About

Robert Smilowitz is a Principal in the Applied Sciences Division of Weidlinger Associates and Adjunct Professor of Engineering at the Cooper Union, after receiving a PhD from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

Dr. Smilowitz has over thirty three years’ experience designing and analyzing both hardened and conventional structures subjected to dynamic shock and vibration loading. Dr. Smilowitz performed protective design and vulnerability studies of numerous Federal Courthouses, Federal Office Buildings, Embassy Structures, Visitor’s Centers, Airline Terminals, Financial Institutions and commercial properties. Provided protective design services for the Capitol Visitor Center and the proposed NATO Headquarters in Brussels. Analyzed the World Trade Center underground parking garage slabs in response to the 1993 bombing, analyzed the Khobar Towers in response to terrorist vehicle bomb attack and was a member of the ASCE/FEMA World Trade Center Building Performance Study. Developed protective design retrofits of the Pentagon façade prior to and subsequent to the aircraft impact. Currently providing protective design services for the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan, including the World Trade Center site (including towers 1,2, 3 and 4) and a variety of commercial office buildings occupied by iconic or high risk tenants.

Dr. Smilowitz was a member of the WTC Building Code Task Force Structures Working Group for the City of New York and was a co-chair at the NIST Workshop on Progressive Collapse. Provided consulting services to Legal teams regarding the adequacy of blast resistant designs. Task Chair of the Structural Systems section of the proposed ASCE Blast Standards, Chairman of the ASCE Disproportionate Collapse Standards and Guidance Committee and Co-Chair of the CTBUH Progressive Collapse Working Group. Participated in the explosive testing of full scale curtainwall systems and is a principal developer of analysis software for evaluating curtainwall response to an explosive terrorist threat. Dr Smilowitz is a GSA National Peer Professional, a National Associates of the National Academies and a Registered Engineer in the states of New York and California.

Robert Smilowitz is a Principal in the Applied Sciences Division of Weidlinger Associates and Adjunct Professor of Engineering at the Cooper Union, after receiving a PhD from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

Dr. Smilowitz has over thirty three years’ experience designing and analyzing both hardened and conventional structures subjected to dynamic shock and vibration loading. Dr. Smilowitz performed protective design and vulnerability studies of numerous Federal Courthouses, Federal Office Buildings, Embassy Structures, Visitor’s Centers, Airline Terminals, Financial Institutions and commercial properties. Provided protective design services for the Capitol Visitor Center and the proposed NATO Headquarters in Brussels. Analyzed the World Trade Center underground parking garage slabs in response to the 1993 bombing, analyzed the Khobar Towers in response to terrorist vehicle…

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