TIGER TV ONLINE REPORTER
In a state that has been continually devastated by hurricanes, many researchers spend their time looking for ways to better prepare us for future storms. One such researcher is Dr. Quen Chen, a civil and coastal engineering professor at the University.
Chen has been leading a team of researchers for the past three years in developing new computer models that will help to forecast and hind cast the hurricane rains and waves and their damages on the coastline.
The team includes five graduate students and two undergraduate students according to Chen.
There are two main components of the research. The first is to develop new models. The second is to improve the accuracy of old models.
To improve on the old models, the team studies the shape of the coastline and the arrangement of landscapes along the coastline. If there are changes in the coastline, because of coastal damage or erosion, those changes are entered into the old models to make them more accurate.
The team currently has one model they are working on that is based on Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Gustav. They took time researching the damage those storms did and created new data from their research to support a new model.
Chen has devoted his entire career to researching hurricanes. He says he storms have always fascinated him.
“A hurricane is such a powerful thing so I always wanted to understand the physics of it,” Chen said.
He also wanted to devote himself to a research that would help people.
“This has a relevance to people because there were societies that were impacted so greatly by past storms,” Chen said. “It makes me happy to know I’m helping people.”
According to Chen the project is an ongoing project that will never have a concrete finish.
“There will always be new things to consider in research,” Chen said.
Although the thirst for new knowledge and research in the field has no clear end, the funding for the project does. The project is currently being funded by the National Science Foundation, the Naval Coastal Research and grants from the state. The project is to be funded for five years.
“Hopefully by the time funding ends we will have developed a better prototype,” Chen said.
The project has created different educational opportunities at the University.
One opportunity Chen has been especially excited about is the minority summer scholarship. This scholarship gives a student a chance to spend the summer studying coastal engineering and at the end of the summer the student is required to give a presentation based on his or her’s research.
There is also a new graduate program devoted solely to coastal engineering.
“Louisiana has a responsibility to educate their students on the importance of coastal research so they can meet the future challenges from storms,” Chen said. “The students are the ones who will be working to save our coast.”
