> Dear Colleagues,
> 
> You are warmly invited to attend a seminar to be given by Dr. Peter Rankilor, Visiting Professor at the Bolton Institute. The seminar will be held at  3-4 pm on MON (18/10) in seminar room F32, 1st Floor, Mechanical Engineering Building (North end of Building 8 at http://www.location.bham.ac.uk/edgbaston.htm). Tea/Coffee will be provided at 2:30pm and after the seminar. ALL are welcome. The University is served by the University railway station with a frequent train service  from Birmingham New Street station. Car parking facilities  can be found in the  South Car Park (just below building 39 on the map). The abstract of the seminar can be found below. The lecture is free, but those intending to come should contact me to enable suitable arrangements to be made. We look forward to seeing you at the University of Birmingham.
> 
> Thank you for your attention.
> 
> regards,
> 
> Andrew
> 
> ABSTRACT FOR SEMINAR 
> 
> Geotechnical aspect of global climate change on the British Isles
> 
> The existence of global warming is not realistically disputed these days.  However, the causes and the implications need much discussion by engineers if they are to be prepared for the coming changes in climate over the next fifty to one hundred years.
>  
> Dr. Rankilor will describe the development of the world's climate from the formation of the planet until the onset of recent global warming and then on up to the present day.  He will describe the evidence and the possible causes.  These are relevant to the important discussion as to whether action now is too late or not.  Is global warming over the next one hundred years now inevitable?
>  
> He will describe another natural phenomenon which is probably related to global warming, but the consequences of which - when it next occurs - will be far greater and more serious than global warming.  These two phenomena are probably inter-related and the onset of the one may well be a precursor of the other.
>  
> Having set the scene, Dr. Rankilor will examine the government forecasts for the British Isles and will explain how to interpret them.  Also, he will describe the change in the statistical occurrence of 'extreme events' as used by forecasters and engineers in their plans for structures with long working lives.
>  
> Dr. Rankilor will describe the implications for civil and geotechnical engineers in terms of what will happen, what types of structures will be affected as generic groups and how those structures will be affected.  He will describe which problems will be relatively easy to address and which will need more planning and advance action.
>  
> Finally, he will explain what can be done and what has to be done if serious problems are to be averted in good time.
>  
>  
> CIRRICULUM VITAE
> 
> Dr. Rankilor is a consulting geotechnical engineer with more than thirty years experience in the design and construction of major civil and geotechnical engineering structures in many countries of the world.  He has a first degree in geology, a Masters in Mining tunnelling and subsidence and a Doctorate in Civil Engineering.    He was an associate partner with Wardell Armstrong when he was 28, Managing Director of Manstock Geotechnical Consultancy Services at 32, and has been a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers for 23 years.  Dr. Rankilor was a Visiting Professor at the Bolton Institute for 10 years.  
>  
> Dr. Rankilor has been a pioneer in the development of geosynthetics in civil and geotechnical engineering.  He was a founder member of the International Geosynthetic Society and the first Chairman of the U.K. Chapter.  He is the author of more than 150 technical papers on this and other subjects and the author of a number of textbooks - including the first textbook in the world on the subject of geosynthetics.
>  
> Apart from a busy international design program, Dr. Rankilor operates a private research laboratory where he is specialising in the construction and testing of micro-models of reinforced soil.  Results from this>  work are likely to revolutionise the design of reinforced soil structures.
>  
> Dr. Rankilor has designed some of the world's largest structures including marine causeways, urban motorways, harbours, reinforced soil walls and embankments, noise barriers and airport structures.  In travelling and working in many countries, he has observed the changes in the weather over the last forty years and has learned to adjust his engineering design work accordingly.  He has made a study of the changing weather patterns, which he considers most important - particularly for the British Isles.
>  
> 
> 
> 
> --
> It takes ten years to grow a tree and a hundred for a person.
> -- 
> Eur. Ing. Dr. Andrew H.C. Chan (???): 
> BSc(Eng), MPhil, PhD, MBCS, CEng, FEANI, ILTM, CITP 
> Reader in Computational Engineering Head of Engineering Computation Network, 
> Room F39, First Floor, South West Engineering Building,
> Department of Civil Engineering, University of Birmingham B15 2TT UK
> Tel: +44(0)121 41 45100 Fax: +44(0)121 41 43675 Mobile: +44(0)7773 243 055
> Email: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask] 
> http://www.eng.bham.ac.uk/civil/people/chanah.htm
> 
> 
> 
> >  <<Andrew Hin Cheong Chan (E-mail).vcf>>