Hydraulics Consultants: 6

David Smith is an experienced mechanical engineer (MS, PE) with seven issued patents. Award-winning inventor. Vice President of Alpine Engineering and Design, a mechanical engineering consulting company with clients around the United States ranging from individual inventors to Fortune 500 companies. Worked on the development of multiple successful products including among other things: aerial lifts, garbage trucks, thrill rides, ziplines, trailers, oil and gas equipment, exercise equipment, manufacturing equipment, and multiple consumer products. 

Graduated Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Completed a master's of science degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA with an emphasis in product development. Licensed professional engineer (PE) and certified safety professional in comprehensive practice (CSP). Certified trainer for boom lifts, scissor lifts, rough terrain, and counterbalanced forklifts. Over 10 years of experience in product development, patents, equipment safety, and risk assessments. 

Experienced expert witness having drafted over 200 reports/declarations in patent cases and catastrophic injury and death cases. Designed and built multiple custom testing devices to obtain data and evaluate opinions. Created multiple demonstratives to explain the mechanics and circumstances of accident sequences and patented devices. Testified in deposition 11 times and in trial once.

CivTek International is an Infrastructure Solutions, Program Management and Multi-Disciplined Life-Cycle Integrator. CivTek focuses on core industries and infrastructure fundamental to the economic and physical health and well-being of all societies: Energy, Water, Air, Agriculture, Transportation, Waste Management, Telecommunications, Internet, and Ancillary Technologies necessary to more efficiently deliver and operate these industries in an environmentally friendly, safe and profitable manner.

CivTek International now has roughly $50 billion in pre-feasibility studies in estimated capital costs projects as a result of national and international relationships and exclusive agreements CivTek International holds in various infrastructure and transportation technologies. They have signed 50-year Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Agreements with national governments of emerging economies.

CivTek International provides expert assessment, advice, guidance, opinion, contracting, construction support, program management and design services to leaders in government, industry and the legal community. They address major challenges in complex cultural settings, environmental, economic, legislative or forensic consequence in programs and projects relating to capital infrastructure in transportation, green sustainable environmental solutions, energy, oil & gas, and industrial facilities.

Clients have included Leadership of Domestic and International Industry, CEO's and Corporate Leadership, Banks, Financial Institutions and Investors, Risk Management and Insurance Industry Leaders, Attorneys, Legislators, Heads of State, and Heads of Departments and Ministries.

CivTek Capabilities:

Principal, Thomas J. Young, PE, has over 37 years of experience in national and international Transportation Construction, the Civil Engineering specialty regarding highways, bridges, rail, airports, harbors, and associated infrastructure.

Mr. Young is a skilled integrator of the parameters of program and project life cycles, leadership, management, business operations, engineering and construction. He has extensive knowledge of regulatory compliance, environmental processes, industry standards, best practices, and field operations in urban and remote areas.

Mr. Young has broad construction management and design background for many of the knowledge and skill areas required in mining operations, bridges, highways, land development, major soil/structure type facilities, land survey, and construction surveying, including work in Arctic facilities and in desert regions.

View Thomas J. Young's Expert Witness Profile.

Dr. Homayoon Kazerooni is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also serves as the director of the Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory. With more than 30 years of mechanical engineering experience and a doctorate degree from MIT, the results of this work on upper extremity augmentation led to Intelligent Assist Devices (IAD) that are currently marketed worldwide.

Litigation Support - Dr. Kazerooni has been deposed and testified in various Intellectual Property cases. His services include thorough examination and reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Areas of Expertise:

Homayoon Kazerooni, Director, Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering Lab addressing the EmTech Asia 2016 crowd on New Developments on Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Systems

Dr. Kazerooni is a professor, entrepreneur, and expert witness The Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory’s mission is to develop fundamental scientific and engineering principles on robotics, control sciences, exoskeletons, and bioengineering.  Dr. Kazerooni founded Ekso Bionics which became a public company in 2014. He's also the founder and current CEO of U. S. Bionics (DBA suitX) which brings advanced exoskeleton technologies to various markets.

Most of the developed technologies in this lab at Berkeley have found their ways to market.  Prior to his research work on lower extremity exoskeletons, Dr. Kazerooni led his team to successfully develop robotics systems that enhance human upper extremity strength.  The results of this work led to a new class of intelligent assist devices currently being used by workers worldwide for manipulating heavy objects in distribution centers and factories.  

Dr. Kazerooni holds a Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and has published more than 200 articles, delivered over 130 plenary lectures in the U.S. and internationally, and holds over 200 pertinent patents and awards. He  has won numerous awards including Discover Magazine’s Innovation Award, the McKnight-Land Grant Professorship, and has been a recipient of the outstanding ASME Investigator Award. His research was recognized as the most innovative technology of the year in New York Times Magazine. 

Mechanical Solutions, Inc. (MSI) provides new equipment design, computer-aided analysis, installed equipment field testing and problem solutions. MSI staff performs these tasks for all types of Pumps, Compressors, Fans, Turbines, and Motors. For pumps and compressors, expertise includes both centrifugal and positive displacement (e.g. reciprocating or screw) configurations.  Turbine knowledge and experience include hydraulic turbine generators (“hydroturbines”) as well as aircraft gas turbine engines and land-based gas or steam turbine power generation systems. Applications include green energy, power, process, petrochemical, paper, and water resource industries.

MSI uses advanced finite element analysis (FEA), rotordynamics, and torsional analysis tools, and uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to analyze 3-D steady or unsteady fluid flows and heat transfer, enabled by its 230 high speed processor supercomputer. MSI also uses top-of-the-line testing equipment, including multichannel FFT analyzers (up to 200 simultaneous channels) to accurately read the outputs of various vibration, stress/strain, and pressure sensors, as a function of both time and frequency. As a unique additional test capability, MSI uses motion magnification video cameras to amplify and display scene vibration by 1000x. MSI uses calibrated exciters while equipment remains running, to locate structural, rotor, and acoustic natural frequency resonances as they exist at any particular operating point, without interfering with machinery operation.  In addition, MSI performs stress, acoustic, dynamic pressure pulsation, electric current spectrum, and aero/hydraulic performance testing. 

MSI also has been project team leader in the development of advanced rocket turbopumps, as well as turbopump diagnostics, for the U.S. Air Force and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. MSI is funded for several large projects with the U.S. Navy and Air Force involving vision-based systems that automatically evaluate and display/amplify machinery or system dynamic events.  As a result of these projects, MSI has developed its VibVue® vibration motion magnification system, which can magnify vibration 1000x in the full field-of-view of the equipment.  This system is available as a service, or for purchase.

Mechanical Solutions has a staff of approximately 30 technical professionals, many of whom are well known internationally in the area of pumps, compressors, and turbines.  For example, MSI’s Dr. Edward Bennett won the ASME Gopalakrishnan award for best pump fluids technologist, and was later awarded another ASME medal for CFD.    MSI’s Paul Boyadjis has won the Hydraulic Institute 2021 Standards Partner of the Year award. Since its founding in 1996, MSI has strived to provide best-in-class service throughout the world.

William D. Marscher has over 50 years of experience in the field of Fluid Systems and their rotating and reciprocating machinery, particularly large turbines, generators, compressors, and pumps.  His typical work responsibilities include design, analysis, and testing of all types of plant machinery, as well as other types of fluid and mechanical systems.   

Mr. Marscher received a B.S.M.E. from Cornell University in 1970, and a Master Eng. (Mech. Des.) in 1972, when he was a NASA Fellow and the lead graduate student for the original Mars Rover Design project.  In 1976, he received an M.Sc. in Engineering Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a registered and licensed Professional Engineer, State of New Jersey Lic. No. 40626.

For 25 years, Mr. Marscher has been one of the U.S. voting representatives on the ISO (International Standards Organization) TC108 committee, and has been the US Coordinator concerning, among other issues, machinery dynamics of centrifugal pumps and hydraulic turbine generators. He is past president of the Society of Tribologists & Lubrication Engineers (STLE), the primary technical society worldwide for the study and design of bearings, seals, wear, and erosion issues in machinery.  For the past 45 years he has been a voting member of the ASTM Fatigue Standards Committee E9, as well as the ASTM Wear & Erosion Standards Committee G2.  He is also the past Board of Directors Chairman for the Machinery Failure Prevention Technology Society (MFPT), and has been active in the Vibration Institute.   Mr. Marscher is a 23-year member of the Texas A&M Turbine-Pump Users Symposium Advisory Committee (essentially the Board of Directors for the Symposium).   For ASME, Mr. Marscher was Chair of the Predictive Maintenance committee, and was Organizing and Presiding Chair of the 1993 RoCon Rotating Machinery Conference and the 1995 Tribology Conference.

Mr. Marscher has written thirteen handbook chapters for various major engineering handbooks, which have focused on turbomachinery mechanical issues, including dynamics, and bearing and seal design   In previous employ, he was a senior engineer Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Engines, and Director of Mechanical Engineering for Worthington HQ (pumps, compressors, and turbines), and for Dresser Worthington Division after their acquisition of Worthington.   Later, he was VP of Concepts NREC, from which 30 years ago he spun off Mechanical Solutions, Inc. as an independent turbomachinery technology company.  He has since become a charter Standards Partner for the Hydraulic Institute (HI), the trade association for the pump industry, became Vice Chair of the vibration technical committee for HI, and was HI Standards Partner of the Year for 2018.   He also won the 2019 Vibration Institute MFPT Frarey Award for Diagnostics Excellence.

View MSI's Expert Witness Profile.

Harold E. McGowen III, PE, offers unparalleled expertise in the Upstream Oil and Gas sector, providing strategic consulting services to optimize operations, enhance profitability, and maximize asset value. With over 40 years of experience in petroleum engineering, field development, and executive leadership, Harold combines technical acumen and strategic vision to deliver measurable results for operators, private equity firms, and industry stakeholders.

As President and CEO of Navidad Operating Company, LLC, Harold has led multimillion-dollar oilfield development projects. His expertise includes horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, completion technology, reservoir management, and operational safety. He excels in negotiating joint ventures, structuring acquisitions, and building high-performing teams, helping clients reduce costs and enhance efficiency.

Harold’s consulting services focus on field development optimization, reserves estimation, drilling and completion planning, and asset valuation. He provides actionable insights to improve well performance, mitigate risks, and unlock potential in oilfield assets. With deep knowledge of reservoir engineering and extensive project management experience, Harold offers practical, results-oriented solutions.

In addition, Harold assists clients with strategic planning and business growth. His success in securing capital, managing private equity-backed ventures, and driving innovation underscores his ability to deliver in challenging market conditions. Recognized with Aggie 100 honors and Top CEO accolades, Harold is committed to helping clients navigate complexities and achieve their goals.

View Harold McGowen's Expert Witness Profile.

Rieser Building Group is a leading builder, engineer, architect, and forensic team with over 25 years of experience in management, design, and construction of over 4,000 units. These units range from custom homes, commercial buildings, and developments, to public works like Caltrans and BART construction, and roadway improvements (over 500 miles). With a full breadth of professional development services, they manage all aspects of a project, from entitlements to design to warranty.

Building Services - Design in-house, or, as licensed engineering and construction professionals, Rieser Building Group can manage an outside team of architects, civil engineers, structural engineers, and landscape architects.

Engineering and Design Services - Spearheaded by a professional Engineering & Architectural team, Rieser provides innovative designs and timely approvals in custom homes, commercial buildings, apartments, large developments, structures, topo-mapping, hydraulics, traffic engineering, and transportation engineering.

Development Services - Developing single custom-built home or a multiphase project, Rieser will expedite the development process, establish a joint venture to share costs, or purchase the project. In addition to flexible management, they conduct property feasibility studies to calculate the right mix of homes and maximize ROI. 

Mark E. Rieser, II, MS, PE, AIA, GBC, GEC, has over 30 years of experience in the Construction and Building Design industry. He provides his clients with a comprehensive knowledge of Construction Technology and Construction Standards of Professional Practice. Background Experience - President of an active Design / Build company, Mr. Rieser has managed, designed, and constructed over 4,000 units to include high-rise, single family homes, condominiums, townhomes, podiums, apartments, and commercial buildings, His experience includes construction, management, and design of over 500 miles of asphalt and roadway improvements, tunnels, San Francisco Airport, Santa Clara Light Rail, Southern Pacific Railroad, Caltrain, and BART. Mr. Rieser has an insightful understanding of Civil / Structural Engineering, Soil Engineering, Transportation / Traffic Engineering, Hydraulic Engineering, Architectural Design, Asphalt Design, Cost Estimation, Public Works Design Bidding and Estimation, General Engineering, General Building, and an Accident Reconstruction expert.

View Mark Rieser's Expert Witness Profile.