Resilience Engineering: The New Normal
Posted on April 13th, 2020 by Mary Lord
As storms increase in frequency and fury and droughts drain groundwater and invite wildfires, communities nationwide are taking a hard look at whether their infrastructure, building codes, and businesses are up to the challenge. And they are turning to engineers for solutions that will increase resiliency and mitigate disaster.
Filed under: Special Features | Comments Off on Resilience Engineering: The New Normal
Tags: ASEE Prism magazine, civil and environmental engineering, Climate Change, flooding, infrastructure, resilience engineering, Weather
Students in grades 6 to 11 explore the practical, scientific, ethical, and environmental issues that emerge in creating “smart” buildings that meld environmentally responsible design with cutting-edge computing technology known as the Internet of Things (IoT). Working in teams, they design and perhaps later implement smart-building solutions to make their school a better place to inhabit.
Students in grades 6 to 8 apply their knowledge about mountains and rocks to transportation engineering to develop a model mountain tunnel from that simulates the principles behind real-life engineering design. Teams design and create model tunnels through a clay mountain, working within design constraints and testing for success; the tunnels must meet specific design requirements and withstand a certain load.
Meet Marc Edwards, the Virginia Tech professor of civil and environmental engineers and water-quality expert who, together with his students, have helped communities from Washington, D.C., to Flint, Mich., document lead contamination in their tap water – and then hold officials accountable. 
