Despite pandemic conditions, NSF-funded StEER research engineers secure vital info on wind and storm-surge damage 

Notre Dame, IN, Sept. 4, 2020 — For natural hazards engineers, data is foundational. That is why the NSF-funded Structural Extreme Events Reconnaissance Network, known as StEER,  deployed directly after Hurricane Laura’s landfall. It is essential to record structural damage swiftly, before cleanup and repairs occur. Although deploying reconnaissance teams during a pandemic is not ideal, StEER Director Tracy Kijewski-Correa reports that StEER is using small, self-contained, regional teams to conduct phased assessments to gather perishable data while minimizing COVID-19 risks. Kijewski-Correa is a faculty member in the College of Engineering and Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, where she is the Leo E and Patti Ruth Linbeck Collegiate Chair and Associate Professor.