Purdue-led NEES recognized as a 2013 Computerworld Honors Laureate

May 31, 2013  


WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - IDG's Computerworld Honors Program has named the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation Network (NEES) as a 2013 Laureate.

The annual awards program honors visionary applications of information technology promoting positive social, economic and educational change.

Based at Purdue's Discovery Park, NEES is a collaborative, 14-site research project that aims to improve structural seismic design and reduce the damaging effects of earthquakes and tsunamis. NEES is funded by a $105 million National Science Foundation grant. NEEScomm is the operations unit at Purdue.

Dawn Weisman

Dawn Weisman 
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At the center of collaboration is the NEEShub, a sophisticated computing platform that provides a wealth of earthquake engineering data, as well as an interoperable suite of software services and tools. The NEEShub is powered by Purdue's HUBzero software.

"We are very excited and proud to receive this award, especially considering the number and quality of the other nominees," said Dawn Weisman, NEEScomm information technology director. "This honor is a direct reflection of the talent and dedication of the software professionals on the NEEScomm IT team."

Added Julio Ramirez, NEES chief officer and NEEScomm center director: "The research value of the NEEShub is enhanced by the contributions of the thousands of users of our NSF-funded network."

Specifically, the NEEShub software, which was nominated in the Collaboration category, provides a powerful Internet-accessible system designed to store and utilize research project data and computational tools. NEEShub allows the fruits of groundbreaking research to be shared among researchers, students, practitioners and the public.

Julio Ramirez

Julio Ramirez 
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"Collaboration is crucial for advancing the field of earthquake engineering," said Ramirez, who also is a professor of civil engineering at Purdue.

A panel of 22 distinguished judges evaluated a case study of NEEShub, considering its humanitarian benefits and measurable results of applying technology to meet a specific social or business need. The NEEShub was selected from more than 700 nominations to become one of 269 Laureates from 29 countries.

Weisman will accept the award at a June 3 ceremony in Washington, D.C. During the event, finalists in each of the 11 honors categories will be named for a 21st Century Achievement Award. The June 3 issue of "Computerworld" magazine also will feature a selection of this year's Honors Laureates.

About the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation Network (NEES) at Purdue

Since Oct. 1, 2009, the NEES headquarters for operations and cyberinfrastructure have been at Purdue's Discovery Park, the result of a National Science Foundation cooperative agreement.

The 14 participating universities hosting NEES laboratories include Cornell University; Lehigh University; Oregon State University; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; University at Buffalo, SUNY; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Davis; University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, San Diego; University of California, Santa Barbara; University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; University of Minnesota; University of Nevada, Reno; and University of Texas, Austin. In addition, five institutions involved as administrative partners include San Jose State University, University of Washington, University of Kansas, University of South Carolina and the Fermi National Laboratory.

About The Computerworld Honors Program

Founded by International Data Group (IDG) in 1988, The Computerworld Honors Program is governed by the not-for-profit Computerworld Information Technology Awards Foundation. Computerworld Honors is the longest running global program to honor individuals and organizations that use information technology to promote positive social, economic and educational change. Additional information about the program and a global archive of past laureate case studies and oral histories of Leadership Award recipients can be found at the Computerworld Honors website: http://events.computerworld.com/2013Honors

Media Contacts: Phillip Fiorini, 765-496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu

Marti LaChance: 765-496-3014, lachance@purdue.edu 

Sources: Dawn Weisman, dweisman@purdue.edu, 765-496-2276

Julio Ramirez, ramirez@purdue.edu, 765-494-2716

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