Failure Analysis & Hazard Analysis Experts
Our team utilizes extensive expertise in failure analysis tools & techniques alongside expertise in thermodynamics, combustion, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, fire dynamics, and electrical systems to determine root cause and assess risk for our clients.
Michael Cundy, Ph.D., P.E., C.F.E.I., C.F.P.S.
Dr. Cundy is a licensed Mechanical Engineer with approximately twenty years of engineering experience, including more than thirteen years consulting in failure analysis and hazard analysis areas involving complex mechanical and electrical systems. He assists clients on domestic and international matters. He is often hired to provide analysis in the fields of combustion, fire science, heat transfer, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics in events such as the investigation of fires, explosions, carbon monoxide exposures, and water or fluid losses. His projects span a variety of industries including transportation, oil & gas, energy, industrial facilities and equipment, and commercial and residential building systems, including heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration equipment. He is a Certified Fire & Explosion Investigator, and a Certified Fire Protection Specialist. He has worked in areas of product development, third-party validation, product safety, and in academia.
Dr. Cundy has performed fire origin and cause investigations involving on-road and off-road vehicles; electric and hybrid vehicles; specialty vehicles such as forklifts, snow groomers, street sweepers, recreational vehicles, boats, and e-bikes; a variety of structures such as houses, warehouses, and commercial facilities (e.g. commercial kitchens); at industrial facilities such as oil refineries and hydraulic fracturing well pads; with industrial process equipment; with fuel-gas systems, including propane tanks; and in other areas. He has also investigated several thermal events involving grid-scale lithium-ion battery energy storage systems (BESS), as well as the design of BESS modules. He has designed and carried out hundreds of fire and explosion tests in support of his investigations and hazard analysis work. Dr. Cundy has also performed carbon monoxide exposure investigations involving vehicles and structures, with combustion equipment including internal combustion engines and fuel-fired appliances.
Dr. Cundy has also worked in academia for several years. He developed and occasionally teaches a Failure Analysis & Prevention course at Arizona State University in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.
For additional information regarding his skills, experience, education, and knowledge, please reach out.
James Smith, Ph.D., P.E., C.F.E.I., C.V.F.I.
Dr. Smith is a licensed mechanical engineer with nearly twenty years of experience as a practicing engineer in fields including forensic engineering & fire investigation, automotive product design, research & development, and federal regulatory development and implementation. In addition to his role as a consulting engineer with IFE, Dr. Smith serves on the faculty at Northwestern Michigan College where he teaches an array of engineering coursework, including engineering mechanics (statics, mechanics, dynamics), thermodynamics, materials science, and design courses.
Previous areas of practice for Dr. Smith include the development and implementation of the US EPA’s heavy-duty vehicle greenhouse gas regulations promulgated in 2011, certification of on-highway and offroad diesel engines under 40 CFR Parts 86 and 1039, respectively, and conducting laboratory audits in accordance with 40 CFR Part 1065. During this time, Dr. Smith earned the US EPA’s Science Achievement Award in Engineering for his work in developing a coastdown test procedure for on-highway heavy-duty vehicles. Dr. Smith also has extensive experience developing spray-guided, stratified charge combustion systems for spark-ignited engines and in-cylinder emissions control under stratified charge operation, primarily in conjunction with General Motors Corporation’s Powertrain Systems Research Laboratory.
For additional information regarding his skills, experience, education, and knowledge, please reach out.