Lighting Technology Expert Witness

Expert Witness No.1797

Education

1967-1972, Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University
Thesis topic: Resonant Wave-Wave Mixing in Magnetoactive Plasma

1964-1967, M.S., Electrical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University
Thesis topic: Noise Mechanisms in Helium-Neon Lasers

1961-1964, BSEE, Electrical Engineering, University of Maryland

Awards

Tau Beta Pi Honor Society  (Engineering)
Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society (Electrical Engineering)
Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society (Engineering)
Ford Foundation Fellowship (1964)

Experience

November 2000 to present, Expert’s 1797 Research & Consulting, Inc.
Independent lighting technology consultant, expert and expert witness focused on the development, evaluation and application of light sources, lamp ballasts, LED drivers, luminaires, lighting controls, and associated intellectual property. Served as expert and expert witness in lighting-related product performance, product liability, and breach of contract and patent infringement cases. Evaluated new lighting technology for private companies and government agencies, including the US Department of Energy. President of Expert 1797’s Research & Consulting, Inc. since its incorporation in May 2002.

January 2000 to August 2001, Senior Lighting Technologist and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture, Lighting Research Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Evaluated new lighting technology, including solid state lighting, electrodeless lamps, and improved emissivity filaments for incandescent lamps. Evaluated new class of “universal” ballasts for compact fluorescent lamps. Lead LRC portion of program to develop dedicated portable fixture for compact fluorescent lamps. Established foundation for the first high frequency reference ballast facility at the LRC. Taught Master of Science in Lighting course focused on development of lighting systems for developing countries.

July 1, 1999 to June 30, 2002, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture, Lighting Research Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

January 1978 – November 1999, Electrical Engineer and Manager, Lighting Systems Program (1981-1995) General Electric Research and Development Center Physicist.
Supervised work of 10 to 17 staff up to Ph.D. level working on advanced lighting systems, including metal halide and high-pressure sodium & cesium discharge lamps, fluorescent lamps and other low-pressure discharge lamps, and electronic ballasts & controls to operate these lamps. Managed total budget of $4 million. Major accomplishments of team include: Genura electrodeless fluorescent lamp, Multilox electrodeless metal halide lamp, low-mercury and mercury-free fluorescent lamps, long life cesium flash lamps for optically triggered thyristors in HVDC converter stations, computer models of low and high pressure lamps (lamp CAE tools), advanced electronic ballasts for low and high pressure lamps, high performance lamps & ballasts for aircraft displays, and electronic sensor & control systems for advanced home appliance products.

September 1971 - January 1978, Electrical Engineer and Technical Leader (1976-1978) in Advance Engineering Section of Fluorescent Lamp Department, General Electric Lighting Business Group.
Worked on lamp and electronic ballast development programs, including Wattmiser energy-saving retrofit lamp program and electrodeless fluorescent lamp and electronic ballast program. Liaison between GE Lighting and GE Research and Development Center for electronic ballast programs and electrodeless fluorescent lamp program. Developed high accuracy, high frequency electronic wattmeter for measurement of performance of fluorescent lamps at high frequency.

September 1964 – August 1971, Teaching and Research Assistant, Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics Case Institute of Technology, Case Western Reserve University
Worked on development of gas phase and solid state lasers.  Conducted research in areas of noise mechanisms in He-Ne lasers and wave mixing in magnetoactive plasmas. Taught course in electromagnetic theory.

Summer 1964, Electrical Engineer, Sounding Rocket Branch, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Responsible for the design of a portion of a digital data telemetry system.

Experience Summary

Expert 1797 has a PhD in Electrical Engineering. Over 40 years experience conducting research & development in electrical engineering, laser physics, plasma physics, discharge physics and related disciplines, including more than 34 years experience conducting and managing research & development on high efficacy fluorescent, compact fluorescent and metal halide lamps, low-mercury and mercury-free fluorescent lamps, electrodeless induction-coupled fluorescent and metal halide lamps, capacitively- and cavity-coupled sulfur lamps, selective emitters for high efficacy incandescent lamps, electronic ballasts and drivers for conventional and electrodeless fluorescent and HID lamps, and electronic power supplies for LED light sources. Co-developer of the first retrofit energy-saving fluorescent lamp. Pioneer in the development of electrodeless fluorescent and metal halide lamps. Established and lead teams at GE Research and Development Center that developed the Genura lamp, world's first integrally-ballasted electrodeless fluorescent lamp and an electrodeless metal halide lamp that remains the highest efficacy white light source ever demonstrated. 30 US Patents and numerous foreign patents on advanced light sources and ballasts, plus one US Patent on advanced appliance controls.

Since 2000, independent lighting technology consultant, expert and expert witness focused on the development, evaluation and application of light sources, lamp ballasts, LED drivers, luminaires, lighting controls, and associated intellectual property. Litigation activities have included work as both expert and expert witness in lighting-related product performance, product liability, breach of contract and patent infringement cases. These cases have been decided through trial, arbitration and mediation. Lighting technology evaluation activities include assessment of lighting-related patents for novelty and technical accuracy, review of research & development proposals for new energy-efficient lighting systems presented to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy of the US Department of Energy, plus dissemination of information related to the operation, characteristics and use of the latest lighting technology via technical papers, handbooks and targeted invited presentations at conferences and private companies. Product development activities include new energy efficient light sources and systems for general lighting plus lighting systems for novel applications, such as light-activated biomedical processes. Clients include lamp, ballast and fixture companies ranging from startups to global corporations, energy technology information services, government agencies, legal firms and venture capital firms.

Professional Societies

American Physical Society
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Senior Member
Illuminating Engineering Society of North America

Publications

Available upon request

Patents

Available upon request