The SimCenter is pleased to announce that its software tools are featured in the recently published NHERI Science Plan, Third Edition.

Since 2016, the NSF-funded SimCenter has been developing simulation and modeling software for the natural hazards research community. The SimCenter is part of the NSF-funded Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure, NHERI, which is dedicated to mitigating damage from earthquakes, windstorms, storm surge, wildfires, and other natural hazards.

As its thousands of users know, the SimCenter team provides world-class simulation and modeling tools as well as technical support and a wide variety of training opportunities. SimCenter tools are freely available to the public, at no cost to the user.

Throughout the latest edition of the NHERI Science Plan, early-career users will find stimulating ideas that leverage SimCenter tools in natural hazards engineering research. For instance, Key Research Question #5 (page 15) prompts investigations into the barriers and opportunities shaping development of analytic- and simulation-based techniques for understanding how natural hazards affect infrastructure and communities.

Researchers focusing on hazards modeling will be particularly interested in the SimCenter facility overview (Appendix C2). This section of the Science Plan highlights four broad Research Opportunities that directly benefit from deploying SimCenter tools:

• Calibrating Computational Model Parameters using Experimental Data
• Surrogate Model Development for Efficient and High-Fidelity Regional Simulations
• Performance-Based Engineering for Natural Hazard Risk Mitigation
• Simulating Disaster Impact on Communities