Expert Testimony
During the investigation of the 1919 Boston Molasses Tank failure, Col. Hugh W. Ogden, Esq., the court appointed auditor, said in summation, "Amid this swirl of polemical scientific waters it is not strange that the auditor has at times felt that the only rock to which he could safely cling was the obvious fact that at least one-half the scientists must be wrong."
No facility wants to have a failure, let alone one that results in a civil dispute. When one occurs, it is paramount to base the resolution on experienced, technically-knowledgeable opinions. In order to resolve a dispute swiftly and fairly, both the mechanism and the cause of the failure must be accurately determined. Further, once the technical cause is understood, these complex technical opinions must be conveyed clearly to a jury, judge, arbiter, or mediator, who will not have the same technical expertise.
IEC Forensic Engineers have the necessary expertise in analyzing failures and developing sound opinions based on our advanced technical knowledge and decades of experience in practical manufacturing, fabrication, design engineering, and maintenance. IEC’s testifying experts have provided expert testimony in both criminal and civil matters, both in court and before arbitration panels. Conveying complex metallurgical and materials concepts in these environments is no different than describing failure mechanisms and recommendations to plant personnel who may not have a materials engineering background.