October 7, 2014; 9:00 – 11:00 AM Pacific Time
Robert T. Ratay, Ph.D., P.E.
Description
Ever more structural failures make the news throughout the world. With the proliferation of failures, forensic structural engineering in the US has become a field of professional practice of expert consultants/witnesses in both the investigation and litigation of failures. Their primary role is the investigation and determination of the cause(s) of failures. In addition, the expert consultant/witness needs to render opinions, provide technical assistance in litigation, and, if called upon, give expert testimony in judicial proceedings. This web seminar will provide an overview of the qualifications, roles, ethics, liability and scope of work of expert consultants/witnesses who are retained after failures of structures. Since experts are often called upon to opine on the performance of designers, the presentation also addresses the understanding and applying of the Standard of Care, which is the border between acceptable and negligent performance.
Speaker Bio
Robert T. Ratay, Ph.D., P.E., is a structural engineer in private practice with over forty years of design, construction and teaching experience, and an acknowledged expert and consultant in forensic structural engineering. He has been an expert consultant/witness for architects, engineers, contractors, owners, attorneys, insurance companies, and government agencies in the investigation and litigation support of some 200 cases of structural problems. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University where he developed and teaches the graduate course of Forensic Structural Engineering. Earlier in his career he had worked with such prominent firms as LeMessurier Associates, Severud Associates, and HNTB. Prior to Columbia, he had been Professor and Chairman of the Civil Engineering Department, then Dean of the School of Engineering at Pratt Institute, and a professor at Polytechnic University (formerly Brooklyn Polytech). In 2003, Dr. Ratay was named by Engineering News-Record one of the “Top Newsmakers 2003” who made a mark in the construction industry. He has served on and chaired several national and international technical committees, and published extensively on the subject of professional practice of forensic engineering. Dr. Ratay is the Editor-in-Chief of three books including the Forensic Structural Engineering Handbook published by McGraw-Hill.
Registration Information
Discounted fee (for registration received by October 5):
$250 for the first connection; $185 for the second;
$125 for the third; and $60 for each subsequent connection.
Regular fee (for registration received after October 5):
$265 for the first connection; $195 for the second; $130 for the third;
and $65 for each subsequent connection.
Please note a single registration allows you to have one connection.
However, a number of people can view and listen to the seminar using one connection
by using an LCD projector (or a large computer monitor) and good computer speakers or a speaker phone.
All attendees, irrespective of the number of registered connections, can earn 0.2
Continuing Education Units (CEUs) or 2.0 professional development hours (PDHs). CEU/PDH certificates are provided free of charge.
We provide discounted registration for small businesses.
If you are already registered with us as a small business,
please log in to your user account first to receive the small business discount.
If you are not registered with us as a small business yet, please see if you qualify.
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Do You Qualify?
- A connection is defined as a single web connection plus a single telephone connection
(if necessary). If you want to sign up for more than one connection for this seminar, you will have the opportunity to do so after placing the registration in your cart. - A $15 fee will apply if the seminar registrant wishes to revise the web seminar registration (e.g. switch from one web seminar to another).
- Refunds are limited to 80 percent of fee and must be applied for in writing WITHIN THIRTY DAYS after the scheduled seminar.
We are a registered provider for continuing education in the
State of Florida (Provider # 4732), the
State of New York
(Provider # 99), the State of New Jersey (Provider # 24GP00014200), the State of Maryland, and for the
Structural Engineers Certification Board (SECB) of the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA).
