'Learning from Failure' Café Scientifique

"Learning from Failure"

Join us at SRI for a conversation with

Donald Shockey, PhD

Associate Director

Director of SRI's Center for Fracture Physics

May 10, 2011
6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Doors open at 5:15

Structural failures happen daily. Most have minor consequences and are unreported to the public, but some have high impact and are high-profile. The recent Southwest Airlines fuselage failure was unnerving, the San Bruno pipeline rupture was tragic, and the Japan earthquake was disastrous. If anything positive can be extracted from such events, it is that lessons can be learned to avoid future failures and their associated losses.

At our May cafe event, Don will present several projects conducted at SRI that demonstrate how understanding failure leverages the design of more robust structures-ranging from fracture-resistant stents placed inside the human body to new components for space missions. He will discuss areas that still require innovation, and describe a technology that addresses a key aspect of the failure process.

Don is Director of SRI's Center for Fracture Physics, is an internationally recognized expert in fracture of materials and structures, and an authority on failure under impact and explosive loads. He joined SRI International in 1971 after earning a doctorate in Materials Science at Carnegie-Mellon University and completing a 3-year post-doctoral appointment at the Ernst-Mach-Institut and the Institut für Werkstoffmechanik in Freiburg, Germany.

Café Scientifique events are open to all free of charge. No reservations are necessary.

SRI Menlo Park, Middlefield Road at Ringwood, International Building
Open to all – Free of charge

Click here for map and directions
Do not park at SRI's main entrance at 333 Ravenswood Ave. Entrances to Conference Center parking are next to the church on Ravenswood and at Ringwood and Middlefield.

Sponsored by ROXRO PHARMA and SRI, Café Scientifique is a place where anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology and debate science issues outside a traditional academic context. We meet monthly to discuss a variety of science topics. Feel free to forward this message to anyone you think could be interested.

Join us at SRI in Menlo Park
We are delighted that SRI International is the host location for Cafe Scientifique. SRI is an excellent partner, providing us with a beautiful, large, flexible meeting space, supporting us with highly professional staff and making expert researchers available as guest speakers.

Coffee, tea and biscotti will be complimentary, provided by SRI
Bring your own mug if you wish to avoid using disposable cups

Courtesy of Kepler's there will be a drawing for a $30 gift card for books or merchandise at Kepler's on El Camino Real in Menlo Park. Those who choose to enter the drawing will have their names added to the Kepler's mailing list. Special thanks to Kepler's for supporting Cafe Sci.

Café Scientifique is a place where anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology. The Café provides a forum for debating science issues outside a traditional academic context. We are committed to promoting public engagement with science and to making science accountable - all spoken in plain English. There is no admission charge to attend our events. Building on its great success outside the United States, Café Scientifique Silicon Valley is the first such Café on the West Coast. We meet monthly to discuss a variety of science topics.