2024 DoD SERDP NICE Project Workshop

Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP)
Networked Infrastructures under Compound Extremes (NICE)

The DoD SERDP “NICE” project is funded by US DoD’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP). A brief description by the funder is provided here and by Northeastern University here, and overviews were subsequently presented with a “Virtual Poster” here and at a SERDP-ESTCP Symposium here. The first workshop for SERDP NICE was held during 1-3 November 2022.

Venue: Northeastern University, Boston, MA (All times US EST)
Location: 333 Curry Center - Senate Chambers
Workshop Sponsor: US Department of Defense: DOD SERDP
Workshop Co-Sponsors: Northeastern University: SDS Lab; AI4CaS; COE

Join via Teams: Day 1 Morning || Day 1 Afternoon || Day 2

Recordings: Day 1 Morning || Day 1 Afternoon || Day 2 Part 1 || Day 2 Part 2

Download the Workshop Flyer here: Workshop Flyer



Day One: NICE Thursday, April 25, 2024

  • 08:30–09:00 Continental Breakfast Outside Room: 333 Curry Center

    Day 1 Morning Teams Link

  • 09:00–09:05 Welcome and Introductions
    Opening Comments: Dr. Auroop Ganguly – SERDP NICE Lead PI (Distinguished College of Engineering Professor, Director of the SDS Lab: Sustainability and Data Sciences Laboratory, and Director of AI4CaS: AI for Climate and Sustainability, Northeastern University, Boston, MA)

  • 09:05-10:00 State of the NICE Project || Slide Deck
    Dr. Auroop Ganguly – Northeastern University
    Dr. Sam Chatterjee – Pacific Northwest National Labs
    Dr. Marta Gonzalez – University of California – Berkeley
    Dr. Ben Trump – US Army Corps of Engineers
    Dr. Satish Chikkagoudar – Naval Research Lab

  • 10:00–10:15 Coffee Break

  • 10:15-11:15 Panel Session 1: Climate and Compound Extremes
    Moderator: Dr. Ben Trump, Research Social Scientist, US Army Corps of Engineers
    Invited Panelists:
    Ms. Rose Leopold, Director of Business Resilience, Moderna
    Dr. Igor Linkov, Senior Scientific Technical Manager (SSTM), Army Corps of Engineers, Boston, MA

  • 11:15-12:15 Panel Session 2: Methods and Theories for Installation Resilience
    Moderator: Dr. Marta Gonzalez, Professor of City and Regional Planning and Physics Research Faculty of Energy Technology at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, University of California – Berkeley
    Invited Panelists:
    Dr. Leonardo Duenas Osorio, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University
    Dr. Jianxi Gao, Associate Professor Computer Science and Center for Network Science and Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

  • 12:15–13:00 Lunch

    Day 1 Afternoon Teams Link

  • 13:00-14:00 Panel Session 3: Translations for Mission Readiness
    Moderator: Dr. Satish Chikkagoudar, Research Scientist, Center for High Assurance Computer Systems, US Naval Research Laboratory
    Invited Panelists:
    Dr. Craig Poulin, Lieutenant Colonel US Air Force & Adjunct Assistant Professor of Systems, Air Force Institute of Technology Engineering
    Dr. Himangshu Das, Engineer, US Army Corps of Engineers

  • 14:00-15:00 Panel Session 4: Synergies with SERDP RC Projects
    Moderator: Dr. Sam Chatterjee, Chief Data Scientist with the Data Sciences and Machine Intelligence Group, US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Labs
    Invited Panelists:
    Dr. Sudershan Gangrade, Water Resources Engineer, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
    Dr. Dave Alderson, Professor, Operations Research Department, Executive Director Center for Infrastructure Defense Naval Postgraduate School
    Dr. Daniel Eisenberg, Director, Center for Infrastructure Defense, Naval Postgraduate School

  • 15:00-16:00 Panel Session 5: Integrating with DoD Toolkits
    Opening Remarks: Dr. Auroop Ganguly
    Invited Panelists:
    Dr. Todd Hay, Program Manager for Defense Climate Adaptation Toolkit at US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Labs
    Dr. Subhra Misra, Deputy Director Climate Change Adaptation and Planning ODASD (Energy Resilience and Optimization) Office of Secretary of Defense & DoD Climate Action Team – Climate Preparedness and Resilience

  • 16:00 - 19:00 Networking and (Happy Hour) and Dinner
    Cabral Center
    Address: 40 Leon Street, Boston
    Building name: John D. O’Bryant African American Institute
    First Floor Lobby

Day Two: NICE Next-Gen - Friday, April 26, 2024

  • 08:30 - 09:00 Continental Breakfast - Outside Room: 333 Curry Center

    Day 2 Teams Link

  • 09:00 - 09:30 Invited Talk 1: Climate Adaptation
    Speaker: Dr. Evan Kodra, Senior Director, Climate & ESG, Intercontinental Exchange ICE Data Services

  • 09:30 - 10:00 Invited Talk 2: Cyber Security
    Speaker: Dr. Kaushik Chowdhury, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Associate Dean for Research, College of Engineering, Associate Director of the Institute for the Wireless of Internet of Things, Northeastern University

  • 10:00 - 10:20 Invited Talk 3: Energy Transitions
    Speaker: Mr. Ardeshir Contractor, Director of Strategic Research Projects, AI for Climate and Sustainability, Institute for Experiential AI, Northeastern University

  • 10:20 - 10:30 Coffee Break

  • 10:30 - 11:00 Invited Talk 4: Flood Risk Management
    Speaker: Dr. Julie Rosati, Lead Civil Works R&D Technical Director; R&D Technical Director Flood Risk Management, US Army Corps of Engineers

  • 11:00 - 11:30 Invited Talk 5: Networks and Infrastructure Resilience
    Speaker: Dr. Alesia Chernikova, Northeastern University

  • 11:30 - 12:00 Invited Talk 6: Water Networks and Infrastructure
    Speaker: Dr. Lina Sela, Professor, University of Texas - Austin

  • 12:00 - 12:10 Introduction to Experiential AI Institute
    Speaker: Dr. Usama Fayyad, Director EAI

  • 12:10 - 12:30 Machine Learning for Climate Science
    Speaker: Dr. Jennifer Dy, Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Northeastern University; Director of AI Faculty, EAI

  • 12:30 - 13:00 Discussions and Next Steps leading to Workshop Report

  • 13:00 - 14:00 Box Lunch & Adjourn


Recorded Sessions:

Day 1_Afternoon Session

  1. Opening Comments: Dr. Auroop Ganguly

  2. Moderator: Dr. Satish Chikkagoudar - Introduction

  3. Invited Panelists: Dr. Craig Poulin - Professional Education Program for Civil Engineers in the Air Force

  4. Dr. Himangshu Das - Case Studies for Flood Protection and Resilient Infrastructure

  5. Dr. Subhra Misra - Climate Dashboard Tool for Guam

  6. Session 4: Dr. Sam Chatterjee opening comments regarding synergies with SERDP RC Projects

  7. Dr. Sudershan Gangrader - Development of Climate-Informed Flood Vulnerability Assessment

  8. Dr. Dave Alderson - Critical Infrastructure Resilience Collaboration & Assessment

  9. Advancing Resilience Theory and Tools to Combat Environmental Surprise

  10. Four Notions of Resilience

  11. Dr. Todd Hay - Environmental Security Decision Support

  12. Closing Remarks - Dr. Auroop Ganguly

Day 2_Part 2

  1. Dr. David Alderson - Continuation on Rethinking Research for Critical Infrastructure

  2. Dr. Usama Fayyad - Introduction to Experiential AI Institute

  3. Dr. Jennifer Dy - Machine Learning for Climate Science and closing