Press Releases

Congressman Tim Kennedy (NY-26) announced $475,000 to support new instruments for the University at Buffalo’s wind tunnel. The federal funding will allow for enhanced testing of mission-critical infrastructure, such as long-span bridges, fuel storage facilities, and tall buildings under extreme weather conditions.  

“Communities are facing natural disasters with increasing frequency and intensity,” said Congressman Kennedy. “With this funding, we take preparedness to the next level, building in protective measures from the ground up, and ultimately strengthening critical infrastructure and saving lives.” 

With the additional resources, UB will be able to incorporate the power of artificial intelligence into new high-performance workstations, add passive turbulence generators, and purchase multiple servo motors to facilitate testing under wind conditions that change over time. Together this will provide improved modeling, analysis, and design of cost-effective and resilient construction.  

“This funding will help enable UB to further its mission of serving people and communities threatened by extreme weather. It will also provide incredible opportunities to educate students – both graduate and undergraduate students – with cutting-edge tools that are critical to solving society’s greatest challenges,” says Kemper Lewis, dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “We thank Congressman Tim Kennedy for his continued leadership and support of UB.”

The funding for the University at Buffalo was included in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget and recently released by the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST leads the nation’s National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program, in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The goal is for a coordinated effort to reduce the loss of property and life due to wind-related incidents including hurricanes, thunderstorm downbursts, tornadoes, and blizzards.  

The wind tunnel is a testing facility within the University at Buffalo’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences’ Structural Engineering and Earthquake Simulation Laboratory (SEESL). 

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