Stevens strengthens Dominican Republic's Early Warning System for I...( HOBOKEN N.J. Stevens Institute of T...)

HOBOKEN, N.J. Stevens Institute of Technology's Center for Maritime Systems began a project to strengthen the Early Warning System (EWS) for Inundations in the Dominican Republic. The project is focused on developing the technology of DR's EWS and providing the most up-to-date equipment to improve accuracy in detection of hurricanes and prevent flooding on the island.

The genesis of the EWS effort began in 2007 when Dr. Harold J. Raveche, President of Stevens, was attending a meeting in the DR during which the topic of vast hurricane devastation came up. Dr. Raveche offered his help and asked Dr. Alan Blumberg, Director of Stevens' Center for Maritime Systems, and Dr. Thomas O. Herrington, also of the Center, to see how Stevens could offer assistance. They began collaborative efforts with Janet Kunhardt at Stevens Institute of Technology International (SITI), and together they established important relationships with leaders and engineers in the DR to establish the program.

Blumberg received more assistance for promoting the EWS project when Eileen Parra, a Stevens Civil Engineering student and a native of the DR, joined the team. Parra moved to the US from the DR when she was six-years old. She always had a love for math and her uncle, a civil engineer in the DR, inspired her to study civil engineering. During the summer of 2007, her uncle gave her an opportunity for hands-on experience doing management work for the construction of Aurora del Sol Hotel in Santo Domingo, DR.

Since moving to the US, Parra has returned to visit her country every summer and always looked for ways to give back. She feels that working with the EWS is the opportunity she's been waiting for. After familiarizing herself with the EWS project goals, she submitted a proposal to Stevens' Technogenesis program to further the work in the DR. The proposal was accepted and Parra traveled to the DR to continue project development from June through August 2008.

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