各位老师，
应实验室邀请，国际著名火灾科学家、美国NIST-EL（工程实验室）前任副主任、国际火灾研究机构主任论坛前任主席Dr. William L. Grosshandler来访，期间将开展两次学术报告活动。第一次是关于The NIST Disaster and Failure Studies Program（10月14日）， 第二次是关于NIST Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster（10月22日）。以下是第一次学术报告通知，欢迎各位老师参加，并请通知各位老师组内同学踊跃参加。
报告人：Dr. William L. Grosshandler
报告时间：2013年10月14日（周一）10:00
报告地点：特种实验楼学术报告厅（二层）
报告摘要：
Buildings, bridges, and other man-made structures are not supposed to fall
down. But sometimes they do, and for different reasons: fire, earthquakes,
high winds, errors in design and construction, flaws in materials, and even
terrorist attacks. The NIST Disaster and Failure Studies Program provides
for the establishment of teams to assess building and infrastructure
performance and emergency response and evacuation procedures in the wake of
disaster and failure events that have resulted in substantial loss of life
or posed significant potential of substantial loss of life. The objectives
of NIST's disaster and failure studies may include (1) establishing the
likely technical factor or factors responsible for the damage, failure, and/
or successful performance of buildings and/or infrastructure in the
aftermath of a disaster or failure event; (2) evaluating the technical
aspects of evacuation and emergency response procedures that contributed to
the extent of injuries and fatalities sustained during the event; (3)
determining the procedures and practices that were used in the design,
construction, operation, and maintenance of the buildings and/or
infrastructure; (4) recommending, as necessary, specific improvements to
standards, codes, and practices as well as any research and other
appropriate actions based on study findings. Several case studies will be
presented in the seminar to demonstrate how this program has operated. Data
that are gathered by NIST and through other sources during and after an
event, including photos, videos, reports, interviews and other documentation,
could be lost or inaccessible relatively soon after. NIST is creating and
will host a comprehensive national archival repository of significant
disaster and failure events data. The repository will help ensure that this
valuable information is organized and maintained to enable study, analysis,
and comparison with subsequent severe disaster events.
报告人简历：
Dr. William L. Grosshandler was the Deputy Director for Building and Fire
Research of the Engineering Laboratory (EL) at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) up until his retirement in 2012. Dr.
Grosshandler was responsible for internal operations of the Laboratory,
which deals with construction and materials research, building environment
research, and fire research. Dr. Grosshandler led the NIST investigation of
The Station nightclub (Warwick, RI) fire and was the associate lead
investigator of the National Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the
World Trade Center Disaster.
Dr. Grosshandler received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the
University of California, Berkeley. Prior to his appointment at NIST, he
spent three years as the Director of the Thermal Systems Program of the
National Science Foundation. At the same time, he maintained his position as
Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State
University, where he had been since 1976. He has also held visiting
appointments at Factory Mutual Research Corporation (now FM Global) and the
University of Poitiers in France.
Dr. Grosshandler has served on the Board of Directors of the Combustion
Institute, the editorial advisory board of Progress in Energy and Combustion
Science, advisory boards for the Fire Protection Engineering Departments at
the University of Maryland and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the Research
Advisory Committee of the Fire Protection Research Foundation, and is active
in the Heat Transfer Division and a Fellow of ASME. He chaired the
International Forum of Fire Research Directors from 2005 to 2011, served on
the Fire Council for Underwriters Laboratory, and for ten years was a member
of the Science Advisory Committee of the National Association of State Fire
Marshals. Dr. Grosshandler is a recipient of two Silver Medals for
meritorious achievement and a Gold Medal for distinguished achievement in
federal service from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
