Protecting our communities from violent storms

The National Weather Service predicts that a major hurricane will hit the Northeast in the near future. From building destruction to beach erosion, these storms could mean the loss of billions for local, state and national economies. How can we protect ourselves from these violent storms? How can we better predict their arrival? How do we clean up after they hit our coasts?

On the next edition of Technogenesis, Paul Kocin, a winter weather expert for The Weather Channel, Dr. Thomas Herrington, a coastal processes specialist for the New Jersey Sea Grant Extension Program, and Jim Eberwine, a general forecaster with a marine and hurricane focal point for the National Weather Service, join Stevens President Dr. Harold Raveche in an informative look at the devastating affects of violent storms.

Technogenesis is a weekly TV program produced by Stevens Institute of Technology (Stevens), in cooperation with cn8, the Comcast Network. This week's program features an investigation into new technologies for violent storm disaster prevention, risk assessment and the necessary restoration of our natural habitats. The program also explores the historical patterns of violent storms and what may be coming in the near future.

The Technogenesis program, "Extreme Weather - Preparing for Disaster." airs at 7:00 p.m., on cn8, the Comcast Network, each of the following Sundays in New Jersey and parts of neighboring states, including the Philadelphia and Baltimore regions: June 22, July 6, July 20 and August 3. The program will also appear at various times throughout the week on the local Comcast outlets in Prince William and Fairfax counties, Va., as well as Prince George's County, Md. Please check for local listings.

Hosted by Stevens President Dr. Harold J. Raveche and veteran TV journalist Steve Taylor, each program includes special guests from the areas of science, technology, government, education, business or industry.

Paul Kocin has held numerous positions in governmental environmental agencies and served as a Research Meteorologist in the Laboratory for Atmospheres at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Prior to joining The Weather Channel in January 1999, Kocin was with NOAA's Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC) in Camp Springs, Maryland, where he helped with the effort to implement new technology as part of the National Weather Service modernization.

Dr. Thomas Herrington is a graduate professor of ocean engineering at the Davidson Laboratory of Stevens. He is the acting NOAA New Jersey Sea Grant College Program Coastal Processes Specialist and the Director of the New Jersey Coastal Protection Technical Assistance Service. Dr. Herrington serves as the secretary of the Northeast Shore and Beach Preservation Association and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers Flood Loads Task Committee.

Jim Eberwine is the marine weather and hurricane program leader for the National Weather Service. He is involved with emergency preparedness issues and teaches part of a Hurricane Planning course to the emergency management personnel. With the National Weather Service in Mt. Holly, NJ, his responsibilities include 34 counties with nearly 12 million people within the northeast counties of Maryland's eastern shore, the state of Delaware, Pennsylvania from the Poconos to the Delaware Valley, and all of New Jersey except the 5 northeast counties.

Eberwine served four years in the United States Marine Corp and was assigned to the Western White House in San Clemente for all visits by President Nixon and other officials.

Co-produced by Stevens and Comcast, the half-hour Technogenesis programs feature government, research and industry leaders discussing some of the most challenging real-world issues facing science and technology today.

The Comcast Network is one of the nation's largest regional cable networks reaching more than to 4 million households in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870 and celebrating 140 Years of Innovation, Stevens Institute of Technology, The Innovation University, is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,234 undergraduate and 3,700 graduate students with more than 400 faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.

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