US-PRC Protocol for Cooperative Research in Earthquake Engineering, CMS 0456918
PI: George Lee, SUNY Buffalo
The US-PRC earthquake protocol was established as one of the original government-to- government Science and Technology agreements between USA and China. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has been responsible, in counterpart with the Ministry of Construction (MOC) of China, for development and implementation of Annex III of the protocol, covering mutually beneficial research and educational activities in earthquake engineering and hazard mitigation.
This formal US-PRC cooperative effort has a successful history of 23 years. This project is to continue the planning process and the development of US-PRC cooperative research and educational exchange activities in earthquake engineering; and to assist NSF in organizing its annual Protocol Coordination Meeting between US and Chinese representatives for the next three years (October 2004 . September 2007).
Major research themes to be emphasized during the next three years include: (1) Development of smart systems and sensing materials for disaster resistant construction, (2) infrastructure design for ground motions in urban areas, and (3) advanced disaster response management systems. These are intellectually challenging research frontier areas in earthquake engineering and disaster mitigation for which fundamental knowledge is lacking. Cooperative efforts will greatly enhance the new knowledge base for hazard mitigation and emergency response applications. In addition, cooperative educational and scholarly exchange activities will be emphasized, particularly through existing relationships among earthquake engineering research centers in both countries. These Center-to-center cooperations will provide a formal channel for US students and young researchers to become more globally engaged earthquake engineers, both scientifically and culturally.
