Planning for Communication in Emergencies

Jeffrey Nickerson, 
StevensStevens Institute of Technology

In major emergencies, communication tends to be lost. Even when attempts are
made to harden communication infrastructure, communication is often still
lost. Here we look at what can be done to reestablish communication quickly.
In particular, we will consider how mobile ad hoc networks might change the
way we plan. Work in progress will be presented, including the results from
recent simulations. The research has implications for emergency response,
and suggests new scenarios for mobile ad hoc networks and active sensor
networks.

Jeffrey V. Nickerson is an associate professor at Stevens Institute of
Technology in the Howe School of Technology Management. He has worked as an
associate director at Bear Stearns, and as a management consulting partner
at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He holds a Ph.D. from New York University in
Computer Science.