Design Expert Witnesses

Design expert witnesses and consultants listed here may be able to form expert opinions, draft expert witness reports, provide expert witness testimony at deposition and/or trial as or serve as consulting (non-testifying) experts on design. The design expert witness listings on this page are typically from fields/areas of expertise such as: Architecture, Automotive, Biomechanics, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Construction, Construction Defects, Construction Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Engineering, Failure Analysis, Firearms & Ballistics, Forensic Science, Industrial Design, and Intellectual Property.

David J. Brotman, FAIA Sunset Consultants

Scottsdale, Arizona
Architecture, Construction - Standard of Care, Construction Document, Real Estate, Slip, Trip & Fall, Delay, Defect, Change Order, Building, Design, Coordination, Code Compliance, Contract Document, Management, Contract Administration, Architectural Detailing, Commercial, Retail, Hotel, Office, Institutional, Construction
Fellow of the American Institute of Architects with over fifty years of experience. Twenty-five years with RTKL Associates Inc., one of the World’s largest Architect and Engineering Firms, and served as its Vice-Chairman. Past Planning Commissioner on the City of Malibu Planning Commission. Skills include all facets of Architectural Practice. Worldwide, multi-million dollar project experience includes retail, office, hotel, institutional, and mixed-use. Recently, qualified and served as a Standard of Care, Coordination, and Delay Expert in a case involving a major retail project. This included deposition and trial testimony.

James Caylor, PE Caylor Engineering & Associates, PLLC

West Fork, Arkansas
Refrigeration, OSHA - Industrial process refrigeration, cold storage, ammonia, carbon dioxide, piping, insulation, design, design review, OSHA, EPA, mechanical code analysis.
I have 15 years' experience as a refrigeration contractor, followed by 18 years' experience as a graduate engineer in industrial refrigeration ammonia and CO2 applications up to 5,000 TR. My engineering experience includes design and project management positions with a D/B contractor, a large food processor, an A&E firm (Deputy Director of the Food & Beverage Group) and my current consulting business. I'm registered as a PE in 11 states and have an NCEES Record. Current committee service includes the International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (Standards-CM and Government Relations-VM) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (Std 15, TC 10.1, TC 10.3 and TC 10.5; VM on all). I have revised portions of chapter 2 in the 2014 and 2018 editions of the ASHRAE Refrigeration Handbook and am completing calculations of CO2 piping capacities in chapter 3. My work with the Refrigerating Engineers and Technicians Association includes vice pres...

Joel Delman Informed Innovation Inc.

Los Angeles, California
Industrial Design, Intellectual Property - Design, Design Patent Infringement, Design Patent Validity, Utility Patent Infringement, Utility Patent Validity, Patent Litigation, Trade Dress Infringement, Trade Dress, Secondary Meaning, Functionality, Likelihood of Confusion, Product Design, Industrial Design
Formerly a corporate lawyer, I graduated Harvard Law School and later earned a Master's in Industrial Design at Pratt Institute. From toys to complex medical devices, I've spent the past 28 years guiding innovation through strategic product development, and have helped hundreds of clients bridge the elusive gap between creative insight and commercial success. As design consultant to a broad range of markets and industries, I keep my finger on the pulse of critical trends in consumer electronics, medical devices, transportation, IOT, toys, and a host of other product categories. With clients including LG Electronics, Swingline, Kimberly Clark, Olympus, Qualcomm, Novartis, Fisher Price, Blackberry, Dell, Intel, Disney and Hallmark, I bring that foundation of understanding to my work as design expert witness, and it has proven invaluable to developing effective litigation strategies and legal arguments. Designers think in such a unique way that it's been coined “Design Thinking,” whi...

Richard K. Pumerantz, PhD Guns and Ammo Witness Consulting

Lake Arrowhead, California
Firearms & Ballistics, Forensic Science - firearm, ammunition, ammo, ballistic, gun, cartridge, bullet, projectile, manufacture, load, weapon, antique, reconstruction, training, design, engineering, forensic, shooting, crime, scene
• Licenses: Type 10 FFL (Manufacturer of Destructive Devices), Special Occupations Tax Stamp, and all Dangerous Weapons Permits available from the State of California, DOJ. • Ongoing resource/consultant to numerous reloading equipment, projectile, and firearm manufacturers, including the areas of safety, training, and design flaws. • Designed and manufactured firearms and fire control systems. • Certified and testified in crime scene reconstruction and shooting accidents. • Recognized in the firearms industry as an expert in antique and replica cartridge development and manufacturing, including the production of proof loads. “Official” ammunition benchmark for half a dozen firearm manufactures. • Provide educational opportunities on the ammunition manufacturing process and corresponding toolmarks for law enforcement agencies, specifically for their crime lab and firearm unit technical staff. I have provided this training for such agencies as the California Criminalistics Instit...

Sanford Kaminsky, AIA, NCARB m2e Consulting Engineers

Miami - Coral Gables, Florida
Architecture, Construction Defects - Standard of Care, Failure Analysis, Construction Documents, Defect, Change Order, Building, Design, Condominium, Hospitality, Casino, gaming, Code Compliance, Contract Document, Field Management, Contract Administration, Commercial, Highrise, Retail, Hotel, Condo-Hotel, Institutional and Industrial.
Member of The American Institute Of Architects, and Nationally Board Certified, With Over Forty Years Of Experience. Multi-Billion Dollars of Experience Both Designed and Constructed. Skills Include All Facets of Architectural Practice, Including Condominium Defect Mitigation That Would Dismantle A Class Action Lawsuit. Worldwide Project Experience Includes Retail, Office, Hotel, Institutional, Aerospace and Mixed-Use. Deposed On Standard Of Care, AHCA Regulations Regarding The Design Of A Class III Operating Room, And A Wrongful Death Based On My OSHA Certification. 40+ years experience in construction defect litigation support and expert witness services for both plaintiff and defense attorneys. Experienced in field investigations, Failure Analysis water intrusion analysis, specialty construction methods, development of repair methodologies and de-watering techniques, trial preparation and expert witness testimony. Projects include commercial and high rise in California, Nevada, ...

Louis Vanacore, PE, PMP, CxP, CMRP J.B. Shepherd and Company

Marianna, Florida
Engineering, Construction - Management, Causal Analysis, Quality, Reliability, Safety, Design, Project Execution, Commissioning
LICENSES / CERTIFICATION: Florida Registered Professional Engineer License 14569 Project Management Professional (PMP) 1360434 Building Commissioning Professional Certification (BCxP) 8257201 Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional (CMRP) 151868 Florida General Contractors License CGC004831 (not active) Louis Vanacore is a Senior Associate Engineer with J.B. Shepherd and Company. Louis practices in the intersection of quality processes, design requirements, and management controls. Using a combination of awareness of system methodologies, human motivations, causal examination; a root cause for operational accidents, or product failures can be established. Louis’ broad and diverse experiences enable him to relate disparate information to establish the sequence of decisions, conditions, and actions which precipitate incidents. Louis’ experiences range from significant Federal government energy, military, and civil programs, industrial manufacturing, industrial proc...

Lester Weitman Lester Weitman Consulting, LLC

Coral Springs, Florida
Automotive, Products Liability - wiring, electrical, fire, defect, design, failure, electronics, battery, motor, module, engineering, connector, instrument, cluster, speedometer, HVAC, charging, alternator, starter, validation, vehicle, automotive, forensic,
Providing Expert Witness and Failure Analysis services for design, manufacturing or assembly defects and preventable errors. Will uncover root cause(s) of product defects to identify culpable party. My credible and clear Expert Reports and depositions have been key in achieving successful out-of-court settlements for my fire subrogation clients. Expert in Failure Analysis and Forensic Engineering of automotive electrical fires and accidents caused by electrical, wiring or electronics due to defects, design flaws or assembly errors. M.I.T. BSEE (ME minor), UD Mercy (MIT curriculum) MS in Product Development and Systems Engineering, and UD Mercy EngD Doctoral coursework completed. Over forty years of automotive electronic and mechanical product design, development, manufacturing and field failure analysis experiences. A Six-Sigma Black belt trained strategic and systems thinker, achieved millions of dollars in cost and quality improvements by designing and launching various elect...

Mari S Truman, MS, PE OrthoBioMech LLC

Warsaw, Indiana
Biomechanics, Medical Devices - Occupant Motion, Injury Biomechanics, Orthopedics, Medical Product Liability, Duties of Manufacturer, Design, Testing, Manufacturing, Warnings, Instructions for Use, Injury Event Reconstruction, Failure Analysis, Injury Pattern, Soft Tissue Injury, Low Speed Collisions, Falls, Impacts, Sports
Licensed Professional Engineer Medical Device Design & Development  38+ years orthopaedic device development  12 patents Testified in State and Federal Courts , Injury Biomechanics and Medical Device Litigation  20+ trials  100+ depositions 38 years of experience in the biomechanics and orthopedics fields, 16 years forensic case analyses. I routinely deal with forces that are applied to the human body during many activities, including impact and injury scenarios. To assure the safety and efficacy of new medical devices, we define clinically relevant performance requirements for their installation and use, and then test to define the product specific performance characteristics. The physical principles and methods used in orthopedic biomechanics are the same as those used to reconstruct injury events. I am familiar with forces and loads applied to the hips, knees, wrist, shoulder, head, neck, lower back and skeleton in many typical activities, including sitting, walking, jumpin...

David Alley, PE ANNA Inc.

Annapolis, Maryland
Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering - electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, power plant, nuclear, gas, oil, coal, marine, design, commissioning
SUMMARY Electrical Power Plant Consulting Engineer and Project Manager experienced in • Switchgear, protection and control systems design, installation, startup, 
commissioning, performance testing and troubleshooting for • cogeneration, hydroelectric, geothermal, combustion turbine, steam 
turbine, diesel, gasoline and gas fired reciprocating engines and nuclear 
power plants and related equipment and systems for • power plant owners, facility owners, utilities, U. S. Navy, U. S. Air Force, 
US Coast Guard, MSC, environmental engineers, power system component manufacturers and switchgear & control systems manufacturers • Forensic expert witness and consultancy related to electrical engineering in electric power systems. 
 EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS • MBA, Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 1983-1985. • BSEE, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 1968-1972 LICENSES Registered Professional Electrical Engineer, in as ...

Ole E Haaland, PE ANNA Inc.

Annapolis, Maryland
Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering - electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, power plant, nuclear, gas turbine, generator, engineering, relays, design, contractor, commissioning, marine, Electrical Power, Utility, Power, Electrical Generation, Generation
SUMMARY Mr. Haaland has thirty four years experience in power production, design, construction, and commissioning, with 27 years managing people and projects. He is a registered professional engineer in Maryland and held a Senior Reactor Operator’s license at Indian Point #3 Nuclear Power Plant. Experience is in conventional, nuclear, and alternate fuel power plant mechanical and electrical systems management, design, construction, plant outage management, start-up, performance testing, and operation. He has performed as Project Manager, Construction Manager, and Commissioning Manager for several Greenfield power projects. He has successfully engineered, estimated, planned, executed work, and provided troubleshooting services for power plants of varied prime movers. His has been instrumental in meeting contractual and schedule requirements. EDUCATION AND COMMITTIES BSME, New York Institute of Technology, 1980 IEEE-45.1 Shipboard Power Systems – Design Committee ASSOCIATIONS...

Chris Scott, PhD Material Answers LLC

Weston, Massachusetts
Chemical Engineering, Failure Analysis - polymer, plastic, rubber, coating, materials, material science, material engineering, thermoplastic, thermoset, composite, design, manufacturing, adhesive, ink, automotive, medical device, aerospace, packaging, accident, defect
Dr. Chris E. Scott is President of Material Answers LLC. He specializes in material structure, properties, and processing. His work emphasizes thermoplastics, thermosets, blends, composites, and multicomponent formulations. He has extensive experience with manufacturing, product development, product design, and failure analysis. Systems investigated include plastics, composites, coatings, paints, adhesives, rubbers, fibers, suspensions, emulsions, and pastes. In particular, Dr. Scott has published extensively on the topics of polymer processing and structure relationships, compounding and mixing in multiphase polymer systems, and structure and morphology development during polymer processing. He is the inventor on 11 U.S. patents, author of more than 30 articles in peer reviewed journals, author of 40 conference proceedings, and has presented more than 50 seminars to industry and government organizations. Dr. Scott has conducted failure analysis investigations and developed p...

Robert (Rob) C Hoffman Jr, PE, CFEI Creative Product Solutions, LLC

Coloma, Michigan
Engineering, Safety - fire, shock, burn, appliance, product, design, test, code, safety, failure, analysis, warning, instruction, literature, product safety, containment, inspection, litigation, product liability, expert
Specialize in design for safety, force failure testing, and product litigation support for the consumer goods industry. Knowledge source in the US on appliance fires, with specific detailed knowledge on dryer fires and their causes. Qualifications: Registered professional engineer in the state of Michigan Certified fire and explosion investigator (CFEI) Master certified in design for safety Master certified in force failure testing Certified in experimental statistics and statistical process control Member of the UL Standards Technical Panel for appliance codes related to clothes washers and dryers I worked in the consumer goods industry in appliances for over 28 years, which gave me the opportunity to serve on the dryer safety committee for the American Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), as well as work extensively with Underwriters Laboratory ( UL) and CSA. Recognized as a significant knowledge source in the US on dryer fires and their causes, I was instrumental in the deve...

Michael G. Nelson Anez Consulting, Inc.

Willmar, Minnesota
Civil Engineering, Construction Engineering - drainage, hydrology, hydraulics, project management, construction management, design, specifications, materials testing, construction, staking, failures, Construction Management Issues, Construction Design Failures, Excavation and Embankment, pipe installation.
Michael Nelson is a Civil Engineer for Anez Consulting, Inc. He consults on all aspects of construction management and design; Utility rehabilitation, design, and construction, highway rehabilitation and construction; highway/roadway design; and conducts expert inspections for roadway, pipe infrastructure, storm water, and construction matters. Some practice areas include pipe design, hydrology, excavation and embankment, bituminous and concrete pavement, and drainage, Mr. Nelson has over thirty years of experience with construction management, project management, field inspections, materials testing, and engineering design. Leveraging his experiences, he is capable of reviewing projects that encompass complex technical issues with the goal of determining why an event happened the way it did. Michael is skillful about communicating with people who come from different backgrounds and technical competencies. He excels in making complex subjects understandable to a non-technical aud...

Scott J. Anson, Ph.D., P.E. Anson Engineering, LLC

Harleton (Longview), Texas
Mechanical Engineering, Failure Analysis - Mechanical Engineering, Materials, Failure Analyis, Forensic Engineering, Manufacturing, Design, Warnings - Marketing Defect, Oil & Gas, Metallurgy, Stress, Root Cause, Safety Hierarchy Application, Laboratory Analysis, Inspection, Firearms, Electronics, Field Investigations, Fracture Surface
Dr. Scott Anson has been practicing and teaching engineering for over 28 years. The first 8 years were in industry engineering roles involving process development and tooling design, as well as extensive laboratory failure analysis. During his over 20+yr. academic career he has held multiple industry appointments simultaneous with his academic role, in addition to his independent consulting work. He provides forensic engineering services involving product design, manufacturing defects, and warnings/instructions (marketing defects). He is a licensed professional engineer (P.E.) in Texas and has an active NCEES record to facilitate licensing in other states. Dr. Anson has complementary skills in four key dualities that uniquely enhance his effectiveness in forensic engineering and expert witness services. 1) He is formally trained and experienced in both Mechanical Engineering and Materials Engineering, which enables him to assess both mechanical overstress and materials degrad...

Khalid Sorensen, PhD Finity Engineering LLC.

College Place, Washington
Mechanical Engineering, Intellectual Property - Automation, Robotics, Machine, Design, Mechatronics, Dynamics, Motion Control, Vibration, Segway, Product Liability, Machine Vision, Sensors, Traction, Tire Mechanics, Cranes, Warnings, ASRS
Twenty years of experience developing and implementing mechatronic, motion control, and automation technologies. Founder of a motion-control technology company where the industry-recognized motion-control technologies were key drivers in the acquisition of his company 5 years after inception by a global leader in automation. Served as CTO at a world-class supplier of large-scale automation, advanced manufacturing, and nuclear handling solutions. Responsibilities include providing technical oversight of critical projects; identifying and mitigating areas of high technical risk; leading in the creation of cutting-edge control, automation, and robotic technologies; directing R&D efforts; managing the business’ technology portfolio; and disseminating and facilitating the use of best-practice engineering methodologies. Adjunct Associate Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology where he lectures on various engineering topics. These include: Dynamics, Advanced Controls, Vibratio...