1^st International Conference on Natural Hazards and Disaster Management June 1-3, 2017 Osaka, Japan

Biography:

Mukwada G is an Associate Professor in Environmental Geography and is based at the University of the Free State in South Africa. His research primarily revolves around natural resource management, climate change and rural livelihoods. He has published more than 30 papers in accredited journals. He is the Founding Coordinator of the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) at the University of the Free State and is the current coordinator of the Living and Doing Business in Afromontane Environments theme of the ARU.

Abstract:

Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) values were calculated from gridded precipitation data for the Namahadi Catchment (north of the Maluti-Drakensberg Mountains) and analyzed alongside temperature data for the period between 1960 and 2015 and the SPI values were classified using the classification systems developed by McKee et al., (1993). The temperature data were analyzed for trends and spatial variability, using the Sequential Regime Shift Detection software while both temperature data and SPIs were analyzed using Geographic Information Systems, to assess temporal variations of severe and extreme drought years and their spatial magnitude. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values were calculated from Landsat 8 images for randomly sampled drought years within each of the resultant epochs. The results indicate progressive warming and a temperature shift of 0.6°C between two epochs and a corresponding deterioration of vegetation cover within the catchment, indicating that climate change has affected vegetation cover negatively. This knowledge is important for the development of mitigation measures, including the restorative measures that can be considered for improving ecosystem services in the catchment.

Biography:

Sofyan Sufri is a PhD student at Griffith School of Medicine, Centre for Environment and Population Health, Griffith University, Queensland Australia and also serving as University Lecturer. She completed her Bachelor of Applied Science in Nursing Study Program, Health Polytechnics Ministry of Health, Banda Aceh, Indonesia. She is also a Researcher, Tsunami & Disaster Mitigation Research Center (TDMRC), Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, Indonesia

Abstract:

Disasters are important global challenges due to their serious impacts on populations, economies and the environment. Global research indicates that, disasters and their associated impacts will increase due to climate change. Therefore, disaster preparedness is essential to anticipate, reduce and prepare for these disaster impacts. Within disaster preparedness, Early Warning Systems are regarded as crucial to save lives, reduce injuries, and environmental damage as they provide timely and effective information to people at risk so that appropriate responses can be taken. Many EWS heavily focus on technology and infrastructure, however disaster management research suggests that EWS need strengthened community engagement (CE) in order to enhance the effectiveness of their operation. Such research argues that ineffective responses to disaster events will continue if community engagement in EWS does not improve. Aceh, is one province in Indonesia that is vulnerable to multiple disasters. The province has achieved much progress in disaster preparedness in terms of infrastructure and capacity building for various stakeholders. However, past experience illustrates that many people engage in inappropriate actions during disaster events as they are not actively engaged with the design and operation of EWS. This has resulted in people being killed, injured or losing their property. Literature analysis points to inadequate research on enhancing community engagement especially in EWS in Aceh province. This PhD research study aims to analyse the challenges and opportunities for enhancing community engagement in Early Warning System to improve disaster preparedness in Aceh Province. The study will explore experiences, perspectives and needs of stakeholders to enhance CE in EWS in Aceh province. The research will provide strategies and recommendations for Aceh governments especially Aceh Agency for Disaster Management at provincial and District levels (BPBA and BPBD) and provide important insights into different levels of community engagement across the elements of EWS.

Biography:

Nasr Bensalah is an Associate Professor with the Department of Chemistry and Earth Sciences, at College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University. Since June 2009, he worked as a Research Scientist with the Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University at Qatar. Before that, he held positions of Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, and Senior Lecturer at University of Gabes in Tunisia. He is still affiliated with Gabes University as Professor of Chemistry (in leave). He has more than 15 years’ experience in teaching and research in the field of Electrochemistry. His research interests are focused on the applications of electrochemical technologies for water treatment, energy storage, and chemical analysis. He has published more than 50 papers in peer-reviewed international journals and he has supervised 8 MSc-students and 4 PhD- students. He is interested in research based on applications of electrochemical technologies for water treatment, energy storage, and chemical analysis. 

Abstract:

All aluminium production has an environmental impact, such as emissions of gases (HF, SO₂ and NO_x) and dust into the air, in addition small amounts of greenhouse gases such as CO₂ and perfluorocarbons (PFCs). In order to monitor and control the impact of these emissions, measurements and surveillance are essential. PFCs, being powerful greenhouse gases, are formed during aluminium electrolysis when so-called "anode effect" occurs. New researches have shown that PFCs may also be formed during normal electrolysis when just one or two anodes go into anode effect. The amount of PFCs formed during normal electrolysis is unknown, and therefore gas monitoring measurements on industrial cells must be performed. Low concentrations and high flow-rate volumes demand strict sampling methodologies and routines, such as EPA standards utilized world-wide. However, these standards have now come of age and new equipment has been developed and reached an affordable price level. In particular ion chromatography (IC) allows simpler handling of samples, but requires new approaches to take out the potential. The user interface of such modern devices has been standardized so that the need for specialized operators has been reduced. Additional new equipment has been introduced to measure gases in the ppb range; particularly Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer. This talk focuses mainly on: (i) Representative sampling accuracy at less operating time and costs, (ii) Long-term sampling periods utilizing commercially available passive/solid absorbers, (iii) New methodologies for reducing gas emissions during aluminium production.

Biography:

Amardeep Bhardwaj is an internationally respected scholar and is a defense expert from India with 35 years of professional experience. Currently, he is holding a senior position in the Government and his prime area of focus remains Disaster Management. His academic credentials include: Master of Science, Senior Level Diploma in Management, Master of Philosophy and a PhD/Doctorate in ‘Defense Studies’ for which his thesis was titled “Role of the Armed Forces in Disaster Management”. His book captioned “Optimizing and Synergizing Disaster Response of the World’s Militaries” is nearing finalization. He has participated in actual ‘Disaster Relief Operations’ during his service. He lectures extensively on the subject, globally. Presently, he is on the Board of Management of the ‘Centre for Strategic Studies and Simulation’ at the United Services Institution of India, India’s foremost think-tank. He is also a member of ‘All India Management Association’ and ‘The International Emergency Management Society’.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Viewed from a global perspective, amongst all the agencies available to mankind to combat disasters, the military has repeatedly proved itself to be the most capable. However, a few probing questions reveal the true state of affairs: how optimally are the military forces trained, equipped, organized and mandated for DM? Within the ‘training’ domain itself, are adequate number of servicemen being trained, is their education & training institutionalized, is the requisite training infrastructure in place, have training requirements been scientifically deduced, is the curriculum purposeful, is formal certification being provided, are the training institutes accredited and finally, how effective has the training proved in actual disaster operations? Truthful answers to these questions reveal the extent of the problem.

Addressing the Problem: There is a dire need to graduate from a ‘nation-specific’ to a trans-national perspective, so as to develop a globalised approach to disaster response and relief. Moreover, the military needs to get far more specialized in training and equipping itself for such complex and delicate operations. The paper outlines a bouquet of options for each military to choose from so as to optimize itself for DM.

Recommendations and Conclusion: To bring about the desired transformation the paper identifies a number of different ‘Pathways’ or ‘Approaches’. It also suggests curricula for ‘higher’ levels of education and training of the military. Further, it discusses the ‘Training Vistas’ relevant to the military and makes a strong case for it to be trained in consonance with the tasks or duties assigned to it during DRR/HADR. It concludes by showcasing a number of innovative and ‘out of the box’ solutions to significantly upgrade the military’s efficiency in executing disaster relief operations.

Biography:

Constantinos S Psomopoulos, is a Professor and Vice President of the Electrical Engineer Dept. graduated from the School of Electrical and Computers Engineering, NTUA Greece in 1997 and received his PhD from the same School in 2002. He has worked for several years in different industrial sectors (Shipyards, Waste Management, Energy, etc). He took part as expert in energy and infrastructures, in national and international projects. He is a certified expert in Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection according to 2008/114/ EC Directive. He is the Director of the High Voltage and Power Systems Research Lab of PUAS. He joined the Academic staff of PUAS in October 2007, the research team of Earth Engineering Center of Columbia University of NY since 2011, and he is Visiting Professor in University d’ Auvergne France since June 2016. He is author of over 100 scientific papers published in international scientific journals and conferences.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Since 2005, the European Program for Critical Infrastructure Protection (EPCIP) is the main policy initiative at European Union (EU) level, while Directive 2008/114/EC, "the EPCIP Directive", is the most representative legal instrument about this issue. According to the Directive 2008/114/EC, as critical infrastructure we define an asset, system or part thereof located in Member States which is essential for the maintenance of vital societal functions, health, safety, security, economic or social well-being of people, and the disruption or destruction of which would have a significant impact in a Member state as a result of the failure to maintain those functions. The energy sector is closely related with critical infrastructure protection focusing on the society protection, by protecting the energy suppliers, services and customers. This is achieved using preventive physical, cyber and operational security measures.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: This work presents a study about EU legislation in terms of the impact of natural hazards on the critical energy infrastructure protection considering the EU energy infrastructure program, the increasing energy demand and renewable energy sources penetration, and the experience from large scale electricity blackouts.

Findings: EC legislation provides a comprehensive view of all the problems and tasks involved at critical infrastructure protection. Despite all the efforts devoted to improving the legislation, there is a need for a more comprehensive legal framework related with the natural hazards in electricity networks.

Conclusion & Significance: Although EC legislation about critical energy infrastructure protection is steadily increased over the years, the substantial natural hazards impact in electricity systems needs to be more carefully addressed.

Biography:

Kiana Kalantar is currently majoring in Industrial Design at University of Tehran. She is the Founder and Curator of TEDxUniversityofTehran, a member of the organizing team of Startup Weekend Arts and part of executive committee at TEDxTUA. She has been a selected member of the student society at her University. And also a member of Iran’s National Elites Foundation. She is the international Gensai Design Award Winner.

Abstract:

Each year numerous cities around the world experience natural disaster permeated with fog like sand, also known as a dust storm. The dust storm  was the meteorological phenomenon common in the arid and semi-arid regions. Particles will be transported by saltation and suspension, a process that moves soil from one place and deposits it in another. The Drylands around North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula are the main terrestrial sources of airborne dust. Dust storms have been shown to increase the spread of disease across the globe, like “keratoconjunctivitis” sicca ("dry eyes") or lung cancer to name a few. People in these regions are in desperate need of a clean air, a better view and a safe protection. The aim of this research is to minimize the damages caused by this kind of disasters by designing a product, that would be usable in time of need and be able to prove people living in polluted cities or stuck during a dust storm with better and safer conditions. The methodology of this research is based on data analysis, survey, observation and brain storming creative ideas focused on the most important subjects. The original goal of the project was dedicated to fix the sight problem. By creating a list of the similar devices already in the market, we set out to refine and re-design them to create a unique and original form and function. Finally, “AirBubble” is designed by author as revolutionary product that works as a multi-purpose device focused solely on preventing any damage to people’s well-beings during a dust-storm disaster. AirBubble provides all the basic needs at the time of emergency for people to be able to resume their daily life and not be stopped by the unwanted and uncharted natural disasters such as dust storms and sand storms. This product is a positive step closer to the merge of technology and designed in order to create a customized environment for an otherwise unstable geological zone.

Biography:

Mahsa GhanbariBorhan is currently studying Industrial design in University of Tehran. She finished her 12th degree in graphic design. She teaches painting and sketching techniques. Also, she is involved in product designs for children with disabilities. Because of her graphic background, she illustrates story books for children as well. Recently, she is teaching graphic workshops in Saba art school and is consulting part-time in a research conducted in her university.

Abstract:

Every year, a large number of people around the world lose their lives because of natural disasters. Nowadays, cities have become more vulnerable, because of urbanization and population growth. Iran is considered as one of ten accident-prone countries in the world due to its geographical and geological location. So for years, the strategies such as crisis management, education, architectural design and others have been considered to reduce the impact of natural disasters on the country. Furthermore, underground constructions cause the high subside problems about 36 cm every year. This issue increases the danger of any natural damages specially earthquakes in Tehran. To decline the damages caused by natural disasters, many products have been designed but the incidents are unpredictable. In addition, we tried to design a product which is easy to use for everyday activities; not just eminently suitable for any sort of natural disaster but also useful for other highly accidental situations. According to properties of the product, after searching we found some accessories which people use every day such as: watches, bracelets, rings, etc. The aim of this research is to minimize the damages of this kind of disaster by create innovating product which can reduces the damage in dangerous conditions or incidents. This paper proposes the bracelet which is daily usable to measure and inform the person’s physical activities through intelligent electronic device during a day. The methodology of this research is based on Functional-analysis related products in these criteria. Though, we decided to design a product which can be easily carried and works with the notification systems, inform connected organizations and mobile's first aid devices about the condition of user. In fact, the bracelet works with the heart beat rate and helps to save time and accelerate assistance to find alive people.

Biography:

Abstract:

Biography:

Choon Yong Heng is an Architecture Enthusiast and young Architecture Graduate from the Curtin University (2017) and currently practicing at Hassell Studio, Perth. He believes that great architecture makes impactful experiences, even shapes user’s behavior on and off from the daily context. He always looks to participate in conversations on community and environmental series. His Master’s thesis expressed his concern about catastrophic contingencies reaction in the crowd. He is looking forward in more extensive research and have the intention to deliver a communication package before the year of 2020 for the Japan Department of Risk Management and Tokyo Olympics Organization Committee.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Natural disaster raises awareness in contemporary capability of reacting contingencies. Japan is one most hazardous place due to its geological context. Research looked into Japanese disaster prevention culture, risk management experience and the integrity of disaster prevention facilities. Research found that Japan is successful in managing risk because of their pre-delivery of the BOUSAI disaster safety code; knowledge that reaching public consensus so that their citizens have less contradictory decisions when dealing contingencies. However, disaster prevention architecture still performs in a conventional approach. Research has aligned two strategies, BOUSAI Disaster Prevention and Tokyo Olympic Urban Development & Planning Guide. The purpose of this is to examine the feasibility of adopting education and experiential architecture in disaster prevention use.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Research mapping, visual diagrams, and architectural composite drawings are utilized to conduct the design ideas. Researcher has foreseen the architectural capability to deliver great user experience in DRR strategy and utilized 2020 Olympic year as the opportunity to disseminate the BOUSAI disaster prevention ideology. Architecture is the medium to translate this prestige knowledge and introduce to the international audiences.

Outcome: The visual package has leaded the conversation of aligning Tokyo Olympic with BOUSAI to discuss over five key aspects of this alignment. It is BOUSAI re-introduction, DRR research core, immersive simulations, post-disaster living scheme, and future method of natural preservation. Researcher demonstrates BOUSAI in the transformation from written intellectual to spatial experiences. Comparative images and diagram will also be provided to show the degree of architecture contribution.

Conclusion & Significance: Disaster simulations and pre-disaster rehearse could strategically succeed in reducing disaster risk. Research expect that Tokyo Olympic is in another way to take disaster prevention education into a deeper level and globalize disaster prevention research collaboration. It also fulfills the scheme of a sustainable Post-Olympics strategy.

Biography:

Dong-Hee Lim received his PhD degree (2008) and worked as a Post-doc (2009-2010) in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, MI, USA. He also worked as a Post-doc for two years at the Department of Energy Resources Engineering at Stanford University. He serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Engineering at Chungbuk National University. His research interests focus on quantum mechanics-based first principles calculations on energy and environmental-related topics. He has published 30 SCI papers.

Abstract:

Sulfide minerals are important in immobilizing toxic pollutants in reducing environments. Iron sulfide (FeS) is ubiquitous in anoxic conditions and is a good remover of various organic contaminants and heavy metals. This study was conducted to modify the FeS synthesis process to delay the air oxidation rate of FeS by adding NaBH₄. Also, the fundamental mechanism of how NaBH4 enhanced the oxidation resistance of FeS was theoretically investigated by the density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The real-time oxidation test results showed that the suggested NaBH₄-modification retarded the oxidation of FeS by 8 times compared to the unmodified FeS. The DFT results revealed that the FeS oxidation was attributed to sulfide oxidation of S-terminated FeS due to strong electronegativity of oxygen, and by treating FeS with the hydride ion (H⁻) donated from the ionization of NaBH₄, less charge was withdrawn from the FeS sulfur atoms (i.e., retarded FeS oxidation) because oxidizing environment preferentially withdrew charge from the hydride ion (H⁻) rather than from FeS. The proposed FeS modification process may be useful in simplifying the application of reduced iron- or sulfide-minerals as alternatives to ZVI or oxide-based metal absorbents in environmental technologies. The real-time XAS measurements demonstrated that it is a useful method for accelerating kinetically slow or quasistatic equilibrium reactions. The pollutant removal efficiency of the modified FeS, compared to the unmodified FeS, will be evaluated in future studies.

Image

Figure 1: Fe K-edge XANES of (A) FeS and (B) NaBH4-FeS. Consecutive scans taken under atmospheric conditions were numbered from Scan 1 to 6. Scans 0 represent the XANES scans of unoxidized FeS and NaBH4-FeS. All model compounds (unoxidized FeS and NaBH4-FeS, ferrihydrite, and goethite) were scanned under a He flow, to prevent exposure to air during the measurements.

Biography:

Hossein Morvaridi Farimani has completed his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design from University of Tehran (2012-2016) and is serving as an Industrial Designer dominates on hand sketching, rendering and 3D – 2D software like Catia, SolidWorks, Rhinoceros, Sketch-up, Coreldraw, PS and etc. Also, he has achieved several courses and licenses in materials and manufacturing processes. He cooperates with several industrial companies as a Designer, like Mapna locomotive, Saipa motor company (Exterior design and prototype modeler), IranKhodro (as trainee), etc. He has experiences in management of design projects from concept creation and development through determination of manufacturing processes and final assembly details. Since November 2013, as the Head of industrial design group, he began working on the Iranian humanoid robot SURENA III, and currently he is working on the next generation of humanoid robot SURENA.

Abstract:

Since a natural disaster is most of the times unpredictable and sudden, it can cause loss of life and property damage. Here our concern is life of the populations, so the solution leads to reduce the number of victims and damages of a disaster with a simple solution. While a natural hazards or disaster happens, the moments after the occurrence time (better to call: scape time) is partly more important than the disaster itself. Former literatures has shown, 25% of the victims or injures of a natural disaster happened at the “scape time”. So with this prologue, the populations’ behaviors at scape time worth to be design. The aim of this paper is, to minimize the number of victims and damages of the disasters with a creative solution based on making daily-use products, convenient to use in hazard conditions. The methodology of this paper is based on analytical-functional procedure. Such as: survey of observation, geometric assessment of related devices and people behavior in ventures. At the moment of disaster, everyone who settle in an apartment or working in an office building try to come out of the buildings, with the elevators shutting down and with lights off, every one tend to use the stairs specially emergency stairs. Also there might be some old, injured or handicapped people in the crowd, so making the stairs convenient to use is expected. This paper proposes a design process and a new methodology, which could minimizes the damages of disasters by designing the emergency stairs or conventional stairs in a way to change into slope. The specific of this idea is to enable people to leave the buildings much faster rather than descending the stairs. The conclusions of this research were conducted to a new methodology and it consolidates the position of design in saving human’s life and decrease the number of damages. Also it’s a new idea to connect the hazard products and daily useable products and improves the efficiency and possibility of utilization of hazard products.

Biography:

Statement of the Problem: The scarcity of habitable land, exponential world population growth and the seemly abruptive climate changes, has post a dire threat to the possible future of human civilization. The need for immediate response and scout for new habitable terrains has slowly become urgent and inevitable. This research seeks to challenge the viability of our current existing habitation, its ability to respond and adapt towards the dynamic situational conditions. The role of architecture, its discipline and design position to respond to the said matter are contributing factors in this search for a responsive and immersive habitation proposal. The research also provides a cross sectional study; in this case, Japan with reference to its geographical conditions and continual impetuous natural disaster risk imposed upon their existing habitation.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Using Architecture as the mediator and medium of investigation, testing the idea of ‘liveability’ across a series of scenarios and expectations. The findings are later presented as a collation of knowledge and ideas using visual communication graphics (research mapping, diagrams and architecture composite drawings).

Findings: The research commences from the idea of incentive outcomes poising questions on the term ‘liveabiity’. The inspirational work of Jules Verne and architect Jacques Rougerie formulate dialogues of possible future underwater colonization. The research explores the four cross sections: the insight of existing underwater structure and concept work that projects possibility underwater living (1), venture into the Japan’s community (organization, education and government) that resonates the interest of future marine development (2), the evolve of architecture direction (3), and align with contemporary event (4). The research illustrates that architectural thinking as mediator to outline hypothetical re-proposition.

Outcome: The visual presentation challenges the idea of repositioning the perspective of underwater as potential platform for future community and creates new opportunity for future marine development and research.

Conclusion & Significance: Architecture intervention can be viewed as an alternate solution in corresponds to the threat of rising sea level and natural disaster. The research formulates a distilled collective of knowledge and expertise in scouring the underwater living conditions and research undertakings.

Abstract: