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News and Progress Updates
November 2024: NIST’s New NWIRP Director Joins Hurricane Ian Study Team
NIST has appointed a new Director of its multi-agency National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (NWIRP), Mr. Joel Cline. NWIRP coordinates the research and implementation activities for the four NWIRP agencies – the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), NIST, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) “to achieve major measurable reductions in the losses of life and property from windstorms through a coordinated Federal effort, in cooperation with other levels of government, academia, and the private sector, aimed at improving the understanding of windstorms and their impacts and developing and encouraging the implementation of cost-effective mitigation measures to reduce those impacts.” The NIST Hurricane Ian Study is being conducted under the authorities of NWIRP.
Mr. Cline joins NIST after working for 30 years at the NOAA/National Weather Service (NWS) with expertise in leading lab project portfolios, applying scientific research, and developing and managing teams. His prior work included coordination of policy and procedures to aid tropical forecasting, including outreach, education and training. He worked at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) as a forecaster, lead forecaster, and hurricane specialist from 1987-1996, including during Hurricane Andrew, and as a lead forecaster in the Raleigh, NC NWS office from 1997-2002. His experience includes leading a team to forecast weather for the 1999 World Games of the Special Olympics, the 2002 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, in Salt Lake City, and as an Incident Meteorologist for western U.S. wildfires. He has held leadership positions in the Pacific Region of the NWS, the Leadership Development Program for the NOAA Administrator, the NOAA Office of Atmospheric Research (OAR) at the Global Systems Lab, and was the Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Law Coordinator for NOAA and the NWS.
In his time at NOAA, Mr. Cline was part of a team which completed a service assessment of Hurricane Michael in 2018 and Typhoon Sudal in 2004, and conducted damage surveys of Hurricanes Bonnie in 1998, and Dennis and Floyd in 1999. While he was at NOAA, he was appointed as a member of the NIST Hurricane Maria Program, where he continues to serve in his new role as NIST NWIRP Director. He has also recently joined the NIST Hurricane Ian NWIRP Study team, where he leads the project focused on evaluating emergency communications methods and effectiveness, leveraging his experience as a seasoned tropical cyclone forecaster and communicator.
“Joel brings a wealth of federal government experience to our team, and his time with the National Weather Service included many activities that overlap with NIST’s ongoing work on Hurricane Ian,” said Dr. Tanya Brown-Giammanco, NIST Acting Chief of the Disaster Impact Reduction Office and Disaster and Failure Studies Director. “With Joel on board, we have been able to take additional steps forward in understanding the information the public received about Hurricane Ian’s threats and how the public responded to that information,” she added.
The NIST team expects to release the Hurricane Ian Study report on the impacts of wind damage and rainwater intrusion in buildings in 2026. To learn more about Mr. Cline and the full Hurricane Ian team, please visit https://www.nist.gov/disaster-failure-studies/hurricane-ian/hurricane-ian-team.
https://www.nist.gov/disaster-failure-studies/hurricane-ian/hurricane-ian-team.
September 2024: Materials Science Expert Joins NIST Hurricane Ian Study Team to Study Aging Performance of Roof Shingles
The NIST Hurricane Ian NWIRP Study team has welcomed Dr. Karim Abdelwahab, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University, as its new material science expert. Dr. Abdelwahab’s previous research experience is in structural engineering, adhesives materials, fiber-reinforced composite materials, large-scale testing, light-frame wood construction, and building science. As a Ph.D. student at The Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Abdelwahab’s research was in the fields of seismic hazards and residential construction where he investigated the failure behavior of the air barrier systems used in building envelopes when subjected to seismic displacements. Dr. Abdelwahab conducted an experimental program and developed computational models to define the damage states of the air barrier systems, which allowed him to gain hands on experience in developing and implementing multiscale experimental programs and in adhesive modeling and characterization. As part of the Hurricane Ian team, Dr. Abdelwahab will use his previous work and expertise to support the wind damage and rainwater intrusion in buildings project by designing and implementing a research program for asphalt shingles to provide insights on their ability to resist wind-induced uplift forces after experiencing environmental weathering. NIST Acting Chief of the Disaster Impact Reduction Office and Disaster and Failure Studies Director, Dr. Tanya Brown-Giammanco, has previously done extensive shingle performance research and noted that “we are fortunate to have Karim join our team. He brings a fresh perspective and testing experience that will help us continue to understand how shingles change over time, the mechanisms that affect their loading and wind resistance, and how we can better test them to set expectations for how they should perform in high wind events.”
The NIST team expects to release its first report from the Hurricane Ian Study on the impacts of wind damage and rainwater intrusion in buildings in late 2025-early 2026. To learn more about Dr. Abdelwahab and the full Hurricane Ian team, please visit https://www.nist.gov/disaster-failure-studies/hurricane-ian/hurricane-ian-team.
June 2023: NIST Informs Federal Advisory Committee about the Hurricane Ian NWIRP Study
NIST’s Disaster and Failure Studies (DFS) Program hosted a hybrid meeting of its National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Advisory Committee on June 14-15, 2023 at its Gaithersburg campus. The meeting included NIST’s response to the Committee’s annual report to Congress, as well as DFS’ programmatic advances. NIST also provided updates on the ongoing Hurricane Maria Program and Champlain Towers South NCST Investigation, and informed the Committee about the recently launched National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (NWIRP) Hurricane Ian Study. Mr. James LaDue, Acting NWIRP Director in 2022-2023, led the NIST preliminary reconnaissance mission for Hurricane Ian under the NCST and NWIRP authorities, and presented an overview of the event and his observations to the Committee. He also described the new Hurricane Ian NWIRP Study, including its three projects on storm surge effects, emergency communications methods and effectiveness, and wind damage and rainwater intrusion in buildings. While the NCST Advisory Committee does not directly advise on activities undertaken under authorities other than the NCST Act, Mr. LaDue’s presentation served to notify the Committee of the new study, which is supported by the DFS Program, and to convey that the study would not be undertaken as an NCST Investigation.
Information on the other presentations made at the June 14-15 Advisory Committee meeting can be found by accessing the meeting agenda here.