NSF PR 98-2 - January 20, 1998
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NSF Selects New York University to Operate Institute
for Civil Infrastructure Systems
New York University (NYU) will establish and operate
an Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems (ICIS)
through a five-million-dollar cooperative agreement
with the National Science Foundation (NSF).
NSF has chartered NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate
School of Public Service to manage the new institute
for five years. The ICIS will form an alliance with
partner institutions Cornell University, Polytechnic
University of New York and the University of Southern
California to consider solutions to challenges posed
by the need to rebuild and maintain the nation's physical
infrastructure - its roads and bridges, water systems,
sewage pipes, power distribution systems, and telecommunication
connections. A Cornell University study has valued
the U.S. civil infrastructure at more than $20 trillion.
Largely unnoticed and taken for granted, the civil
infrastructure, which includes public and private
structures, basic installations and facilities needed
for everyday living, is the bulwark of societal stability
and quality of life. Investment decisions on infrastructure
involve the users, owners (public and private), managers,
designers and planners, constructors and rehabilitators
as well as lawmakers and other community influencers
and policy making bodies.
The new NSF-funded institute will focus on five areas:
assessing research needs; sustaining and renewing
the nation's civil infrastructure; developing life-long
educational approaches to produce a public and professional
community with a broader scope of integrated skills;
developing community awareness and participation;
and measuring and assessing progress.
"Our civil infrastructure systems have become increasingly
complex and difficult to manage, due to population
growth, demographic changes, increased expectations
for service from deteriorating systems, and new communication
and information needs," said Priscilla Nelson, acting
senior engineering coordinator and head of the civil
infrastructure systems working group at NSF. "To overcome
these limitations, we need a coordinated, integrated
approach to engineering and science research with
partnerships among industry, government, academe and
the public."
NSF selected the NYU proposal for its strong and demonstrated
commitment to integrating the social sciences with
natural sciences and engineering. "NYU had the best
broad and integrated vision for how ICIS needs to
work," said Nelson.
Institute director Rae Zimmerman and associate director
Roy Sparrow say they will create "an incubator for
ideas and a marketplace for information" on the needs
of the civil infrastructure and solutions developed
through combining technical and social science expertise.
Attachment: ICIS Partner
and Participating Institutions
Attachment
ICIS
Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems
Contacts:
Priscilla Nelson, NSF program officer
pnelson@nsf.gov
Josh Plaut, PR officer at NYU
Tel (212) 998-6797
Fax (212) 995-4021
josh.plaut@nyu.edu
PIs at NYU's Wagner Institute of Public Service
(Wagner Grad School)
Prof. Rae Zimmerman, ICIS Director and Principal
Investigator
Phone: (212) 998-7432
zimmrmnr@is2.nyu.edu
Prof. Roy Sparrow, co-Principal Investigator
Phone: (212) 998-7505
sparrow@is2.nyu.edu
ICIS e-mail
Icis.info@nyu.edu
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