Registered Roof Consultant Expert Witness

Professional Registrations

Professional Civil Engineer, States of California (1st), Pennsylvania, and Washington
Registered Roof Consultant (RRC), Roof Consultants Institute (RCI)

Independent Consultant

2002 – present – Forensic investigations of construction defects, design review, construction quality assurance and quality control, project management and contract administration.  Emphasis on roofing, waterproofing, and deterioration of wood in service.

1991 – 2002 – Forensic investigation, designed renovations to building systems, and construction contract administration, with an emphasis on roofing and waterproofing systems

1986 – 1991 – Advised on roofing and reroofing construction projects; analyzed the slope of a municipal bus service wheelchair platform

Education

Doctor of Engineering, Civil Engineering  – University of California at Berkeley (UCB), Construction Engineering and Management Program, with minors in Civil Engineering Materials and Forest Products – 1991

Master of Science in Civil Engineering – 1987
UCB, Construction Engineering and Management Program

Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering – 1982
Washington State University

Professional Affiliations

American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM),
Committee:  D 08 on Roofing, Waterproofing and Bituminous Materials

Symposium Reviewer:  Third International Symposium on Roofing Research and Standards Development

Participant:  two round-robin test programs, one (for D08) regarding the porosity of roofing felts for
built-up roofing construction and the other (for D04) an elastic recovery test of polymer modified
asphalt materials

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

Faculty Advisor, NC A&T St. Univ. Student Chapter ASCE:  1994 – 1997

Former member of ASCE/Structural Engineers Association of Northern California (SEAoNC) joint
Building Code Committee.  Reviewed proposed changes to the Uniform Building Code (UBC).
Masonry and Wood subcommittees

Professional Society Memberships

Roof Consultants Institute, Former member of the Credentials and Research Committees
Western Construction Consultants

Other Technical Experience

7/01 – 5/02 –  Construction Management Associates (CMA) Consulting, Livermore, CA

Forensic Investigator,  Preparing investigative and defect analysis reports; reviewing specifications, building plans and city records and preparing a schedule of inspections; inspecting buildings for plan deviations, failure to comply with building codes, and construction defects; researching defects; and coordinating materials for expert testimony.

7/00 – 7/01   TrendTec, Inc., San Jose, CA  (Contract Temporary Employment Agency)

Project Manager,Project, Design, and Construction Project Management for Fluor Facilities & Plant
Services, IBM Manufacturing Facility, San Jose, CA.  Managed multiple projects (35 to 60 at a time).
Project size varied from $10k to ~$2 million.

5/99 – 4/00   Allana-Lippert, Inc., Palo Alto, CA

Senior Engineer,  Design, construction contract administration, and forensic investigations emphasizing building envelope systems, but extending to most building systems and materials

1/98 – 2/99   Architectonic Design, Inc.  825 Berkshire Blvd. Wyomissing, PA  (out of business)

Director of Forensic Engineering, Forensic investigations, design, and construction contract administration with an emphasis on building envelope systems

5/97 – 10/97 Law Engineering and Environmental Services, Atlanta, GA

Senior Engineer, Roofing and Waterproofing group, also worked on Portland cement concrete, masonry mortar, structural evaluation, and property condition surveys

4/84 – 1/86 & Summers 86, 87 – Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Inc., San Francisco, CA

Civil Engineer, Design, Design Review, Quality Assurance Construction Observation and Laboratory
Testing, and Forensic Analysis of Building Construction, with an emphasis on roofing systems

7/82 – 4/84 – Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA (now closed)

Civil Engineer and Nuclear Engineer, Design of a steel structure and testing of nuclear ships systems

10/73 – 8/78 Columbia Basin Project, Ephrata, WA

Civil Engineering and Surveying Technician

Academic Experience

8/93 – 5/97   North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University (A&T)
Department of Civil Engineering, Greensboro, NC – Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering

Courses taught:  Construction Materials, Construction Materials Laboratory, Construction Design,
Introduction to Engineering Graphics, Surveying, Computer Applications and Graphics in Civil
Engineering, Construction Eng. and Mgt.

Research:

Pollution Prevention in Concrete Wall Construction.

Observation of Steep Roofing Failures in Hurricane Emily, sponsor: UNC Sea Grant College Program

Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Reroofing Options for Steep Roofs, sponsor: US Navy, Naval Facilities
Engineering Service Center.

Summers – US Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center, Materials Science Division, Port ’96, 95, & 94 Hueneme, CA 93043

ONR Summer Faculty Research Associate, self-employed under contract to the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)

Research Topics and Duties:  Corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete marine structures.
Mechanical behavior of polyester reinforced modified bitumen roofing materials. 

7/91 – 8/93   US Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory, Materials Science Division, Port Hueneme, CA  93043
Title:  ONR/NCEL Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, self-employed through ASEE

Research Topics and Duties:  Mechanical Properties of Polyester-Reinforced Modified Bitumen
Roofing Membrane Materials.  Developed and implemented a materials test program to modify the
test method developed during my doctoral research for larger displacement membrane materials.

10/87 – 4/91 University of California at Berkeley, Department of Civil Engineering

Professor emeritus Carl L. Monismith, advisor –  Research Assistant

Research Topics and Duties:  Mechanical Properties of Fiberglass-Reinforced Modified Bitumen
Roofing Membrane Materials.  Development of a test method and the companion analysis
procedures for characterization of the mechanical behavior of reinforced modified bitumen
membrane materials.

1/86 – 5/87   University of California at Berkeley, Department of Civil Engineering
Teaching Assistant, Surveying Laboratory

1/79 – 5/82   Washington State University, Pullman, WA
Teaching Assistant, Professional Worker, etc.