JOINT MFPT SOCIETY/ASME CONFERENCE Joint Conference on Machinery Diagnostics and Prognostics; and Reliability, Stress Analysis and Failure Prevention April 14-18, 1997 The 51st Meeting of the Society for Machinery Failure Prevention Technology (MFPT) and the 12th Biennial Conference on Reliability, Stress Analysis and Failure Prevention (RSAFP) will be held April 14-18, 1997 at The Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The MFPT Society is a Division of the Vibration Institute; the RSAFP Committee functions under the Design Engineering Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The theme of the conference is "A Critical Link: Diagnosis to Prognosis". The MFPT Society will host and manage the conference and prepare the conference Proceedings. Other sponsors of MFPT 51 include the Office of Naval Research, U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the Naval Surface Warfare Center. The Technical Program will be presented on Tuesday through Thursday, April 15-17, 1997. The Opening Session will feature a Keynote Address by Dr. J. Howard Maxwell from Arizona's Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. His topic is "Diagnosis to Prognosis as a Part of a Comprehensive Predictive Maintenance Program". Four other distinguished invited speakers include Dr. Alfred Broz, Federal Aviation Administration, on "Airworthiness Assurance Utilizing NDE for Civil Aviation"; Mr. Scott M. Holliday, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, on "A Corporate Approach to Institutionalizing Reliability Centered Maintenance"; Dr. Erwin V. Zaretsky, NASA Lewis Research Center, on "Rolling Bearings -- A Historical Perspective"; and Mr. Raymond L. Thomas, P.E., Union Camp Corporation, on "Application of Reliability Concepts in a Pulp and Paper Mill". Plenary Lectures will be presented on "The Design Process to Minimize Failure" by Mr. Robert S. Ryan, formerly of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center; on the "Physics of Failure" by Dr. William F. Braerman of the University of Maryland; and on "Symptom-Based Fault Diagnosis of Vibrating Structures"by Professor H. G. Natke from the University of Wuppertal, Germany. Tabletop exhibits of current equipment and services are an integral part of the meeting as well as a commercially-oriented session where new products and services will be described. Fifteen technical sessions, including three panel/workshops, on various aspects of failure prevention, diagnostics and prognostics, maintenance and reliability are programmed during the three-day core conference. On Monday, April 14th and Friday, April 18th, twelve special training courses on topics likely to be of interest to the participants will be offered to conference registrants at an additional fee. The registration fee is $350 for members of The Vibration Institute and ASME and $400 for nonmembers. Fees for the Training Courses are $100 each for the full-day courses and $50 for the half-day courses. For more information and/or to receive a complete program and registration information, contact: Henry C. Pusey, Executive Director, MFPT Society, 4193 SudleyRoad, Haymarket, VA 20169-2420; Ph: (703) 754-2234; Fax (703) 754-9743; e-mail hcpusey@ix.netcom.com E-MAIL: MFPT Society, hcpusey@ix.netcom.com.

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