ENGINEERS’ STORIES

Wed, Sep 29, 2021
WTC2 collapse analysis - Thornton Tomasetti

Najib Abboud, Managing Principal & Applied Science Practice Leader, Thornton Tomasetti

Stephen E. Flynn, Founding Director of the Global Resilience Institute at Northeastern University

The second program of ENGINEERS’ STORIES takes a view that deals in decades rather than days and which looks back to assess what has changed as a consequence of 9/11.

In the months after the removal of the steel and clearing of material from the “bathtub,” the additional engineering analysis of the causes of the collapse of the towers began. That investigation consumed the next decade.

One of the leaders of the forensic analysis was structural engineer Najib Abboud, a Managing Principal at Thornton Tomasetti, who will explain the focus and stages of the study. He will be joined by Stephen E. Flynn, the Founding Director of the Global Resilience Institute and Professor of Political Science, Northeastern University’s School of Public Policy & Urban Affairs. Their paired presentations will discuss the extent to which the forensic analysis changed how tall buildings are designed, then expand into the broader topic of risk and resilience in the built environment – a concept that expands beyond a singular focus on security to all hazards that disrupt the functioning of our environment.

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