15 PDH; One-Day Seminar (Texas) (2006)

10 PDH seminar including 1 PDH ethics video + Free 5 PDH self study course related material

The class starts with fundamentals of engineering accident investigation and Forensic Engineering. We start the class with small cases in different fields and move to some of the high profile accidents in the country and around the world in different fields of engineering.

All of the high profile cases are in the form of video presentation. The cases have been personally selected among hundreds of other cases for the past 10 years. We cover engineering disasters and catastrophes in construction, ships, offshore platforms, vehicle design, bridge design, gas pipeline, industrial accidents and plant explosions.

We also have a 1 PDH video presentation of ethics and we finish the class with one of the marvels of engineering around the world, the construction and future widening of the Panama Canal.

Depending on the PDH requirements of the State, in some states with self study credits (like Texas) we will have a one-day seminar and others with no self study credits (like Louisiana), we offer a two-day seminar.

Seminar Schedule:

One-Day Seminar  (Saturday)

Registration & .... Continental Breakfast ......(7:00 A.M-6:00 P.M.)

• Opening statement and remarks.

• Forensic engineering & engineering accident reconstruction. A general discussion of what is Forensic engineering and engineering accident investigation. Sample case studies of forensic engineering in different fields. Sample computer animation for courtroom presentation. The general fundamental of engineering accident investigation and working the scene of the accident. Photographing, video graphing, taking measurement and collecting evidence from the scene of the accident. Product liability, failure analysis, vehicle, truck and train accidents.

• Roof Structure Collapse. Video clips presentation and discussion of roof collapse in an indoor stadium in Kansas and a 19th century Cathedral in Italy. 

• Construction accidents caused by overload. Video Clip presentation of the walkway collapse accident at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City Missouri, roof collapse of Sampoon Department store in South Korea and wedge failure in a lift slab method in Lambiance Plaza in Bridgeport Connecticut.

            ..................... Break...............................(10:00 A.M.)

• Maritime and fire accidents on ships and offshore platforms. Video clips presentation of a sea ferry accident in Scotland, structural failure on a cruise ship causing the cruise ship to sink, fire on Piper Alpha offshore platform caused by a leaking valve, oil spill by Exxon Valdez and structural testing and modifications of the oil tankers in US waters after the Exxon Valdez incident.

• Bridge accidents.  Video clips presentation of structural failure of a bridge in New York caused by improper bridge construction. Structural failure and collapse of the Silver Bridge in West Virginia caused by crack corrosion. Structural failure of a Box bridge in Australia.

  .......... Lunch Break......( lunch will be provided)......12:00 P.M-12:30

• Capsized offshore platform Alexander Killian in the North Sea. How a small crack caused by welding was not detected in one of the legs of the platform and after months of poundings by the waves, the crack grew and took one of the platform's legs off, causing the platform to capsize.

• NASA Firefighters, Industrial fires and plant explosion.  Video clip presentation of NASA firefighters training in case of a rocket explosion and Phillips plant explosion in the ship channel in Houston, Texas.

..................... Break...............................(3:00 P.M.)

• Quick review of what is Daubert-Robinson Challenge for engineers and scientists.
  

• Ethics as an engineer and as an expert witness. (1 PDH Ethics) Battle of experts; Video clip case study of a murder trial, where the alleged murderer was accused of killing her mother by setting her mother and car on fire. Testimony of the two experts in this trial.

• Sky Walkers; Engineers and construction workers at high elevations; Video clips presentation of engineers and construction workers working at hair-raising altitudes pushing the limits of safety beyond imagination. From repairing the radio antennas, to changing the bulb on top of the Empire Estates or construction of the new AOL building in New York.

• Explosion in a water station; geological factor: Explosion in a new water station built for a small town in England. How coal was not detected or taken into consideration in the soil when the station was being built and the underground tunnel were dogged and pipes were installed. Resulting in accumulation of Methane gas finding their way to the station.

• Extreme Engineering, Video presentation of building of the Panama Canal by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Future widening of the Canal by the US Army Corps of Engineers and other European Engineering companies.

• End of the seminar.

Two-Day Seminar (Louisiana)

Engineering Catastrophes, Disasters and Forensic Engineering

16 PDH seminar including 2 PDH ethics video

( 8 PDH each day including 1 PDH in ethics)

The first day of the seminar is the same as the One-day seminar in Texas with some extra footage. The second day is also case study and video presentation of different engineering accidents, catastrophes and disasters in different fields of engineering.

The discussion of why it happened and how it affected people's lives. There is also another 1 PDH video presentation for ethics. And finally after showing two days of accidents and disasters we finish the seminar with two different video presentations in Extreme Engineering.

(If you are registered in LA and are interested in the DVD course. Upon our agreement with the LAPEL, you would have to take the quiz and you have at least 7 out of 12 questions correct. You can take the quiz as many times as you want. You can check the quiz questions at the Quiz Question Page, before ordering the DVD. We will keep your records for 3 years per LAPEL rules.)

Seminar Schedule:

Day one:  ( 8 PDH including 1 PDH in ethics)

Registration & .... Continental Breakfast ......(8:00-8:30)

• Opening statement and remarks.

• Forensic engineering & engineering accident reconstruction. A general discussion of what is Forensic engineering and engineering accident investigation. Sample case studies of forensic engineering in different fields. Sample computer animation for courtroom presentation. The general fundamental of engineering accident investigation and working the scene of the accident. Photographing, video graphing, taking measurement and collecting evidence from the scene of the accident. Product liability, failure analysis, vehicle, truck and train accidents.

• Roof Structure Collapse. Video clips presentation and discussion of roof collapse in an indoor stadium in Kansas and a 19th century Cathedral in Italy. 

• Construction accidents caused by overload. Video Clip presentation of the walkway collapse accident at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City Missouri, roof collapse of Sampoon Department store in South Korea and wedge failure in a lift slab method in Lambiance Plaza in Bridgeport Connecticut.

• Maritime and fire accidents on ships and offshore platforms. Video clips of a sea ferry accident in Scotland, structural failure on a cruise ship causing the cruise ship to sink, fire on Piper Alpha offshore platform, oil spill by Exxon Valdez, structural modifications of the oil tankers in US waters after the Exxon Valdez incident.

• Bridge accidents.  Video clips of structural failure of the bridge in New York caused by improper bridge construction. Structural failure and collapse of the Silver Bridge in West Virginia caused by crack corrosion. Structural failure of a Box bridge in Sydney, Australia.

  .......... Lunch Break......( lunch will be provided)......12:00 P.M-12:30

• Oil & Gas Fire accident.  Video clip presentation of the blow out specialists bringing a gas well fire accident under control in Alberta, Canada.

• NASA Firefighters, Industrial fires and plant explosion.  Video clips of NASA firefighters exercises in case of a rocket explosion and Phillips Plant explosion in the ship channel in Houston, Texas.

• Quick review of what is Daubert-Robinson Challenge.
• Ethics as an engineer and as an expert witness. (1 PDH Ethics) Battle of experts; Video clip case study of a murder trial, where the alleged murderer was accused of killing her mother by setting her mother and car on fire. Testimony of the two experts.

• Extreme Engineering, Building of the Panama Canal by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Future widening of the Canal by the US Army Corps of Engineers and other European Engineering companies.
• End of the Class

Day Two:     ( 8 PDH including 1 PDH in ethics)

• Opening statement and remarks.

• Sky Walkers; Engineers and construction workers at high elevations; Video clips presentation of engineers and construction workers working at hair-raising altitudes pushing the limits of safety beyond imagination. From repairing the radio antennas, to changing the bulb on top of the Empire Estates or construction of the new AOL building in New York.

• Roof Structure Collapse. Video clips presentation and discussion of roof collapse in an indoor stadium in Kansas and a 19th century Cathedral in Italy. 

..................... Break...............................(10:00 A.M.)

• Oklahoma Bombing. Why so much damage was caused by one bomb? Video clip presentation and discussion of the accident. Studying the reaction of the building and floors as a result of the internal pressure increase caused by the bomb. The new guidelines and codes for the construction of federal and government buildings after the bombing.

• Capsized offshore platform Alexander Killian in the North Sea. How a small crack caused by welding was not detected in one of the legs of the platform and after months of poundings by the waves, the crack grew and took one of the platform's legs off, causing the platform to capsize.

  .......... Lunch Break......( lunch will be provided)......12:00 P.M-12:30

• Building the Brooklyn Bridge. (1 hr. Ethics). The Brooklyn Bridge was built during the mid 19th century. The bridge is one of the marvels of engineering for the time that it was built. See the challenges and personal sacrifices made by the Chief Engineer Mr. John Roebling, his family, his engineers and his working crew to finish the bridge.

• Explosion in a water station; geological factor: Explosion in a new water station built for a small town in England. How coal was not detected or taken into consideration in the soil when the station was being built and the underground tunnel were dogged and pipes were installed. Resulting in accumulation of Methane gas finding their way to the station.

        ..................... Break, Friday afternoon back strech...............................(3:00 P.M.)

• Extreme Engineering; The Super Racers.  Treat yourself into a first hand look into the world of high tech motor speed race cars. See the computer 3-D car design, aerodynamic detail borrowed from the aerospace industry, and engines several thousand times more powerful than street cars. From Grand prix cars and Nascars to off road racing, see how the automotive engineers flex their muscles at the race trace.

• Extreme Engineering; The Boston's Big Dig. One of the biggest and most challenging projects in US history. See how the city's traffic was eliminated by building a 10 lanes highway 120 feet below the city's surface.

• End of the Seminar.