December 17, 2007

General Guidelines for the Assessment & Repair of Earthquake Damage to Residential Woodframe Buildings Published

CUREE (Consortium of Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering) is pleased to announce publication of General Guidelines for the Assessment and Repair of Earthquake Damage to Residential Woodframe Buildings, a comprehensive reference developed to bring sound science and engineering to the important but infrequent undertaking of earthquake damage assessment and repair of typical single- and multi-family woodframe residential buildings. The extensively illustrated 371 page publication provides an overview of earthquake effects on woodframe buildings and detailed descriptions of major building components and common patterns of earthquake damage. It also includes checklists to assist with a systematic damage survey and guidance for retaining and working with technical consultants. Project manager for this effort was Dr. John Osteraas, Corporate Vice President of Exponent. Other team members included Jon Wren, Brian McDonald, Akshay Gupta, Joel Wolf, John Fessler, Allison Faris, and Daniel Whang. The Guidelines are available as a free downloadable PDF at http://www.curee.org/projects/EDA/index.html.

New Research Confirms Safety Of Paulson Gaming Chips

Gaming Partners International Corporation (GPI), a leading manufacturer and supplier of casino currency and other table game supplies, released today the results of a recently concluded scientific test regarding the safety of Paulson(R) gaming chips in a casino environment. The scientific study conducted by Exponent, Inc., a multidisciplinary scientific and engineering consulting firm that performs in-depth scientific research and analysis throughout the world, was commissioned by GPI as a result of a November 7, 2007 report aired by a local Phoenix, Arizona television station claiming that Paulson gaming chips contain dangerous levels of lead and pose a health hazard. Exponent concluded that, under the scenarios evaluated, it is unlikely that the handling of Paulson gaming chips would produce any significant health risk to the players or dealers.

To read the entire article, click here.

December 05, 2007

Exponent Engineer Authors Article on Avoiding and Managing Product Recalls

Dr. Jason L. Hertzberg, Principal Engineer and Director of Exponent's
Chicago Office, has authored an article entitled, "Avoiding and Managing
Product Recalls," appearing in the December 2007 issue of Risk Management
Magazine. This follows an earlier article that he authored regarding
consumer product recalls which appeared in the December 2005 issue of DRI's
"For The Defense" publication. Click here for the full article (PDF).