Prior to 2011

Professor Barnett Helps Investigate WTC Collapse

WPI fire protection engineering professor Jonathan Barnett is a member of a team of practitioners, academics and government officials studying the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001. Formed under the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Disaster Response Procedure and supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the team is scheduled to complete a preliminary report on building performance in March 2002. The report will discuss issues regarding fire protection systems as well as the structural performance of the affected buildings.

Barnett's teaching and research specialties include building fire performance and failure analysis. His PhD dissertation focused on calculation of structural steel performance when exposed to the thermal impact of fire. Other fire specialists on the team include Professor James Milke of the University of Maryland and Christopher Marrion of Arup Fire. Marrion is a graduate of the WPI fire protection engineering program and works as a fire consultant in New York City.

The ASCE has lauched a web site with details on other team members.

For other related news, see:

• • Prof. Jonathan Barnett was interviewed by The Boston Globe in the April 9 edition on the analysis of the World Trade Center collapse. Read the article.
  • AISC Encourages Partnership in WTC Study (PDF)
  • An Initial Microstructural Analysis of A36 Steel from WTC Building 7, by Professors Barnett, Biederman, and Sisson
  • A Nation Challenged: The Site; Engineers Have a Culprit in the Strange Collapse of 7 World Trade Center: Diesel Fuel (NY Times)
  • Diesel suspected in 7 WTC collapse (Chicago Tribune)
  • Collapse of tower 7 examined (The State, S.C.)
  • Engineers Suspect Diesel Fuel in Collapse of 7 World Trade Center (N.Y. Times)
  • 7 World Trade Center
  • Engineers Suspect Diesel Fuel in Collapse of 7 World Trade Center
  • SEPTEMBER ELEVENTH: The Days After, The Days Ahead (Civil Engineering Magazine)
  • After the Fall (Science)
  • The Tower Builder: Why did the World Trade Center buildings fall down when they did? (The New Yorker)