O’Rourke headed the team analyzing the impact of attacks against New York City on September 11 , 2001 and presented the team 's findings at a National Science Foundation ( NSF ) workshop on December 12 and 13 , 2001 . The workshop was organized by the Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems ( ICIS ) , of which Professor O'Rourke was the executive committee 's co-chair . The assessment concluded that the infrastructure of New York City survived the attack remarkably well , and a study team was created to determine what attributes of American engineering led to such resilience
attacks against New York City
September 11 attacks
Thomas D. O'Rourke