Automotive Technology and Alternative Energy Mechanical Engineering Expert

Expertise

Mechanical engineering

• Automotive technology.
• Alternative energy.
• Combustion, emissions, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, power generation, air conditioning and power transmission.
• Patent prosecution support, development and marketing of novel concepts, development of strategies to defend against infringement litigation and development of technology workarounds to avoid infringement.

Expert Witness Experience

Product Liability

• Case involving injury to a dental patient who was injured by an overheated dental hand piece - retained to determine the cause of the malfunction.
• Case involving failure of transmission bell housings - retained to identify the cause of the repeated failure of bell housings of heavy duty diesel engines.
• Case involving injury due to failure of the hydraulic system of a snowplow.

Patent Infringement

• Automotive filters case; retained by defendant in a patent infringement suit involving automotive filter elements.
• Dental prosthetic - retained as a supporting expert to help prepare the Appeal Brief to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Court.
• Medical device - performed analysis of a helical blade in a trochanteric fixation nail used in the fixation of fractures of the proximal femur.
• Engine brake retarder - retained as an expert by defendant in patent litigation.
• Sensors - involved in all aspects of patent litigation case involving displacement sensors throughout litigation in District Court, appeals and re-examination.

Patent Re-examination

• Before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office - retained by third party requester to determine the validity of two patents.

Experience

Undisclosed Company, Founder and President, 2005 - Present

• Evaluation, development, and marketing of novel technologies and intellectual property in various fields of engineering, including sensors, automotive technology and alternative energy.

Undisclosed Company, Co-Founder and Partner, 2008 - Present

• Development, patenting and marketing of novel automotive and electrical technologies.

Litex, Inc., Cambridge, MA, Vice President of Research and Intellectual Property, 1997 - 2005

• Directed extensive effort in the development and licensing of non-thermal plasma reactors for automotive emission control.
• Developed an effective patent portfolio strategy to protect technology in the U.S. and internationally.

Optima Environmental, Inc., Cambridge, MA, President, 1991 - 1996

• Design of hybrid electric vehicles and non-air breathing lightweight UAV's.

Optima Systems, Inc., Woburn, MA, Vice President, 1986 - 1991

• Development of several sensor systems including a highly rugged and low cost inclinometer, pressure transducers, and laser and acoustic ranging systems.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan Laboratory, Cambridge, MA, 1978 - 1981

Manager and Lecturer, Energy Laboratory, 1982 - 1985

• Managed a laboratory of 30 students, faculty and staff; supervised graduate students.
• Conducted research in gasoline, diesel, and alternative fuel engines and high pressure combustors; generated research funds.
• Interfaced closely with sponsors; and acted as the principal liaison between the laboratory and MIT on fiscal and budgetary matters.

Program Manager and Research Associate, 1978 - 1981

• Initiated and supervised research, lectured, and advised graduate and undergraduate students.
• Performed research in turbulence characterization by hot-wire anemometry and in the formation mechanisms of particulate emissions in burners and diesel engines.

Independent Consultant, Woodland Hills, CA, 1981 - 1982

• Clients included Arthur D. Little Company, Caterpillar, Jacobs Manufacturing Company, John Deere, and the U.S. Dept. of Commerce.
• Technical areas included the design and analysis of complex thermo-fluid systems, and analysis of formation mechanisms of particulate and gas emissions.

Honors & Publications

Academic and Professional Affiliations

• Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
• Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)

Awards

• Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award, conferred by the Society of Automotive Engineers for significant contributions to teaching, research and student development.
• Horning Memorial Award, conferred by the Society of Automotive Engineers - best paper relating to the Adaptation of Fuels to Internal Combustion Engines.

Publications and Patents

• Author and Co-Author of numerous national and international publications for conferences and scientific papers.
• Inventor of over 40 patents (national and international).

Education

• Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
• M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA