ENGINEERING

IDG's Computerworld Honors Program has named the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation Network (NEES) as a 2013 Laureate.

The annual awards program honors visionary applications of information technology promoting positive social, economic and educational change.

Based at Purdue's Discovery Park, NEES is a collaborative, 14-site research project that aims to improve structural seismic design and reduce the damaging effects of earthquakes and tsunamis. NEES is funded by a $105 million National Science Foundation grant. NEEScomm is the operations unit at Purdue.

At the center of collaboration is the NEEShub, a sophisticated computing platform that provides a wealth of earthquake engineering data, as well as an interoperable suite of software services and tools. The NEEShub is powered by Purdue's HUBzero software.

"We are very excited and proud to receive this award, especially considering the number and quality of the other nominees," said Dawn Weisman, NEEScomm information technology director. "This honor is a direct reflection of the talent and dedication of the software professionals on the NEEScomm IT team."

Added Julio Ramirez, NEES chief officer and NEEScomm center director: "The research value of the NEEShub is enhanced by the contributions of the thousands of users of our NSF-funded network."

Specifically, the NEEShub software, which was nominated in the Collaboration category, provides a powerful Internet-accessible system designed to store and utilize research project data and computational tools. NEEShub allows the fruits of groundbreaking research to be shared among researchers, students, practitioners and the public.

"Collaboration is crucial for advancing the field of earthquake engineering," said Ramirez, who also is a professor of civil engineering at Purdue.

A panel of 22 distinguished judges evaluated a case study of NEEShub, considering its humanitarian benefits and measurable results of applying technology to meet a specific social or business need. The NEEShub was selected from more than 700 nominations to become one of 269 Laureates from 29 countries.

Weisman will accept the award at a June 3 ceremony in Washington, D.C. During the event, finalists in each of the 11 honors categories will be named for a 21st Century Achievement Award. The June 3 issue of "Computerworld" magazine also will feature a selection of this year's Honors Laureates.