Optics Lasers Photonics Expert Witnesses: 4

Rolf Biernath, PhD, has over 35 years of experience in the Chemical Industry with a concentration on Polymer Science and Engineering and Material Science Fracture Mechanics. He worked in Materials and Processes at 3M for 31 years, in senior technical roles developing materials, processes, and systems. His 57 issued US patents span a broad range of scientific and engineering disciplines.

Litigation Support - Dr. Biernath is a Patent & Civil Liability Expert Witness having worked with in-house and outside attorneys in prior art searches. He's drafted claims and strategized claims in a variety of fields. He has written Expert Reports for a Civil Liability, including material failure analysis, computer simulation, and manufacturing assessment.  He is known for his ability to explain complex technical problems simply.

Areas of Expertise:

Background Experience - Dr. Biernath has 57 Issued US Patents on New Products, including:

• Industrial Adhesives and Tapes – 3D printing materials development, automation, and tape application processes
• Electronic Materials – epoxy thermoset adhesives & application process (elastomeric epoxy), high speed electronic connectors
• Electronic Displays – optical display films, outdoor digital displays
• Microreplication – textured adhesives and processes, microfluidics, e-Paper
• Signage – retroreflective signage, license plate recognition, ADAS, Human Invisible, Machine-Readable Coding System
• IoT and IIoT – Automatic and predictive selection and replacement

Dr. Biernath has expertise in stresses in planar systems due to a range of causes including, thermal expansion mismatch, humidity and solvent uptake or loss, and cure shrinkage. He understands assembly processes for tapes and adhesives including interpreting Technical Data Sheets, Application Data Sheets, developing test methods, and selecting materials. Doctorate in Chemical Engineering focused on stresses in bonded planar layers, stress measurement, physical property modeling and stress modeling due to thermal, cure, solvent and other causes.

View Biernath Consulting, Inc.'s Business Consultant Profile.

Dr. David Schaafsma, PhD has over 25 years of experience in Optical Systems, Microscopy, Fluorescence & Spectroscopy, Optical Materials, Lasers, Optoelectronics, Sensors, and Data Acquisition. Dr. Schaafsma specializes in multi-disciplinary projects primarily for the medical device field, involving optics, electronics, software, and sensors. He has worked in diverse areas such as semiconductor manufacturing, telecommunications, and biotechnology. Dr. Schaafsma has been offering expert witness services for over 10 years. He has been retained as an expert in several areas of expertise, from angioplasty catheters to retinography cameras to optical microscopes of various stripes. Dr. Schaafsma is available for consulting, testing, analysis, inspection, reports (opinion), deposition, and trial testimony. 

Selected Areas of Expertise:

View Dr. Schaafsma's Consulting Profile.

Khalid Sorensen, PhD, is a highly accomplished technology leader in Automation, Mechatronics, Motion Control, Manufacturing, Machine Vision, and Human-Machine Interaction. He has over 20 years of experience developing and deploying world-class mechatronic, motion control, and automation solutions.

Dr. Sorensen has directed the development and implementation of 100s of complex, multi-disciplinary mechatronic systems for high-profile industry leaders including Toyota, Ford, Alcoa, Caterpillar, Boeing, NuScale, and many others, and high-profile facilities including Fukushima and Chernobyl.

Litigation Support - Dr. Sorensen has testified in numerous Product Liability and IP disputes – both at the Federal and District court levels, as well as the ITC, USPTO, and US Customs and Border Protection.

Areas of Expertise:

Career Highlights:

• Founded a technology company where he invented and was the Chief Architect of Expertoperator^TM, Safemove^TM, Automove^TM, and Cranevision^TM – technology known within the primary metals, automotive, and heavy-equipment sectors for enhancing crane safety, productivity, and ease-of-use; Developed state-of-the-art, on-line, time-optimal trajectory synthesis software for Cartesian machines - key drivers in the acquisition of his company 5 years after inception by a global leader in automation.
• Served as CTO at PaR Systems, a world-class supplier of large-scale robotic automation, control, advanced manufacturing, and nuclear-handling solutions.
• Founded Finity Engineering, which provides design, analysis, consulting, and litigation support services in the areas of robotics, automation, and mechatronics.
• Adjunct Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Teaches various engineering topics including Dynamics, Controls, Vibrations, Mechatronics, the Design Process, Product Development, Engineering IP, Product Liability, and others.
• Invited talks at premiere institutions globally including MIT, Kumoh National Univ. of Tech, Korea Atomic Energy Research Inst., Hyung Hee Univ., Huazhong Univ. of Science & Tech.

View Finity Engineering's Business 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 Collection and Blood Sample processing for diagnostics and therapeutics. He serves as an expert witness in patent infringement cases involving medical device and diagnostic biomedical engineering, blood collection, separation, fluidic preparation, 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 International Trade Commision 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.