Publications

• Selected Publications List

Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

Additional Information

Dr. Dan Gottuk is the President of Gottuk Engineering after a 30 year career with Jensen Hughes, with which he still maintains a relationship with a team of over 100 experts providing expert witness and failure analysis services for a range of specialties associated with fires and explosions, mechanical, electrical, construction, codes and standards, materials, chemical, metallurgical, process safety and concrete. Other specific service areas include: Arson Investigation, Origin & Cause Investigations; Fire Spread Analysis; Fire Modeling; Fire Testing; Sprinkler Systems; Inadvertent Discharge; Corrosion; Fire Alarm Systems; Smoke Alarms; Carbon Monoxide; Kitchen Hood Suppression; Battery Fires (including Lithium and Lithium Ion); Building Insulation Fires; Spray-Applied Fire-Resistive Materials (SFRM); Structural Fire Protection; Combustible Dust Hazards; Dust Explosions; Laboratory & Evidence Examination. Dr. Gottuk is a recognized expert in fire detection, fire dynamics and forensics and is well published in the technical literature. He draws on his extensive experimental background and his long involvement in national codes and standards to provide clients practical and technically sound solutions to their problems. Dr. Gottuk has evaluated fire development and fire protection systems in shipboard, residential and industrial applications. He has forensically analyzed a wide range of cases and assisted clients in product development and litigation matters. His research includes both basic and applied forensic studies to develop fundamental understandings of fire dynamics, pattern formation and damage assessment as well as to develop practical forensic tools for fire scene investigations and analyses. Dr. Gottuk has been active in and a member of the NFPA 921 Fire Investigations Technical Committee for over 20 years. He is a contributing author and editor of the SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering and an author of chapters in NFPA Fire Protection Handbook, and the National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code Handbook. Topics of Dr. Gottuk’s research include compartment fires; liquid fuel fires; flammable gas fires; electrical fire analysis (beading and other signatures); tools and methods for calcination measurements and analysis; the development and analysis of clean burn; ignitable liquid residue sampling; and effects of accelerants on fire development. Dr. Gottuk retired from Jensen Hughes after a 30 year career, in which he served many roles, including Chief Technical Officer; VP of Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation; and Director of Forensics. He continues to be active in industry technical committees and working groups, including NFPA 921, NFPA 72, UL 217, UL 2034, OSAC Fire and Explosion Investigation Subcommittee, and the FPRF Detection & Alarm Research Council.