The Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Response (RIDER) Center was founded in 2020 with the mission of achieving adaptive capacity and resilience for the communities affected by natural and societal disasters such as hurricanes and pandemics. As a multi-disciplinary research center established in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, RIDER unites engineers, social scientists, social workers, and health, public policy, communication and information specialists synergistically towards developing emergency plans to meet the distinct needs of both urban and rural communities to solve the real-world problem of “resilience divide.” Our researchers address a myriad of inter-related infrastructure design and management challenges that affect community resilience; designing innovative materials and structures that resist wind and water damage, identifying critical escape and emergency response routes, improving shipment processes for supply of goods and services, predicting the effect of climate and landscapes on hydroclimatic extremes and water quality, improving ways in which we recycle hurricane debris, and finding sustainable ways to manage landfills, among others.
At RIDER, one of our main goals is to probe the underlying causes of disaster vulnerability in communities, while accounting for civil and social infrastructure characteristics, social needs, and assessing their significance through innovative technologies.
With nearly $6 million of total expenditure in 2025, RIDER faculty work on various multidisciplinary research projects funded by external funding agencies such as the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health, Florida Department of Transportation, and Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
RIDER hosts a diverse range of faculty across disciplines and research areas. As of September 2026, we have 17 affiliated engineering faculty, more than 60 graduate students and 10 postdoc researchers, approximately 40 collaborators from other colleges at FAMU and FSU, and five staff members.
RIDER adamantly keeps working on its part to help our communities become more resilient against disasters and environmental challenges. The approach we take at RIDER is truly one of a teamwork and our multi-disciplinary approach is apparent within every aspect of our work from human-centered research projects and creative education opportunities for students, to extensive community outreach and broader impacts. I am thrilled to be a part of this extraordinary team, and it is my sincere hope that we will continue to work together in harmony towards achieving our goals regardless of the challenges we face.
Eren Erman Ozguven, Ph.D.
Director
