BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) -The National Science Foundation (NSF), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, awarded three Texas schools a grant to participate in the Civic Innovation Challenge.
Bryan ISD, Houston ISD, and Gavelston ISD students will learn the ins and outs of Disaster Mitigation from research partners Texas A&M University, Texas A&M Galveston Institute for a Disaster Resilient Texas, TEEX, and TEES. Civic partners from the Texas Division of Emergency Management, Texas A&M Forest Service, Bryan Fire Department, Galveston Economic Development, and Charity Productions will also guide students through the challenge.
The program aims to train the next generation of emergency management leaders and engineers. Students from the three urban and rural school districts will collect and analyze aerial and underwater imagery for vulnerable areas identified by emergency management to develop a plan for disaster mitigation.
A recent study by the Multihazard Mitigation Council shows that each dollar spent on disaster mitigation saves an average of four dollars. Each year in Texas, including here in the Brazos Valley, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and other disasters cost billions of dollars in damages and, in some cases, cost people their lives.
Robin Murphey is a computer science and engineering professor at Texas A&M University. She is one of the instructors helping students understand how to respond to disasters. She says the program’s goal is to provide a career path that will be proactive instead of reactive when disaster strikes.
“So many projects we see are associated with disaster response or recovery, you know, after some things happened,” said Murphy. “It’s really about the disaster mitigation, but we get the two for or working with the students and help them build their careers in science and engineering.”
“We’re training students, high school students, to collect the data, to do the analysis, and help their local emergency managers,” said Murphy.”
Bryan ISD teacher Leonard Cohn says it’s a significant recognition to be selected as one f the three participating high schools.
“I think it’s really cool that this particular district and these particular students are going to have the opportunity to be the first ones to really interact with a project like this and be pioneers,” said Cohn.
Cohn says he hopes his students make the most of this opportunity.
“I really want my students to understand how the skills that they’re learning can be applied in the real world,” said Cohn. “I think flying drones, doing machine learning, trying to figure out new ways of applying computer science is really important.”
Bryan ISD Students Conner Clay, Victor Guindi, and Caleb Eixmann say they’re grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the program and say they’re looking forward to working with the drones, robots, and other technology.
“We’ve been learning about how we can use drones to help us scope out areas to help prevent natural disasters from happening in general,” said Clay.
“I’m looking forward to being able to work with them [drones] and help them figure out what the natural disaster in the future is,” said Guindi. “Hopefully, we can prevent them.”
“This program is very important because it prevents loss of lives and loss of property,” said Eixmann.
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