIDICO项目已经设计。AIDICO项目与UTA的减灾小组密切相关，减灾小组是教员和公共/私营部门的多学科努力。包括学生、研究生、教师和导师在夏季期间和之后的重要合作，以及广泛的传播活动。拟议的IRES项目包括一个有效的评估部分，将衡量项目对IRES学生的影响。非技术描述该项目将培训学生解决涉及自然、人为和意外事件的民用基础设施的危害缓解问题。这一点尤其重要，因为近年来世界范围内发生的自然、人为和意外灾害有所增加，基础设施不断恶化，普遍失效，对人类、经济和社会造成广泛影响。该项目提供了一个整合研究和教育的绝佳机会。学生将在专家指导下参与前沿研究，实地考察，演讲，研讨会，智力和持续合作，所有这些都是为了拓宽学生的教育经验而精心设计的。早期的学术研究有望最终培养出全球性的科学家和工程师。该计划旨在告知学生并激励他们获得工程学位和研究生教育。教师和外籍导师在研究课题方面具有广泛的专业知识。将利用各种来源的优秀资源。该项目将提高人们对建筑施工领域关键的减灾问题的认识。大多数被招募的学生将来自合作大学和学院中代表性不足的群体。来自这些小组的IRES/非IRES教师将成为研究和职业选择的榜样和导师。该项目将通过持续的学年焦点小组会议、教师指导和虚拟/社交媒体联系，培养与学生、教师和AIDICO合作者的长期合作伙伴关系。研究结果将通过期刊出版物、会议报告、学生研讨会和分会报告、专门的网站/博客和社交媒体广泛传播。社会效益是：学生提高了设计减灾工作的意识和能力，增加了对工程教育/职业的兴趣，有能力开展国外合作，并为全球社会挑战找到原创/富有想象力和迫切需要的解决方案。

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 DescriptionThe 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.