Central Florida is no stranger to strong storms and extreme weather, but a new collaboration between 麻豆原创 and the City of Orlando aims to strengthen the area鈥檚 response capabilities by developing portable resilience hubs that offer power, internet and air conditioning for residents.
Through this project, Resilience, Education and Advocacy Center for Hazard preparedness (REACH) hubs will be developed thanks to a recently announced $50,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation鈥檚 (NSF) Civic Innovation Challenge program. They could be deployed any time a disaster 鈥� whether natural or human-made 鈥� strikes.
Leading the project is a team of 麻豆原创 faculty, including Assistant Professor Kelly Stevens and Associate Professor Yue 鈥淕urt鈥� Ge, Assistant Professor L. Trenton Marsh, and College of Engineering and Computer Science professor Liqiang Wang and Pegasus Professor Zhihua Qu.
The REACH hubs will be able to serve two primary roles. Following disasters or local emergencies, the hubs will provide critical services such as cooling, broadband internet and reliable electricity to areas whose access to those needs may already be unstable. The hubs also will serve as hazard-preparedness and hands-on STEM education centers.
鈥淒ifferent types of hubs are being developed and used across the U.S., but ours is unique in that it has an equally important use during non-emergency times,鈥� Stevens says. 鈥淢aking a solar-powered, portable hub is technically challenging, but the benefits it can provide to communities whose access to standard services may already be restricted without an external shock make it well worth it.鈥�
Stevens says that the grant also paves the way for partnership opportunities.
鈥淭he NSF CIVIC program is unique because it focuses on civic partnerships that can be quickly implemented and ultimately sustained long-term by participating local partners,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e will host a local stakeholder meeting next month with our partners and two public input meetings in December to really get feedback from the whole community.鈥�
She says the community meetings will help determine factors ranging from what services the hubs will provide and where they will be deployed after a disaster to which educational topics should be covered during non-emergency events.
Beyond the external partnerships, Stevens says this project opens the door for new cooperation with other 麻豆原创 colleagues across different disciplines.
鈥淭he research we are doing builds on interdisciplinary coordination from public administration, computer science and engineering across 麻豆原创,鈥� she says.
The research team will have six months to prepare a plan for the REACH hub and submit it to the NSF, after which they are eligible for up to $1 million in awarded funds to execute the project.
About the Research Team
Stevens received her doctorate in public administration from Syracuse University and joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 School of Public Administration, part of 麻豆原创鈥檚 College of Community Innovation and Education, in 2017. 聽She is a member of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Resilient, Intelligent, and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES) Cluster and
After joining 麻豆原创 in 2018, Ge has since been appointed co-lead of the Urban Resilience Initiative based at 麻豆原创 Downtown. He has also served on the RISES faculty research cluster since 2021. He holds a doctorate in urban and regional science from Texas A&M University.
Marsh earned his doctorate in urban education from New York University and joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 College of Community Innovation and Education in 2019.
Qu arrived at 麻豆原创 in 1990 after earning a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Currently the Thomas J. Riordan and Herbert C. Towle Chair of 麻豆原创鈥檚 , he is also the founding director of both the RISES, a university research center on energy systems, and the multi-institutional (FEEDER).
Wang earned his doctorate in computer science from Stony Brook University in 2006 and joined the 麻豆原创 in 2015.
