Exit Strategy

Our world is changing. Luckily, U researchers are discovering ways to make us better prepared for unexpected events that may lie ahead.

One faculty member studying preparedness is McKnight Distinguished University Professor Shashi Shekhar, who has led the development of an algorithm that determines the best evacuation plan in case of an emergency.

Shekhar and his team, including Jeffrey Wolff, ’06 M.S., have developed computer simulations of mock emergency evacuation scenarios for the Twin Cities Metro area, the Minnesota State Fair, and Oklahoma City.

In the case of the State Fair, their work revealed that dispersing people on foot yields dramatic benefits: If 20,000 people walked one mile before climbing into their cars, the evacuation would take 42 minutes. If they got into their cars immediately it would take more than an hour longer.

Shekhar’s work also demonstrates that phased evacuation—asking some people to wait—saves time in the long run, and that computer algorithms are better suited than humans to make evacuation recommendations because of the vast amount of data involved.

View a simulation >>

Read the full story and learn about other U research that’s preparing for our changing world.