Ross will discuss the causes of several notable accidents in his lecture, “What Went Wrong?” The lecture will take place in Room 124 of Pastore Hall on the Kingston Campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.
In “What Went Wrong?” Ross will examine design defects that led to several airplane, rocket and hotel accidents. He will also discuss the process of reconstructing the accidents using engineering analyses. Ross will address the causes and origins of the accidents. Examples include: Turkish Airlines and American Airlines, DC-10 crashes, Paris and Chicago; Hyatt Walkway collapse; Piper Alpha platform explosion; Terra fertilizer plant disaster; and the Miller Park crane collapse.
Ross is co-founder and former chairman of Failure Analysis Association, which specializes in heavy equipment failure analysis; crane, hoist and aerial devices accident investigation; mechanical and structural system assessment; machine design and guarding issues and product safety review.
He has directed engineering projects and accident investigations dealing with agricultural, construction, industrial, marine and transportation equipment. Ross has been a principal investigator and expert witness on numerous major fire and explosion disasters in petrochemical plants, refineries and utility power installations.
Ross holds a bachelor degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University, a Master of Science and a doctorate from Stanford University. His academic focus has been mechanical and/or aeronautical engineering. He currently teaches “The Techniques of Failure Analysis” at the School of Engineering at Stanford University.
The lecture is the fourth seminar in a semester-long series offered by the URI Forensic Science Partnership.
For Information: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-2116, Sarah Emmett, 401 874-2116