Forensic Engineering

What forensic engineering is, where it sits within the engineering and legal professions, and the scientific method that governs every failure investigation from scene preservation through hypothesis testing.

Reading the fracture surface as a record of how and why a material broke. Covers the mechanics of fracture, the visual language of fatigue and overload, and the laboratory tools that decode fracture origin.

How the chemistry, microstructure, and environment of metals and engineering materials combine to cause corrosion, creep, hydrogen damage, and wear failures.

How engineers investigate the failure of buildings, bridges, and infrastructure, from load path reconstruction to code compliance analysis.

The engineering lens on fire origin, electrical faults, and explosion mechanics — distinct from the chemistry and scene-investigation focus of fire/arson forensics.

The engineering framework for evaluating whether a product failed because of a design defect, a manufacturing defect, or inadequate warning — and how that evaluation reaches a jury.

The physics and engineering methods used to reconstruct vehicle collisions, including speed from crush energy, the role of event data recorders, and the biomechanical injury interface.

The engineering methods and institutional frameworks used in aircraft and railway accident investigation, where statutory bodies lead but forensic engineers provide structural, materials, and systems analysis.

The formal systems engineering and quality tools used to move beyond identifying what broke to understanding why it was allowed to break — and the standards framework that defines acceptable engineering practice.

How forensic engineering opinion enters litigation, what makes it admissible, and the professional and ethical obligations of the engineer who becomes an expert witness.