Provost Office: Memorandum
To: The Drexel University Community
From: Ken Blank, Ph.D. Vice Provost for Research
Subject: Drexel University Launches Engineering Cities Major Research Initiative
Date: 26 May 2008
Drexel has established the Drexel Engineering Cities Major Research Initiative - a major multi-disciplinary research initiative that will focus on the engineering of city infrastructures, the design of infrastructure policy, and the creation of environmentally sustainable, resilient and humane urban habitats through Drexel’s use-inspired research lens. The Engineering Cities Initiative becomes the third Major Research Initiative launched joining the Plasma Medicine and Biology and the Neuroengineering: Brain Machine Interface initiatives that had been previously announced.
The designation of the Engineering Cities Major Research Initiative continues the University’s commitment to developing interdisciplinary research programs that will play an important role in continuing to build the research enterprise. The Major Research Initiative (MRI) Program was initiated to identify and develop new interdisciplinary research initiatives in areas in which we have, or can efficiently develop, significant strength.
The process for identifying potential MRI programs began with an RFP that was sent to the University community and included the following steps:
- Submission of white papers written by faculty describing the proposed research program
- Meetings with the Vice Provost for Research to develop the interdisciplinary nature of the program proposal and identify collaborative faculty
- Submission of a full MRI proposal and an oral presentation for evaluation by a MRI Review committee
Drexel Engineering Cities Initiative (DECI) combines the talent and research interests of faculty from each college and school in the university to create innovative solutions to building and managing urban areas that are safe, resilient, environmentally sustainable, and aesthetically valuable. The initiative coordinates high impact, problem-driven research activities among faculty from across the university whose interests touch on urban systems. Research outcomes and training provided as part of this initiative are likely to change the way cities are understood, planned, engineered, governed and managed. Drexel is uniquely positions to approach this problem from technical, policy and aesthetic dimensions.
DECI has already established several broadly defined research task groups that will tackle issues in urban agriculture, urban systems management, sustainability and green design, disaster and emergency preparedness, public health and health systems, and urban systems modeling. The initiative will take a particular interest in the impact of climate change on urban systems, and will explore the notion of a “smart neighborhood” as a component in a sustainable, resilient city, while partnerships with regional governmental agencies and non governmental organizations will engage important urban stakeholders into DECI’s research efforts.