Research Engineer, Community Resilience Program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Stephen Cauffman is a research engineer with the Community Resilience Program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He initiated resilience work at NIST in 2010 with funding from the Department of Homeland Security and developed the initial plan for the NIST Community Resilience Program. The program is developing science-based tools to measure resilience at the community-scale and guidance on planning and implementing measures to improve resilience. The Community Resilience Program (http://www.nist.gov/el/resilience/) produced the Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems and the Community Resilience Economic Decision Support Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems. The Program has also established the Community Resilience Panel, composed of a broad group of stakeholders to identify and address gaps in knowledge, guidance, and standards to enhance community resilience. The program is supported by the NIST-funded Center for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning, a ten-institution team led by Colorado State University (http://resilience.colostate.edu/).
Mr. Cauffman previously served as the program manager for the World Trade Center Investigation, led NIST’s study of the performance of structures following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and was a member of the team that studied the collapse of the Dallas Cowboys Practice Facility. He has served as leader of the Structures Group and as Deputy Chief and Acting Chief of the Materials and Structural Systems Division.