Stevens, as a prominent American research institute, does quite a bit of work both for and with the government. This work involves the Department of Defense, New York and New Jersey flood services, disaster management entities, and of course, the U.S. Navy. All this cooperation between Stevens and the government not only generates a lot of new interesting ideas and opportunities, but also brings in a large amount of money for the university. Just this year, Stevens received $960,000 in federal funding to advance our cutting-edge efforts in flood prediction, disaster management, financial technology, and artificial intelligence.
The first and perhaps most currently impactful research that is receiving funding is the Stevens Flood Advisory System (SFAS). This system provides four-day predictions of flood levels and possible surge storms all over the states of New York and New Jersey. Moreover, the system can forecast energy demands during periods of extreme hot or cold weather, manage traffic, and anticipate beach erosion levels along our coasts.
This system has been in place since 2015 and currently has over 1400 subscribers from both government and private sources. More funding could unlock additional computing power for the system. Muhammad Hajj, director of Steven’s Davidson Lab, which runs the SFAS, says that increased computing power could result in “improved community safety and resiliency for our local and regional communities,” something that will help on storm days like Hoboken saw just last week.
The second and more long-term research that this money will go toward is Steven’s Center for Research toward Advancing Financial Technology (CRAFT). As the name suggests, CRAFT is focused on creating new financial technologies, particularly in the area of predicting market crashes and leveraging quantum sciences to that effect. Resources that will be procured for CRAFT will also have secondary usages in other Stevens research involving AI, big-data tools, public health, engineering, and environmental sciences.
This money came out of the work of former representative Albio Sires, as well as U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Robert Menendez. The funding was included in the 2023 Fiscal Year Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, which was put in order in December 2022. A government shutdown will not have an effect on this funding. On the subject, President Favardin had this to say: “These technical upgrades and additions will bolster the university’s ability to produce real-time, actionable research that addresses critical national and global challenges and makes a meaningful difference in people’s lives.”
