Editor’s Note
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 25, Issue 3
International Forensic Engineering Activities
I am pleased to report that two international forensic engineering conferences/workshops were held recently, and a new journal titled Forensic Engineering was established this year. It is published by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) in London. In addition, a special issue on forensic structural engineering was published in 2010 by the Australian Journal of Structural Engineering. It is gratifying to observe the expanding influence of the forensic engineering discipline internationally.
Indo-U.S. Workshop on Forensic Engineering Held December 15–17, 2010
The following account has been condensed from a report submitted by the coorganizers of the workshop, S. Chen, M.ASCE, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and C. Natarajan, National Institute of Technology at Trichy, India.
The first Indo-U.S. Forensic Engineering Workshop was successfully completed at the National Institute of Technology at Tiruchirapalli (NITT), Tamil Nadu, India, December 15–17, 2010. The workshop was organized jointly by members of the ASCE Technical Council on Forensic Engineering (ASCE/TCFE), the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and NITT. It included 23 technical presentations by U.S. and Indian forensic experts, including several speakers from the Structural Engineering Research Center (SERC), in Chennai, India. The workshop was sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the ASCE, NITT, and a number of Indian industrial organizations.The workshop, which was attended by more than 100 practitioners, consultants, educators, and industry representatives, extended international collaboration between India and the United States in forensic engineering. The concept for the workshop resulted from the First International Conference on Forensic Engineering, organized by the Indian chapter of the American Concrete Institute (ACI), held in Mumbai, India, in 2007. Several delegates from the ASCE/TCFE presented at the Mumbai conference and agreed to assist Indian colleagues in their desire to promote the science and practice of forensic engineering in India. The Mumbai conference and related activities evolved from a close friendship between the late Rameshchandra N. Raikar, a prominent structural engineer and pioneering forensic expert based in Mumbai, and Ken Carper. Mr. Raikar passed away shortly after the 2007 Mumbai conference. Previous Editor’s Notes and an article in ASCE News provide further information on the 2007 Mumbai conference and on Mr. Raikar (Carper 2008a, b, c).Presentations at the December 2010 three-day event covered topics such as forensic engineering investigation, existing and experimental nondestructive testing technologies, case histories of modern and heritage structures, the role and qualifications of the expert witness, and the role of law and the judiciary in resolving disputes. Important discussions throughout the workshop included the ethics of forensic engineering, the need to further develop inspection and certification practices in India, and improving the dissemination of information on past and future failures. A keynote paper, presented by Norbert J. Delatte, M.ASCE, of Cleveland State University, reviewed the history of the ASCE/TCFE in the United States (Delatte and Carper 2011). Proceedings of the workshop have been published by ASCE (Chen et al. 2011).
Forensic Engineering Workshop Presented in Guayaquil, Ecuador
The following brief account has been condensed from a report submitted by the workshop organizer, Ing. Hugo Landívar Armendáriz, M.ASCE, president of the Ecuador Group, Region 10, ASCE.
The ASCE Ecuador Group hosted the ASCE Forensic Engineering Workshop on January 7–8, 2011, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The event attracted 54 attendees, including 40 professional engineers and 14 students. The participants received up-to-date knowledge with the goal of elevating the international competitiveness of civil engineers in Ecuador. Topics included an introduction to forensic engineering practice; investigation techniques; the engineer as expert witness; dispute resolution; the ethics of forensic practice; forensic engineering education; and numerous case histories involving failures of buildings, bridges, and other constructed works.The workshop was supported by a number of educational and professional organizations, including Catholic University Santiago de Guayaquil, the Construction Chamber of Guayaquil, the American Chamber of Commerce, the Consulting Chamber of Ecuador, and Ecuador’s Society of Civil Engineers. Presenters included several ASCE/TCFE members: Paul Bosela, Ken Carper, Norbert Delatte, and Oswald Rendon-Herrero.
Forensic Engineering Journal Published by ICE
The inaugural issue of Forensic Engineering, a peer-reviewed international journal, was published by ICE in February 2011. The scope and other details of the new journal are given in an editorial introducing the first issue (Georgopoulos 2011). As editor of the Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, I was invited to submit an article to the inaugural issue, in which I warmly welcomed this important addition to the forensic engineering literature (Carper 2011).
Australian Journal of Structural Engineering Publishes Special Issue on Forensic Structural Engineering
A very impressive special issue of the Australian Journal of Structural Engineering on forensic structural engineering was published in 2010 (Brady 2010). The issue included an informative paper introducing forensic engineering to the general structural engineering community in Australia (Heywood 2010) and papers on Australian legal guidelines for forensic engineering experts, ethical practices, building envelope investigations, housing performance in windstorms, and earthquake reconnaissance.
Call for Papers: Special Topic Issues
Special topic issues continue to be well received by readers. This year we have already published one special topic issue exploring construction problems on expansive soils (January/February 2011, Vol. 25, No. 1). The guest editor for the issue was Oswald Rendon-Herrero. Two special topic issues are nearing completion and will appear later this year or in early 2012. The topics are (1) the protection of structures against blast loading (guest editor Chengqing Wu), and (2) the performance of transportation infrastructure (guest editor Dar-Hao Chen). Manuscripts for these two issues have already been accepted or are in the final stages of review.
Two additional special topic issues are now in the planning stages. Manuscripts for the following topics may still be submitted for consideration:
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Analysis of structural failures using numerical modeling (guest editor Jose M. Adam); and
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Performance of bridges under critical natural hazards (guest editor Wei F. Lee).
If you are interested in contributing to either of the special topic issues currently seeking manuscripts, please feel free to contact me, and I will get you in touch with the appropriate guest editor. Please feel free to contact me by mail at Kenneth L. Carper, Professor Emeritus, School of Architecture and Construction Management, College of Engineering and Architecture, P.O. Box 642220, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-2220; by telephone at (509) 592-5374; by fax at (509) 335-6132; or by e-mail at [email protected].
References
Brady, S. (2010). “Preface: Forensic structural engineering.” Aust. J. Struct. Eng., 11(1).
Carper, K. L. (2008a). “Editor’s note: Farewell to Rameshchandra Raikar: An inspiring friend and colleague.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 22(4), 193.
Carper, K. L. (2008b). “Editor’s note: Forensic engineering in India.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 22(2), 69.
Carper, K. L. (2008c). “Forensic engineering council to be formed in India.” ASCE News, March, 7.
Carper, K. L. (2011). “Briefing: ASCE welcomes Forensic Engineering.” Proc. ICE Forensic Eng., 164(1), 3–4.
Chen, S., Janardhanam, R., Natarajan, C., and Schmidt, R., eds. (2011). Indo-U.S. forensic practices: Investigation techniques and technology. ASCE, Reston, VA.
Delatte, N. J., and Carper, K. L. (2011). “U.S. and international developments in forensic engineering and education.” Indo-U.S. forensic practices: Investigation techniques and technology, S. Chen, R. Janardhanam, C. Natarajan, and R. Schmidt, eds., ASCE, Reston, VA, 1–9.
Georgopoulos, C. (2011). “Editorial.” Proc. ICE Forensic Eng., 164(1), 1–2.
Heywood, R. J. (2010). “Responding to failure: An introduction to forensic structural engineering.” Aust. J. Struct. Eng., 11(1), 1–9.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 25 • Issue 3 • June 2011
Pages: 147 - 148
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 2, 2011
Accepted: Mar 4, 2011
Published online: May 16, 2011
Published in print: Jun 1, 2011
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