Continuing Legal Education
We currently offer the following approved courses for minimum continuing legal education (MCLE) in the State of California. All of our seminars are provided at no cost to your firm. Please contact us for custom course materials. We can custom-tailor a course on almost any area in which we provide engineering services.
Investigating Transport Cargo Losses
Using Failure Analysis to Predict the Past
It can happen to any product. The new camera that you bought from Amazon arrives at your house in several pieces. The test equipment shipped by your vendor does not work. Your product reaches it destination only for your customer to complain that it has suffered significant damage. How, and most importantly, when did the damage occur? Was the shipper (or shippers) negligent? Was the packaging adequate, or was the product too fragile?
Much effort is expended by vendors and shippers to minimize the load subjected to a packaged product, yet damage still occurs from time to time. The use of such tools as microscopy, finite element analysis, accelerometer and strain gage testing, shock and vibration analysis, and acoustics to reconstruct the sequence of events leading up to product damage is discussed. Techniques are demonstrated to predict loads on product components for the three major shipping modes – truck, rail, and air.
Was the product and/or the packaging improperly designed to withstand even normal shipping loads? Can the product suffer damage, yet the packaging remains intact? We will try to answer these questions, and also provide some insight into how to reconstruct the fateful journey of the damaged product.
Instructors: Devinder S. Grewal, Ph.D., P.E., Dirk H. Duffner, P.E.
Duration: 1 hour
Defeating Junk Science
Construction Defects in the World Trade Center
Often we read about a catastrophe or calamity and are quickly given a cause. It is human nature to want to know why, if for nothing else to help prevent the recurrence in our own daily lives. In hindsight after more careful examination of the evidence we realize in many cases that the original reported cause of the catastrophe was distorted.
An expert witness on the stand crafts a story for the jury explaining the how and why of a loss; the product was defective in its design or manufacturing; the equipment was neglected and not maintained properly. Perhaps the witness makes a convincing argument against the design based on science, but is the argument distorted; is the science sound, or is it just junk?
Junk science is discussed within the context of the use of asbestos and non-asbestos based fireproofing in the construction of the World Trade Center from 1968 to 1972. The reason for the change of materials from asbestos based to a non-asbestos substitute is discussed in light of the prevailing health science of the day, and evidence is presented showing the effect of the change on the buildings’ fire resistance.
Would the use of the original asbestos based material, or a different fireproofing technique, have prevented the buildings’ collapse? Was the building really designed to survive the impact of a modern jet aircraft? We will try to answer these questions, and also provide some insight into how to defeat junk science.
Instructor: Dirk H. Duffner, P.E.
Duration: 1 hour
Computer Modeling for Vehicle Accident Reconstruction
Current Technology and the Influence of Emerging Vehicle Control Systems
Computer computational power has increased tremendously over the past decade, making it possible to solve complex systems quickly. In vehicle accidents, physics based computer models can provide valuable information about each vehicle’s motion and the severity of the accident. The vehicle motions are then used to model the occupants’ motion and the loads they experience during the accident. The information gained from these models can be invaluable in determining the severity of the accident, which driver is at fault, and the likelihood of injury. There are two main questions that always need to be answered when using computer models. What inputs are needed to run the computer model and more importantly, how do we know the results are correct?
The talk will present several accident reconstruction cases to illustrate how a computer model is made and the results of the reconstruction. The cases will show the usefulness of these models in predicting vehicle motion and crush damage, as well as the motion and loads experienced by the passengers.
Over the past decade computer controlled safety systems are seeing increased popularity in automobiles. These systems include anti-lock brakes, traction control, stability control, adaptive cruise control, and lane-keeping assistance systems. Although some of these systems are common and well known, others are still in the research and development phase and are not currently in production. The operation of these systems will be described along with their influence on accident reconstruction and their potential for future litigation.
Instructors: Eric J. Rossetter, Ph.D., P.E. and Benjamin J. Ewers, Ph.D.
Duration: 1 hour
| 
