Failure Analysis Consultants: 36

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.

• 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 management consulting firm serving the legal and construction industries.

Expert Witness Services

At Expanded Resources, we bridge the gap between construction complexity and clarity. With decades of boots-on-the-ground experience—and a teaching background —we know how to translate multifaceted issues into easily understandable narratives. You’re not just getting an expert. You’re gaining a guide who understands and explains complex construction matters with clarity and conviction.

Construction Management Consulting

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

We start by listening. Through targeted interviews, surveys, and meetings with stakeholders at every level—from senior leadership to field staff—we uncover how your teams really operate.

We dig into your systems, documents, and workflows to pinpoint gaps, bottlenecks, and inconsistencies. Whether it’s outdated software, mismatched forms, or policies no one follows, we find what’s not working—and why.

Next, we deliver a clear roadmap tailored to your organization. Think of it as an operating manual, grounded in contract compliance and practical experience. 

Implementation isn’t left to chance. We build your team's capability through guided training, toolkits, and change support. Whether onboarding new project managers or retooling seasoned teams, we help embed the right habits across your organization.

Kiwesa King, PE, CCM, DBIA, PMP, is a Licensed Professional Engineer and a Certified Construction Manager and Trainer.

Ms. King has 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.

Mechanical Solutions, Inc. (MSI) provides new equipment design, computer-aided analysis, installed equipment field testing and problem solutions. MSI staff performs these tasks for all types of Pumps, Compressors, Fans, Turbines, and Motors. For pumps and compressors, expertise includes both centrifugal and positive displacement (e.g. reciprocating or screw) configurations.  Turbine knowledge and experience include hydraulic turbine generators (“hydroturbines”) as well as aircraft gas turbine engines and land-based gas or steam turbine power generation systems. Applications include green energy, power, process, petrochemical, paper, and water resource industries.

MSI uses advanced finite element analysis (FEA), rotordynamics, and torsional analysis tools, and uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to analyze 3-D steady or unsteady fluid flows and heat transfer, enabled by its 230 high speed processor supercomputer. MSI also uses top-of-the-line testing equipment, including multichannel FFT analyzers (up to 200 simultaneous channels) to accurately read the outputs of various vibration, stress/strain, and pressure sensors, as a function of both time and frequency. As a unique additional test capability, MSI uses motion magnification video cameras to amplify and display scene vibration by 1000x. MSI uses calibrated exciters while equipment remains running, to locate structural, rotor, and acoustic natural frequency resonances as they exist at any particular operating point, without interfering with machinery operation.  In addition, MSI performs stress, acoustic, dynamic pressure pulsation, electric current spectrum, and aero/hydraulic performance testing. 

MSI also has been project team leader in the development of advanced rocket turbopumps, as well as turbopump diagnostics, for the U.S. Air Force and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. MSI is funded for several large projects with the U.S. Navy and Air Force involving vision-based systems that automatically evaluate and display/amplify machinery or system dynamic events.  As a result of these projects, MSI has developed its VibVue® vibration motion magnification system, which can magnify vibration 1000x in the full field-of-view of the equipment.  This system is available as a service, or for purchase.

Mechanical Solutions has a staff of approximately 30 technical professionals, many of whom are well known internationally in the area of pumps, compressors, and turbines.  For example, MSI’s Dr. Edward Bennett won the ASME Gopalakrishnan award for best pump fluids technologist, and was later awarded another ASME medal for CFD.    MSI’s Paul Boyadjis has won the Hydraulic Institute 2021 Standards Partner of the Year award. Since its founding in 1996, MSI has strived to provide best-in-class service throughout the world.

William D. Marscher has over 50 years of experience in the field of Fluid Systems and their rotating and reciprocating machinery, particularly large turbines, generators, compressors, and pumps.  His typical work responsibilities include design, analysis, and testing of all types of plant machinery, as well as other types of fluid and mechanical systems.   

Mr. Marscher received a B.S.M.E. from Cornell University in 1970, and a Master Eng. (Mech. Des.) in 1972, when he was a NASA Fellow and the lead graduate student for the original Mars Rover Design project.  In 1976, he received an M.Sc. in Engineering Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a registered and licensed Professional Engineer, State of New Jersey Lic. No. 40626.

For 25 years, Mr. Marscher has been one of the U.S. voting representatives on the ISO (International Standards Organization) TC108 committee, and has been the US Coordinator concerning, among other issues, machinery dynamics of centrifugal pumps and hydraulic turbine generators. He is past president of the Society of Tribologists & Lubrication Engineers (STLE), the primary technical society worldwide for the study and design of bearings, seals, wear, and erosion issues in machinery.  For the past 45 years he has been a voting member of the ASTM Fatigue Standards Committee E9, as well as the ASTM Wear & Erosion Standards Committee G2.  He is also the past Board of Directors Chairman for the Machinery Failure Prevention Technology Society (MFPT), and has been active in the Vibration Institute.   Mr. Marscher is a 23-year member of the Texas A&M Turbine-Pump Users Symposium Advisory Committee (essentially the Board of Directors for the Symposium).   For ASME, Mr. Marscher was Chair of the Predictive Maintenance committee, and was Organizing and Presiding Chair of the 1993 RoCon Rotating Machinery Conference and the 1995 Tribology Conference.

Mr. Marscher has written thirteen handbook chapters for various major engineering handbooks, which have focused on turbomachinery mechanical issues, including dynamics, and bearing and seal design   In previous employ, he was a senior engineer Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Engines, and Director of Mechanical Engineering for Worthington HQ (pumps, compressors, and turbines), and for Dresser Worthington Division after their acquisition of Worthington.   Later, he was VP of Concepts NREC, from which 30 years ago he spun off Mechanical Solutions, Inc. as an independent turbomachinery technology company.  He has since become a charter Standards Partner for the Hydraulic Institute (HI), the trade association for the pump industry, became Vice Chair of the vibration technical committee for HI, and was HI Standards Partner of the Year for 2018.   He also won the 2019 Vibration Institute MFPT Frarey Award for Diagnostics Excellence.

View MSI's Expert Witness Profile.

Harold E. McGowen III, PE, offers unparalleled expertise in the Upstream Oil and Gas sector, providing strategic consulting services to optimize operations, enhance profitability, and maximize asset value. With over 40 years of experience in petroleum engineering, field development, and executive leadership, Harold combines technical acumen and strategic vision to deliver measurable results for operators, private equity firms, and industry stakeholders.

As President and CEO of Navidad Operating Company, LLC, Harold has led multimillion-dollar oilfield development projects. His expertise includes horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, completion technology, reservoir management, and operational safety. He excels in negotiating joint ventures, structuring acquisitions, and building high-performing teams, helping clients reduce costs and enhance efficiency.

Harold’s consulting services focus on field development optimization, reserves estimation, drilling and completion planning, and asset valuation. He provides actionable insights to improve well performance, mitigate risks, and unlock potential in oilfield assets. With deep knowledge of reservoir engineering and extensive project management experience, Harold offers practical, results-oriented solutions.

In addition, Harold assists clients with strategic planning and business growth. His success in securing capital, managing private equity-backed ventures, and driving innovation underscores his ability to deliver in challenging market conditions. Recognized with Aggie 100 honors and Top CEO accolades, Harold is committed to helping clients navigate complexities and achieve their goals.

View Harold McGowen's Expert Witness Profile.

As an arbitrator, structural/civil engineer, and expert forensic consultant with nearly four decades of experience, Casey Hemmatyar has provided extensive expert services for defendants’ and plaintiffs’ attorneys on numerous construction litigation matters throughout the United States and Canada.

He has been retained as an expert engineer in over one hundred litigation matters on single and class-action legal cases by the U.S. government, law firms, and insurance carriers at the State and Federal levels, working with both plaintiff and defendant sides.

A partial list of litigation cases is available upon request. His understanding of core engineering and legal concepts has enabled him to assist a wide range of clientele effectively. He brings diversified experience in structural and civil engineering design and forensic engineering, investigation, and evaluation.

He also conducts research, has assisted in the development of building codes and standards, and has supervised the construction of domestic and international projects. His experience includes special structures and new buildings as well as modifications, alterations, seismic/hurricane retrofits, and upgrades to existing structures. He has provided failure analysis, expert consultation, structural forensic investigation, and damage assessment services for numerous litigation and insurance-related matters.

He actively presents continuing education lectures to audiences of licensed engineers, architects, and general contractors on topics of structural and forensic engineering throughout North America. Mr. Hemmatyar has been the principal structural engineer on high-profile projects for prestigious clients, including NASA and other notable organizations.  Currently, he directs PSFEG and has served as Director for SEAOSC from 2011 to 2013.

His work encompasses a diverse range of structures, including hospitals,  educational institutions (including schools and universities), telecommunication centers, aviation facilities, government buildings, laboratories, as well as commercial, industrial, and residential structures.