Expert Details

Failure Analysis, Construction, Nondestructive Testing, Corrosion and Structural Evaluation

ID: 732932 Illinois, USA

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Expert has over 25 years' forensic experience in accessing a wide variety of civil applications, including building systems, balconies, parking garages, bridge piers and decks, and other civil infrastructures.

A national recognized expert in nondestructive testing and evaluation, he worked on different nondestructive testing methods as part of his Master’s Degree. Through investigation and engineering analysis, Expert is able to determine the causes of structural performance issues, such as structural distress, excessive displacement, or excessive vibrations to partial or total structural collapse. To date, Expert has provided expert witness evaluations on more than twenty different cases, and have testified in court, and been involved in arbitration and mediation. He uses the latest nondestructive technology on all his cases, which allows him to obtain a complete overall picture of the issues at hand.

Expert is a licensed Professional Engineer in three states, including Florida, Illinois and Indiana. His clientele has included Fortune 500 Companies, litigation attorneys, engineering firms, building owners and contractors. He has traveled and worked in over ten different countries, and has authored and co-authored numerous technical publications on a wide variety of topics; as well as undertaken over 1,000 structural assessments using nondestructive methods as a tool in the overall investigation.

Expert has been invited to be the main speaker at a variety of international seminars. He has also taught a graduate level class at the University of Illinois on forensic structural evaluation, providing real world experience to the students. Additionally, he holds two patents, one in the U.S. and one internationally.

Expert's eponymous firm offers the following services:
• Corrosion assessment of structures
• Nondestructive reinforcing bar placement evaluation
• Nondestructive reinforced masonry assessment for the presence of voids/reinforcement
• Ultrasonic Shear Wave Tomography evaluation for anomalies (voids, honeycombings, etc) in concrete elements
• As built determinations for overall thickness, reinforcing bar placement, etc.
• Evaluation on the effectiveness of repairs
• Structural monitoring, on site and remote monitoring
• Structural element testing such as load testing
• A full set of laboratory testing, including Petrographic Examination, Chloride Content, XRF, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) etc.

Education

Year Degree Subject Institution
Year: 1989 Degree: MS (w/ Thesis) Subject: Civil Engineering Institution: University of New Hampshire
Year: 1987 Degree: BS Subject: Civil Engineering Institution: University of New Hampshire

Work History

Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2008 to Present Employer: Undisclosed Title: Founder and Principal Department:
Responsibilities:
Expert's consulting responsibilities include forensic and failure investigation and litigation support on building envelopes, roofing systems, balconies, pavements, corrosion and runways, parking structures and bridge decks. He also undertakes material testing, including concrete, aluminum, steel, anchor bolts and asphalt.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2012 to 2016 Employer: Proceq USA Title: GM Department: Product Development; Technical and Application Services; Management
Responsibilities:
Expert served the company as Head of Product Development - Concrete (2015-present); General Manager of Technical and Application Services (2012-present); and Member of the Management team (2012-present).
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1995 to 2013 Employer: Health Care Institute Title: VP of Administration / Treasurer Department:
Responsibilities:
He handled all financial dealings of the Institute, including budgeting, AR, AP and resources investments. He also offered leadership that brought membership from a small institute (<500 members) to an institute with over 2000 members.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2007 to 2012 Employer: CTL Group Title: Principal Department:
Responsibilities:
Expert was responsible for the company's critical growth, including year-over-year revenue growth even in the 2008-09 economic downturn. He increased the company's growth revenue by 95% in five years.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1989 to 2007 Employer: CTLGroup Title: Manager Department:
Responsibilities:
Expert served the company as Group Manager and Principal Engineer (2004-07); Principal Engineer (2001-04); Senior Engineer (1998-2001); Engineer (1994-98); Associate Engineer (1992-94); and Assistant Engineer (1989-92). He was responsible for a 50% increase in the group's overall revenue.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1989 to 1989 Employer: David L. Gress and Associates Title: Project Engineer Department:
Responsibilities:
He served the firm as Project Engineer during this time.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1988 to 1989 Employer: University of New Hampshire Title: Research Assistant; Teaching Assistant Department:
Responsibilities:
Expert served the University as Research Assistant from 1987-89 and as Teaching Assistant from 1989-99.

Career Accomplishments

Associations / Societies
Chairman ACI Certification Committee 601F - Certification of NDT Technicians
Voting Member ACI Technical Committee 228 - Nondestructive Testing
Voting Member ACI Technical Committee 224 - Cracking
Member ACI Technical Committee 355 Concrete Anchors
Member ACI Technical Committee 302 Construction of Floors
Member ACI Technical Committee - 228 B Visual Inspection
Licenses / Certifications
Licensed Professional Engineer - Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Massachusetts
Awards / Recognition
• US Patents: Pavement Crack Initiator
• International Patent: Arrangement And Method For Inspecting An Object, In Particular A Building
Publications and Patents Summary
He holds one U.S. and one international patent. He has co-authored one book and has 22 publications. He has given a number of invited lectures and presentations.

Additional Experience

Expert Witness Experience
Expert is a nationally recognized forensic expert with more than thirty years of structural evaluation experience and nondestructive testing. He is well versed in evaluating construction defects and delay claims, and has evaluated construction defects in over ten different countries and has performed over two thousand assessments on material and structural failures on single-story and high-rise buildings, parking garage structures, bridges, nuclear power plants, industrial facilities, etc. His has evaluated historic structures dating back to the 1900s to modern day construction and is well versed in both the United States and the European Standards building codes. With his materials/structural engineering background, he has evaluated failures due to design deficiencies and poor construction practice; failure to practice adequate control, material deterioration due to incompatibility or exposure to the harsh environment or chemical attacks. His experience encompasses evaluating the entire building, from the foundation to the roof, including roofing failure, building envelope assessment, energy conservation study, water leakage, corrosion, structural and material failure.
With his thirty years of on-site investigative experience, he has been able to determine the underlying causes of performance failures or deficiencies. Expert has recently completed a litigation case on a high-end residential tower, where he uncovered the deficiencies were a result of the defendant not exercising adequate quality control during construction, resulting in a catastrophic failure approximately five years after the complex was completed.
To date, he has been called upon as an expert in more than twenty different litigation cases. He has testified in court and involved in arbitration and mediation proceedings. He has authored and co-authored twenty-two technical publications and has published a book on nuclear power plant assessment. He also has been invited to be the main speaker at seminars in the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and Singapore.
Other Relevant Experience
• Board of Directors on two non for profit boards
• CEO of a nationwide forensic company
• 30 years of professional experience in the construction industry
• 20+ years of managerial experience providing strategic planning and direction for the company
• Domestic and international business experience
• The holder of both a US and International Patent

Fields of Expertise

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