Areas of Expertise: Building Codes; Fire Protection; Construction Claims & Disputes; Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT); Emergency Communication — 911; Crisis Management; Environmental Safety; Design Engineering; Failure Analysis; Safety Codes & Standards; Security Management; Inadequate Security; Negligent Security; Fire, Arson & Explosions; Construction Accidents; Construction Safety; Accident Investigations; Alarms; Hotel Security; Safety Engineering; Industrial Equipment & Machinery; Railroads & Trains; Trains, Railroads, Subways; Carbon Monoxide; School Safety & Security; Campus & School Safety; Chemicals; Construction Defects; Fire - Life Safety.
A/E/C INDUSTRY EXPERT
Project Programs/Firmwide Management, Financial Strategy plus M&A, and Business Development with Legal Oversight. Past and present Shareholder in multiple diverse A/E/C Firms acting as Principal-in-Charge of Staff Management while driving Strategy and Business Development.
Licensed Professional Engineer (PE) specializing in Fire Protection, Building Codes, Security, and other Resilience-related design/consulting for complex, high-hazard, projects across diverse markets.
Executive leader in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction (A/E/C) industry — Expert in building codes, setting risk-reduction strategies, balancing safety with security, and managing complex practices/programs including "surgical" engineering problem-solving for complex multi-disciplinary design projects and legal matters.
|| Creator & Host of the "FIRE PROTECTION ENGINEERING PODCAST" https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fire-protection-engineering-podcast/id1843413249 ||
I've developed numerous firms from my own startups to large firm expansion initiatives and personally specialize in risk-based engineering (i.e., Resilience) and consulting for diverse clients in a broad range of A/E/C industry markets. Including extensive experience within Government, Transit & Tunnels, Multinational Corporate/Commercial, Education, Data Centers, State & Local Government, Mission Critical & SCIF, Aviation, Historic & Cultural, Healthcare, Industrial, Oil & Gas, Institutional, Justice & Corrections, Sports & Assembly, Sitewide Emergency Management & Resilience Planning; plus successfully executed alternative Design-Build and P3 construction methodologies leveraging my Design-Build Institute Board Certification (assoc. DBIA).
My career was founded on designing systems ranging from Wet-Pipe Sprinkler and Speaker/Strobe Notification to advanced Gaseous Suppression and Video Image Smoke Detection for fire protection; or Access Control and Intrusion Detection to Intelligent Video Analytics and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) for security.
Expert Witness and Forensics expertise includes:
~ Fire Protection Engineering
~ Building Codes & Standards
~ Determination of Origin & Cause
~ Heat Transfer & Fire Spread Analysis
~ Hazmat/Explosion
~ Life Safety & Property Loss from all emergencies
~ Physical & Technical Security Systems Breaches
~ Life-Threatening System Failures or Inadequacies
~ Accident & Safety Incident Re-creation
Experience providing engineering to clients via complex project delivery in the following areas:
• High-Hazard and specialized multi-discipline Building Engineering
• Life Safety, Fire, and Building Code Consulting
• Performance-based Design including Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Egress Modeling
• Building Construction Evaluations and Engineering Judgements/Variances
• Fire Suppression, Fire Alarm, and Security Systems Cost Estimation and Commissioning
• Construction Administration and Negotiations with Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ)
• Fire alarm and Fire Suppression Sub-systems Design including Systems Integration
• Video Surveillance, Access Control, and Intrusion Detection Sub-systems Design
• Threat/Vulnerability/Risk/Cost/Benefit Analyses for Emergency Preparedness and Resilience
• Central Monitoring/Reporting Control Center Layout and associated Systems Design
• Fiber/Copper Infrastructure Design including Communication System Networking
• Site-Wide Strategic Resilience Planning, Emergency Management, and Business Continuity
• Emergency Communication or Mass Notification System Design
• Market/Practice Development plus Research, Testing, and Evaluation (RDT&E)
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Legal Support • Expert Witness • Construction Litigation • Property Law • Security • Disaster Response • Project Execution • 3D Design • Program Management • Management Consulting • AEC M&A • Strategic Planning
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
- WBC Electrical, Special Systems Category Craftsmanship Award: presented by the Washington Building Congress (WBC); accepted as Engineer for the Inter-American Development Bank Fire Alarm Upgrade 2008
- APT Fire Protection for Historic Buildings, Modern Technology Meets Historic Fabric seminar: special program organized by the Association for Preservation Technology (APT); acted as Technical Advisor to the APT DC Board of Directors and Workshop/Seminar committee 2009
- SFPE Gold Chapter Excellence Awards: presented annually by the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE); accepted as Vice President of Chesapeake Chapter 2010 & 2011
- APPA Mass Notification Systems, Approaching Critical Mass column: published in the March/April issue of the organization best known as the Association of Physical Plant Administrators (APPA) Facilities Manager technical periodical 2011
- Third-Party Inspector (Fire Protection & Life-Safety): registered as a representative of Prince George's County, MD; approved 2011
- Third-Party Inspector (Fire Protection): registered with Aton Electrical Services Inc team as a representative of Washington, DC: approved 2011
- Fike Corporation Video Imaging Detection for Fire Protection webinar: acted as Fire Protection Engineering Industry Design Expert with the Fike Video Detection Development Group for their live webinar including Q&A session 2012
- Virginia Bureau of Capital Outlay Management (BCOM) Construction and Professional Services Manual (CPSM) certified in 2012
- NFPA 410 Standard on Aircraft Maintenance committee member: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Technical Committee on Aircraft Maintenance Operations; developed standards for fire protection and other safety measures related to Aircraft Maintenance Operations; Voted Alternate then Principal 2013
- Physical Security Professional (PSP) & Certified Protection Professional (CPP): ASIS International (formerly: American Society for Industrial Security) board certified 2010 & 2016
- American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) National Capital Chapter Board Member 2017
- Mechanical Engineering Review Committee (MERC); reviewed and updated standard Fire Protection & Security MasterSpec sections for ARCOM and AIA; formal invite-only by a selection committee then voted-in by the AIA National board 2017 & 2018
- Building Evaluator: Safety Assessment Program (SAP); nationwide AIA disaster assistance 2018
- Associate DBIA: Design-Build Institute of America board certified 2019
- Lawline Continuing Legal Education (CLE), The Art of Cross Examination certified 2022
- Fire Protection Engineering Podcast: founding Host and initial Program Developer; leveraged a Co-Host's large fire protection social media community following (FPE Memes); top experts are interview-committed; current Monthly episode release schedule; active 2024 – Present
EDUCATION & LICENSURE
Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
Master of Business Administration (MBA)
University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Bachelor of Science (BS), Fire Protection Engineering
Professional Engineer (PE)
Active Licenses: CA, DC, DE, GA, IL, LA, MD, MN, NJ, NY, PA, TX, VA — license is fire-specific when state-mandated
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
- Bookkeeping & AEC Finance Software: Administration/management of backend setup and frontend use of QuickBooks Premier Professional Services; Deltek Vision; Salesforce; Microsoft Dynamics; Oracle; Microsoft Office plus SharePoint database management and basic IT networking while running my own engineering firm
- Commercial Real Estate Development: NAIOP facilitated Development 101 course over four-months consisting of rotating instructors from George Mason University's Real Estate Finance Program to Commercial Development Firm Executives covering the financials strategies and processes, from land acquisition to building operation, in executing complex multi-building urban mixed-use projects
- Sales & Business Development Strategy: RAIN Selling course "Selling AEC Services"; Toastmasters International; DiSC Sales; Miller Heiman Group; Dale Carnegie firm-specific customized sales training course covering Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) industry tools, techniques, and best practices for sales strategy development and application
- Contract Law & Risk Mitigation: XL Insurance Liability Education Program, multiple contractual and liability courses including annual seminars for updates on the latest decisions in AEC industry case law
- Business Licensing & Legal Registration: LLC, S-Corp, General Partnership business legal administration/management of all aspects of multiple types of businesses include engineering for DE, VA, DC, MD and US Federal Government including contractual procurement requirements of jurisdictional entities such as Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) with Small Business Administration (SBA) specifics & Virginia Bureau of Capital Outlay Management (BCOM)
- Project & Staff Management: Managing AECOM Projects (MAP) multi-course program for all aspects of project management from project quality assurance/control through project financial management overseeing a broad range of projects types for differing clients supplemented more recently by the Design-Build Institute of America's alternative project delivery methodology training; additionally, selected for formal AECOM Leadership Training for expanded staff management while working under shifting firm processes due to acquisitions and juggling multiple concurrent leadership roles
- Facilities Capital Planning & Management Software: VFA web-based facilities management and data repository platform used by organizations/agencies such as GSA to budget and execute facility improvement projects
MANUFACTURER CERTIFICATIONS
Hold numerous fire suppression, fire alarm, physical/electronic security, mass notification, and similar safety systems' Manufacturer Certifications including: GE Infrastructure Security, Tyco Fire & Security, Honeywell Life Safety, Gorman-Rupp Patterson Fire Pumps, Notifier Fire Alarm & Mass notification, to name a few of the most intensive… the certification processes involved on-site installation/programming training curriculums to achieve design-build capabilities for projects with proprietary systems designs.
Additional information to expand on the above, plus prior Position Descriptions working in Design-Build Integrator/Installer firms from 2003 to 2005 and in select project roles thereafter, are Available Upon Request.
TECHNICAL TRAINING
SYSTEMS MANUFACTURERS INSTALLATION & PROGRAMMING
GE Infrastructure Security
Tyco Fire & Security
Honeywell Life Safety
Gorman-Rupp Patterson Fire Pumps
Notifier Fire Alarm & Mass Notification
LEGAL EXPERT & ACTING AUTHORITY HAVING JURISDICTION (AHJ)
DC, DCRA Third-Party Inspections Program, Fire Inspector
Maryland, PG County Fire and Life Safety Office Third-Party Inspection Program, Fire Protection Consultant
Maryland, Office of the State Fire Marshal, Event Crowd Manager
Virginia, Bureau of Capital Outlay Management (BCOM), Construction and Professional Services Manual (CPSM)
Nationwide AIA Disaster Assistance, Safety Assessment Program (SAP), Building Evaluator
Lawline Continuing Legal Education (CLE), The Art of Cross Examination
ENGINEERING DESIGN SOFTWARE
Autodesk, AutoCAD & Revit
Bently, MicroStation
SpecsIntact, DoD UFGS
MasterWorks, AIA MasterSpec
EGRESS, SMOKE, FIRE CFD MODELING & HYDRAULICS
CFD, Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS)
CFAST
DETACT
Pathfinder
HydraCAD
HASS
THE Sprinkler Design
FACILITY ASSESSMENT, PLANNING, MANAGEMENT & COST ESTIMATING
VFA.facility
Microsoft Project
Apple Tap Forms
RSMeans
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
(DBIA) The Design-Build Institute of America
(SAME) Society of American Military Engineers
NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association
(APTA) American Public Transportation Association
(NFPA) National Fire Protection Association, Member
(ASIS) American Society for Industrial Security, Member
(SFPE) Society of Fire Protection Engineers, Professional Member
(SMPS) Society for Marketing Professional Services, Member
(ICC) International Code Council, Building Safety Professional Member