A Brief Summary of My Expert Witness Experience:
I was designated the defense expert in approximately 60% of all the cases I have worked.
1994 Investigated and prepared an analysis of a fatal oil field accident involving an oil well pumping unit. Case was settled out of court.
1996 Testified for airport equipment manufacturer at informal hearing on contract dispute relating to the design of passenger boarding bridges.
1998 Assisted in preparations for arbitration hearing by reviewing design drawings and writing reports analyzing the differences between two manufacturers' passenger boarding bridges.
1999 Testified at arbitration hearing in Singapore for airport equipment manufacturer.
1999 Performed mathematical analyses and wrote reports defending against claims of defects in design and workmanship of client's highway truck trailer. Prepared exhibits for court.
2000 Testified in court for highway aggregate trailer dealer and manufacturer.
2004 Performed accident reconstruction and failure analysis on oil field pumping unit. Prepared report and exhibits to defend against claim of negligence. Case was settled out of court.
2004 Performed mathematical and graphical analysis on effect of loading of merchandise in trucks showing that loaders' actions had no effect on safety of truck operation. Testified in court.
2004 Performed failure analysis on a shower valve that caused structural damage to a home. Prepared illustrated report describing the failure mode and cause. Settlement was negotiated.
2004 - 2006 Assisted in preparation of fatal mining accident case involving a 25 ton dump truck. Case pending.
2005 Assisted in preparation of case involving passenger falling from a Jetway at an airport. Case settled.
2005 Examined trailer involved in an accident and wrote report for insurance company. Case pending.
2005 Assisted in dismemberment accident case involving an overhead door operator. Case settled.
2006 Assisted in preparation of case involving sports equipment injury. Case settled.
2006 Examined toy helicopter involved in an accident and wrote report for insurance company. Case pending.
2007 Assisting in preparation of an injury case involving a folding bicycle. Case pending.
2007 Assisted in preparation of case involving farm tractors used in construction work. Case settled.
2008 Consulted on traffic fatality caused by a wheel coming off a trailer. Case pending.
2008 Examined and prepared report on an overhead door operator that caused an injury. Case pending.
2008 Examined and prepared report on farm machine that fell on a worker. Case settled.
2008 Assisting in preparation of case involving failure of an oil well service vehicle. Case pending.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
1994-2007 , Ashbrook Simon- Hartley Operations, LP (Manufacturer and provider of clean water and waste water processing equipment and systems.)
V. P. Engineering - Managing new product development, mechanical and electrical design, production/manufacturing engineering.
Redesigned the belt filter press product line for cost reduction and better performance. Introduced ten new product models of belt filter presses. Designed structures, rollers, bearings, electric motor drives and water handling drainage systems. Designed various problem-solving devices for filter presses. Designed and patented a new roller manufacturing method that cut cost and gave much greater fatigue stress resistance. Brought the engineering department up to ISO 9001 certification quality level. Designed, using 3D modeling, the plant layout and piping for a sludge pasteurization plant installed in Tulsa, OK. Pasteurization plant uses progressing cavity pumps, heat exchangers and process reactors to turn infectious sludge into a safe product that can be used in agricultural applications. Designed clarifiers for wastewater treatment plants. Designed and patented self-cleaning, down flow water filter using sand for the filter media. Designed and patented a line of floating decanters for sequential batch reactors (a type of waste water treatment plant). Served part time as the company's safety engineer (as part of my Engineering design responsibilities) and wrote and implemented the hazard analysis procedure for the company.
1987-1994, Trinity Industries, Inc., Dallas, Texas
(A Fortune 500 steel fabricator of bridges, buildings, rail cars, LPG tanks, ships, baggage handling, ground support equipment and other metal components.)
Engineering Manager, Aircraft Passenger Boarding Bridges (jetways)
Stearns Airport Equipment Co. a Trinity Industries subsidiary
(April 1, 1992 to June 1, 1994)
Managed the product-engineering department. Implemented new working procedures, standard designs and engineering team. Reduced the monthly departmental operating costs from $150,100 to $53,700 in 6 months. Supervised the engineering design team as we designed the walkways and passenger loading bridges for the new Denver International Airport. Designed hydraulic system of pumps, valves, cylinders and motors for lifting and driving the passenger loading bridges. Designed a custom ordered semi-trailer aggregate hauling trailer that could dump either from the rear or the bottom. Designed and patented the clam shell doors and linkage for the bottom dump feature of the trailer.
Manager Special Products--New Product Design, Development & Sales.
(Jan 17, 1987 to April 1, 1992)
Engineered and supervised the construction and start up of a 30-ton/day rail car spring plant in 7 months. Wrote a computer program that cut manufacturing estimating time to 1/10. Wrote and illustrated a Service, Parts and Operator's manual for the oil well pumps saving the company $50,000. Sold subcontract manufacturing and oil well pumps. Engineered welding robot installation in San Antonio, TX. Designed herringbone gear reducers for oil well pumps and pumping units. Designed a complete passenger boarding bridge (aka jetway) including the structure, drives and electrical system.
1979-1987 , USX, US Diversified Group, Oilwell Div., Dallas, Texas (Formerly Oilwell Supply Co., Div. of U S Steel), Manufacturer/ distributor of oil field drilling and petroleum producing equipment.
Chief Engineer, Production Equipment--Design and Development of Tools and Equipment for Petroleum Production.
Managed the design and development group whose work resulted in over $11.5 million in sales. Reorganized and improved design of oil producing equipment, including down hole pumps and pumping units (aka pump jacks) to increase market share and profits. Traveled to Indonesia and Australia to set up manufacturing licensees. Redesigned a coal slurry pipeline pump to reduce cost and eliminate the primary cause of failure. Redesigned a line of high temperature plug valves used to switch streams in a coking operation. Designed and patented a 1,000 HP, high-pressure oil well service pump. Redesigned the entire line of positive displacement oil well service pumps (both plunger and piston type) to provide a full range of sizes and eliminate unnecessary model duplication. Designed fair leaders and windlasses under the Wilson Snyder brand name for marine applications.
1978-1979 , Sedco, Baylor Company Div., Sugar Land, Texas.
(Manufacturer of electromagnetic brakes, AC-DC converter motor drives and other equipment for petroleum industry.)
Chief Mechanical Engineer--Product Design, Manufacturing Support, Technical Publications & Records.
Organized and set up new product design and development engineering groups. Hired employees, wrote procedures and supervised engineering department. Estimated costs for custom designed dredges and winches for especially large projects. Designed two models of electromagnetic brakes and a small portable crane to be used as an emergency escape hoist to remove workers from below ground through ventilation shafts. Made service calls to off shore drilling platforms and to land based oil field sites.
1976-1978 , Cooper Industries, Gardner Denver Co., Dallas, Texas.
(Manufacturer and Distributor of Drilling Machinery for Water and Oil Wells and Mining Blast Holes.)
Senior Product Engineer--New Product Design & Development.
Managed design group that produced two new drill models, while keeping overtime to a minimum and meeting all deadlines. The drills were used for making a pattern of holes in the ground for blasting during mining operations. Mobile drilling machines were track or rubber tire equipped with semi-automatic pipe handling equipment as standard equipment. Drives were by hydraulics or mechanical gearing. Masts were pivoted so they could be lowered to a horizontal position for traveling between work sites.
1976 , Mertz Iron Works, Ponca City, Oklahoma.
(Manufacturer of seismic exploration trucks and other contract manufacturing and repair work.)
Engineering Manager--Product Design, Estimating and Planning.
Organized and set up new product design and development engineering groups. Redesigned a 4-wheel hydraulic drive tractor already in the prototype stage to correct safety and functional deficiencies. Wrote and illustrated an Operation and Parts manual for the tractor. Performed cost estimating for the manufacture of custom designed products for exploration, construction and farm implements.
1966-1976 , Ken Davis Ind., Unit Rig & Equipment Co., Tulsa, Okla. (Manufacturer of giant off highway mining trucks and oil field drilling equipment.)
Chief Administrative Engineer (1973-1976)--management of engineering, drafting and engineering services.
Redesigned spare parts catalogs and revised printing procedures to increase parts sales by approximately 20% annually. Cataloged and organized all parts specifications, eliminated duplications and unnecessary variations. This work reduced inventory and saved the company $200,000 in the first year
Senior Project Engineer (1966-1973)-research, development, mechanical design and drafting supervision.
Designed large off highway, diesel-electric drive trucks and tractors for which several patents have been issued. Redesigned the engine throttle control mechanism for the diesel engines. Designed frame structures, steering and suspension systems, complete engine-generator packaged power plants for large vehicles such as dump trucks, aircraft towing tractors and 60 ton fork lift truck. Designed the complete electrical control and propulsion system on a tractor for towing DC-10 aircraft.
1962-1966, General Motors, Pontiac Motor Division, Pontiac, Mich. (Manufacturer of Pontiac automobiles.)
Mechanical Engineer--Product Engineering.
Performed tests on various components and systems of Pontiac automobiles, evaluated results, recommended changes and reported findings to supervision. The assigned components included engines, transmissions, drive shafts, axles, frame, suspension parts, brakes, exhaust systems, steering pumps, valves and linkage. Devised and performed first functional test of the flow through ventilation system used on most automobiles. Worked in Pontiac's electrical engineering laboratory and designed and built various pieces of test equipment.
EDUCATION and PERSONAL
1962, Oklahoma State University - B.S.M.E., Machine Design.
Studied Business Law, Accounting, Economics, Mathematical Analysis, Computer Programming and Financial Accounting at O.S.U., Tulsa U. and U.T. Dallas between 1966 and 1983.
Registered Professional Engineer in Oklahoma and Texas.
Inventor on 19 United States patents.
Member of ASME for 30 years, SAE for 25 years.
