McDowell Owens Forensic Engineering

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, two years at Massachusetts School of Law.

Primary areas of consultation: mechanical system and equipment failure analysis, gas system analysis and testing, explosion and fire analysis, workplace safety, and OSHA compliance analysis.

Residential construction, foundation and roof inspections, water intrusion/damage, and foundation failure/deflection analysis.

McDOWELL OWENS ENGINEERING, INC

Houston, Texas

Director of Operations/Consulting Engineer. Responsible for mechanical system and equipment failure analysis, fire and explosion analysis to determine origin and cause, natural and LP gas installation and testing of piping systems, and evaluation and analysis of workplace accidents. Other responsibilities include oversight of case assignment and management, business development and client relations, solving client account issues, coordination of administrative and engineering activities, research and procurement of necessary technical data, software, and equipment, and management of legal requests and issues.

VINSON & ELKINS L.L.P.

Houston, Texas

Project Assistant II. Responsible for maintaining and updating all document and case filings, including deposition and record summaries, legal research filing, and trial notebook preparation. Duties also included preparation of affidavits and motions, witness interviews, and correspondence with various professionals and insurance clients whom we represented.

SOUTH MIDDLESEX COURT HOUSE

Framingham, Massachusetts

Assistant in the Clerk Magistrate's Office. Responsible for preparing daily docket call cases for both civil and criminal courts, maintaining and organizing case files, and assisting attorneys with case information and review.

• Emergency Response to Las Vegas Propane Explosion
• Crisis Communication
• Industry Trainer Panel, Parts 1 and 2
• Trainer Best Practices and Techniques
• Using “Safety Jeopardy” to Keep Students Interested and Involved
• Cylinder Safety and Requalification
• Leak Checks and Undersized Piping
• Cathodic Protection and Regulator Issues
• Crisis Communication
• Legal Issues
• Static Electricity Hazards in the Propane Industry
• Preparing Employees and Customers for Natural Disasters

• Introduction to Elevators and Escalators
• How to Perform Elevator Inspections Using ASME A17.2

• Fire Investigations Involving Metal Halide Lighting
• The Application of CT X-Ray to Analysis of Electrical Components
• Lightning-Related Structure Fires
• High-Voltage Impulse Testing of Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing (CSST)
• Vehicle Fire Burn Pattern Study: Part 2
• Explosion Severity: Propane Versus Natural Gas
• The Use and Misuse of Engineers in Fire Investigation
• Industrial Incident Investigation Techniques
• Evaluating Fire Damaged Regulators: How Reliable is Post-Fire Testing?
• Investigation of Carbon Monoxide Incidents
• Small Electric Motor Fires

McDOWELL OWENS ENGINEERING, INC

Houston, Texas

Principal and Consulting Scientist. Serves as a consultant in fire sciences. Primary interests include analysis of fires and explosions for origin and cause in structures and equipment, fire safety consultations and fire code reviews, fire modeling, and fuel gas equipment application. Responsible for the development and coordination of special testing programs.

CRADDOCK, McDOWELL & CRANE, INC.

Kingwood, Texas

Principal and Consulting Scientist. Served as a consultant in fire sciences. Primary duties included analysis of fires and explosions for origin and cause in structures and equipment, fire safety consultations, and accident reconstruction involving fuel gas equipment. Responsible for the development and coordination of special testing programs at the fire test facility.

VERSITECH CORPORATION

Atlanta, Georgia

Operations Manager. Responsible for the administrative operations of the firm with technical responsibilities in fire analysis. Accountable for all laboratory facilities and setup of special testing facilities. Coordinated all outside services by special consultants and responsible for review of technical reports by engineers and scientists.

MARYLAND CASUALTY COMPANY

Atlanta, Georgia

Regional Claims Supervisor. Responsible for supervision of lawsuits, product liability claims, special account claims, and technical expert consultation. Worked on the investigation of special claims and supervised subordinates in special investigative techniques. Assignments included fire investigation, accident reconstruction, product design failure management, and fire investigations on property losses of all sizes in Massachusetts and Florida. Interacted with various fire marshals and attorney general offices in several states. Also performed responsibilities as Claims Manager in New Bedford and Springfield, Massachusetts, and as Field Representative for Prudential Insurance Company.

CITY OF DAYTONA BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT

Daytona, Florida

Patrol Functions and Special Deputy, Governor of Florida Crime Commission Cooperated on assignments with the F.B.I. and Volusia County, Florida Sheriff's Department.

CITY OF BATON ROUGE POLICE DEPARTMENT

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Special Investigator. Assigned to Accident Investigation Division.

LANE-WELLS COMPANY, DRESSER INDUSTRIES

New Orleans, Louisiana

Rigger/Operator. Work involved rigging and operating well testing equipment (core samples, etc.) both onshore and offshore, part-time and during summers.

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

Various Assignments Inclusive of Sea Duty. Instructor Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense School, Demolitions, and Explosives.

• Fire Investigation for the Fire Officers
• How First Responders Impact The Fire Investigation
• Documenting the Event
• Alternative Fuel Vehicles
• Fire Investigator Scene Safety
• Emerging Technologies in Fire Investigation, 3-Hour Tested Training Program
• Fire Flow Analysis, 3-Hour Tested Training Program

• Improving Data Collection of Smoke Alarms in Fires
• Experimental Investigation of Using CO Sensors to Detect Smoldering Fires in Dwelling
• Influence of the Operating Time on the Behavior of Smoke Alarms in Typical Office Environments
• Effect of Detector Sensitivity Changes on the Provision of Adequate Warning to Building Occupants
• A Fire-Induced Displacement Estimation Method for Civil Infrastructures
• Indoor Positioning Systems Enhance Safety and Security in Buildings
• Visual Alarm Devices – Their Effectiveness in Warning of Fire
• Occupant Evacuation Elevator (OEE) Case Studies
• Impact of Smoke Alarm Performance Considering New Nuisance Fire Tests
• Beyond Cooking: Smoke Alarm Nuisance Sources Evaluated
• Multi-Angle Multi-Wavelength Light Scattering of Smokes and Cooking Aerosols
• Physics Based Assessment of Light Scattering in Multi-Color Smoke Detection

• Arc Mapping Basics
• Critical Thinking Solves Cases Electrical
• Safety
• Evidence Examination: What Happens at the Lab?
• Explosion Dynamics
• Wildland Fires Investigation

• Principles of Life Safety Design: Determining Occupant Load and Egress Capacity
• Sprinkler Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance

• Human Failures and Decision Risk and Economic Alternatives
• Principles for Fire Safety Design for Health Care Facilities
• High Rise Buildings: Designs, Construction and Fire Safety Challenges
• Fire Alarm Systems for Life Safety
• Principles of Fire and Life Safety Design: Features of Fire Requirements for Enclosure and Protection of the Means of Egress Applying the Life
• Safety Code to Building Rehabilitation
• Installation, Testing, and Acceptance of a Low, Medium, or High-Expansion Foam System

• LP-Gas Advisory Committee, (1997–2006)
• LP-Gas Advisory Committee, Safety and Security Sub-Committee, (2005–2006)
• LP-Gas Advisory Committee, National Fuel Gas Code (NFPA 54), (1999–2001)