Researchers from Iowa State and the Manufacturing Technology Consortium at the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois have received $324,000 from the National Technical Assistance Program, a branch of the Department of Commerce, to develop a disaster-assistance model for disaster victims.

The program will be developed at ISU by the Engineering Research Institute (ERI) Technical Services and the Extension Service’s Center for Industrial Research and Service.

During the flood of 1993, small and medium manufacturing companies were hurt economically. They were unable to transfer incoming orders to other sites like larger companies could.

Brian Espeland, manager of ERI Technical Services, said the disaster assistance system will provide information to these companies to help them locate resources to fulfill their customers’ orders, as well as provide information on relief organizations such as the Red Cross.

“[The manufacturers] have spent all their lives, in some cases, building a customer base. I want to help them protect that, and I truly believe that the small and mid-size companies in this country are where all the growth will come from,” Espeland said. “The goal of this is to get the right information in the right hands at the right time.”

It took two years following the flood to get approval from Washington D.C. for the project. Espeland made two trips to the capitol to explain the project to members of Congress and Senators from Iowa and Illinois, who then submitted it to Congress. “I felt we were the obvious choice to bring everything together,” Espeland remarked.

Some graduate students are helping set up the system so it will be ready to test by March. Madhu Rajamani, a graduate student in computer science, said, “We are trying to inform people who need help.”

Keith Adam, a professor in Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, said the aim is for the system to be accessible to anyone by modem and eventually by touch-tone telephone or utilizing live telephone assistance.

When it is tested in March, it will cover 13 flood-prone states. Espeland said the system will grow until it eventually covers all states.