Control Systems Engineering Consultants

Wilhelm Associates has over two hundred twenty cumulative years of experience in the Automotive Electronics Industry. As consultants, their strength is based on insightful analysis of potential sales opportunities and technical product gaps and differentiating opportunities. They focus on delivering an overarching strategy, supported with specific tactics that will enable success in the North American automotive electronics marketplace. Their experience is in Tier One and Tier Two markets and products covering services including:

Strategic Analysis - Business Development and Analysis - Technical Reviews and Alternatives - Licensing and Teaming for Success - Market Research - Market and Technical Analysis - Lean Systems Development and Analysis 

President and Founder, Ralph V. Wilhelm, PhD, has over 40 years of industry experience in the Automotive Industry. Dr. Wilhelm is familiar with automotive electronic component technology and the supply-line management required not only producing competitive automotive component and systems, but supervising the R&D, advanced engineering, forward technology development, sales, and product line management process from OEM to customer. 

Dr. Wilhelm and his team have served dozens of clients, ranging from privately owned to publicly traded firms, small thirty person companies to Fortune 500 sized firms, small to very large law firms, and companies headquartered in Germany, France, Canada, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and the US.

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Jamie Chapman, PhD, has over 35 years of broad technical, engineering, operational, and economic expertise in the areas of Renewable Energy and Power Conversion Systems. Principal at Time-Variable Systems, LLC, Dr. Chapman provides strategic, technical, and engineering consulting services to law firms, technology-driven companies, federal laboratories and agencies. Recent clients have included law firms, Exro Technologies, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and technology-intensive product development companies in the United States and internationally.

Consulting Specialties Include:

• Innovative Electric Machines
• Variable Speed Electric Generators
• Marine Hydrokinetic Power Conversion Systems
• Radar Sensing
• Megawatt-scale Power Processing and Control via Power Electronics
• Wind Turbines
• Energy Storage
• Rotary and Linear Electric Machines
• Electronic Power Conversion
• Control and Grid Interface

Dr. Chapman's career and activities have spanned the industrial, academic, governmental, and legal arenas in the US, Europe, and Asia. He has been heavily involved with clients in program definition and funding together with the associated development of technology-intensive, multi-disciplinary product systems.

Dr. Chapman's experience includes research and development focused on the technologies needed to maintain leadership for the next, next generation of multi-megawatt wind turbine power plants, including turbulence detection by lidar and radar. His work in this area generated four patent disclosures.

From 2004-2010, Dr. Chapman served as Associate Director of the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center at Texas Tech University. As part of the Senior Research Faculty, he was a principal in achieving $10 million in external funding to implement a wind energy research and education program. Dr. Chapman delivered a graduate-level course on wind turbine design, control, grid interface and economics and initiated Texas Tech's program on the integration of wind turbines with desalination systems.

View Dr. Chapman's Expert Witness Profile.

Rod Bergen is an Expert Witness and Consultant in the Design & Installation of Audio / Video Systems (home theater, boardrooms, etc) & related System Control Applications. He has managed the design & installation of residential & commercial electrical & related applications since 1975. Mr. Bergen is an experienced Expert witness, familiar with depositions & trial testimony.

Degrees & Licenses: BSEE, Reg. Prof. Engr. (Control Syst.), Lic. Calif Contractor (Gen'I, Elect, HVAC & Plumb).

Areas of Expertise:

• Evaluation of Electrical System Performance
• Installation Defects
• Wiring Problems
• Design Deficiencies
• Incident Reconstruction

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Robert O. Peruzzi, PhD, PE is a Licensed Professional Electrical Engineer with particular expertise in Mixed-Signal Integrated Circuits (MSICs). His subspecialty within this broad category is with Integrated Circuits (silicon chips) used for signal-processing. Dr. Peruzzi's recent clients include Quantenna Communications, Wavefront Research, LSI, Berkeley Design Automation, among others.

Examples of Signal Processing Systems:

• Telephones, mobile phones, cell phones
• Data recording and retrieving systems for magnetic media such as disk drives
• Radio transmitters / receivers - low noise amplifiers, filters, automatic gain control and frequency mixers
• Audio amplifiers
• Audio recording / reproduction systems
• Heat, ventilation, air conditioning controllers
• Data transmitting / receiving systems

Areas of Expertise:

• Behavioral modeling of analog/mixed-signal circuits using Verilog-AMS, VHDL-AMS or MATLAB/Simulink
• Specific verification requirements
• High-speed verification using real-value modeling techniques
• System-level design exploration
• Executable design specs

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Dr. Kanellakopoulos is a technology leader with 25+ years of experience in R&D and Engineering Management in both academia and industry. He has designed and built telecom products such as DSL and Carrier Ethernet Hardware and Software, as well as a prototype fully automated electric vehicle. He has conducted applied research in adaptive control of nonlinear systems, with applications to automotive driver assistance systems (adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, vehicle collision avoidance) and active suspensions.

Dr. Kanellakopoulos has significant experience with international telecommunication standards (ITU-T SG15/Q4), and has directed collaborative projects with several automotive/truck manufacturers and vendors (Ford, Mercedes-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, Freightliner, Gentex, Visteon). His deep technical expertise in the areas of telecommunications and automotive driver assistance systems has allowed him to analyze patents and products in detail, and explain clearly (in expert reports, depositions, and court testimony) the main issues that the judge and jury need to comprehend in order to understand the essence of the case. 

Dr. Kanellakopoulos' extensive educational experience allows him to help judges and jurors understand the topic they are dealing with, instead of confusing them with unnecessary technical details. After all, it takes excellent teaching skills and a deep understanding of a complex technical concept to convey the essence of that concept to non-experts without talking down to them.

Micale Partners has over 60 years of combined technical and operations experience in Aircraft Design and Operation, Space Launch Vehicle Design and Operation and Automotive Design. They provide services to clients both nationally and internationally.

Micale Partners combines expertise in aerospace design, aircraft flight and airline operations. This combination provides the client a consulting resource that understands how a system should be designed, fabricated, assembled and used. The depth and complete knowledge of aviation allow Micale Partners to serve as a formidable consultant resource. The Micale Partners also provide a diverse background of industry experience ranging from aircraft to automotive to space launch vehicles.

Consulting Services:

• Aircraft Design, Certification, Safety, Incident and Accident Corrective Action, Maintenance, and Operation
• Space Launch Vehicle Design, Construction, and Operations
• Design, Manufacturing, Machining, and Inspection
• Commercial and Military Aircraft Operations
• Flight Operations and Safety
• Automotive Development

Anthony G. Micale, BSME, MBA, has over 32 years of Aerospace and Automotive Engineering experience, including rigorous Failure Analysis. Mr. Micale is a dual citizen of the Unites States and the United Kingdom. He has Top Secret Clearance TS/SCI – Special Intelligence (SI) / Talent Keyhole (TK)and Department Of Defense (DOD) Secret Clearance.

Mr. Micale is also currently employed at The Aerospace Corporation, a Federally Funded Research and Development Corporation where he contributes to US space flight mission assurance. He has specialized in aerospace design and operation of flight and space vehicles with an emphasis on Flight Safety and Mission Assurance. Mr. Micale is a past technical leader of an aircraft accident and incident investigation board comprised of engineers, pilots and legal counsel for a major commercial aircraft manufacturer. In this role he has studied, understood, created reports and defined design changes to resolve aircraft safety issues.

Over his career, Mr. Micale has conducted numerous analyses of root cause to determine failures attributed to: Design Flaws, Human Error, Human Workload, Improper Manufacturing, and Inadequate Maintenance. He has designed aircraft systems, conducted testing and performed evaluation that have led to aircraft certification with the FAA and the CAA. His experience includes interface with aircraft manufacturers, space vehicle manufactures, commercial aircraft operators and government agencies.

Anthony Micale has also been employed by Ford Motor Company where he designed automotive vehicle powertrains and vehicle control systems. He has vehicle dynamics training and understands the basis for vehicle stability and car crash dynamics.

Practice Areas:

Aerospace Engineer Aircraft Engineer Failure Investigation Failure Analysis Aircraft Safety Risk Assessment Flight Controls Systems Design

Human Factors Hazardous Operations Space Vehicle Design Fact Finding Event Reconstruction Technical Drawings Throttle Control Anti-Lock Brakes

Paul J. Micale, Pilot, Masters Aeronautical Science, is an active airline pilot with 26 years of flight experience 13 of which are under FAR Part 121. Specializing in Aviation and Aerospace and Transportation, he has over 7,200 flight hours with multiple ratings.

A decorated veteran, Mr. Micale has also been forward deployed as a combat pilot with the US Army during 7 years of active duty. He has been a combat pilot in both the C-12 (Beechcraft 200) aircraft and the AH-64 Apache Attack helicopter.

Mr. Micale's career includes continued service as a Major in the US Army Reserves where he has been a pilot and commander of flight units. As a military pilot, Mr. Micale has flown fixed and rotary wing helicopter aircraft. His education and experience emphasizes Flight Operations and Safety. He has Department Of Defense (DOD)Secret Clearance.

Paul Micale is a licensed civilian Airline Transport Pilot with type rating as Pilot in Command and is currently employed by American Eagle Airlines as a CRJ-700 Pilot and First Officer in the Canadair Regional Jet aircraft with 65 seat occupancy. He is FAA certified for CAT II instrument approaches and to fly in Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) airspace. Mr. Micale is type rated for this and other aircraft requiring an FAA type rating. He has a Masters of Aeronautical Science with a specialization in aviation safety from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Practice Areas:

Airline Pilot Military Pilot Aviation Pilot Army Aviator / Army Pilot Flight Operations Helicopter Pilot Aircraft Safety Risk Assessment Human Factors

Crew Resource Management FAR 121 Pilot FAR Part 121 Pilot FAR 135 Pilot FAR Part 135 Pilot Flight Safety Aircraft Safety Crewmember Fatigue.

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Matt Hartley Lighting, LLC combines the Science of Engineering Design to the Art of Illumination. They provide a wide variety of services to the lighting design community, some of which include:

• Lighting Design and Simulation - Produced over 12000 different designs for interior, exterior, roadways, daylighting, and sports lighting facilities
• Manufacturing - Includes both technical marketing services and optical design; creation and management of specification sheets, IES file review and management, fixture testing coordination, certification management of fixtures, BIM modeling, AGI32 instabase management, and competitive analysis of fixtures
• Teaching and Presenting - Provide training for large or small groups in areas including general lighting, photometry, applications, and advanced topics. Past training experience with Lithonia, Lighting Analysts, and Peerless

Principal, Matthew J. Hartley, is a noted expert in Lighting, Lighting Design, Product Development, AGI32, and Photometry He has been in the Lighting Industry for over 24 years. In that time, he has held positions in design, product management, customer service, and design engineering. Mr. Hartley has been employed by manufacturers, lighting software companies, and lighting agencies. He has immersed himself in different facets of the industry including indoor and outdoor lighting, safety and security, lighting and human health, and lighting standards. 

Mr. Hartley has been involved with several standard writing committees within the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, producing over six standard documents. Since 1999, he has taught Lighting and Lighting Design to diverse groups, from students to seasoned lighting professionals, and presented at conferences and seminars on a variety of topics, such as of photometry, design, or IES Documents.

View Matthew Hartley's Expert Witness Profile.

A Registered Professional Engineer, Mr. Terpstra has more than 35 years of experience in engineering designs and solutions. Mr. Terpstra has extensive experience in automated equipment. As president of Klover Products, he oversees the development of products for the broadcast industry and beyond. As president of Innalytical Solutions, he focuses on consulting service relating to industrial equipment. Mr. Terpstra has been awarded 11 U.S. patents for industrial equipment, manufacturing processes, and broadcast equipment. His designs have been used by many major manufacturers, including GM, GE, Ford, Rolls Royce and Caterpillar. These designs have been featured in Machine Design, Design News, Automotive News, Production and HD Pro Guide magazines. Mr. Terpstra has served as an expert witness on multiple cases as well as provided forensic engineering services. He is an experienced report writer, a certified SolidWorks Professional, and certified in fire investigation.

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John Hatcher is an industry leader in Building Systems Engineering including, Security, Building Automation Systems, Fire Alarm Systems, Intelligent Building Concepts and Commissioining. He has worked on some of the most prestigious facilities in the world including the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Russia, India and Southeast Asia. 

Security Expertise:

• Access Control
• CCTV Surveillance
• Emergency Communications
• Operations
• Risk Assessments

Building Automation Expertise:

• Energy Management
• HVAC Controls
• Operations
• MEP Commissioning

Other Systems Expertise:

• Fire Alarm
• Telecommunication
• Intelligent Buildings

Hastak Consulting Services is a Construction Engineering and Management firm established by Prof. Makarand (Mark) Hastak, PhD, PE, CCP, CRIS, Professor and the Dernlan Family Head of Construction Engineering and Management as well as Professor of Civil Engineering at Purdue University. Dr. Hastak offers consulting services to clients around the world in the following areas:

• Project Controls and Risk Management
• Process Improvement of Capital Projects
• Profitability Improvement and Construction Analytics
• Process Improvement for Factory Built Housing
• Capital Rehabilitation Planning
• Strategic planning and decision-making for resolving project complexities
• Planning for Disaster Mitigation, Resilience, and Capacity Building

Dr. Hastak has been involved with the construction industry for the past 32 years providing his expertise through consulting, research, teaching, and service to the industry. He is a world renowned expert in the area of construction engineering and management including process improvement, disaster risk reduction, resilience and capacity building, infrastructure management, factory built housing, intelligent planning for the built environment, cost control, project management decision-making, risk management, contracts and warranties, and strategic planning. Dr. Hastak is a Professional Engineer (PE), a Construction Risk Insurance Specialist (CRIS), and a Certified Cost Professional (CCP). Dr. Hastak has given over 40 keynotes and invited lectures around the world. As a prominent educator, he also engages in developing training material and workshops as well as regularly teaching professional courses for the A/E/C industry. He has completed the 30-Hour OSHA Hazard Recognition Training for the Construction Industry. His services include consultation, on-site investigation, data collection, assessment, and reporting. Dr. Hastak Lectures at the 2015 International Conference on Building Resilience

Prof. Hastak has worked on numerous projects sponsored by the Construction Industry Institute (CII), NSF, State DOTs, and City Agencies. He has authored over 200 publications on process improvement, project controls, capital rehabilitation planning, strategic planning, and decision-making. He has co-authored a widely used book on Infrastructure Planning, Engineering, and Economics (McGraw-Hill 2006 and 2015). Dr. Hastak served on the Education Board of the Association for Advancement of Cost Engineering (2004-2016). He was Editor for two AACE books, the Skills and Knowledge of Cost Engineering (6th Ed. 2015) and the CCP Certification Study Guide (2nd Ed. 2016). He was also the Editor-in-Chief of the ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering (2009-2016). View Dr. Hastak's Expert Witness Profile.

Oded Gottesman, PhD, CTO of Compandent Inc., technology IP expert witness in such areas as telecommunications, cellular phone, and signal processing, provides technology expert witness services, prior art search, and consulting for Technology Patent Infringement, Patent Invalidity, Trade Secret Disputes, source code review, hardware analysis, and related matters.

Consulting Services - Dr. Gottesman provides consulting services for Telecommunications, cellular phones and networks, Digital Signal Processing (DSP), GPS, streaming audio and video, speech audio and video compression (coding), computer software and hardware analysis, communication systems and protocols, error correction, human interfaces, etc.. His work includes patent infringement disputes, patent invalidity disputes, prior art searches, source code review, and hardware analysis.

Selected Background Experience:

• International patents in the area of speech coding, and transmission over degraded channel such as cellular networks and packetized networks
• Researcher in AT&T Bell Labs. Murray Hills, NJ
• Research and development projects for National Security Agency (NSA), NATO, and DARPA
• Contributed to the United States Department of Defense voice compression standard MIL-STD-3005, and NATO standard STANAG-4591

Areas of Expertise:

DSP Digital Signal Processing Telecommunications Cellular Networks (4G LTE, 3GPP, GSM) Packetized Networks VoIP Streaming audio, streaming video Real-time Systems Cellular Timing and Synchronization Location and Position Systems (UTDOA, GPS, etc.) Error Control Coding

Speech Coding, voice compression, Audio Compression, and Video Compression, codec (MPEG, AAC, AMR) Signal Compression and Signal Enhancement Computer Software, and Algorithms Computer Hardware Embedded Systems Smartphones, Portable Devices Client-server Web Applications Mobile Applications

View Dr. Gottesman's Expert Witness Profile.

Energy Associates, P.C. is a professional corporation that provides engineering and consulting services for projects at ports, terminals, power plants, transportation, mines, and the minerals/process industries.

They assist owners, developers, A/E firms, industrial enterprises, financial and banking institutions, utilities, governmental agencies, and EPC Contractors. Energy Associates is often part of an engineering team, providing specialty expertise that allows the project to move forward quickly in the right direction.

Services Include:

• Feasibility Studies
• Technical Bid Specifications
• Detail Design
• Compliance Reviews of Contractor Design Submittals
• Failure Analysis and Troubleshooting
• Construction Compliance Monitoring
• Technical Requisitions and Material Purchasing Support

President and Project Manager of Energy Associates, P.C., Daniel Mahr, PE, is a specialist in the Engineering and Design of Dry Bulk Material Handling Systems. He is an expert in the supply, handling, blending, and processing of a wide range of bulk materials ranging from alumina to wood chips.

Mr. Mahr is experienced in ports and terminals, the power, transportation, mining, steel, and process industries. He has managed large or technically demanding projects handling bauxite, coal, biomass, minerals, and other bulk commodities. As president, Mr. Mahr is responsible for all corporate activities of Energy Associates. On construction assignments, he has served as a technical representative and monitored technical/contract compliance.

Mr. Mahr’s project assignments are located throughout the United States and have taken him to Argentina, Bahamas, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Philippines, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, and Venezuela.

Daniel Mahr is the author / editor of over 50 technical articles, papers, and publications for major industry magazines and conferences. He contributed the “Above-Ground Handling and Storage” chapter for ASME's Materials Handling Handbook and is the editor of seven 7 ASME publications on solid fuel issues.

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James Parker has over 35 years of relevant industry experience specializing in Electronic Security Systems & Sensors, Electronics R&D and New Product Development. With executive and strategic leadership skills, Mr. Parker served as a principal product architect, is highly credible with customers, distributors, and suppliers. He is a prolific inventor having been granted over 24 unique patents with approximately 80 patent documents published worldwide. Mr. Parker is the Past Vice President of Engineering for Digital Security Controls Ltd. (DSC), a leading global manufacturer of electronic security systems and components with sales exceeding $400 million annually. He is currently the President at EE-Systems Group Inc. Canada (R&D) where he is responsible for overseeing new product and business development. 

Consulting Services - Mr. Parker's consulting services include identifying patent filing opportunities while avoiding infringement risks. He has in-depth knowledge of electronic product design in both Wired and Wireless Technologies and outstanding knowledge of Environmental and False Alarm Immunity. 

Mr. Parker also has expertise in the research, development, design, and manufacturing of electronic based products such as Security Systems, Burglar Alarm Systems, Intrusion Detection Systems, Occupancy Detection Systems, Fresnel and Mirror Optic PIR (Passive Infra-Red) Motion Detectors, Microwave Doppler Motion Detectors, Solar Powered, Motion Controlled, LED illumination Systems, and similar devices. 

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DireenTech is a Design and Systems Development firm in the Electronics and Software Industry. They are currently under contract with the US Air Force Academy Center for UAS Research, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the area of using General Purpose Graphics Processing Units (GPGPU) in UAVs / Drones to provide fast autonomous target identification and GPS denied navigation.

DireenTech has also partnered with FalconWorks and Falci Adaptive Motor sports on the NeuroGroove program to develop technologies to help those with neuromotor disabilities, including U.S. veterans, increase their ability to control and interact with their environment.

Core Services

• Software Design and Development
• Electronic Hardware Design and Development
• Research using GPGPUs for Control, Navigation and Image Processing
• Intellectual Property
• Reverse Engineering Hardware, Software, and Firmware
• Product Forensics

Chief Operating officer, Harry Direen, PhD, PE has over 30 years of experience as an engineer Designing and Developing Systems in the Electronics and Software Industry. He has taught engineering courses at the US Air Force Academy and at the University of Colorado. Dr. Direen currently works with a research group at the US Air Force Academy developing control systems and image processing using GPGPUs for UAVs. An inventor, he holds 3 United States patents.

Dr. Direen has a broad base of knowledge in electronic and software systems gained from a long career developing a wide range of products and systems. He has reverse engineered a variety of complex systems over the years, including: media players, modems, modem compression algorithms, coriolis mass flow meters, database systems, and a range of other products to support patent infringement cases generating detailed claim charts and writing expert reports to demonstrate infringement. Dr. Direen has successfully discovered and analyzed complex digital signal processing algorithms and pertinent operations within these products for many years.

View Dr. Direen's Expert Witness Profile.

Chet L. Sandberg received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and a MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford. He is a professional engineer in the state of California and an IEEE Fellow.

Background Experience - Mr. Sandberg joined the Chemelex Division of Raychem Corporation where he managed technology projects for 30 years. He held various positions at Raychem including Engineer, Product Manager, Consumer Products Division Manager, and Chief Engineer. For the next 6 years, Mr. Sandberg managed the development of a downhole, self-regulating electrical heater technology for Shell Oil. In 2009, he founded C L Sandberg & Associates, a consultancy specializing in Energy Projects.

Mr. Sandberg is now associated with Electrical Energy Storage EPRI, ESA, Sandia, and PNNL, as well as providing due diligence expertise for venture capital and private equity companies on their technical prospective investments. He has been granted 30 United States Patents and has authored over 70 technical papers on energy usage, electric heat tracing, ground fault technology, fiber optics, sensor technology, and personal computers as design tools.

Litigation Support - Mr. Sandberg is a Heat Transfer Expert with successful litigation in Steam and Electrical Heat Tracing. He has written papers on thermal insulation, LNG tank protection, heavy oil production, and appliance heat transfer. He has court room experience, including testifying before the ITC in Washington DC. Mr. Sandberg is available to attorneys for both plaintiff and defendant.

Areas of Expertise:

Novel Battery Technology Energy Storage Electrical Ground Fault Protection Powerline Carrier Technology Heat Transfer Backup Power Supply Oil Field Heating and Instrumentation Engineering Safety Requirements in Nuclear Power Generation

Hazardous Safety of Explosive Gases Process Control Software Instrumentation Hardware Fiber Optic Data Transmission Fiber Optic Sensors Nitinol Heat Tracing Economic Analysis of Energy Usage