FORREST JAMES MASTERS

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

 

 

Contact
Information

Assistant Professor
Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering
University of Florida
masters@ce.ufl.edu

365 Weil Hall
PO Box 116580
Gainesville, Florida 32611
(352) 392-9537 x 1505

 

 

Experience
  • August 2006 - Present.  Assistant Professor of Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida
  • August 2004- August 2006.  Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Florida International University
  • August 2004 - August 2006.  Director of the Laboratory for Wind Engineering Research, International Hurricane Research Center, Florida International University

Education
  • PhD, Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida, August 2004
    Dissertation: Measurement, Modeling and Simulation of Ground Level Tropical Cyclone Winds
  • ME in Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida, May 2002
    Thesis: Simulation of Stationary Non-Gaussian Processes and the CDF-Map Based Spectral Correction Method
  • BS in Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida, December 1999, High Honors

Research
Interests

Research Funding
  • Since Fall 2006, 17 (10 PI, 7 Co-PI) grants from State, Federal and Private sources

Tropical
Cyclone
Field
Deployments

Refereed
Journal
Articles
  • Masters, F. and K. Gurley, “Multivariate stochastic interpolation of wind pressure on low-rise structures,” Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, Accepted for Publication
  • Vickery, P., F. Masters, M. Powell and D. Wadheraa (2009).  “Hurricane Hazard Modeling: The Past, Present and Future, Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics,” 97(7-8):  392-405.
  • Yu, B., A. Chowdhury and F. Masters (2008).  Hurricane Power Spectra, Co-Spectra, and Integral Length Scales, Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 129(3): 411-430.
  • Gilman, E., F. Masters, and J. Grabosky (2008), “Pruning Affects Tree Movement in Hurricane Force Wind,” Journal of Arboriculture & Urban Forestry, 34(1): 18-26
  • Masters, F. and K. Gurley (2003). “Non-Gaussian simulation: CDF map-based spectral correction,” ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics, 129(12): 1418-1428.
  • Graham, L.L., K. Gurley, and F. Masters (2003). “Non-Gaussian simulation of local material properties based on a moving-window technique,” Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics, 18(3): 223-234.
  • Additional manuscripts in review
    • Salzano, C., F. Masters, and J. Katsaros, “Water Penetration Resistance of Residential Window Installation Options for Hurricane-Prone Areas,” Building and Environment
    • Masters, F. and Tieleman, H., “Ground wind structure of the hurricanes of 2005,” Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics
    • Yu, B., A. Chowdhury and F. Masters, “Surface Roughness Lengths and Roughness Parameters Over Coastal Areas during Hurricane Passages,” Boundary-Layer Meteorology
    • Prevatt , D., L. Dupigny-Giroux , and F. Masters. “Hurricane disaster mitigation to reduce damage and losses to Caribbean residential construction,” Natural Hazards Review
    • Zhu, P., J. Zhang, and F. Masters, “Wavelet Analyses of Turbulence in the Hurricane Boundary Layer,” Journal of Atmospheric Science
    • Johnson, E., R. Cook, F. Masters, and M. Ansley, “Development of Hurricane Resistant Traffic Signal Structures,” Engineering Structures
    • Masters, F, K. Gurley, N. Shah, and G. Fernandez, “Vulnerability of Residential Window Glass to Lightweight Windborne Debris”
    • Masters, F., P. Vickery, P. Bacon and E. Rappaport, “Towards Objective, Standardized Intensity Estimates from Surface Wind Speed Observations,” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

Refereed Conference Proceedings
  • Salzano, C., F. Masters, Katsaros, J. and B. Hardman, The Effectiveness of Window-Wall Installation Details under Hurricane Force Wind Driven Rain Simulations, Symposium on Building Envelope Sustainability, Chicago, May 2009

Conference Proceedings
  • Lui, Z., J.T. Smith, F. Masters and T. Reinhold. “Assessment of Wind Storm Facility at the Insurance Center for Building Safety Research,” The 7th Asia-Pacific Conference on Wind Engineering, Tapei, Taiwan, November 8-12, 2009
  • Lui, Z., J.T. Smith, F. Masters and T. Reinhold. “Investigation and Assessment of Wind Storm Facility of ICBSR,” 11th Americas Conference on Wind Engineering, San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 22-26, 2009
  • Smith, J.T., Z. Lui, F. Masters and T. Reinhold. “Validation of Facility Configuration and Investigation of Control Systems for the IBHS Windstorm Simulator,” 11th Americas Conference on Wind Engineering, San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 22-26, 2009
  • Dhainaut, J.M., Gurley, K., Masters, F. “Fatigue Life of Shallow Shells Subjected to Experimental and Simulated Non-Gaussian Excitations,” 50th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, May 2009
  • Lopez, C.R., J.J. Vaccaro, F.J. Masters and J.D. Katsaros, “Comparison of severe wind-driven rain test methods for fenestration,” 1st American Association for Wind Engineering Workshop, Vail, Colorado, August 20-22, 2008
  • Salzano, C.T., J.T. Smith, F.J. Masters and J.D. Katsaros, “Wind-driven rain resistant window installation options for hurricane-prone areas,” 1st American Association for Wind Engineering Workshop, Vail, Colorado, August 20-22, 2008
  • Masters, F.J., K.R. Gurley and D.O. Prevatt, “Full-scale simulation of turbulent wind-driven rain effects on fenestration and wall systems,” 3rd International Symposium on Wind Effects on Buildings and Urban Environment, Tokyo, Japan, March 4-5, 2008
  • Vickery, P.J., F.J. Masters, M.D. Powell and D. Wadhera, “Hurricane Hazard Modeling:  The Past, Present and Future,” 12th International Conference on Wind Engineering, Cairns, Australia, July 2-6, 2007.
  • Jesteadt, J.P, R.J. Reynolds, and F.J. Masters, “A Preliminary Investigation into Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion through Soffits,” 12th International Conference on Wind Engineering, Cairns, Australia, July 2-6, 2007.
  • Datin, P.L., D.O. Prevatt, F.J. Masters, K. Gurley and T.A. Reinhold. “Wind loads on single-family dwellings in suburban terrain—comparing field data and wind tunnel simulation,” 2006 ASCE Structures Congress, St. Louis, Missouri, May 18-20, 2006.
  • Gurley, K., R. Davis, S. Ferrara, J. Burton, F. Masters, T. Reinhold, M. Abdullah. “Post 2004 Hurricane Field Survey – an evaluation of the relative performance of the Standard Building Code and the Florida Building Code,” 2006 ASCE Structures Congress, St. Louis, Missouri, May 18-20, 2006.
  • Masters, F.J., P.G. Black and M.D. Powell. “The perspective below:  ground-level reconnaissance in landfalling hurricanes,” 27th AMS Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Cyclones, Monterey, California, April 24-28, 2006.
  • Wurman, J. and F. Masters. “Fine temporal/spatial scale observations of boundary layer streaks and comparisons with surface gusts,” 27th AMS Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Cyclones, Monterey, California, April 24-28, 2006.
  • Reinhold, T.A., K.R. Gurley, F.J. Masters and J. Burton. "US Hurricanes of 2004: A clear demonstration that improvements in building codes, enforcement and construction are reducing structural damage," 2005 Asia-Pacific Conference on Wind Engineering, Seoul, South Korea, September 12-14, 2005.
  • Masters, F., T. Reinhold, K. Gurley, and L. Aponte. "In-field measurement and stochastic modeling of tropical cyclone winds," 4th European-African Conference on Wind Engineering, Prague, Czech Republic, July 11-15, 2005.
  • Masters, F., L. Aponte, K. Gurley, and T. Reinhold. "Measurement and stochastic modeling of ground-level wind velocity during landfalling hurricanes,"  9th Annual International Conference on Structural Safety and Reliability, Rome, Italy, June 19-23, 2005.
  • Blessing, C. and F. Masters. “Attrition of ground weather observations during hurricane landfall,” Tenth Americas Conference on Wind Engineering, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, May 31-June 4, 2005.
  • Masters, F. and K. Gurley. “Multivariate stochastic simulation of wind pressure over low-rise structures through linear model interpolation,” Tenth Americas Conference on Wind Engineering, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, May 31 – June 4, 2005.
  • Masters, F., K. Gurley and A. Kareem. “Gust factors: from theoretical considerations to field measurements,” Tenth Americas Conference on Wind Engineering, May 31-June 4, 2005.
  • Masters, F., T. Reinhold, K. Gurley and D. Prevatt. “The effect of hurricane eyewall and convective features on surface-level turbulence,” Tenth Americas Conference on Wind Engineering, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, May 31–June 4, 2005.
  • Masters, F., T. Reinhold, K. Gurley and M. Powell. “Gust factors observed in tropical cyclone landfalls,” Tenth Americas Conference on Wind Engineering, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, May 31–June 4, 2005.
  • Willoughby, H. and F. Masters. “Early 21st century hurricane threats: maximum potential intensity, the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation, global warming, and chance,” Tenth Americas Conference on Wind Engineering, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, May 31–June 4, 2005.
  • Gurley, K., F. Masters, D. Prevatt and T. Reinhold. "Hurricane data collection," FCMP deployments during the 2004 Atlantic Hurricane Season, Tenth Americas Conference on Wind Engineering, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, May 31–June 4, 2005.
  • Powell, M., S. Murillo, T. Reinhold, K. Gurley, F. Masters and D. Prevatt.  "Hurricane winds at landfall: 2004," Tenth Americas Conference on Wind Engineering, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, May 31–June 4, 2005.
  • Masters, F., L. Aponte, K. Gurley, and T. Reinhold. “Gust factors observed in tropical cyclones Isabel, Lili, Isidore, Gabrielle and Irene during the 1999-2003 Atlantic hurricane seasons,” 9th Annual ASCE Joint Specialty Conference on Probabilistic Mechanics and Structural Reliability, Albuquerque, New Mexico, July 26-28, 2004.
  • Masters, F. and K. Gurley. “Multivariate stochastic simulation of wind pressure over low-rise structures,” 9th Annual ASCE Joint Specialty Conference on Probabilistic Mechanics and Structural Reliability, Albuquerque, New Mexico, July 26-28, 2004.
  • Masters, F., K. Gurley, and T. Reinhold. “Ground level wind characteristics of Isidore and Lili”, 11th International Conference on Wind Engineering, Lubbock, Texas, June 2-5, 2003.
  • Graham, L.L., K. Gurley, F. Masters, and S. Baxter. “Analysis of random composite materials using non-Gaussian simulations,” 4th International Conference on Computational Stochastic Mechanics, Corfu, Greece, June 9-12, 2002, Balkema, Rotterdam.
  • Graham, L.L., K. Gurley, and F. Masters. “Stochastic simulation of non-Gaussian material property fields in random composite materials,” Proceedings of the 15th ASCE Engineering Mechanics Conference, New York City, New York, June 2-5, 2002.
  • Masters, F. and K. Gurley. “Wind load simulation: a comparison of existing methods and a proposed new method,” Proceedings from the 1st Americas Conference on Wind Engineering, Clemson, South Carolina, June 11-13, 2001.

International
Invited
Presentations
  • Masters, F., G. Kopp and T. Reinhold. “Laboratory Simulation of Hurricane Wind and Wind-Driven Rain Effects on Full-Scale Building Systems,” Cooperative Actions for Disaster Risk Reduction, United Nations University Headquarters, Tokyo, Japan, March 5, 2009
  • Masters, F., K. Gurley and D. Prevatt, “Full-scale simulation of turbulent wind-driven rain effects on fenestration and wall systems,” 3rd International Symposium on Wind Effects on Buildings and Urban Environments, Tokyo, Japan, March 4-5, 2008
  • Jesteadt, J.P, R.J. Reynolds, and F.J. Masters, “A Preliminary Investigation into Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion through Soffits,” 12th International Conference on Wind Engineering, Cairns, Australia, July 2-6, 2007

National
Invited
Presentations
  • Masters, F. and M. Levitan.  “The Digital Hurricane Consortium:  An Adaptive Mesonet to Monitor Wind, Surge, Wave & Rainfall Intensities and Damage at Landfall,”  National Hurricane Center, Miami, Florida, March 9, 2009
  • Masters, F. and J. Minor.  “Wind, Storm Surge and Wave Effects on Coastal Buildings,” 10th Annual Windstorm Insurance Conference, Orlando, Florida, January 16, 2009
  • Masters, F. “Coastal Atmospheric and Wind Sensors,”  Grand Challenges in Coastal Resiliency I:  Transforming Coastal Inundation Modeling to Public Security, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, January 21, 2009
  • Masters, F. “Post-Hurricane Rapid Damage Assessments,”  Digital Hurricane Symposium, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, January 5, 2009
  • Masters, F. Opening,  Digital Hurricane Symposium, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, January 5, 2009
  • Masters, F., “Field Reconnaissance and Laboratory Simulation of Hurricane Wind and Wind-Driven Rain Effects,” Inland Marine Underwriters Association, Atlanta, Georgia, September 23, 2008
  • Masters, F., “Field Reconnaissance and Laboratory Simulation of Hurricane Wind and Wind-Driven Rain Effects,” Risk Management Solutions, Inc. Newark, California, May 19, 2008
  • Masters, F., K. Gurley and D. Prevatt, “Full-Scale Simulation of Turbulent Wind-Driven Rain Effects,” National Hurricane Conference, Orlando, Florida, April 3, 2008
  • Masters, F., K. Gurley and D. Prevatt, “Update on UF Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion Research,” National Hurricane Conference, Orlando, Florida, April 3, 2008
  • Masters, F., “Field Reconnaissance and Simulation of Hurricane Wind Effects,” Roofing Industry Committee On Weather Issues Spring Seminar, Phoenix, Arizona, February 28, 2008
  • Masters, F., “Agent of change:  full-scale wind engineering research,” Hurricane Risk Mitigation Leadership Forum, Orlando, Florida, February 21, 2008
  • Masters, F., “UF hurricane research: driving emerging mitigation solutions,” Federal Alliance for Safe Homes Fall Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, October 30, 2007
  • Masters, F. “Overview of University of Florida research: characteristics of extreme wind-driven rain events,” American Architectural Manufacturers Association National Meeting, Orlando, Florida, October 16, 2007
  • Masters, F. “Full-scale simulation of hurricane wind and wind-driven rain (WDR) effects on fenestration,” Pella Engineering Forum, Pella, Iowa, September 19, 2007
  • Masters, F. “Full-scale hurricane wind-driven rain research at the University of Florida: A joint industry/academic partnership to reduce water intrusion,” Window and Door Manufacturers Summer Conference, Cambridge, Maryland, August 8, 2007
  • Masters, F. “Wind and Wind-Driven Rain (WDR) Effects and Full-Scale Testing,” ASTM E06.51 meeting, Norfolk, Virginia, April 17, 2007
  • Masters, F. “The Wall of Wind Project: Ramifications to the Fenestration Industry in the Future,” Fenestration Manufacturers Association Fall Conference, San Antonio, Texas, October 6, 2006

Regional
Invited
Presentations
  • Masters, F.  “The Digital Hurricane Consortium:  An Adaptive Mesonet to Monitor Wind, Surge, Wave & Rainfall Intensities and Damage at Landfall,”  Southern Region of the National Weather Service, Webinar, March 11, 2009
  • Masters, F., “The Digital Hurricane Consortium,” Alabama Emergency Management Agency, Clanton, Alabama, February 20, 2009
  • Masters, F., “Hurricane Simulation,” Architectural Manufacturers Association Southeast Region Fall Meeting, St. Augustine, Florida, October 30, 2008
  • Masters, F., “Wind and How it Works,” Coastal Contractor Summit, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, May 13, 2008
  • Masters, F. “Full-scale hurricane wind-driven rain (WDR) research at the University of Florida: A joint industry / academic partnership to reduce water intrusion,” American Architectural Manufacturers Association Southeast Region Fall Meeting, St. Augustine, Florida, August 16, 2007
  • Masters, F. “Wind and Wind-Driven Rain (WDR) Effects and Full-Scale Testing,” American Architectural Manufacturers Association Southeast Region Spring Meeting, Plantation, Florida, May 15, 2007
  • Masters, F. “Wind and Wind-Driven Rain (WDR) Effects and Full-Scale Testing,” Fenestration Manufacturers Association Spring Conference, Jacksonville, Florida, April 25, 2007

State
Invited
Presentations
  • Masters, F., “Field Reconnaissance and Laboratory Simulation of Hurricane Wind and Wind-Driven Rain Effects,” Florida State University College of Business, Tallahassee, Florida, October 24, 2008
  • Masters, F. “Hurricane Reconnaissance and Simulation,” University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, February 9, 2007
  • Masters, F. “Coastal Impacts,” 9th Meeting of the Florida Coastal Ocean Observing System (COOS) Caucus, Gainesville, Florida, February 6, 2007
  • Masters, F., “Florida wind engineering research:  bringing the lab to the hurricane and the hurricane to the lab ,“ IBM Distinguished Lecture Series, Boca Raton, Florida, September 14, 2006

Local
Invited
Presentations
  • Masters, F., “Advances in Hurricane Research,” CCE Advisory Board Meeting, Gainesville, Florida, March 27, 2009.
  • Masters, F., “The UF Hurricane Simulator,” The Simulation Faculty Learning Community (SimFLC) Seminar, Gainesville, Florida, November 24, 2008
  • Masters, F., “Building Hardening: Designs, Codes & Cautions for Developing Disaster Resistant Buildings,” Design through the Eye of the Storm, APAFlorida/San Felasco Section and the Florida Community Design Center, Gainesville, Florida, October 17, 2008
  • Masters, F. “Hurricane Reconnaissance and Simulation for Damage Mitigation,” North-Central Florida Chapter Florida Engineering Society Dinner Meeting, Gainesville, Florida, October 17, 2006

Invited
Presentations
Prior to
Joining UF
  • Masters, F., Keynote address: " Florida wind engineering research:  bringing the lab to the hurricane and the hurricane to the lab," Coastal Contractor Seminar, Daytona Beach, Florida, August 1, 2006.
  • Masters, F., "Hurricane wind field reconnaissance and the full-scale simulation of hurricane winds and wind-driven rain," RenaissanceRe Tech Days, Hamilton, Bermuda, May 17, 2006.
  • Masters, F., Keynote address: "Field reconnaissance and laboratory simulation of hurricane winds," 2006 Engineers Banquet, Tampa, Florida, February 23, 2006.
  • Masters, F., "Tropical cyclone wind field reconnaissance," Miami-Dade ASCE Branch Meeting, January 19, 2006.
  • Masters, F., "A stochastic perspective on surface level tropical cyclone winds," ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Orlando, Florida, November 11, 2005.
  • Masters, F., "Real-time monitoring and stochastic modeling of hurricane surface winds," University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, October 13, 2005.
  • Masters, F., "Tropical cyclone reconnaissance and simulation of extreme winds," Miami City Club, October 6, 2005.
  • Masters, F., "The Wall of Wind," University Research and Hurricanes Session of the 19th Annual Governor's Hurricane Conference, Tampa, Florida, May 13, 2005.
  • Masters, F., "Capturing surface level wind speeds at landfall" Storm Chasers session of the 19th Annual Governor's Hurricane Conference, Tampa, Florida, May 13, 2005.
  • Masters, F., "Field measurement activities to come when the next hurricane strikes Miami-Dade County," Miami-Dade County Local Mitigation Strategy, Miami, Florida, March 16, 2005.
  • Masters, F., T. Reinhold, K. Gurley and D. Prevatt, "Measurement of tropical cyclone surface winds at landfall," Observing and Reconnaissance Technologies Session of the 59th OFCM Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Jacksonville, Florida, March 8, 2005.
  • Masters, F. "Assessing structural vulnerability,"  Beach Management, Tourism and the Coastal Environment Conference, Miami, Florida, March 2, 2005.
  • Masters, F., K. Gurley, D. Prevatt and T. Reinhold, "Florida Coastal Monitoring Program (FCMP) activities during the 2004 Atlantic Hurricane Season," 2005 International Codes Council (ICC) Hurricane Symposium: Impact on the Built Environment and Lessons Learned, Tampa, Florida, February 11, 2005.
  • Masters, F.  "FCMP logistics and capabilities," American Association for Wind Engineering Workshop, Orlando, Florida, December 7, 2004.
  • Masters, F. "Capturing surface-level winds during hurricane landfall,"  Department of Earth Sciences Seminar, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, October 15, 2004.
  • Masters, F., K. Gurley, and T. Reinhold, “Real-time measurement of Hurricane Isabel,” The 18th Annual Governors Hurricane Conference, Tampa, Florida, May 28, 2004.
  • Masters, F., K. Gurley and T. Reinhold, “Real-time observation and stochastic modeling of ground level winds from Hurricane Isabel," National Hurricane Conference, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, April 8, 2004.

Advising
* Graduated
  • Zhuzhao Liu, Post-Doctoral Student
  • Antonio Balderamma, PhD Student
  • Carlos Lopez, PhD Student
  • Seraphy Shen, PhD Student
  • Jason Smith, PhD Student
  • Jen Haydt, Masters Student
  • *Nirav Shah, Masters Student
  • *Carlos Lopez, Masters Student
  • *Cory Salzano, Masters Student

Thesis and Dissertation Committee Appointments
*Graduated
  • Andrew Condon, PhD Student, Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida
  • Peter Datin, PhD Student, Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida
  • Bradley Foust, PhD Student, Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida
  • Jake Miesbauer, PhD Student, Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida
  • Johann Weekes, PhD Student, Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida
  • *Bo Yu, PhD Student, Civil and Environmental Eng., Florida International University
  • *Ryan Eckstein, Master’s Student, Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida
  • *Dezhi Liao, PhD Student, Computer Science, University of Central Florida

Professional Memberships

Committee
Appointments
  • Director and Co-Founder, Digital Hurricane Consortium, Spring 2009
  • Co-Organizer, Digital Hurricane Symposium, Louisiana State University, Jan 5-6, 2009
  • ASCE Technical Council on Wind Engineering (formerly a part of the Structural Engineering Institute),  Fall 2006 - present
    • Secretary, Environmental Wind Engineering Committee, Spring 2009-present
    • Chair, ASCE Subcommittee on Wind-Driven Rain Effects, Spring 2009-present
    • Member, Task Committee on Computer-Aided Wind Engineering, Fall 2006-present
    • Member, Structural Wind Engineering Committee
  • American Society of Testing and Materials, Fall 2006 - present
    • Member, E6 (Performance of Buildings)
    • Member, E6.51 (Performance of Windows, Doors, Skylights and Curtain Walls)
    • Member, ASTM Coastal Windstorm PML Standard Development
  • Member, Scientific Committee of the 11th Americas Conference on Wind Engineering, Spring 2009 – Present

Awards
  • National Hurricane Conference Outstanding Achievement Award for Mitigation Research, 2009
  • Named one of the Top 50 Trendsetters in Florida Trend Magazine, 2008


 

UPDATED OCTOBER 30, 2009