Publications

• How Levels of Fabrication Precision Can Lead to Improved Quality in Light Frame Wood Construction.
• Sample Forensic Report

Civil&Structural Engineering/Construction Defects

Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

Additional Information

As an engineer, I am fascinated by complexity and understanding new and different situations. I love to talk about engineering and explaining engineering processes and principles to young engineers and lay persons is personal passion. Examining a structural failure brings out my inner researcher, and explaining the cause and physics to a jury or arbitration panel channels my teacher personality. I work as a forensic engineer with the intent of helping the legal industry understand engineering principles and to help citizens resolve their disputes justly. Though I have worked as a scientific programmer and chemical engineer, my primary expertise is in structural engineering. I began professional practice at kpff in Portland, OR in 1998. In 2001, I was hired by DCI Engineers. In 2003, I started my own consulting engineering firm which I continue to operate. I have designed concrete, steel, masonry and wood structures, generally commercial, government or schools. About half of my work has been design of building facades or cladding systems. Seeking new challenges, I joined the faculty at the University of Kansas in 2016, where I am allowed to continue consulting. As a Professor of Practice and Director of the Master of Civil Engineering (MCE) Program at The University of Kansas, I teach primarily graduate structural engineering courses. Offered courses include: CE 625: Applied Probability&Statistics, CE 704: Dynamics and Vibrations, CE 711: Probablstc Design&Reliability, CE 713: Cold-formed Steel&Aluminm Dsgn, CE 714: Professional Practice, CE 725: Applied Probability&Statistics, CE 763: Dsgn Prestrssd Concrete Struct, CE 764: Adv Desgn Reinfrc Concr Struct, CE 768: Design of Timber Structures, CE 769: Design of Masonry Structures, CE 861: Finit Elemnt Mthd for Sld Mech, CE 864: Seismic Performnc of Structurs, CE 895: Advanced Special Topics: Design of Tall Buildings. I am Co-Chair of the KU 2024 Structures Conference, the largest one day structural engineering conference in the U.S., Vice-President of the Structural Engineers Association of Kansas-Missouri, KC Chapter (SEAKM-KC), a voting member of the American Wood Council's Wood Design Standards Committee (WDSC) which decides on the code provisions for wood/timber design, Chair of the ASCE/SEI Committee on the Performance of Wood Structures (2nd term). I am currently licensed as a Professional Engineer (P.E.) in CA, CT, DC, FL, GA, KS, MD, MO, NC, NY, TX, VA, WA and as a Structural Engineer (S.E.) in AZ, HI, IL, OR, UT. (Only 14 states presently have SE licensing. The remaining states license structural engineers as PEs.) I am a member of the ASCE Infrastructure Resilience Division/Risk And Resilience Measurements Committee, and the ASCE Infrastructure Resilience Division/Social Science, Policy, Economics, Education Decision Committee. My professional organizations include the American Institute of Steel Construction and the American Society of Civil Engineers. In the past, I have been a member of the American Wood Council, the Structural Engineers Association of Oregon, the Forest Products Society and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. I have been chosen Outstanding Reviewer, ASCE Journal of Architectural Engineering. (2020) and Outstanding Reviewer, ASCE Practice Periodical for Design and Construction. (2022). My major conference presentations include: - The Statistical History of US Tornadoes. ASCE/SEI Structures Congress (2022) - How Levels of Fabrication Precision Can Lead to Improved Quality in Light Frame Wood Construction. ASCE/SEI Structures Congress (2019) - Reducing Construction Defects and Design Errors in Timber Buildings. ASCE/SEI Structures Congress (2018) - Case Study: Four Story Assisted Living Facility Alleges Unacceptable Design and Construction Defects; What Can We Learn?. ASCE/SEI Structures Congress Conference (2015) My research publications have been cited 70 times by other researchers, according to Google Scholar.