Tracy Kijewski-Correa is Linbeck Associate Professor of the Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame and leads the Structural DYNamics And MOnitoring (DYNAMO) Laboratory. DYNAMO is dedicated to addressing 21st Century Civil Infrastructure Challenges posed by increased urbanization and hazard vulnerability, using inter-disciplinary collaborations and context-driven technologies ranging from advanced sensing, simulation and cyber-infrastructure to innovative sustainable systems suitable for developing countries. These efforts include an NSF-funded, full-scale monitoring program for signature buildings in three countries around the globe, including the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa. This work has been recognized by a number of awards, including the International Association of Wind Engineering’s Junior Researcher Award. Other activities include research in cyber-physical systems and embedded sensing, in collaboration with a multi-disciplinary, college-wide research team focused on wireless sensor networks for detection of damage in civil infrastructure and terrorist activities in major cities. In addition, Dr. Kijewski-Correa is a PI on two NSF-funded projects leveraging cyber-infrastructure to mitigate wind hazards on structures and to create new paradigms for open-sourcing the design of civil infrastructure. Recently, these efforts have been extended by Notre Dame’s SAPC Program to include the seeding of CYBER-EYE: A Cyber-Collaboratory for National Risk Modeling and Assessment to Mitigate the Impacts of Hurricanes in a Changing Climate.

Dr. Kijewski-Correa’s scholarship is now being extended to global development challenges. This began with her founding of an NSF-funded REU site to allow undergraduates to work on sustainable and culturally appropriate housing designs in the wake of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, including conducting three years of field reconnaissance and recovery evaluation in Thailand and Indonesia. Her most prominent work now focuses on the master planning and rebuilding of Leogane, Haiti, the effective epicenter of the 2010 Earthquake. To this end, she and her collaborators have conducted numerous reconnaissance trips following the earthquake and are currently engaged in development of a sustainable model for low-income housing, funded by the National Collegiate Inventors Association, under the banner of Engineering2Empower (E2E). This project and another effort she advises, ND SEED: Notre Dame Students Empowering Engineering Development, allows students to engage in service-based research and scholarship to help deliver critical infrastructure to developing countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.