The SSPEED Center is a collaboration of faculty from several different institutions and public and private participants making up a leadership team which is diverse and cohesive.
Together, Dr. Phil Bedient from Rice University and Dr. Hanadi Rifai from the University of Houston, co-direct the Center which includes experts in the areas of flood prediction and warning, evacuation planning and direction, social decision making, infrastructure risk assessment, emergency communications, educational outreach, disaster planning and storm surge impacts.
The regional academic institutions which make up the SSPEED Center include Rice University (Rice), the University of Houston (UH), Louisiana State University (LSU), the University of Texas at Austin (UTA), Texas A& M University at Galveston, Texas Southern University, and the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB).
These universities have teamed together because each brings unique talent to the Center, and many of the involved faculty has worked together on related evacuation and flooding projects in the region.