Pacific Partnership engineers, along with more than 100 students and faculty from the University of Malaysia-Padang (UMP) Engineering & Earth Resources program, met for a four-day subject matter expert exchange on engineering in a disaster response context during Pacific Partnership 2016.

Those attending the seminar heard presentations on a broad range of topics including current approaches to preparing the infrastructure of coastlines to mitigate the effects of natural disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis, and major floods. Several of the presentations addressed engineering risk management strategies that also preserve and protect the environment.

Dr. Mohamad Idris Bin Ali, dean of the faculty, Civil & Earth Resources at the UMP, spoke about flooding following torrential rains in Malaysia. He described a trend of increasing flood levels since 2006. He said that in 2014 flooding cost Malaysia almost 2.9 billion Ringgit or about $750 million.

Ali spoke of the importance of connections he made at the Pacific Partnership SME exchange and how he will work with his new Pacific Partnership colleagues to access and interpret real time satellite weather data that is routinely collected by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association. This data will help him create models and predict impending flooding disasters along coastal Malaysia.

Lt. Joe Blauwiekel, U.S. Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific, also presented at the event. He spoke about construction safety and hazard analysis. Blauwiekel shared a scheme of hazard analysis used by the U.S. Navy that he believes has been effective at reducing worksite injuries. By making the scheme available to all of the attendees, Blauwiekel created a simple and sustainable approach to worksite safety that can be used by Malaysian construction professionals.

"A hurricane is not a disaster, the inability to handle the results is," said Dr. Noram Irwan Bin Ramli. "We are already planning a second meeting as a follow up to the Pacific Partnership 2016 SME exchange to continue sharing even more data and strategies."

Pacific Partnership and USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) are now sailing to Indonesia for the final mission stop of 2016. Pacific Partnership 2016 is focused on enhancing relationships and multinational-interoperability through knowledge exchange and training, ensuring partner nations are prepared to collectively and effectively respond when disaster strikes. Pacific Partnership is the largest annual multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

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