OXFORD, Miss. – Two University of Mississippi engineering
professors have been awarded homeland security grants
totaling nearly $4 million for studies on how to predict
flood damages and improve infrastructures demolished in
natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.
The two awards are being administered by the U.S.
Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory
through the Southeast Region Research Initiative of the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The duration of each
award is three years.
One of the projects uses numerical computational models to
simulate the probable destruction disastrous flooding would
have on coastal cities and towns in the southeastern
region. The research focuses primarily on the environmental
impact of these simulated floods, such as water
contamination and sediment transport.
The second project involves four technical avenues to
improve the integrity of levees and floodwalls in New
Orleans and surrounding areas. The resulting proposed
better-designed structures would be more resilient in the
event of future hurricanes.
“This is yet another very strong showing by the School of
Engineering researchers,” said Kai-Fong Lee, UM engineering
dean. “With five proposals previously funded, the value and
importance of their distinguished contributions to the
national security technologies has again been recognized.”
Lee said he envisions the establishment of a Research
Center of Excellence for Homeland Security Technology on
the Ole Miss campus. “Right now it’s just a vision in our
minds, but each proposal submitted by UM researchers that
gets funded brings us one step closer to that goal,” he
said. Project titles and amounts include:
Predicting Disastrous Flooding, Water Contamination,
Sediment Transport and Their Impacts on Environment” for
$1.8 million. Yafei Jia, associate director for basic
research in the National Center for Computational
Hydroscience and Engineering, is the principal
investigator.
“The developed computational models will enhance regional
resilience in the event of hazardous chemical spills
resulting from floods caused by hurricanes and overflowing
rivers,” Jia said. “Using numerical computational models
and physical models we will be able to simulate these
conditions and what is the best course of action to respond
to them.”
The project is to be conducted by a team of UM faculty and
students and researchers at the University of South
Carolina, Jia said. The computational model is to be
developed based on the latest technologies in the areas of
numerical analysis (the study of algorithms for problems of
continuous mathematics), physical experiments conducted on
site, economic systems (how business and finance relate to
living conditions) and environmental projections (what
ecological conditions can be anticipated in light of
current trends), he said.
Levee and Floodwall Construction and Retrofitting” for $1.9
million. Alexander H.D. Cheng, chair and professor of civil
engineering, is the principal investigator.
“This project addresses the application of a number of
creative ideas that can provide new design principles and
retrofitting techniques to enhance the integrity and
resiliency of levees and floodwalls in New Orleans areas,”
Cheng said. “We propose four interrelated technical avenues
to address the vulnerability of the hurricane protection
system and to improve the overall integrity and endurance
of a reconstructed system.”
Cheng said he and three other professors – Chung Song and
Ahmed Al-Ostaz of civil engineering, and Raju Mantena of
mechanical engineering – a postdoctoral researcher and
several graduate assistants will work together on the
project. There will also be a number of subcontractors,
including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Research and
Development Center at Vicksburg.
More than a decade ago, scientists in the NCCHE began
developing mathematical equations for modeling the flows of
rivers, oceans and the connections between the two, earth
transported by rivers, changes in coastlines and shores
created by nature, and water quality. Their software has
been applied to assess the impacts of flooding, erosion and
navigation maintenance during storms, hurricanes or
typhoons. Since 2005, NCCHE has collaborated with the
Coastal Inlets Research Program in the Coastal and
Hydraulics Laboratory and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
in the long-term research project.
Disaster preparation has been a longtime priority for UM’s
civil engineering faculty. Chris Mullen, associate
professor, serves as principal investigator on the Disaster
Resistant University, or DRU, project. Both the Federal
Emergency Management Agency and Mississippi Emergency
Management Agency approved the DRU plan last year. Terry
Panhorst, assistant professor of geology, and Charles
Swann, staff geologist at the Mississippi Mineral Resources
Institute, are co-investigators.
Natural hazards that threaten the university and
surrounding area include earthquakes, floods, lightning,
hail, severe winter weather, tornadoes, wildfires and
windstorms.
For more information about the National Center for
Computational Hydroscience and Engineering, visit
For information about civil engineering, visit