Engineering Expert Witness Evaluates Damage to Family Home

Case Overview

This case takes place in California and involves an engineering expert witness who was retained to examine damage caused to a family’s home due to local mining activities. The plaintiff owned a home that was several hundred yards from a large mine. A blast was conducted at the mine that allegedly caused significant damage to the plaintiffs’ home. One of the plaintiffs was home when the blast was conducted, and she stated that the blast violently shook the home. The plaintiffs reported that immediately after the blasting event, they observed a very large crack in the concrete wall on the exterior of their home that had not been their prior to the blast. They observed several other damages to the home that had not been there prior to the blast, including extensive damage to their garage, and several shattered windows. It is alleged that earth movement and air pressure were the causes of these damages. It is also claimed that the blasting was more than likely the cause of these damages.

Questions to the Engineering expert and their responses

Do you have extensive knowledge in structural damage that a blasting event can occur?

My focus is on developing tools from structural vibrations, nonlinear dynamics, and time series modeling fields for structural health monitoring and damage prognosis strategies.

Please explain your experience working on similar cases?

This case is directly within my specialty.

About the expert

This expert is a highly-qualified Ph.D. of Mechanical Engineering who is currently a Professor at a top-ranked University located in California. He has published more than 150 journal papers, conference proceedings, reports, and holds 4 patents. The expert's research applies to civil, mechanical, and aerospace structural systems and the bulk of his work focuses on developing tools from structural vibrations, nonlinear dynamics, and time series modeling fields for structural health monitoring, and damage prognosis strategies. With partners at Los Alamos National Laboratory, this expert helped create the country's first graduate degree program in structural health monitoring, damage prognosis, and validated simulations at UCSD. The expert's unique ability to combine hardware and software research domains has leveraged his industry in respect to damage diagnostics, damage prognostics, and response modeling of civil, mechanical, and aerospace structural systems.

E-010406

Specialties:

Engineering