Building a Resilient Future with FIU’s ClimateReady Tech Hub
FIU is leveraging its deep expertise and world-class research facilities to safeguard our coastal cities and beyond.
The South Florida ClimateReady Tech Hub is led by Miami-Dade County and includes Broward, Monroe, Palm Beach counties and over 40 research and small business partners throughout the region. Funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, this program will develop, commercialize and scale tech focused on sustainable and climate resilient infrastructure. Of the $19 miilion in federal funding, $10 million will go to FIU to support:
Technology Development and Maturation
Accelerate the readiness and expand deployment of cement technologies like FIU’s Ultra High Performance Concrete.
Climate Ready Infrastructure Innovation Center
Over the next five years, services and mentorship will be provided to at least 60 infrastructure innovation startups and small businesses.
Industry Codes and Standards
FIU’s Wall of Wind (WoW), the only life-size test facility at a U.S. university capable of generating Category 5 winds, has led to improved codes and safer buildings. Now, NSF-funding will support the design of a new facility to test construction against 200 mph winds, combined with a water basin to simulate storm surge and wave action. All of this will help researchers continue to provide expertise and input for the improvement of building codes and standards, work on policies to incorporate new materials and technologies, as well as give regulators guidance on which standards to enforce and recommendations to streamline the approval process.