• Aerospace Engineering
• Aviation
• Corrosion
• Design Engineering
• Equipment & Machinery
• Failure Analysis
• Fatigue
• Forensic Engineering
• Gas Turbine Engineering
• Industrial Engineering
• Materials
• Materials Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Metallurgy
• Oil & Gas
• Petroleum Engineering
• Professional Engineering
• Structural Engineering
• TurboMachinery
• Vibration Analysis

Q: Please list your professional accreditations, degrees, licenses, and certificates granted:

A: B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Boston University, 1980, Cum Laude

Licensed Professional Engineer:
Alabama 34214-E
Alaska 11369
California M28670
Florida 35560
Georgia 23625
Illinois 062.061018
Massachusetts 35315
Washington 37219

Two patents in the field of turbine engines

Q: Please list your affiliations or memberships in any professional and/or industry organizations:

A: ASME: American Society of Mechanical Engineering
ASM: American Society for Metals International
SAE: Society of Automotive Engineers
NSPE: National Society of Professional Engineers

Q: Please list any teaching or speaking experience you have had, including subject matter:

A: Presentations to a Turbine Users Association:
1996 "Gas Turbine Firing Temperature Optimization for Maximum Net Revenue"
1998 "Data Analysis: Troubleshooting Turbines and Compressors"
1999 "Hardware Assessment and Failure Analysis, Broken Hardware Tells a Story"
2002 "Engineering" (Open forum to answer questions regarding mechanical design, metallurgy, upgrades, performance, and failure analysis with respect to turbomachinery)
2003 "Hot Section Life, Base Load, Peak Load, and with Inlet Chilling"

Presented to the ASM International Atlanta Chapter:
2019 "Metallurgy of Turbine Engines"

Q: Have any of your accreditations ever been investigated, suspended or removed? (if yes, explain)

A: None

Q: On how many occasions have you been retained as an expert?

A: 25 times

Q: For what area(s) of expertise have you been retained as an expert?

A: Turbine Engine Mechanical Design and Durability: Merchantability and suitability

Mechanical Engineering and Failure Analysis: Electrical generator component cracking

Turbine Engine Mechanical Engineering: Patent rights dispute

Turbine Engine Performance and Mechanical Design: Merchantability and suitability, including performance, hardware life, thermodynamics, heat transfer

Turbine Engine Aftermarket Hardware Assessment: airworthiness of aftermarket hardware

Turbine Engine Mechanical Design: Assess due diligence in the case of a turbine design change

Compressor Failure Analysis: Determine cause for an LNG compressor failure and the engineering that led to that failure

Patent Dispute: Determined the similarities and differences between two combustion systems for a turbine engine.

Diesel Engine Design: Identified deficiencies in over-the-road truck engines that failed frequently.

Combustion Turbine Failure Analysis: Identified root cause of failure and operational errors in a large land-based turbine engine burning heavy fuel oil at an electrical combined cycle plant.

Steam turbine parts manufacturer Intellectual Property: Determined which parts a second manufacturer could have reverse-engineered, and which needed IP from another manufacturer.

Patent dispute: Reviewed the fluid dynamics of a medical device in suit, and performed and recorded tests to substantiate the conclusions.

Flight engine failure analysis and failure prevention: Testified regarding means of avoiding a certain failure mode in a certain flight turboprop engine.

Diesel engine and high pressure pump meditation. Opined as to the availability and reliability of a trailer-mounted diesel engine and pump system that had been prone to failure, and the prognosis for remediation available from the manufacturer.

Habeas Corpus: Testified regarding an expert report that had been admitted to a case wherein certain water flow calculations in that report indicated time-windows that might have had a bearing on the case.

Diesel engine powered electrical generator sets: Testified regarding the mechanical suitability of a certain diesel engine combined with a 2MW electrical alternator.

Steam turbine and compressor start-up issues, and seal issues at a petrochemical plant: Opined regarding the causes of the failures and the uprate to the plant.

Turbine engine performance and durability issues on a gas pipeline compression station: Opined regarding the root cause of physical failures, durability issues, and whether or not the OEM had remedied the problems with the engines over the course of time after delivery.

Turbine engine failure after overhaul: Testified regarding the catastrophic failure of a turbine engine during startup after a major overhaul.

Patent Dispute: Testified regarding the characteristics of helicopter skid designs and whether or not the technology represented a patent infringement.

Diesel engine fire in a truck: Testified regarding the role of a turbocharger as the cause of a fire in an over-the-road truck.

Steam turbine Trip And Throttle Valve: Testified regarding the design defects embodied in a trip and throttle valve for a steam turbine-generator installation.

Integrally Geared Turbocompressor: Opined as to the root cause of physical failure of a centrifugal compressor at a process plant that failed during startup after intermediate maintenance.

Patent Dispute: Opined on infringement issues regarding combustion turbine water washing equipment and execution.

Turbine Engine Inlet Chilling: Opined on issues regarding a turbine engine inlet chiller failure and subsequent damage to the downstream combustion turbine engine.

Q: In what percentage of your cases were you retained by the plaintiff?

A: 64%

Q: In what percentage of your cases were you retained by the defendant?

A: 36%

Q: On how many occasions have you had your deposition taken?

A: 17

Q: When was the last time you had your deposition taken?

A: September 2018

Q: On how many occasions have you been qualified by a court to give expert testimony?

A: 21

Q: On how many occasions have you testified as an expert in court or before an arbitrator?

A: 11

Q: For how many years have you worked with the legal industry as an expert?

A: 25

Q: What services do you offer? (E.g.: consulting, testing, reports, site inspections etc.)

A: Consulting, mechanical engineering design and analysis, failure analysis, metallurgical analysis, engineering reports, site inspection, hardware assessment, expert reports, expert consulting, hardware assessment. Please see service list at https://sbkushnick.com/servicelist.pdf

Q: What is your hourly rate to consult with an attorney?

A: (Call for rate)

Q: What is your hourly rate to review documents?

A: (Call for rate)

Q: What is your hourly rate to provide deposition testimony?

A: (Call for rate)

Q: What is your hourly rate to provide testimony at trial?

A: (Call for rate)

Q: Please list any fees other than those stated above (E.g.: travel expenses, copy fees, etc.)

A: travel expenses at cost; copy and reproduction services, and purchased materials at cost-plus-ten percent

References available upon request and will be selected based upon the requirements of the potential engagement.