With support from Panel SD-7, the Maryland Science Center made a proposal to the National Science Foundation in 1997 to create a Titanic Science Exhibit. When the funding was approved in March 2000, work on the Exhibit began in earnest. The following Panel SD-7 members worked on the Exhibit:
Chairman Bill Garzke, Timeline of survivor testimony
Philip Sims, legacy issues
Larrie Ferreiro, legacy issues
Dr. Timothy Foecke, metallurgy
Dr. Paul Matthias, photomosaic and sonar imaging
Carey Filling, hydrodynamics
David Wood, structures
Dr. Roy Cullimore, microbiology
Richard Silloway, sinking dynamics
John Cartner, survivor testimony
Roy Mengot, wreck analysis
Richard Woytowich, Rivet analysis
Robert Gustafason, marine engineering
Thomas Bethge, ROV technology
Kevin Prince, maneuvering
Jack Eaton, historian
Charles Haas, historian
Stephanie Ratcliffe, Exhibit Director
There were others who contributed their ideas and time - Mr. Robert O. Dulin, Jr., Mr. Simon Mills (owner of the Britannic wreck), William duBarry Thomas, Robin Williams, Dr. Ian L. Buxton, David K. Brown, and Phillip Dent.
The Exhibit addresses some of the questions on the dynamics of the sinking process as well as what goes into a marine forensics analysis. A metallurgical module tells whether brittle fracture was a factor in the iceberg collision and the hull failure. It also answers what role did the rivets play in the collision and breakup. Another module shows what were the stresses in the ship like during the entire sequence of the sinking process. A finite element study of the stresses and the survivor testimony resulted in video recreation of the break-up of the ship that is now believed to be the actual way the ship sank. There was no 90-degree plunge into the deep.
There are some modules that will intrigue those who wonder, 'what if?' A maneuvering simulation of the ship will test your ability to miss the iceberg and arrive safely in New York Harbor. There is a timeline of survivor testimony that has revealed why the ship stayed afloat for 2 hours and 40 minutes, and recounts the gripping moments of this tragedy from its inception to its demise. There is a sinking model to demonstrate how the ship sank by progressive flooding. What will be the fate of the wreck in the future, and how long will it last as a ship shape? Dr. Roy Cullimore has prepared an explanation from a microbiological point of view. There is a working model of a Remote Operating Vehicle that simulates how a marine forensics team explores a wreck site.
The SFX Entertainment and the R.M.S. Titanic, Inc are supporting the Exhibit. Their cooperation provides artifacts from the wreck site that remind one not only of the loss of the ship but the cost in lives.
The Exhibit will be open seven days a week until Labor Day 2001, in the Inner Harbor Complex of Baltimore, Maryland. After its stay there, it will move around to other science centers in such cities as Miami, Florida, Liberty Park, New Jersey, Cleveland, Ohio, or Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A complete list of the science centers and scheduled dates will be provided in Marine Technology as soon as their time and locations become known.
The Marine Forensics Panel has had some interesting challenges since it was formed on 1 March 1995. However, this Panel has some very dedicated professionals who have given much of their time and effort to make this Exhibit very successful.
On 12 April 2001, the Chesapeake Section had a meeting at the Maryland Science Center, and heard Chairman Bill Garzke, David Wood, Dr. Timothy Foecke, and Dr. Paul Matthias present a paper on the Marine Forensic Analysis of the RMS Titanic. About 100 people were provided a special tour of the Exhibit to hear what five years of research and testing has revealed. That story now embedded in the Titanic Science Exhibit takes a different view than the ones told in many books, periodicals, movies, and documentaries in the years since the disaster.
Caption: Chesapeake Section Chairman Robert Staiman is shown with author William H. Garzke at a special meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and the American Society of Naval Engineers at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, Maryland on 12 April 2001. Bill Garzke along with Panel SD-7 members, Dr. Timothy Foecke, Dr. Paul Matthias, and David Wood on the Panel SD-7 findings of a marine forensics study of the RMS Titanic.
