Purdue experts can discuss Japan earthquake
Note to Journalists: The Purdue University experts below can talk about topics related to the earthquake in Japan or the Pacific Ocean tsunami. Journalists who have questions or want to make interview arrangements can contact Purdue News Service at 765-494-2096.
Daniel P. Aldrich, assistant professor of political science
Aldrich, who has lived and studied in Japan, can talk about the role of social and community support in postdisaster recovery. Aldrich, who was a visiting scholar at the University of Tokyo's Law Faculty, studied recovery efforts in Tokyo after the 1923 earthquake and in Kobe, Japan, after the 1995 earthquake, as well as the southeast India coast that was hit by a tsunami in 2004. He was a professor at Tulane University when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in August 2005 and is working with colleagues at Louisiana State University to study disaster recovery after the hurricane, as well as after the April 20 oil spill. Aldrich, who speaks Japanese, is author of the book "Site Fights: Divisive Facilities and Civil Society in the Japan and the West" and the forthcoming book "Building Resilience: Social Capital in Disaster Recovery."
Personal homepage: https://web.ics.purdue.edu/~daldrich/
Related news release:
https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/general/2010/101014AldrichDisaster.html
CONTACT: 765-494-4190, daldrich@purdue.edu
Larry W. Braile, professor of earth and atmospheric science
Braile oversees the seismograph and works with the seismology station at Purdue to record local and worldwide earthquakes.
Personal homepage: https://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/
CONTACT: 765-494-5979, braile@purdue.edu
Andy Freed, associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences
Geophysicist Andy Freed studies earthquakes and plate tectonics. He can speak about the cause of the Sendai earthquake and tsunami. Freed has visited the Sendai region where the earthquake occurred and currently collaborates with Japanese scientists on earthquake studies. Freed was part of the Purdue-led team that anticipated the earthquake in Haiti and researched and documented its cause and scope. Freed recently returned from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute where he continued research on earthquake hazards in Haiti and southern California.
Personal homepage: https://www.purdue.edu/eas/freed/index.html
CONTACT: 765-496-3738, freed@purdue.edu
Ahmed Hassanein, professor and head of the School of Nuclear Engineering
Hassanein has more than 30 years of experience in research and development in the fields of nuclear and plasma physics, engineering, and material science. He is nationally and internationally recognized as a leader in modeling how materials respond to different radiation and particle sources. He has authored about 400 journal publications and technical reports in more than 30 national and international journals in physics, engineering, materials and computer science. Hassanein was previously a senior scientist and group leader and the director of Fusion Power Program at the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory.
CONTACT: 765-494-5742, 630-252-5889 (cell), hassanein@purdue.edu
Makarand Hastak, professor of civil engineering, head of construction engineering and management
Hastak's research group has created a computer model that shows how a disaster's impact on critical infrastructure would affect a city's social and economic fabric, a potential tool to help reduce the severity of impacts, manage the aftermath of catastrophe and fortify infrastructure against future disasters. The model simulates how a disaster affects elements such as bridges, roads, municipal water and wastewater treatment services, along with vital economic and social components such as employers, hospitals, schools and churches. The tool has been demonstrated on several cities hit by devastating floods.
Personal homepage: https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/People/ptProfile?resource_id=2053
CONTACT: 765-494-0641, hastak@purdue.edu
Jere Jenkins, director of radiation laboratories
Jenkins is facility director of Purdue's nuclear reactor, a small facility that has been operating since 1962, under license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The reactor supports research and education efforts for Purdue's School of Nuclear Engineering and the university community as a whole. The reactor is a 2-foot cube and is set in concrete about 30 feet underground. It does not produce electricity, and the heat it generates when at full power is equivalent to that of 10 100-watt light bulbs. Students in senior-level laboratory experiments learn how nuclear reactors work by operating the reactor under the direction of a senior reactor operator license by the NRC. The hands-on experience is needed to solidify the theory learned in the classroom.
CONTACT: 765-496-3573, jere@purdue.edu
Mete Sozen, Kettelhut Distinguished Professor of Structural Engineering
Sozen, who is from Turkey, was named one of the nation's 13 top seismic engineers of the 20th century by an independent panel commissioned by the Applied Technology Council, a non-profit corporation based in Washington, D.C. He is from Istanbul and has been leading an effort to protect the city from future earthquakes. Sozen is working with Ersin Arioglu, a member of the Turkish parliament and an engineer, and Polat Gulkan, an engineer and faculty member at Middle East Technical University.
CONTACT: 765-543-6633 (cell), sozen@purdue.edu
Robert L. Nowack, professor of geophysics
Nowack studies seismology and earthquakes. His research also covers seismic wave propagation, time series analysis and seismic imaging. Nowack is a chief editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research, the flagship journal of the American Geophysical Union.
Personal homepage: https://web.ics.purdue.edu/~nowack
CONTACT: 765-494-5978, nowack@purdue.edu
Venkat Venkatasubramanian, professor of chemical engineering
Venkatasubramanian is proposing development of a new cross-disciplinary approach for analyzing and preventing systemic failures in complex systems that play a role in calamities ranging from the Japanese nuclear catastrophe to the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and the subprime mortgage crisis. He said the striking similarities in such catastrophes necessitates a broader perspective to better understand such failures.
Related news release: https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2011/110131VenkatasubramanianF.html
CONTACT: 765-494 0734, venkat@ecn.purdue.edu