Failure Analysis Consultants: 41

Due Diligence Professional Services, Inc. (DDPSI) is a Construction Consulting and Expert Witness Firm that Specializes in Supporting Litigation and Representing Clients for Renewable Energy, Power, Heavy Civil, Underground Utilities, Building and other related Construction Specialty Projects. They are a diverse team with construction claims and project management expertise who value the importance of relationships and continue to distinguish themselves by showing clients that Experience + Talent + Strategy = Results.

DDPS support s owners, law firms, contractors and engineers, in both a consulting and expert witness capacity by utilizing the practical job knowledge that they have gained over the years. Their consulting principals are experienced with large, complex projects incorporating conventional-phased, fast-track projects. Their unique experience and qualifications have allowed them to utilize practical skills developed during on-the-job experience, which has proven to be invaluable when analyzing contractual liability and quantifying the effects in mitigating, defending, or pursuing claims.

Consulting Services: PROJECT MANAGEMENT - CLAIM DEVELOPMENT - RISK ASSESSMENT - ESTIMATING

Areas of Expertise:

• Renewable Energy - Utility Scale Wind, Utility Scale PV Solar, Utility Scale Concentrated Solar Power, Biomass and Battery Storage
• Heavy Civil - Earthwork, Roads, Bridges Highways and Airports
• Power - Transmission, Distribution and Substation/Switching Yards
• Underground Utilities - Water, Reclaimed Water, Storm Drainage, Sanitary Sewer/Lift Stations, and Force Main
• Buildings - Commercial, Institutional, Industrial, and Heavy Civil
• Construction Specialties - Dewatering, Directional Drilling/Jack and Bore, Low Pressure Sewer, Fiber Optic Systems, Reinforced Earth Wall, Sound Barrier Wall, Telecommunication Infrastructure, Transformer – RCA of failures and Transmission Line Pole Remediation

Nicholas Fiduccia is President and Co-Founder of Due Diligence Professional Services, Inc. a Florida based expert witness service, construction claims specialist and project management consulting firm that focuses its practice on law firms, owners, engineering, construction firms, and contractors performing renewable energy, power, heavy civil, underground utilities, building and other related construction specialties.

Mr. Fiduccia has over 30 years of U.S. and Canadian construction experience involving construction contract disputes analysis and resolution, arbitration/litigation support and expert testimony, project management, engineering/construction management, cost and schedule control, and value-engineering.

Before co-forming Due Diligence Professional Services, Inc, Mr. Fiduccia had corporate-wide responsibility for technical management and oversight for the preparation and resolution of construction claims for 11 years for a utility-scale renewable energy and heavy civil infrastructure contractor, plus over 19 years of hands-on experience to ensure that profit, cost, schedule, scope, quality, and safety objectives were achieved for renewable energy, power, heavy civil, underground utilities, building and other related construction specialty projects.

Ron Ritter, Vice President and Co-Founder of Due Diligence Professional Services, Inc. has been responsible for on-site project management for Wind, Solar, Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) Projects, Heavy Civil Projects, and Underground Utility Projects over the last 25 years.

Mr. Ritter’s expertise in a full array of self-perform and key subcontractor oversight has allowed him to execute multiple EPC contracts successfully and safely.

Before co-forming Due Diligence Professional Services, Inc, Mr. Ritter successfully built a career in the construction industry that consisted of 45 years of hands-on, field experience.  Twenty (20) years of that field experience has been spent building and supervising the construction of renewable energy facilities.  Seventeen (17) years of his construction career have been spent as the senior field representative, directly responsible for the safe, timely, profitable and quality construction of 15 wind farms in the USA totaling 2,465 megawatts.  Mr. Ritter has also worked on and supported the construction of wind farms and solar farms in Canada. 

View Due Diligence Professional Services, Inc.'s Expert Witness Profile.

Paul Eason is a Licensed Professional Engineer, Nationally Certified Fire & Explosion Investigator and Forensic Consultant. His expertise comes from a strong background in industry and academia. In addition to his consulting practice, he is a professor in the School of Engineering at the University of North Florida, and maintains a graduate faculty appointment in the Materials Science and Engineering Program at the University of Florida. 

Dr. Eason has testified in numerous trials and depositions in the following practice areas: 

Product Design & Manufacturing Analysis - Metallurgy & Materials - Fire & Explosions - Industrial Accidents 

Areas of Expertise: Product Liability and Materials Failure Analysis, Product Defect & Safety Issues including: Metals, Plastics, Glass, Ceramics, Corrosion, Fatigue, Overload & Material Selection 

Fire and Explosion Analysis including: cause and origin determination, product related fire causation, industrial process accidents, dust explosions, welding / brazing accidents

Arun Kumar, Ph.D. has 45 years of experience in Metallurgy, Materials Science and Failure Analysis of Metallic and Non-Metallic Materials at Rockwell International, Hughes Aircraft Company and EAG Laboratories. He manages and supervises approximately 10 engineers and technicians performing a variety of analytical services and failure analysis. Dr. Kumar provides metallurgical consultation, performs failure analysis and serves as an expert witness in product liability trials involving materials failures. He has extensive experience in metallurgical failure analysis of aircraft, helicopter, automobile and motorcycle components, machineries, medical implants, machine tools, household appliances and wildfire investigations involving utilities.

• Over 35 years of experience in Mechanical / Structural Engineering & Design, Failure Analysis, Product Liability, Industural Asbestos,Pressure Vessel & Boiler analysis and evaluation of mechanical and structural components.
• Extensive trial experience. Has been involved in multi-million dollar cases. Areas involved included:

  
  

  - Piping & pipe supports - Structural failure of products - Failure analysis - Industrial asbestos - Seismic analysis - Fire protection - Pressure vessels

  - Tanks - Construction - Heat transfer analysis - Environmental qualification of equipment - Welding - Product design - Patent information

• Expertise in developing litigation rate-case exhibits and detailed supporting testimony, and in organizing case documentation into easy-to-use computer databases for trial use.

Envista Forensics is a global leader in Forensic Engineering & Recovery Solutions. They provide Cause & Origin, Failure Analysis, Fire and Explosion Investigations, Accident Reconstruction, Damage Evaluations and Equipment Restoration Services following disasters of all kinds. Envista has offered Consulting Services to the insurance, legal and risk management industries, as well as businesses, public entities, and universities for over 25 years. Their Experts travel globally from 30 offices located across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Australia and Singapore.

Insurance Industry / Claims Professionals - Envista understands the need to save money and expedite the claim, to serve the insured and reduce uncertainty. They offer a menu of services that address insurers’ needs for timely, reliable information, as well as their need to satisfy the policyholders. Envista's insurance clients include Property Adjusters, Casualty and Liability Adjusters and Examiners, Boiler & Machinery Specialists, Inland and Ocean Marine Surveyors, Subrogation and Recovery Professionals, SIU (Special Investigation Units), Forensic Accountants, and Lloyd's & London Market.

Businesses - Envista understands that buildings, equipment, data and other assets are critical to the profitable operation of any business. They are proud to offer a variety of services that help businesses protect themselves when they need it most. Envista offers specialized expertise with all types of business, especially Manufacturers, Technology Companies, Food Processing, Hospitals, Medical / Dental Care, Laboratories, R&D (Research & Design), Schools and Universities, Law, Accounting, and other Professional Service Firms, Banking, Securities, Financial, Energy, Transportation, Retail, and Broadcast and Entertainment.

Universities & Public Entities - Risk Managers and Business Officers responsible for the operations of colleges, universities, local government and other entities have the challenging role of working to prevent financial exposure following disasters involving business-critical equipment, buildings/structures, data/networks, as well as safety. Envista engineers and technicians have over a quarter century’s worth of experience providing forensic consulting for college risk professionals, as well as the insurance carriers and legal professionals who serve them.

Consulting Services:

• Equipment Damage Assessments
• Forensic Engineering / Causation Analysis
• Building & Structure Damage Assessments
• Equipment Restoration & Preservation
• Evaluation of Repair and Replacement
• Project Management of Repair and Recovery Efforts Options
• Data Recovery
• Computer Forensics
• Forensic Video Services
• Cyber Incident Analysis

View Envista's Expert Witness Profile.

JOHN A. WILLIAMS, PhD, PE, ASA, MBA, CFEI, AIChE Fellow

Dr. Williams is an International Engineering and Energy Technology Expert in the engineering analysis and financial appraisals of energy, power, and manufacturing technologies, related intellectual property (patents, trade secrets, trademarks), licensing, royalty structures, market analysis, infringement, contract breach, fraud, compensatory, taxation, and lost profit damages. Dr. Williams provides engineering analysis, forensics, financial appraisals, and quantification of economic damages for oil & gas production, solar, wind, manufacturing, oil refining, chemicals, power generation, electrical distribution, steam, RNG biogas, biomass, ethanol, biodiesel, bioprocessing, food ingredients, geothermal, coal, nuclear, steelmaking, glassmaking, storage, pipelines, water treatment, and waste-to-energy technologies, equipment, construction, and facilities.

With over 40 years of industry experience in operations, R&D, cost estimating, finance, and construction (EPC, EPCM), Dr. Williams offers a unique synergy of engineering expertise and business acumen. His exceptional ability to analyze complex technical and financial matters and express them in understandable terms has made him a sought-after expert witness in litigation risk and exposure, dispute resolution and high-stakes litigation.

Dr. Williams has led EPS, a full-service engineering firm, since 1995. Since 1996, he has been recognized by AIChE, ASME, and ASA for developing and instructing courses in technology development, project management, cost engineering, financial evaluation methods, and financial appraisals of technologies and intellectual property. His credentials include:

• Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) by the American Society of Appraisers in Machinery & Technical Specialties: Energy, Environmental, and Manufacturing Technologies.
• Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator (CFEI) by the National Association of Fire Investigators.
• Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
• PhD in Chemical and Fuels Engineering from the University of Utah
• MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago
• BS in Chemistry from the University of Delaware
• Licensed Professional Engineer in over 20 states

• Structures, Buildings, Houses, Dwellings
• Foundations, Footings, Elevators, Retaining Walls, Dams
• Development Plan & Plats for Sites, Properties, and Residences
• Underground & Subsurface Chamber / Chambers
• Scaffold, Scaffolds, Scaffolding
• Site Plans & Subdivisions: Industrial, Commercial, Residential
• Roads, Roadways, Ramps, Walks, & Man Hole Cover / Covers
• Sidewalks, Walkways, Paths & Pathways
• Lighting: Lamps, Lights, Lamp Poles, Light Levels
• Luminaries & Illumination (Specifications)
• Rock Cuts & Blasting (Topography, Specification)
• Soil Slopes / Samples / Mechanics / Geotechnical Engineers
• Sanitary Facilities, Septic Systems (Board of Health Septics Approval)
• BOHA / DEP Approvals
• Water, Drains, Drainage, Sewer & Sewage Lines & Mains
• Culvert / Culverts, Manholes (Man Holes) & Catchbasins / Catch Basins
• Inspection, Supervision, and Certification of Construction
• House Inspector & Inspections
• Road, Roadway, Walk & Sidewalk Premises Liability (e.g., Steep Slope)
• Walkway, Path, Ramp & Pathway Premise Liability (e.g., Steep Grade)
• Coefficient of Friction / Slip & Fall (Snowy & Icy Conditions)
• Vertical Discontinuity / Discontinuities / Trip & Falls
• Small Ports / Port, Marinas / Marina, Marine Dredging
• Levees, Jetties, Dolphins, Piers, Sea & Flood Walls
• Wharves, Breakwaters, Bulkheads, Weirs, & Revetments
• Groins, Dikes and Waterfront Structures
• Drainage Basin Analysis, Rainfall, Floods & Flood Plain / Plains
• Flooding Controls & Control Devices
• Storm Water Runoff (10, 25, 50 & 100 Year Storms)
• Pressure & Pressures: Wind, Wave / Waves, Ice, Snow
• Rain Fall Run Off & Storm Water Pollution Treatment
• Excavation, Grading, Fills & Filling Operations (Swales, Berms, Silt Fence)
• Erosion Control, Sediment Barriers, Sedimentation / Catch Basins (Hay Bales)
• Pumps and Pump System Line & Main
• Slope, Dam, Levee, Jetty, Dolphin, Pier, Wharf & Breakwater Collapse
• Bulkhead, Weir, Revetment, Groin, Dike, Footing & Foundation Failures
• Failure of Fire Containment Wall, Elevator or Water Front Structure
• Tenement House Façade Collapses
• Code History of Existing Multiple / Multi-Family Dwelling / Building
• Application of Municipal Building, Fire & Property Maintenance Codes
• City, Town & Village Zoning, Planning, Steep Slopes & Grades, Wetland & Wetlands Ordinances
• Testimony at Board Meetings as a Design Forensics Engineer

Expanded Resources LLC is a construction-related consulting firm with expertise in strategic business consulting and construction management training.

Strategic Business Consulting

We help organizations manage their portfolios, programs, and projects more efficiently.

Approach Includes:

• Formulating strategies for change and improvement
• Solving problems through collaborative sessions
• Providing practical recommendations and helpful solutions
• Developing standard operating procedures, guidelines, and manuals
• Establishing key performance indicators
• Staff training

Construction Management Training 

We empower your team with the knowledge and skills they need to excel. Our training sessions are tailored to your requirements and framed around industry best practices and real-world experiences.

Training is provided in-person and virtually (synchronous or asynchronous) for all levels of learners in various roles, including senior and junior-level staff who work for private developers, contractors, and city agencies in project management, procurement, business, and workforce development.

We are a Registered Continuing Education Provider authorized to provide Professional Development Hours (PDH) for qualified training sessions.

Kiwesa King, PE, CCM, DBIA, PMP, is a construction management consultant and expert witness engaged in the vertical construction market for nearly 30 years. She is a Licensed Professional Engineer and a Certified Construction Manager and Trainer.

Ms. Kinghas managed restoration, renovation, and ground-up construction projects as a designer, subcontractor, general contractor, and construction manager. She teaches graduate and continuing education courses in Construction Management at Fordham University and New York University.

Degrees and Certifications:

• New York State Licensed Professional Engineer
• Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering
• Certificate of Competence- Master Fire Suppression Contractor - New York City Department of Buildings (NYCDOB)
• Site Safety Manager: NYCDOB
• Certified Construction Manager: Construction Management Association of America
• Designated Design-Build Professional:  Design-Build Institute of America
• Project Management Professional: PMI

View Kiwesa King's Expert Witness Profile.

Finity Engineering, LLC comprises highly-accomplished engineers and industrial practitioners that work alongside leading researchers to provide design, analysis, consulting, and litigation support services. Associates are subject-matter experts in the areas of Automation, Mechatronics, Robotics, and Consumer Products.

Finity Engineering professionals have served scores of industry-leading companies and research institutes, and have developed and provided technical oversight for the implementation of hundreds of robotic, automation, and controls systems deployed within the facilities of high-profile end users. Collectively, Finity Engineering professionals are named inventors on over 60 patents and have founded dozens of successful entrepreneurial ventures, demonstrating pragmatic and marketable engineering innovation.

Clients Include: Alcoa, Apple, BMW, Boeing, Cargill, Caterpillar, Chernobyl, Cummins, Ford Motors, Fukushima, General Motors, Gestamp, Google, Honda, Hundai, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johnson Controls, Kia Motors, Lockheed Martin, and many more.

Design, Analysis & Business Consulting Specialties:

 Founder, 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.

Previously, Dr. Sorensen 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.

View Dr. Khalid Sorensen's Expert Witness Profile.

Roger W. Griffith, PE, has over 37 years of professional experience as a Mechanical Engineer in the design, maintenance, and operation of mechanical systems. He specializes in the areas of Plumbing, HVAC, and Fire Sprinkler Systems Design.

Background - As the principal of Griffith Engineering & Consulting for 23 years, his design experience with commercial and industrial projects include convention centers, schools, office buildings, condominiums, apartment buildings, hotels, churches, manufacturing facilities, medical buildings, restaurants, historic buildings, dormitories, fire halls, and maintenance facilities. Prior to that, Mr. Griffith worked at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as a mechanical engineer for 14 years. 

His roles at TVA included nuclear piping analyst, valve and heat exchanger specialist, maintenance engineer, and later maintenance supervisor at a fossil plant, and quality manager. His engineering roles included failure analysis of plant equipment. He also taught many courses on the subject of problem-solving and failure analysis for company employees.

Consulting Services:

View Roger W. Griffith's Expert Witness Profile.

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 35 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, project 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 50 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 is the current President of CIB (International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction), He is also the academic Advisor to the Downstream and Chemicals Committee of the Construction Industry Institute (CII) and serves as the Chair of the Advisory Board of the Global Leadership Forum for Construction Engineering and Management programs (GLF-CEM). He 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.

Harvey C. Voris is a Product Design Engineer with 35 years of proven experience in the Fitness Industry. Mr. Voris has designed and worked on approximately 200 fitness products and has been issued 7 U.S. utility patents. 

Consulting Services Include:

• Standards compliance evaluations of products, facilities and providers
• Design, analysis, and sourcing services for product concept through manufacturing
• Manual, warning, and documentation drafting
• Testing protocol design, testing apparatus design, and industry standard compliance verification

Mr. Voris has a Bachelors of Science in Engineering from UCLA with a specialization in Bio Structural Mechanics. His Masters in Engineering is from Cal State Long Beach where he specialized in Fatigue and Failure Analysis. Mr. Voris has spent 21 years devoted to the development and promotion of safety standards for the fitness industry. He has authored numerous standards and has chaired the ASTM committee devoted to fitness standards development since 1995. Mr. Voris has also delivered seminars on Fitness Safety Standards and Product Design topics both nationally and internationally. www.experts.com

View Harvey Voris' Expert Witness Profile.

Auto • Airbag • Bicycle • Boating • Bus • Chair Design / Safety / Failure • Diving and Drowning • Electrocution and Shock • Elevator • Escalator • Fires and Explosions • Forklift • Gate • Golf Cart • Highway Design and Safety • Ladder • Law Enforcement • Lighting & Illumination • Loading Dock • Metallurgy • Motorcycle • Paintgun • Playground Safety • Press • Ramps • Rollercoaster • Safety Guards • Scaffolding • Seatbelts • Slip / Trip and Fall • Spas • Stairs • Swimming Pool Design and Safety • Tractors • Trailers • Trucks • 3D Scans

The four PhD and registered PEs at Miller Engineering are celebrating 40 years of Professorships at three universities along with providing services to Government, Insurance, and Industry—through research, publications, presentations, and expert testimony. We have a dedicated office with a full time staff of engineers, researchers, and technical writers. The span of our collective academic and experiential expertise covers well the Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, Agricultural, Industrial, Human Factors, Ergonomic and Safety fields of engineering. The areas listed below are from actual projects completed in our 40 years of history. 

Joseph A. LaRovere, CEM, has over 35 years of experience as a contractor, owner/operator, technician, and consultant to the construction industry with specialties in HVAC, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Energy Management and Control Systems. He works with clients that are experiencing operational issues, difficulty finding the right team members, need help with business processes, or just need an objective executive coach to help them get to the next level.

Business Consulting Services:

• HVAC Systems, air conditioning, heat pumps, chiller plants, heating hot water, boilers, air handlers, water source heat pumps, cooling towers, dedicated outside air, ventilation, and exhaust systems
• Energy management and control system, sequence of operation, energy management and building efficiency
• Domestic hot water systems, electric and gas boilers and water heaters, mixing valves and hot water recirculation systems
• System failures, equipment failures, maintenance issues, preventative maintenance, water treatment, forensic investigation, and remediation
• Project Management, Program Management, Project Accounting, and Scheduling consulting and analysis
• Contractor Evaluation, Contract Review, Contractor Standard of Care, Engineering Evaluation, Site Inspections, and Retro commissioning

Certifications:

• C.E.M. - Certified Energy Manager
• Honeywell Tridium Niagara AX
• Honeywell Tridium Niagara 4
• Johnson Controls Facility Explorer

View Joseph LaRovere's Expert Witness Profile.