Engineering Sciences

Batteries & Energy Storage

Secretariat’s engineering consultants provide expert support across the full battery lifecycle, from design and manufacturing to diagnostics and end-of-life solutions. With deep technical insight into performance, safety, and quality assurance, we help optimize battery systems for applications ranging from consumer electronics to electric vehicles and utility-scale energy storage.

Geotechnical Engineering

Secretariat’s geotechnical experts apply engineering expertise and investigative precision to uncover the root causes of soil- and foundation-related failures. With decades of experience evaluating subsurface conditions, foundation performance, and site stability, we deliver clear, defensible findings for issues such as settlement, slope instability, retaining wall failures, differing site conditions, adjacent construction, and more. Our investigations and analysis not only explain what went wrong but also provide practical solutions and, in collaboration with our economic damages experts, assess the financial impact of failures.

Human Factors

Secretariat’s Human Factors team helps organizations understand how people interact with products, systems, and environments. We evaluate user behavior, product design, and workplace conditions to identify risks, investigate accidents, and ensure compliance with industry standards. By combining behavioral science with environmental analysis, we deliver evidence-based insights that support safer, more effective designs and operations.

Mechanical Engineering

Engineering failures can occur in a wide range of environments, often raising concerns about safety, property damage, and business interruptions. Our team of professional engineers, scientists, and industry specialists conducts comprehensive failure analyses, investigations, risk assessments, and performance evaluations. We excel in identifying root causes, evaluating impacts, and presenting our findings in clear terms for key stakeholders such as arbitrators, judges, and juries. Supported by a renowned team of accounting and valuation experts, Secretariat offers an integrated approach to assess both technical and financial aspects of mechanical engineering failures.

Metallurgy & Materials Science

Metals, plastics, composites, and other engineering materials are foundational to modern life. While these materials perform critical roles, they sometimes fail or are at risk of failure. Secretariat’s engineers and scientists specialize in understanding why. Our industry-recognized experts conduct investigations into material failures, product design, regulatory inquiries, and disputes. We identify root causes such as design defects, human error, manufacturing nonconformances, nonconformance with codes and standards, or inadequate overall processes. Combining this technical analysis with financial and damages expertise, our Secretariat team uniquely integrates engineering, delay analysis, and financial insights to assess damages.

Thermal Sciences

Thermal sciences involve heat transfer, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics, focusing on how energy is exchanged and transformed in systems. Our engineers evaluate designs and processes such as combustion, refrigeration, and energy conversion, which are vital in power generation, aerospace, and manufacturing. We also conduct origin and cause investigations for large-scale fires and explosions at commercial and industrial facilities worldwide, and have testified in state and federal court, mediation, and international arbitration..

Key Experts