Structural engineer Jon Magnusson will speak with our group about the people, airplanes, and the buildings of the WTC attack. At the time of the attack, Jon was the Chairman and CEO of Skilling Ward Magnusson Barkshire, a Seattle-based structural engineering firm that is a successor to the firm that performed the structural engineering for the WTC in the 1960’s. An expert in high-rise buildings, he served on the American Society of Civil Engineers/Federal Emergency Management Agency Building Performance Assessment Team that studied the event in the months immediately following the attack. Knowledge of the structure of the towers may help people to understand the ultimate events of that day.
While it is not possible to articulate the depth of emotion at the human loss, there may be insights not commonly reported as to exactly what happened from a physical, and physics, standpoint. Why did the towers fall? What are the right questions for society to ask? What are the implications for the future of high-rise buildings?
Jon is Senior Principal at Magnusson Klemencic Associates (the next generation successor to the WTC firm). MKA has completed projects in 48 states and 61 countries out of their Seattle office. Jon has delivered more than 300 invited lectures to groups ranging from highly technical university-level to the general public. He has also participated in more than 120 media interviews covering engineering topics – including ABC Evening News with Peter Jennings, Discovery Channel, BBC, NPR, History Channel, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Good Morning America, NBC News, and CBS News with Dan Rather. He is an Honorary Member of the national American Institute of Architects, a Distinguished Member of American Society of Civil Engineers, and a member of the both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Construction.