Contact: Sammy McDavid
On a July day in 1981, more than 100 people were killed and nearly 200 injured when an aerial walkway collapsed at a Kansas City, Mo., hotel.
On Oct. 22, the structural engineer of record for the Hyatt Regency Hotel at Crown Center will speak at Mississippi State University. The public program is the first of the College of Engineering's l998 Lecture Series in Forensic Engineering.
Jack D. Gillum will discuss events before and after that July 17, when steel and concrete structures plunged onto some 1,500 persons attending a tea dance in the hotel lobby. His presentation begins at noon in Simrall Hall auditorium.
"Mr. Gillum will address what happened, why it happened and the response of the engineering profession," said Oswald Rendon-Herrero. "He also will examine the responsibility of the professionals, owners and contractors involved, as well as how to guard against future structural collapses."
Gillum's company, Jack D. Gillum Associates, had designed the walkways. Subsequent investigations of the tragedy turned up evidence that the design had been changed from the original plan. At the time, the hotel owner, contractor, architects, and walkway designer all refused to say who approved the alteration.
A professor of geotechnical engineering, Rendon teaches a course in forensic engineering in MSU's civil engineering department.
The course, which examines construction failures and ways to prevent them, includes the lecture series in its curriculum. In addition to engineers, speakers usually include architects, construction supervisors and attorneys.
Rendon said the American Societies of Civil Engineering and of Engineering Education recently have given considerable focus to forensic engineering. "In fact, it was the cover story of a recent edition of Prism, ASEE's main publication," he added.
For additional information on Gillum's presentation of forensic engineering, telephone Rendon at (601) 325-7199.