Ministry of Education

Yangon Technological University

Department of Civil Engineering

Forensic Engineering

Presented By: Ma Cho Wai Phyo Kyaw

Ph.D.CSE-1
 What is Forensic Engineering?

 A professional engineer who deals with the engineering aspects of legal problems
 Activities
 Determination of the physical or technical causes of accidents or failures
 Preparation of reports
 Presentation of testimony or advisory opinions that assist in resolution o related disputes
 To render an opinion regarding responsibility for the accident or failure
Milton F.Lunch, former General Counsel to the
National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)
 Forensic Engineering is the application of the art and science of engineering in the jurisprudence
system
 Requiring the services of legally qualified professional engineers
 Include
 Investigation of the physical causes of accidents and other sources of claims and litigation
 Preparation of engineering reports
 Testimony at hearings
 Trials in administrative or judicial proceedings
 The rendition of advisory opinions to assist the resolution of disputes affecting life
Marvin M. Specter, President of the National
Academy of Forensic Engineers(NAFE)
 Forensic Engineering is the art and science of professional practice of those qualified to serve as

engineering experts in matters before courts of law or in arbitration proceedings

Accident Reconstruction
 Failures and accidents involving injury, loss of life or property damage nearly always generate controversy
 It is usually associated with litigation or the threat of litigation, however , need not always be directly
related to litigation
 The principal purpose of accident reconstruction
 To determine causation so that the accident will not be repeated
 The investigation of airline accidents by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
 Not involve traditional litigation
 Not admissible in legal proceedings arising from the accident
 NTSB reports is forbidden by statute
 The overriding concern is for a thorough and timely investigation
 Recommendations are quickly disseminated to involved parties (reducing the potential for repetition of the
accident)
Continued:
 Structural failure investigations conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology(NIST)
 Focus on technical causation and do not attempt to assign responsibility among the involved parties
 “Accident reconstruction” activities do not fit within the given definitions of “forensic engineering”
 Because forensic engineers are often involved in these activities and ultimately include the reports
developed by such activities in their own investigations
 Although the typical forensic investigations is conducted under the threat of litigation, very few cases
actually go to the courtroom
 Most cases are resolved prior to litigation, often as the result of convincing work done by competent
forensic engineers
 Forensic engineers are at the forefront in developing alternative dispute resolution techniques,
consultants in arbitration, mediation, minitrials ,the care and thoroughness of each investigations and
others procedures (in chapter 12)
Typical Clients and Projects

 Typical clients include all parties affected by the accident

 Often forensic engineer
 Works for attorneys representing plaintiffs or defendants who may be individual parties, corporations, or
governmental agencies
 Works independently using consultants as required
 Works as a team synthesizing the work of many specialists
 Sometimes the accident under investigation is in the public spotlight
 The forensic engineer may be questioned by reporters from the news media while the investigation
is underway
 Usually forensic work relates to costly performance problems such as leaking roofs and building
facades or minor vehicle accidents
Influence on Improved Practices

 Forensic investigation , procedural deficiencies are uncovered, the opportunity to make

recommendations on the basis of an investigation
 Forensic engineers have a role in disseminating information to design professionals to improve
procedures and products so that failures are not repeated
 Forensic engineers can have an impact on improved engineering design practices
 Compared with the role of the forensic medical expert or pathologist, in collecting and disseminating
information that affects public health and safety
Qualifications of the Forensic Engineer

 Technical Competency
 Knowledge of Legal Procedures
 Detective Skills
 Oral and Written Communication Skills
 Other Skills
 Personality Characteristics
 Ethics and Professional Responsibilities
Technical Competency
 Forensic engineer must have:
 Competency is the result of education and experience in specialized engineering
 A professional engineering license is desirable to qualify for court room testimony
 An extensive professional background with many years of successful engineering practice

 Active membership in appropriate professional societies also contributes to the credibility of

an expert witness
Knowledge of Legal Procedures

 The forensic engineer must have:

 A working knowledge of legal procedures and the related vocabulary used in litigation is quite specific
 Written communications or reports if prepared at an inappropriate time can inadvertently affect litigation
 Several useful references:
 Specializing in construction related disputes by Rubin, Fairweather, Guy and Maevis(1992),and LePatner
and Johnson(1982)
Detective Skills
 The forensic engineer acting as investigator, must possess certain detective skills
 Collecting pertinent facts from the field and from documents
 The quantity and reliability of available data vary widely with each case and with each discipline
 For example: a greater quantity of detailed and reliable evidence is available for a major airline
accident than for an automobile accident investigation
 In the airline investigation, copious records such as voice recordings and flight data recordings
 In an automobile accident investigation, limited access to evidence, police reports, photographs and
written records of eyewitness statements
 Much of the investigation involves interpretation of the data collected,
 The investigator must separate contributing factors from irrelevant items and protection of
evidence
 Redundant evidence is always helpful as it allows the forensic engineer to cross-check conclusions
Continued:

 Timing is critical to the collection of reliable data

 The forensic engineer is often required to move quickly to an accident site because evidence is
sometimes destroyed immediately after a fire, industrial accident or major structural collapse
during the rescue and cleanup operations
 Immediate response to such events requires a flexible and resilient personality
 Part of the detective work is research into design standards and material properties
 The forensic engineer acts as historian
 The failure must be analyzed from the perspective of technical knowledge and professional
procedures that might have been much different from the investigator’s own design standards
 The importance of detective skills as opposed to design skills
 A good design professional is not necessarily a good forensic expert
Continued:

 The designer is more familiar with codes and standards intended to prevent failure
 The design-oriented engineer may approach the investigation of a failure by suggesting an
alternative design solution
 The forensic engineer approaches the investigation of a failure from the perspective of
physical causation and the given object, as designed and constructed
Oral and Written Communication Skills
 The forensic engineer must have an effective communicator both in oral and written presentations
 During the investigation, the news media may interview the forensic engineer
 Without making premature specific statements, if the forensic engineer speaks carefully and
articulately
 Oral communication skills are also a prerequisite to effective testimony in the courtroom or in public
hearings
 The forensic engineer may perform as an educator , explaining complex technical issues in language
that is understandable to laypersons with no technical background
 The ability to use simple examples and clear language to illustrate complex phenomena is essential
and improves the credibility to the witness
 A written report is usually produced after a forensic investigation which reflects in the competency
of the investigator
 Reports usually detail the conclusions of the investigation and include references to all relevant
supporting data
 Preparation of successful report is the subject of Chapter 10
Other Skills

 Familiarity with the fields of psychology and sociology

 Photographic skills (In Chapter 11)
 Often forensic engineer retains consultants such as imaging experts of human performance
specialists
 Recognition of the need for particular specialized consultants is an important characteristic of the
competent investigator
Personality Characteristics
 The effective engineer or accident reconstructionist exhibits certain personality traits
 The most important characteristic is high ethical standards
 The forensic engineer is in a position to influence adversely the professional and personal
reputations of all involved parties
 The forensic engineer must be able to maintain objectivity and impartiality in seeking truth in the
face of constant pressures to take an emotional or advocacy position
 Flexibility and Objectivity are also desirable personality characteristics
 The forensic engineer must be willing to travel to the site of a failure and adjustment to new
demands and directions requires flexibility
 Objectivity implies the ability to discard preconceived notions
 The effective forensic engineer must maintain confidence in his or her competence during legal
proceedings
Continued:
 Cross examinations of expert witnesses often involve overt challenges to their personal integrity
and professional competence
 These challenges are unfamiliar to most engineers and place a great deal of stress
 Finally, the forensic engineer should have the ability to work effectively with others
 Sometimes the forensic engineer is the coordinator of a team or a member of the team of support
specialists
 Such cooperative ventures are extremely effective in reducing the cost and time associated with
an investigation
 Interpersonal skills are essential to maintaining positive working relationships
Ethics and Professional Responsibilities

 Litigation surrounding failures and accidents has reached an unprecedented level of activity in the
past few decades
 With this increased litigation has come an increased demand for engineering professionals to serve
as expert witnesses
 Several professional societies are working to maintain guidelines for ethical practices in forensic
engineering
 Ethical conflicts in forensic practice arise from the fact that forensic engineers are generally
retained by parties to the dispute
 Attorneys are retained to be advocates for their clients
 Forensic engineers, must remain impartial “seekers of the truth”
 Not all attorneys pressure forensic consultants to act in an advocacy role
 Many attorneys actively seek experts with dissenting viewpoints
Continued:

 The impartial, objective forensic consultant serves the client well by pointing out weaknesses
in the client’s position
 Such an approach is valued in the long run, and helps to establish a reputation for integrity
and credibility
 Dissenting viewpoints among competent forensic engineers are common
 Failures and accidents often result from a number of complex, interrelated factors
 An honest expression of diversity of opinion, through the introduction of testimony by multiple
experts, is a healthy approach to seeking truth
 It is important to give consideration to all contributing factors
Continued:
 Ethical practices require the forensic engineer to be thorough, cross checking all conclusions
 Questions and all calculations should be studied for reasonable variances in data, and all ranges of
uncertainty should be expressed
 Special care should be exercised in cases involving malpractice charges
 The forensic engineer has a responsibility to protect the professional reputations of all parties until
the investigation is complete
 The forensic engineer who performs these tasks admirably has a unique opportunity to represent the
highest ideals of the engineering professions
Professional Organizations
 Some of the more active national and international societies include:
 American Bar Association (ABA)
 American Society of Civil Engineers: Technical Council on Forensic Engineering (ASCE/TCFE)
 Association of Soil and Foundation Engineers (ASFE): The Association of Engineering Firms Practicing in the
Geosciences
 Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) (United Kingdom)
 Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) (United Kingdom)
 International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
 International Council for Building Research Studies and Documentation (CIB) (The Netherlands)
 International Society for Technology, Law and Insurance (ISTLI)
 International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI)
 National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
 National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)
 Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
 Standing Committee on Structural Safety (SCOSS) (United Kingdom)
Journals and Regular Publications
 Valuable information for forensic engineers:
 ASFE Case Study Publications ( The Association of Engineering Firms Practicing in the Geosciences)
 Construction Lawyer ( American Bar Association: Forum on the Construction Industry)
 Forensic Science International (Elsevier Science Publishers, Ireland)
 Journal of Forensic Sciences ( American Academy of Forensic Sciences)
 Journal of the National Academy of Forensic Engineers (National Academy of Forensic Engineers)
 Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities ( American Society of Civil Engineers, in cooperation with the
National Society of Professional Engineers and the Architecture and Engineering Performance Information
Center)
 SAE Technical Papers (Society of Automotive Engineers)
 Technology, Law and Insurance, Journal of the International Society for Technology, Law and Insurance (ISTLI)
 The proceedings of conferences on Forensic Engineering are good overviews of current practices and
case studies
Opportunities in Forensic Engineering
Practice
 The financial rewards are attractive and the work is interesting but the
demands are great
 Forensic engineering requires a commitment to ethical principles
 Forensic consultants can contribute to
 The development and implementation of alternate dispute resolution techniques
 Assisting in the settlement of disputes outside traditional litigation procedures(see
Chapter 12)
 Finally, the forensic engineer sometimes has the opportunity to make
recommendations for improved practices, thereby leading to mitigation of the
frequency and severity of failures and accidents
Thank You for Your Attention