Engineering Inc. - March/April 2007 - 4

N E W S & NOTES ACEC Defends Key Liability Protection Principle in Nevada Case Involving Las Vegas Resort T he American Council of Engineering Companies is aggressively defending the important Economic Loss Doctrine through an amicus brief filed with the Nevada Supreme Court in the case of Terracon v. Mandalay Resort Group. Mandalay is seeking extraordinary damages from the geotechnical engineering firm Terracon for economic losses that Mandalay suff ered when the project experience d earth subsidence, even though the contract between the parties limited Terracon’s liability. The Economic Loss Doctrine helps shield design professionals against unfair monetary judgments that are disproportionate to the level of services provided or the proper allocation of liability. In the case before the Nevada court, where the client and the engineering firm had previously agreed, by contract, to limitations on the engineerMandalay Bay is at the center of an important legal case involving unfair ing firm’s liability, the doctrine would bar the monetary judgments. Polich & Purdy co-authored client from using tort Economic Loss Doctrine is a the brief. law to bypass the contract’s prime example of the kind of ACEC’s financial backing limits. benefit that ACEC provides for the brief was provided The brief was filed jointly to its members,” says ACEC/ through grants from the by ACEC, ACEC/Nevada, Nevada President Allen ACEC Minuteman Fund, the ACEC Design ProfessionGray. “ACEC/Nevada is glad ACEC/Nevada and DPC. The that ACEC and the other als Coalition (DPC), AIA, ACEC Legal Counsels Forum NSPE, ASFE and ASCE. The organizations have taken also reviewed the brief and Las Vegas law firm of Beckley such a strong step to protect provided comments. Singleton and ACEC affilithe design professionals of “Helping to defend the ate member law firm Morris this state.” E T H A N MILLER/GETTY IMAGES PBS Introduces New Design Engineering Show for Kids T 4 ENGINEERING INC. MARCH / APRIL 2007 he Public Broadcasting System (PBS) has launched a new reality TV series designed to introduce teenagers to the thrills of design engineering. Design Squad premiered in February during National Engineers Week and features eight teenagers competing to design and build creative, sometimes whimsical, yet fully operational machines— everything from peanut butter and jelly sandwich makers to uniquely customized racing cars. The students are judged as a team and as individuals on their ability to think creatively and solve design challenges using real life applications of math and science. After 13 episodes, the top two scorers will battle for the Grand Prize—a $10,000 college scholarship provided by the Intel Foundation. Design Squad is produced by WGBH-TV in Boston. Content directors are Daniel D. Frey and David Wallace, associate professors of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For more information on the show, check the local PBS listings for show times and dates in your area.

Engineering Inc. - March/April 2007

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