SHAPE Lab — Simulation of Hazards, AI, People & Engineering Decisions
AI and decision science for people and infrastructure under natural hazards.
We SHAPE better decisions for people and infrastructure under natural hazards.
SHAPE Lab develops AI-enabled simulation and decision models to help individuals, communities, and infrastructure systems anticipate, prepare for, and respond to natural hazards. We study how natural hazards, engineered systems, institutions, and individual and collective decision-making interact across problems including wildfire behavior, risk analysis, evacuation, mitigation, and community resilience. Our interdisciplinary team of engineers, researchers, and students combines AI, engineering, and social science to address real-world risk and resilience challenges.
Research at a Glance
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Recent News
Media
Our Recent Work Featured on WSU Insider (August 2026)
Our research on game-theoretic models for wildfire subsidy design was featured in WSU Insider. Please find the link here. Read more →
People
Congratulations to Dr. Nasimeh Rashidi! (July 2026)
Nasimeh Rashidi successfully defended her PhD dissertation, “Advancing Wildfire Resilience through Improved Understanding of Fuels, Institutions, and Homeowner Decisions.” Congratulations, Dr. Rashidi! Read more →
Media
Our computational framework for efficient probabilistic wildfire risk assessment was featured in ASCE Civil Engineering Source. The practitioner-oriented article highlights how the framework can support wildfire preparedness, mitigation, and resource-allocation decisions. Read the full article... Read more →
Publication
Expert Systems with Applications Paper (May 2026)
Our paper, “From Free-Riding to Collective Action in Wildfire Mitigation: The Role of Policy Incentives,” has been published in Expert Systems with Applications. Please find the full paper here. Read more →
Media
Our research on predicting transmission tower failure in extreme wind events is featured on WSU Insider. Please find the link here. Read more →
Project
We have started a new PacTrans project, “Enhancing Timber Supply Chain Resilience for Post-Wildfire Reconstruction through Multimodal Mobility and Collaborative Stakeholder Coordination in the Pacific Northwest.” Read more →
Award
Congratulations to Our Award-Winning Students! (April 2026)
Congratulations to Nasim Rashidi, recipient of the 2026 John F. Orsborn Outstanding Graduate Student Award, and to Abdel-Aziz Sanad, recipient of the 2026 Howard & Hermina Hallgarth Scholarship! Read more →
Award
Nasim's Three-Minute Thesis Award (March 2026)
Congratulations to Nasim Rashidi for winning 2nd place in the Three-Minute Thesis competition for her presentation, “Satellite Imagery-Based Dynamic Fuel Mapping for Wildfire Risk Assessment.” Read more →
Publication
Engineering Structures Paper (March 2026)
Our paper, “Surrogate-Based Fragility Modeling Framework for System-Level Wind Damage Assessment of Transmission Towers,” has been published in Engineering Structures. Please find the full paper here. Read more →
Publication
ASCE-ASME Journal Paper (February 2026)
Our paper, “Cluster-Based Active-Learning Scenario Reduction Framework for Probabilistic Wildfire Risk Assessment,” has been published in the ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems. Please find the full paper here. Read more →
Media
Our New Project Being Featured on WSU Insider (April 2025)
Our new NSF Project on wildfire-resilient power grid planning is featured on WSU Insider. Please find the link here. Read more →
People
Abdel-Aziz Sanad passed his preliminary examination and will become a doctoral candidate from Summer 2025. Congratulations, Abdel! Read more →
People
Successful Completion of Vishnu's PhD Defense (April 2025)
Congratulations to Dr. Vishnupriya Jonnalagadda, for completing her Ph.D. defense on “Advances in Uncertainty Analysis for Infrastructure Risk and Resilience Assessment.” Read more →
Publication
Safety Science Paper (March 2025)
Our paper, “Analyzing Wildfire Evacuation Dynamics with Agent-Based Modeling in Damaged Road Networks,” has been published in Safety Science. Please find the full paper here. Read more →
Project
New NSF Project (February 2025)
Dr. Lee has been awarded a new $1M research grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to lead a project on wildfire-resilient power grid infrastructure planning that incorporates the views and perspectives of communities. Read more →
Publication
Structural Reliability Guidance in ASCE 7-22 Published (January 2025)
Our ASCE book, “Structural Reliability Guidance in ASCE 7-22: Principles and Methods,” has been published by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Please find it here. Read more →
Publication
Fire Technology Paper (December 2024)
Our paper, “Understanding Evacuation Behavior During Wildfires: Exploring Key Factors Affecting Evacuee Behaviors and Developing Predictive Models for Decision-Making,” has been published in Fire Technology. Please find the full paper here. Read more →
Award
Abdel's VCEA Student Excellence Award (April 2024)
Abdel was honored with the VCEA Student Excellence Award in recognition of his exceptional work as a teaching assistant. Congratulations, Abdel! Read more →
Award
Vishnu's Prestigious Awards (April 2024)
Vishnu has been honored with the prestigious 2024 WSU Chancellor’s Award for Leadership and the WSU Graduate School’s Worthy, DePauw and Wang Service Leadership Award, recognizing her exceptional leadership. Congratulations, Vishnu! Read more →
Publication
Natural Hazards Paper (March 2024)
Our paper, “Quantifying the Role of Insurance in Tornado-Impacted Community Recovery: A Survey and Simulation-Based Approach,” has been published in Natural Hazards. Please find the full paper here. Read more →