An interdisciplinary team of anthropologists, engineers, computer scientists, public health scholars, and organizational theorists, will conduct an exploratory study of creating a multi-agent simulation model for planning and evaluating disaster response in complex urban settings. The research team will use data collected at disaster scenarios and exercises to develop small-scale models of the coordination of multiple agencies and jurisdictions in the Detroit Metropolitan Area. These models will provide a proof-of- concept for an innovative concept - multi-agent modeling with cultural algorithms - to be used in both training and evaluation of coordination of first responders.
Upon successful completion of the feasibility study and funds permitting, the research team will scale up and extend these models to build the MAJOR (Multiple Agency and Jurisdiction Organized Response) Disaster Model. This model will be developed in close cooperation with municipal police, firefighter, and emergency medical service personnel.
