Engineering (General) Expert Witnesses: 101

Quality Forensic Engineering, LLC is a full-service forensic engineering firm, providing engineering support to clients in the areas of accident reconstruction, biomechanics, fire investigations, patent litigation analysis, premises liability, product liability, and tire failure analysis. We use the latest technology and industry proven techniques to provide thorough analysis and conclusions for the most difficult engineering questions. Our forensic engineers support clients throughout the U.S. Headquartered in Tallahassee, FL, we have locations in Jacksonville, FL; Melbourne, FL; Tampa, FL; Indianapolis, IN; New Orleans, LA; San Diego, CA; Charlotte, NC; Columbia, SC; and Tucson, AZ.

Traci K. Campbell, P.E., CFSE, CXLT, has over 23 years of experience investigating, analyzing, and testifying in matters involving a variety of forensic engineering issues. She is an expert in the following: industrial accident reconstruction and human factors; slip, trip, stumble and fall analysis; application of standards, codes, and guidelines including OSHA, ANSI, ASTM, Life Safety, ADA, NFSI, and Building Codes; workplace safety related issues; forklift and material handling devices; construction machinery and workplaces; manufacturing equipment; and the analysis of workplace systems and product failures. Ms. Campbell has a strong background working in manufacturing and industrial workplaces including the design, development, and implementation of solutions to ensure safe work environments. She has also been credited as part of a team holding a patent related to safeguarding power hand tools with rotating discs. 

Ms. Campbell's special interests include amusement park and theme park accidents and safety related issues. She is also a CFSE – Certified Forensic Slip Expert, CXLT – Certified XL Tribometrist (slip index evaluation) and a certified counter balance forklift operator. Ms. Campbell has served as a presenter with the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) regarding slip, trip, stumble, and fall incidents. She has shared her engineering expertise with many organizations on topics including: slip, trip, stumble, and fall incidents; electronic data in the realm of accident reconstruction; safety engineering and the engineering hierarchy; photogrammetry and other accident reconstruction techniques; OSHA compliance; and Industrial Engineering. 

Ms. Campbell is a registered and licensed Professional Engineer in five states and she continues to refine her skills and knowledge of premises liability and safety engineering by staying current with new technology and best practices.

See Full Bio & CV.

Expertise:

Brian A. Darr, P.E. IAAI-FIT(V), CFEI, has over 25 years of engineering experience which includes Tire Failure analysis on many types of tires (passenger, light truck, radial medium truck, retreads, motorcycle, etc.), Vehicle and Residential Fire Origin and Cause investigations, vehicle accident reconstruction for passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles, vehicle component failure analysis, and insurance fraud/consistency evaluations. He also conducts crash data retrieval (CDR) downloads for passenger vehicles and engine control module (ECM) downloads for commercial vehicles. Mr. Darr evaluates traffic signal timing relating to intersection collisions. He provides services in product and material failure analysis, cause analysis of plumbing failures, mechanical equipment and machinery failures, lightning strike investigations, nondestructive examinations and testing, product design and assessment of conformance to government, corporate, industry, safety, and international standards.

Mr. Darr has over 25 years of extensive experience with tires including design, development, manufacturing, quality investigation, race tire preparation, and testing of tires at numerous testing facilities. He worked in a tire manufacturing facility as a plant technical engineer where he investigated quality related issues, and in a Research & Development (R & D) center where he designed, developed, tested, and analyzed tires. Mr. Darr has visited numerous tire production plants such as Goodyear, Bridgestone, Michelin, and Continental tire. He has inherent knowledge of the PAX run-flat tire system and C3M manufacturing process. He also was responsible for verifying standards and regulations were met, related to tire product and tire pressure monitoring sensors.

Mr. Darr has been qualified as a tire expert in State and Federal court. He has completed forensic tire failure analysis on many types of tires in which he referenced hundreds of publicly available tire related documents. He reviews forensic tire reports from outlying offices along with providing marketing support and giving seminars nationwide. He has conducted numerous vehicle and residential fire origin and cause investigations with various findings including fires that were intentionally set, accidental, and electrical in nature. He has also conducted fire suppression system investigations. 

Mr. Darr holds multiple fire certifications and designations with the International Association of Arson Investigators and the National Association of Fire Investigators. 

See Full Bio & CV.

Expertise:

View Quality Forensic Engineering's Accident Reconstruction Biomechanics Engineering Expert Witness Profile.

Quality Forensic Engineering, LLC is a full-service forensic engineering firm, providing engineering support to clients in the areas of accident reconstruction, biomechanics, fire investigations, patent litigation analysis, premises liability, product liability, and tire failure analysis. We use the latest technology and industry proven techniques to provide thorough analysis and conclusions for the most difficult engineering questions. Our forensic engineers support clients throughout the U.S. Headquartered in Tallahassee, FL, we have locations in Jacksonville, FL; Melbourne, FL; Tampa, FL; Indianapolis, IN; New Orleans, LA; San Diego, CA; Charlotte, NC; Columbia, SC; and Tucson, AZ.

Dr. Brian Pfeifer, PhD, PE - Dr. Pfeifer is an Engineering Expert with over 27 years of experience investigating thousands of cases involving a variety of forensic engineering issues. He is a leading expert in accident reconstruction, roadside safety, maintenance of traffic, commercial vehicle accidents, pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, and the analysis of mechanical systems and product failures. Dr. Pfeifer has a strong background in the design, development, and implementation of roadside safety hardware including guardrails, bridge rails, and crash cushions. Over 30 patents have been filed worldwide on behalf of Dr. Pfeifer and associated colleagues who invented safer guardrail systems, vehicle storage systems, shipping container handling systems, and material handling and storage methods. He has also utilized his technical knowledge and understanding of patents to assist in a number of matters involving patent litigation.

Dr. Pfeifer has published numerous papers to various organizations, covering topics such as new guardrail systems, energy absorbing guardrail terminals, breakaway sign mechanisms, and material handling technology. He has shared his expertise with many organizations on topics including vehicle collisions, bicycle accidents, roadway construction zones, and accident reconstruction expert witness utilization. Dr. Pfeifer is a registered Professional Engineer in nine states and he continues to refine his skills and knowledge of accident reconstruction and roadside safety by staying current with new technology and best practices. Dr. Pfeifer has extensive experience with providing deposition and trial testimony as an Engineering Expert. See Full Bio & CV.

Expertise:

Dr. Ian M. Zeller, PhD, ACTAR, is an accomplished engineer with more than 10 years of experience in Biomechanics and Computational Dynamics fields. He has investigated hundreds of cases ranging from motor vehicle accidents, recreational incidents, medical device designs, as well as injuries from product liability all across the United States. 

Dr. Zeller has graduate level experience in computational dynamics and orthopedic biomechanics with a specific emphasis in dynamics, vibrations, joint contact mechanics, and muscle control during static and dynamic loading applications. Dr. Zeller’s past research includes clinical and computational analysis of the human body with respect to the design and implantation of orthopedic devices for the knee, hip, and spine. He has published in peer-reviewed journals and presented research at both technical and surgical conferences in North America, Europe, and Asia. Dr. Zeller also worked with surgeons across the United States in the design and assessment of knee replacement devices, including personalized and prototype devices to optimize for efficacy and safety. 

Dr. Zeller is also accredited as a traffic accident reconstructionist and continues to conduct research as well as maintain a current knowledge of developing trends and best practices in the biomechanics and engineering fields. Dr. Zeller has published to various organizations on topics ranging from knee replacement design, forward solution modeling, joint mechanics, personalized joint replacements, material structures and properties as well as biological modeling of disease distributions. He also has an extensive testifying history including depositions, trials, and arbitrations.

 See Full Bio & CV.

Expertise:

Michael R. Hill, PhD, PE, is a Biomechanical Engineer passionate about applying biomechanics techniques to solve diverse problems in forensics, medical research, engineering, biology, science, and mathematics. He is an expert in experimental, theoretical, and computational Tissue Biomechanics, with a focus on injury mechanisms, human tissue damage, and nonlinear soft tissue mechanics.

Dr. Hill’s core strengths are in orthopedic and cardiovascular biomechanics, vehicle accident reconstruction, injury consistency analysis, mechanical design, instrumentation, experimental analysis, numerical methods, simulation, statistics, and image processing. Dr. Hill has lectured in the field of biomechanics and numerical methods, and his research has been published in 16 academic articles and presented at 40 international and national scientific conferences.

See Full Bio & CV.

Expertise:

View Quality Forensic Engineering's Industrial Forensic Engineering Expert Witness Profile.

Dr. George Edwards, Ph.D. is an expert in Computer Software, Internet Applications, Web Technologies, Mobile Phone/Tablet Applications, Digital Video and Multimedia, Medical and Embedded Software, and Aerospace/Defense Systems. He has more than a decade of experience as a scientist, engineer, and technical consultant to academic research labs, government agencies, technology companies, and attorneys.

Dr. Ewards has authored dozens of articles and papers related to software engineering for scientific journals and industry magazines. He is listed as a co-inventor on two pending patent applications for novel software technology and has served as a software expert witness in patent litigation matters.

• Intellectual property and patent infringement
• Software design/source code audit and review
• Non-performance claims
• Expert witness and depositions

Expert Technologies :

• Programming languages & platforms: Java, C/C++, C#, Perl, Python, PHP, .NET, WinForms, WPF, Visual Studio, Eclipse, Java EE, CORBA
• Internet and web: JavaScript, AJAX, Node.js, Ruby, HTML, XML, CSS, ASP.NET
• Mobile devices & applications: Android, iOS, iPhone, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Palm OS, Java ME
• Multimedia: MPEG, SVG, DVR, Silverlight, Flash
• Operating systems & servers: UNIX, Linux, Windows, Mac OS
• Networking: IMAP, POP, SMTP, DNS, TCP/IP, HTTP
• Databases: RDBMS, SQL, MS SQL Server, MS Access, Oracle, MySQL
• Project management & development methods: Kanban, Lean software development, agile, object-oriented (OO), aspect-oriented programming (AOP), component-based development, COTS integration, requirements engineering, spiral model, UML

View Consulting Profile.

Joseph A. Quilici, CE, SE, CFLC, is a Registered Structural and Civil Engineer in the state of California and is a Certified Forensic Litigation Consultant. Mr. Quilici has over 40 years of experience in the construction industry. He has extensive knowledge of building codes and familiarity with innovative building systems.

Mr. Quilici's range of expertise includes luxury & merchant built residences, apartments and hotels, recreational centers, commercial, retail, and office facilities, religious and educational facilities, and industrial / warehouse facilities. He is also experienced with a diverse range of building materials, including tilt-up concrete, structural steel, post-tensioned concrete, concrete masonry units, foam block, light gauge steel, and timber. 

Qualifications: 

• Licensed Structural Engineer, over 35 years, 1986
• Licensed Civil Engineer, over 40 years, 1982
• University of California, Berkeley, MS Civil Engineering - Structures, 1980
• US Green Building Counsel LEED, Accredited Professional, May 2009
• US Build it Green, Certified Green Building Professional, September 2009
•  Forensic Expert Witness Association Board of Directors - Past President
• Board Certified Forensic Litigation Consultant
• Western Construction Consultants Association Westcon Board of Directors - Past President

2 Minute Informational Video

Litigation Support - Mr. Quilici is a Certified Forensic Litigation Consultant experienced in Destructive Testing, Forensic Investigation, Post-Disaster Investigation, and Remedial Design. His services include site inspection, thorough reporting, repair designs & exhibits suitable for estimating damages, depositions, and trial testimony for both Plaintiff and Defense.

Areas of Expertise:

• Rainfall Calculations, Earth Retention Structures, Grading, Roadwork, Drainage Plans, Flooding
• Structural Framing and Decay, Concrete Foundations, Swimming Pools, Water Feature
• Architectural Moisture Proofing Repair, Seismic Retrofit, Failure Investigation
• Pools, Fountains, Water Features
• Landscape and Recreation Structures & Bridges; Grading, Drainage, Flatwork
• Shells & Vessels, Structural Steel, Gunite, Tilt-Up Concrete, Post-Tensioned Concrete, Precast Concrete, Light Gage Metal, Engineered Lumber, Masonry and Foam Block
• Multifamily, Condominium, Hotel & Resort Facilities; Historic Restoration; Planning & Architectural Design; Merchant Built & Custom Residential, Commercial, Retail, Offices; Medical, Industrial, Historic Restoration, Religious

View Quilici Engineers, Inc.'s Business Consulting Profile.

R. Kevin Smith PE, BSME, MMAE, has been a specialist in Engineering Forensic Safety and Design for 35 years. He has consulted on over a 1,000 matters nationwide. Mr. Smith is a registered professional engineer and holds a BSME and MMAE from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. He is board certified forensic engineer through the National Academy of Forensic Engineers. He specializes in Material Handling Equipment Safety, including lift trucks, dock safety, truck loading, conveyors, and aerial work platform safety. Mr. has been actively involved as a member of the committee that writes the Safety Standard for Low Lift and High Lift Trucks (ASME/ANSI B56.1) for over 30 years. He also serves on the B56.6 committee (rough terrain lift trucks) and the ANSI A92.5 and A92.6 subcommittees (self-propelled elevating work platforms). Litigation Support - Mr. Smith formerly worked for Triodyne, Inc. for over 15 years as a forensic engineer/principal engineer. As President of R. K. Smith Engineering Inc., for over 25 years, he currently has a laboratory for examination and testing, and owns or has access to varied testing equipment and tools. Kevin Smith has testified at depositions and trials on several hundred matters. He has performed hundreds of investigations into product failures involving injury and property damage, and has reconstructed numerous accidents. His expertise is available to counsel representing both Plaintiff and Defendant. Mr. Smith also was previously on the Adjunct Math faculty at Prairie State College for 13 years. Areas of Expertise:

View R. Kevin Smith's Consulting Profile.

Robert O. Peruzzi, PhD, PE, DFE is a Licensed Professional Electrical Engineer with a focus on electronic and electro-mechanical systems and mixed-signal integrated circuits (silicon chips). He provides expert witness services to both plaintiff and defense counsel in matters regarding intellectual property, patents, failure analysis, product liability, injuries, and product specifications. Areas of expertise include:

View Consulting Profile.

Since 1988, Real-World Forensic Engineering, LLC ("RWFE") has provided engineering services to industries and government labs, as well as litigation support to both plaintiff and defense attorneys practicing in many areas.

RWFE Areas of Expertise Include:

At RWFE, we proudly distinguish ourselves by our Four C's:

CREDENTIALS. COMPETENCE. CREDIBILITY. COMMUNICATION.

Design Evaluation – Accident Investigation – Intellectual Property - Failure Analysis – Fire Cause & Origin – Component Testing - Computer Aided Drafting – Accident Animation - Expert Witness & Litigation Support

www.ExpertEngineering.com

Mark E. Rieser, II, MS, PE, AIA, GBC, GEC has over 30 years of experience in the Engineering, Architectural, Construction, and Building Design industry. He provides his clients with a comprehensive knowledge of Engineering, Construction Technology and Construction Standards of Professional Practice. 

Background Experience - President of an “active” Design and Building company with a professional staff and Headquarter offices in San Jose and Los Angeles, and offices in Sacramento and San Francisco. Mr. Rieser has managed, designed, and constructed over 4,000 units to include high-rise, single family homes, condominiums, townhomes, podiums, apartments, and commercial buildings, His experience includes building and roadway design, construction, management, with designs of over 500 miles of asphalt and roadway improvements, tunnels, San Francisco Airport, Santa Clara Light Rail, Southern Pacific Railroad, Caltrans, and BART. 

Mr. Rieser has an insightful understanding of Civil / Structural Engineering, Soil Engineering, Transportation, Traffic Engineering, Hydraulic Engineering, Safety Expert, OSHA Standards, Architectural Design, Asphalt Design, Cost Estimation, Public Works Design Bidding and Estimation, General Engineering, General Building, and an Accident Reconstruction expert. “Our bids are not just a tool but are numbers that we be use to finish the work, accurately, on-time, and safely.” 

Forensic Construction and Engineering - Mark Rieser is a renowned forensic expert with the knowledge to safeguard clients from unwanted litigation as well as support both plaintiffs and defendants. He works closely with insurance companies and attorneys on various public, city, and state cases throughout the western United States. To date, he has been designated as an expert in over 550 Forensic Construction and Engineering cases throughout the United States. Mr. Rieser has been designated and testified Court as an expert in the following categories:

View Mark Rieser's Consulting Profile.

Christopher M. Daft, PhD, is an award winning, Oxford Educated scientist whose areas of expertise include medical imaging, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, medical devices, sensors, MEMS, signal processing, and image processing. He holds 23 United States Patents with 20 applications pending, Dr. Daft has diverse industry experience including multi-nationals such as GE, Medtronic, Fujifilm, Samsung, and Siemens as well as several start-ups. 

He has testified at trial 5 times and been deposed 14 times.

Dr. Daft has been an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Senior Member since 2004. He has three years of experience teaching electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois. 

Dr. Daft holds a BA and MA in Physics from Oxford University as well as Doctorate from Oxford in Materials Science.

Litigation Support - Dr. Daft provides litigation support in the areas of Intellectual Property and Medical Devices including Imaging, particularly Medical, Patents, and more. His experience includes a variety of cases in the areas of wearable electronics, imaging systems, and surgical technology. Dr. Daft has extensive deposition and trial testimony experience.

Areas of Expertise:

View Dr. Christopher Daft's Consulting Profile.

Gary D. Fletcher, PhD,  is the Founder and Principal Consultant at RnDDx Solutions LLC, a consulting firm founded in 2015, focused on Industrial Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering and Research and Product Development.  In his 30 years of experience, he has been co-inventor on 23 patents for devices and methods in blood collection and processing.

Litigation Support - Dr. Fletcher has subject matter expertise in Medical Device Mechanical Engineering and subject matter expertise in Medical Devices for blood and specimen collection and sample processing for in vitro diagnostics, point of care diagnostics, and therapeutics, including glucose monitoring. He serves as an expert witness in patent infringement cases involving medical device and diagnostic biomedical engineering, blood collection, separation, fluidic preparation, glucose monitoring, and cell therapy preparation devices.

Dr. Fletcher offers patent litigation services to law firms and lawyers supporting medical device and diagnostic industry clients, who need physical science and mechanical and biomedical engineering expertise for District Court, PTAB, and ITC patent cases. As an industry consultant, his ideal clients are R&D, product development, and innovation leaders in startup, emerging, and established medical device and diagnostic companies, who face product development and competitive challenges.

Areas of Expertise:

Dr. Fletcher is an entrepreneurial executive with expanding R&D roles in business, technology, and new product development leadership and execution, building and guiding teams in both Fortune 500 and startup companies. With a PhD in physics from Yale, he has a proven record of leadership in creating innovative new businesses and products in healthcare, medical devices, diagnostics, life, materials, and optical sciences.

Robert (Bob) Ryan, PhD, PE, is a Senior Estimator with Heavy Civil Construction experience including bridge / structures, paving, foundations, marine, and grading work. He has over 15 years of experience working within the construction industry, primarily in operations and estimating. He has completed projects totaling more than $2 billion, and was directly involved in multiple projects receiving national merit.  

Bob has led projects involving bridges, roads, marine structures, rail, tunnels, airports, and light industrial. His project management experience has led to the development and deep understanding of schedules, standardized cost estimating approaches, subcontractor management, contracts, procurement, project completion, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) programs compliance issues.

Litigation Support -  Working as a contractor, engineer / consultant, and owner in the heavy-highway sector gives Bob the ability to see all sides of complex contractual issues. He has been involved in cost escalation claims and economic impact analysis related to volatile market conditions. He has experience working on large, complex heavy highway projects and has the skills and knowledge necessary to provide expert testimony in these cases.

Bob has advised attorneys for both plaintiff and defendant, and executive levels of DOTs and contractors alike. He has led and supported expert analysis on claims exceeding $100 million.

 Areas of Expertise:

Background Experience - Bob’s professional roles have included project controls, field engineering, superintendence, project management, and estimating. In his 10 years as a contractor, he held roles from field operations to estimating. As a consultant, he managed projects ranging from $1M to $300M. As an owner’s representative Bob was responsible for complete cost estimates averaging $2B. Bob is currently a faculty member at Oregon State University in their Construction Engineering Management program. 

Bob has successfully balanced completing his multiple degrees while exceeding goals as a full-time professional. His dissertation involved economic analysis of cost variance for over 12,000 projects. His coursework was a blend of project management, civil engineering, accounting, economics, and statistics. He is experienced in a wide variety of alternative delivery methods such as design-build, public-private- partnerships (P3) accelerated bridge construction, job order contracting, and negotiated lump sum.

Dr. Shakir Shatnawi, PhD, PE, is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in the Transportation Engineering industry. Shakir has a Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering. He has over 30 years of practical and extensive engineering and transportation expertise covering industry and public agencies including FHWA and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). 

Shakir is currently the president of Shatec Engineering Consultants. He taught highway engineering, traffic engineering and transportation engineering and pavement design at California State University. Dr. Shatnawi served as a principal investigator on multi-million dollar transportation projects. He held various positions at Caltrans including a Senior Transportation Engineer, a Supervising Transportation Engineer and a Division Chief.

 Dr. Shatnawi's education and experience demonstrates a wealth of engineering knowledge encompassing highway design, traffic engineering, pavement design, geotechnical engineering, materials and construction . As a recipient of many acknowledgements from the government, Dr. Shatnawi has an impeccable reputation within the industry for his significant professional contributions. As an expert orator, he frequently shares his knowledge at major conferences around the world. Dr. Shatnawi provides expert witness services in the following areas:

View Dr. Shatnawi's Consulting Profile.

Litigation Support - Mr. Stein Offers consulting and expert services for attorneys on issues regarding road, street, highway, temporary traffic control, runway, and earthwork; asphalt, concrete, coatings and other construction materials; designs, plans, specifications, CPM scheduling (Primavera) and contract documents; right-of-way issues; and work zone safety. Licensed in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Texas, he performs contract performance forensic investigations and provides consulting, expert reports, rebuttals, and testimony if required.

Areas of Expertise:

Certifications:

• Certified Construction Manager (CCM)
• Certified Primavera Basic (CPM)
• Certified Primavera Advanced (CPM)
• Certified LADOTD Structural (bridge)
• Inspector/Technician Certified Troxler
• Humboldt Nuclear Moisture/ Density Operator
• Lead Abatement
• Certified Quality Compliance Surveillance in Fossil Power Plants, Organic & Inorganic Coatings Application and Inspection
• Certified Traffic Control Supervisor
• Certified Flagger Instructor

Mechanical Engineer - Turbomachinery Expert. Gas turbine engines, steam turbines, jet engines, compressors, pumps, expanders, generators, cogeneration, combustion equipment, diesel engines, and reciprocating compressors. 

Failure analysis, stress analysis, mechanical design, design analysis, troubleshooting, performance analysis, durability assessment. Access to metallurgical laboratory. Experienced Expert witness. 

Please see our Service List at https://sbkushnick.com/servicelist.pdf for a concise description.