Texas Tech University

Our History

 

Lubbock, TX, was hit by an EF-5 tornado in May, 1970, the catalyst to form the Institute for Disaster Research (IDR), now the National Wind Institute.

Lubbock tornado

70May

TTU started the Institute for Disaster Research (IDR) after the May 1970 EF-5 tornadic event impacted Lubbock.

IDR

71Feb

The Xenia, OH, tornado (1974) was one of the catalysts for formation of the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA) and led to the concept of above-ground shelters.

storm shelter inspiration ohiio

74APR

The first International Tornado Symposium is held to discuss tornadoes and wind hazards. This Symposium was one of the first gatherings to bring researchers together to discuss the topic of wind from the perspective of engineering.

tornado symposium cover

76jun

The 5th U.S. National Conference on Wind Engineering was held from Nov 6-8, 1985, in Lubbock, TX.

proceedings of 5th us national conference of wind engineering

85Nov

The Debris Impact Facility (DIF) is commissioned. Research Assistant Professor Larry Tanner has led the DIF since its inception.

97

Dr. Kishor Mehta and Dr. Ernst Kiesling played a vital part in the addition of building codes for building a safe room in a house to the first FEMA 320 publication.

fema 320 publication cover

98Dec

The National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA) is conceived.

Ernest Kiesling

00feb

The Wind Science and Engineering (WiSE) Research Center hosts the 11th International Conference on Wind Engineering.

wise 11th conference preprints cover

03jun

The Enhanced Fujita Scale is developed at Texas Tech University to update the original Fujita in Scale that was first introduced 1971. Dr. Kishor Mehta was a member of the committee.

EF chart comparing old and new readings

06feb

A $1M grant jointly awarded to TTU enables two Ka-Band radar trucks to be developed by a team led by Dr. John Schroeder.

ka band truck

06

Faculty and students took part in Vortex2, the largest effort ever made to understand tornadoes.

photo from above of group with equipment

09

The 40th anniversary of WiSE led to a new look and a new logo.

wise 40th logo

10

TTU's NWI and Water Resource Center organized project (with the City of Seminole) to research overlap between wind power and desalination.

heavy equipment and small turbine

 

13

NWI moved into new building in Summer 2013.

nwi building

13jun

Dr. Eric Bruning was awarded NSF funding to implement a Lightning Map Array project across the region.

bruning with equipment

14APR

Dr. John Schroeder leads $1.4 million DOE radar wind energy/meteorological project.

schroeder

16

The Texas Workforce Commission awards $1M contract to Texas Tech University and Texas State Technological College for wind energy undergraduate and graduate certificate programs.

radar

16apr

Debris Impact Facility was awarded accreditation by the American Association of Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA).

board crashing against wall

16apr

The Bachelor of Science degree program in Wind Energy is opened in the spring semester of 2012 and has more than 70 students in the process of completing the degree requirements.

first class of graduating students

16may

The West Texas Mesonet network brought its 100th meteorological instrument platform on-line in November 2016.

ribbon cutting mesonet

16nov