Dr. Paul F. Mlakar, P.E.
Senior Research Scneitist, Army Corps of Engineers

Forensic engineering is the application of engineering principles to the investigation of failures or other performance problems.  Two present-day disasters, the Oklahoma City Bombing and the Pentagon 9/11 Crash, have been the subject of acknowledged forensic studies.  In each case valuable lessons were learned to increase the safety of constructed facilities. 
The 1995 the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building was a striking act of terrorism.  The building was a reinforced concrete structure built entirely in accordance with the contemporary codes and practices.  This did not include a 4000 lb explosion adjacent to one of its principal columns.  However a detailed examination of this event illustrated the importance of robustness and redundancy to improve the safety of all buildings if subjected to a loading beyond the normal expectation.
The Pentagon was also a reinforced concrete structure constructed in accordance with the practice of its time.  Importantly this included redundant load paths, continuity in connections, and energy absorbing capacity in key structural elements.  On 9/11 a commercial aircraft crashed into the Pentagon at high speed and demolished some 50 first-floor columns supporting the upper levels of the structure.  The forensic study of this event indicated that the resilience provided in the original structural system prevented the consequences from being even greater in this event that was unimagined in its design.
                                     
Dr. Mlakar is the Army’s Senior Research Scientist for weapons effects and structural dynamics.  He conducts original research and guides the overall program in the response of structures to extreme loads at the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC).  He also serves as the Class of 1953 Distinguished Chair in Civil Engineering at West Point.  He was a key member of the Interagency Performance Evaluation Taskforce that studied the behavior of the New Orleans hurricane protection infrastructure in Katrina.  Following the September 11 airliner crash into the Pentagon, Dr. Mlakar was selected by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) to lead a study of the structural behavior.  The published results of these studies are guiding the engineering profession in designing resilience into critical projects to increase public safety.