Metzger
receives DHS award
for
hurricane preparedness research, serves
on “best and brightest”
panel
By
Lois
Slavin, Communications Director,
MIT Engineering Systems Division –
April 11, 2008
Michael
Metzger, a research assistant in the
MIT Engineering Systems Division’s
Center
for Engineering Systems Fundamentals
and a Ph.D. student in MIT’s
Operations Research Center, received
second place honors for his research
on strategies for hurricane preparedness
and response at the second annual
Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) University
Network Summit. The event, held
March 19-20 in Washington, DC, showcased
key research and education priorities
of DHS Centers of Excellence, the
Science and Technology Directorate
and the Department of Homeland Security
at-large.
Undersecretary
of Homeland Security Jay M.
Cohen presented
CESF RA Michael Metzger with
an award for his research
on hurricane preparedness and
response. |
Metzger
was one of a select group of students
accepted to present his research at
the summit’s poster session,
which was attended by approximately
750 participants. His poster, entitled
“Avoiding the Eye of the Storm,”
followed the approach of MIT’s
Engineering Systems Division to the
analysis of complex systems.
Metzger’s
advisor, Richard
C. Larson, Mitsui Professor of
Engineering Systems and Civil and
Environmental Engineering and director
of CESF, explains. “Mike’s
proposed response strategy to approaching
hurricanes embodies elements of engineering,
management and the social sciences.
On the one hand, he used a sophisticated
form of 'Bellman's equation,' drawn
from operations research to characterize
sequential decision making under uncertainty.
On the other hand, he also examines
an area with no equations –
focusing on the Boy-Who-Cries-Wolf
problem – as an indicator of
a population's willingness to follow
an evacuation advisory."
Undersecretary
of Homeland Security Jay M. Cohen
presented Metzger with his award at
a gala luncheon.
In
addition, Metzger was invited to serve
on the DHS scholars “best and
brightest” panel. He was the
only student to both win an award
and speak on the panel.
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