Scott Kimbrough, Ph.D., C.F.I., P.E.
Dr. Scott Kimbrough has been a partner in MRA (previously Motion Research Associates) since 1994. He has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and a Masters and Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering.
Before entering the field of Forensics Engineering, Dr. Kimbrough was employed at the IBM Scientific Center and at the General Motors Research Labs. At IBM he worked as a Scientific Programmer and at General Motors he worked on the development of advanced experimental vehicles. He also worked at Sierra Pacific Power Company as co-op student, at AiResearch developing turbochargers for Detroit Diesel Engines, and at Hughes Aircraft and Aerojet General, performing thermal analysis of aircraft and spacecraft systems.
Dr. Kimbrough honed his engineering and communication skills while teaching a broad array of classes at the University of Utah, where he was an Assistant Professor. In his personal life, he has been involved in many endeavors, such as starting a manufacturing company, restoring and remodeling houses and restoring and racing cars. Through these endeavors he has learned valuable "real world" skills in design and manufacturing, construction, and auto-mechanics.
Dr. Kimbrough has investigated hundreds of motor vehicle accidents, including those involving heavy vehicles, vehicles towing trailers, and motorcycles. Through the years, he has developed efficient yet thorough field techniques for collecting and preserving evidence at accident sites. He has published scores of papers on vehicle dynamics and is a member of the ASME Vehicle Design Committee and is an Associate Editor of the Heavy Vehicle Systems Journal. He has complimentary expertise in those areas of human factors that pertain to vehicle accidents, such as perception reaction issues and nighttime visibility. He is a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and has special instruments for conducting nighttime visibility studies, a topic he has published a paper on.
Dr. Kimbrough has completed many assignments involving failure analysis, answering such questions as: why did it catch fire, why did it break, was there a mechanical failure, was it designed to be safe, or was there a defect? He has investigated the causes of numerous fires, and a growing portion of his work involves determining the causes of construction problems, such as ground settlement, water and ice damage, and structural failures. Because of his broad background in both mechanical and electrical engineering, he understands the technical aspects of many types of machines, mechanism, and devices. He has extensive knowledge of safety engineering principles and knows the duties and responsibilities of manufacturers for designing safe products, and has been involved in several very intense product liability cases.
Dr. Kimbrough strives to communicate his findings in clear concise reports, and has extensive experience in giving and defending testimony in legal settings, and conveying the importance of his technical findings to lay audiences. He greatly appreciates the opportunities his clients have given him to be employed in the interesting field of Forensics Engineering and works hard to provide them with accurate and pertinent technical advice and a high level of personal service.
E. Paul France, Ph.D., D.A.B.E.E.
Dr. France has degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biomedical Sciences. His background includes impact biomechanics research with the United States Air Force, research and teaching at the University of Utah, director of the Orthopedic Biomechanics Institute, and experience in product development and manufacturing. He has testified numerous times as an expert in accident reconstruction, injury analysis, biomechanics, human factors, biomedical sciences, work related accidents and injuries, and medical product defects.
Matthew D. Mecham, M.S., P.E.
Matthew D. Mecham is a partner in MRA Forensic Sciences and has been with the company since 1996. He holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering (1994) and a Masters of Science in Bioengineering (1996), with an emphasis in Biomechanics.
Mr. Mecham holds several licenses and certifications including being a licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.), a Certified Medical Investigator through the American College of Forensic Examiners, an accredited motor vehicle Crash Reconstructionist through the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR), is a Certified English XL Tribometrist (CXLT) in the area of slip and fall accident reconstruction, and is a certified investigator in downloading "black boxes" from motor vehicles.
Prior to joining MRA, Mr. Mecham was employed at the Orthopedic Biomechanics Institute (OBI), a non-profit research organization. While at OBI, Matt had the privilege of working on several large and small projects including designing a knee motion control simulator, performing snow skiing epidemiological studies, evaluating therapeutic appliances, analyzing foot and ankle injuries, designing and developing instrumentation devices, performing gait analysis, evaluating knee brace devices, and assisting orthopedic surgeons during training courses.
Mr. Mecham has performed freelance work for several prominent orthopedic surgeons at The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (TOSH), including writing articles for publication, developing patient injury databases, performing peer reviews for journal articles, and maintaining several clinical research projects.
Mr. Mecham had the distinguished opportunity to work on a multi-year project with athletes from the United States Freestyle Aerial Ski Jumping Team studying the biomechanics of head impacts and brain injury. This included developing instrumentation and equipment to evaluate the effectiveness of helmets and was utilized in recording and analyzing head impacts that occurred with ski jumpers. This project was extended after Mr. Mecham received a grant from the United States Olympic Committee, which involved neuropsychological evaluations to determine if cumulative effects of repeated head impacts were measurable. Publications and presentations resulted from these endeavors.
Mr. Mecham's curiosity with how accidents occur and why people get injured eventually led him to pursue a career as a Forensic Engineer. He has consulted on over 2,000 cases involving a wide variety of issues including motor vehicle accident investigation and reconstruction, liability analysis, vehicle dynamics, collision analysis, motorcycle accidents, bicycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, downloading "black boxes" from vehicles, biomechanics, occupant kinematics, recreational accident investigation, occupational accidents and injuries, human factors, skiing accidents, slip/trip and fall reconstruction, and injury causation analysis. Mr. Mecham highly values education and is constantly updating his skills and abilities through advanced training opportunities and experiences. He has been qualified to offer expert witness testimony in the above areas for Defense and Plaintiff clients in numerous depositions, arbitrations, district court and federal trial court appearances in Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Iowa, North Dakota, Massachusetts, Maine, Washington and Wyoming.
Mr. Mecham enjoys solving complex problems and dealing with the unique challenges inherent in each case. He is committed to providing exceptional and timely service to his clients in a professional and personal manner.
Larry Smiltneek, M.S., P.E.
Mr. Smiltneek has a Bachelors and Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Utah, and is a licensed professional engineer. He has a background in mechanism and machines from his formal education and years of working in industry. He is familiar with the electrical, structural, plumbing and HVAC systems found in homes and businesses. As a licensed PE, he is qualified to produce and certify the plans needed to repair structures. Mr. Smiltneek has been the primary investigator in hundreds of accident investigations. He uses state-of-the-art inspection and analysis tools to develop his findings.
John Droge, Ph.D.
Mr. Droge holds a BS in Biology, an MS in Bioengineering, and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. Previously Mr. Droge has worked as an engineer for the Orthopedic Bioengineering Research Lab (OBRL) at the University of Utah performing mechanical testing of cadaveric specimens. Mr. Droge left the OBRL to be the lead engineer for the department of Physical Therapy at the University of Utah. At that post, he researched motion analysis techniques and portable gait analysis instrumentation. In addition, he was able to write and receive two grants: a $7,500 seed grant from the University of Utah and a $50,000 grant from the American Parkinson's Disease Association. Mr. Droge's PhD work was on the mechanical response of the lumbar spine to high-speed frontal impact with different seat belt configurations.
Jamie Maddux
Mr. Maddux is a former Utah State Trooper and an ACTAR (Accrediation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction) accredited expert in the field of accident reconstruction. Mr. Maddux has more than seventeen years of first-hand experience investigating traffic collisions. In August 2003 he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and placed in charge of the Utah Highway Patrol's accident reconstruction program. He currently instructs accident investigation for the Utah Police Academy and is an expert in the use of Photogrammetry. Mr. Maddux is also certified as a Crash Data Retrieval System Operator and has received specialized training in the investigation of train vs. car collisions. Mr. Maddux has taught classes and presented lectures in the field of accident reconstruction to police officers throughout the western United States. He has also been a guest lecturer at SATAI (Southwestern Association of Technical Accident Investigators) due to his expertise in Photogrammetry. Mr. Maddux has also received specialized training in Human Factors, train vs. car collisions and he is a certified Crash Data Retrieval System Operator (downloading and interpreting vehicle "black box" data) as well as being certified in the downloading and interpretation of heavy vehicle Engine Control Module (ECM) crash data.
Ivan M. Rich
Mr. Rich has a degree in Automotive Technology, and has worked in every automotive capacity from intern to owner for over 30 years. He holds all eight disciplines that are required to be certified as an Automotive Service Excellence Master Technician. He also has extensive factory training and has over 230 General Motors certificates of training, including both Gold and Bronze certifications by both General Motors and Land Rover manufacturers. He is also a certified Crash Data Retrieval Technician (downloading and interpreting vehicle "black box" data).
Mr. Rich has worked with MRA Forensic Sciences since 2010 in a consultant capacity, but transitioned into the company as a full-time Motor Vehicle Expert in the areas of mechanical failures, accident, and fire investigation. Mr. Rich is also affiliated with the International Association of Arson Investigators both on a state as well as on a national level with numerous hours of fire investigation training as well as practical experience. He will be continuing his fire training and investigation, and is taking significant steps to become certified as a Certified Fire Investigator.
Randall Akers
Mr. Akers is currently working as a Sergeant in his nineteenth year with the Utah Highway Patrol, actively serving on M.A.I.T. (Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team), and as an ACTAR (Accrediation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction) accredited expert in the field of accident reconstruction. Mr. Akers has more than nineteen years of crash investigations experience with seven years as an instructor and supervisor of the Utah Highway Patrol's Crash Investigation/Reconstruction Program. As the supervisor, Mr. Akers was responsible for the development and implementation of the Utah Highway Patrol's FARO laser scanner and UAS (drone) scene documentation programs. Mr. Akers is also certified as a Bosch Crash Data Retrieval system technician/analyst (downloading and interpreting vehicle "black box" or airbag data), FAA Part 107 Pilot, and has received specialized training in human factors in vehicle collisions, motorcycle accidents, Photomodeler, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) roadway factors, FARO, heavy vehicle accidents, DroneDeploy, and train vs. auto collisions.