This position is part of the National Institute of Standards (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, thus requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas. Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.
Research Title: Development of Disaster Data Automation Techniques
The work will entail:
Dozens of entities currently collect raw disaster data post-event, but much of the analysis still requires manual human interpretation of the visual data, which is time consuming and can result in biases. This project will seek to develop tools and data analysis techniques to extract useful information, such as building characteristics and materials, sizes, and damage states using raw disaster datasets, which include videos with or without audio.
Key responsibilities will include but are not limited to:
- Identifying disaster datasets
- Providing subject matter expertise on type and severity of wind damage to be detected for buildings and other structures post-disaster
- Identifying use cases for developed tools
- Assisting in validation of developed tools
- External communication of datasets and approach at conferences or through journal publications
- Mentorship of student collaborators
Qualifications
- PhD degree in Civil, Structural, or Wind Engineering or a related field.
- 5 years of relevant experience in collecting field data to capture damage states to buildings and other structures following natural disasters.
- 5 years of relevant experience in assessing and analyzing wind damage to buildings and other structures following tornadoes, hurricanes, or other wind storms.
- Ability to identify, work with, organize, and assess/evaluate large, complex disaster datasets.
- Ability to develop tools needed to analyze data, and conduct testing of the tools.
- Strong oral and written communication skills.
Privacy Act Statement
Authority: 15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(e)(1) and (e)(3) and 15 U.S.C. § 272(b) and (c)
Purpose: The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts the Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) which is designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial assistance to undergraduates, post-bachelor’s degree holders, graduate students, master’s degree holders, postdocs, and faculty.
PREP is a 5-year cooperative agreement between NIST laboratories and participating PREP Universities to establish a collaborative research relationship between NIST and U.S. institutions of higher education in the following disciplines including (but may not be limited to) biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale science, neutron science, physical science, physics, and statistics. This collection of information is needed to facilitate administrative functions of the PREP Program.
Routine Uses: NIST will use the information collected to perform the requisite reviews of the applications to determine eligibility, and to meet programmatic requirements. Disclosure of this information is also subject to all the published routine uses as identified in the Privacy Act System of Records Notices: NIST-1: NIST Associates.
Disclosure: Furnishing this information is voluntary. When you submit the form, you are indicating your voluntary consent for NIST to use of the information you submit for the purpose stated.
SURA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe that no one should be discriminated against because of their differences, such as age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, religion, or sexual orientation. All employment decisions shall be made without regard to age, race, creed, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, disability status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, or any other basis as protected by federal, state, or local law.
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