For three years, University of Florida engineering professor David O. Prevatt, Ph.D., has been chewing on a stubborn problem: Why are bridges and buildings still succumbing to natural hazards when we have the knowledge to build resilient, hazard-resistant structures?

“I am a wind engineer,” said Prevatt. “I study hurricanes and houses and how to make them stronger. I can tell people seven ways ‘til Sunday how to build a better house, but it takes decades to get implemented.”

Then came an epiphany. “Maybe it’s not the ‘engineering.’ Maybe it is how engineering impacts the policies. Maybe it is how we engineers describe solutions to problems to those who can implement change. Maybe it’s engineers who must change.”

And, he thought, maybe now is the time to go back to Washington, D.C.

“As I was thinking about that, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine put out a call for Jefferson Science Fellowship applications. I said, ‘Hm. perhaps that’s a path I need to take.”

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David O. Prevatt,

Kisinger Campo & Associates Term Professor