ARTICLES

7/14/2009· Forensic Analysis

Golf Car Hazards

By: Kristopher J. Seluga, PE

According to the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), there are approximately 10,000 golf car related injuries requiring emergency room treatment in the US each year. One significant mode of injury in golf car accidents is passenger ejection, which can lead to serious injuries, especially of the head. Based on CPSC statistics, roughly 35% of golf car accidents involve a person falling out of the car. In addition to ejection accidents, at least 10% of golf car accidents involve a rollover and statistics indicate that such accidents are roughly twice as likely to lead to injuries requiring a hospital stay as non-rollover accidents.

7/7/2009· Failure Analysis

Failure Analysis of a Broken Jam Jar

By: Dr. Thomas Read

Glass fractography is the most effective method for determining why a glass object, such as a bottle, failed. This technique consists of examining the fracture surfaces of the failure for artifacts such as Wallner lines and using them to trace the crack back to its origin. Once the origin has been identified, it can be examined in detail with a microscope to determine the cause of the failure.

7/7/2009· Failure Analysis

Failure Analysis of a Failed Ceramic Water Holding Tank on a Toilet

By: Dr. Thomas Read

The cracked tank was first inspected in the "as received" condition. In this condition it was cracked, but it was still whole. Next, the failed tank was separated by pulling it apart. This was done to expose the fracture surfaces of the main crack. This allowed for a complete failure analysis and for a determination of where the crack initiated.

7/7/2009· Design

White Paper: Reverse Engineering

By: Dr. Thomas Read

Before expending the effort necessary to reverse engineer a device or object, it must be definite that the object under study is not covered by one or more patents. This avoids a dispute over patent violations. Once it has been established that no patent coverage exists, one can use multiple techniques to reverse engineer a product. These are summarized below:

6/24/2009· Child Welfare

What We Have Learned: Experiences in Providing Adaptations and Accomodations for Gifted and Talented Students With Learning Disabilities

By: Rich Weinfeld

Would you allow a person to use a wheelchair? Would you carry him or her? If using a wheelchair gives someone an unfair advantage in a race, should his or her time count the same as that of other runners? Would you allow a person to wear glasses for reading a test, even if they only help a little? What about glasses that are so strong that they give the person an ability to read faster than average? Would you allow a person to use a word processor if you knew that the person had a severe writing disability but had ideas that showed evidence of giftedness? Would you allow dictation for a gifted student who had a severe writing disability?

6/24/2009· Psychology

Rich Weinfeld Enabling or Empowering? Adaptations and Accommodations for Twice-Exceptional Students

By: Rich Weinfeld

This article addresses the different perceptions that parents, students, and teachers have regarding appropriate accommodations for twice-exceptional students.

6/24/2009· Family Issues

A Break in Communication: When an Advocate Is Needed

By: Rich Weinfeld

Each and every child is born with potential. The adults in that child’s world must work to make certain that there are educational opportunities in place to ensure that potential is reached. Every time an adult acts to support a child’s potential or speak on his or her behalf, we are striving to act as an advocate. In some instances, parents will use traditional venues, such as

6/19/2009· Warnings & Labels

Samples of Effective Product Warnings

By: Dr. Gerald Goldhaber

The Goldhaber Warnings Report: In the last issue of this newsletter, I listed the major components found in most warnings along with making several suggestions that should help improve a warning’s conspicuousness and make it more likely to gain the attention of the product’s user at the time of use. The following is an example of a warning that

6/19/2009· Securities

Midnight Oil Burners

By: Robert Erwin Ross

I had a call last week on Friday, from the search firm, seeking to potentially fill a recent query for an Expert Witness. Reporting that I’m available for a phone interview was the next step. With that in mind, I could expect a call from a law firm partner, who would be asking

6/19/2009· Healthcare

The U.S. Supreme Court Ruling (Levine vs. Wyeth) Has MAJOR Implications For Potential WARNING Claims Against Pharmaceuticals…

By: Dr. Gerald Goldhaber

The Goldhaber Warnings Report: The U.S. Supreme Court ruling (March 5, Levine vs. Wyeth) will have major implications for the pharmaceutical industry forcing them literally to review all of their warnings and safety instructions for content, clarity and conspicuousness