Navigation: Contact - Expertise - Experts - About - Example Cases -
Welcome to Root Cause Forensic Science and Engineering, a company dedicated to the science of finding the cause.
We assist adjusters, lawyers and large companies in the case of loss. We specialize in all types of losses involving one/few-of-a-kind machinery and integrated/automated/computerized machinery. We have particular skill in finding design flaws that lead to mysterious malfunctions, fires, explosions and implosions. Our multidisciplinary training combines mechanical and electrical and computer control. Our systems approach on multidisciplinary systems and our decades of experience sets Root Cause Forensic Science and Engineering apart. More information on the expertise of Root Cause Forensic Science and Engineering can be found by clicking Expertise.
Matthew J. Malone B.A.Sc. M.A.Sc P.Eng C.Eng CFEI CFII founded Root Cause Forensic Science and Engineering in February 2015 and is the lead expert. More information can be found by clicking Experts.
Root Cause Forensic Science and Engineering is founded on the belief that the best way to investigate equipment losses is with multidisciplinary technical training, decades of experience and a systems approach. More information can be found by clicking About. A few example cases from our experience have been included below.
You are currently viewing our simplified site suitable for phones and some other mobile devices. The most important information is easy to access here, but you also have the choice to switch to our reduced graphics full-content site, or switch to the full site now.
Navigation: Contact - Expertise - Experts - About - Example Cases -
Back to Top - Contact - Expertise - Experts - About - Example Cases -
Your Expert: Matthew J. Malone, B.A.Sc. M.A.Sc. P.Eng. C.Eng. CFEI CFII
Cellular Telephone: 416-371-2251
Email: matt@rootcauseforensics.com
Alternate: m_j_malone@hotmail.com
Back to Top - Contact - Expertise - Experts - About - Example Cases -
We assist Adjusters, Lawyers and Large Companies in the case of loss. Our particular specialty is all kinds of losses in one/few-of-a-kind machinery and integrated/automated/computerized machinery. Such systems are commonly found in industrial and process equipment, building systems, heavy equipment, and commercial occupancies -- really, most high-value equipment is integrated / computerized. With customizations, the quirks the system may become few-of-a-kind. We have particular skill in finding design flaws that lead to mysterious malfunctions, fires, explosions and implosions. It is our multidisciplinary training which combines mechanical and electrical and computer control, our systems approach on multidisciplinary systems and our decades of experience that sets Root Cause Forensic Science and Engineering apart. We also excel in strange and complex losses, odd vehicle accidents, and rare causes of loss like mechanical origin fires, spontaneous combustion, and power surge/lightning.
We have experience on very large losses from CAT (5 months at 9/11, hurricanes) to large industrial fires and failures. If your job needs a team, we will find the staff the job needs and form the "A team". Every member of our investigative team will be a licensed professional engineer or certified technician/technologist with decades of engineering experience -- no exceptions ever. When certified analytical results are required, they will be provided by independent laboratories using only the most modern equipment. We will never skimp on our commitment to providing top quality forensics.
We also perform ably and economically on most all more ordinary losses but from time to time we may refer a client to another expert. Please click on the navigation links for further information.
Please contact Root Cause Forensic Science and Engineering now if you have any questions or concerns about a potential assignment. The call is free whether we end up assisting you or referring you.
Back to Top - Contact - Expertise - Experts - About - Example Cases -
Professional Engineer
Designated Consulting Engineer
Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator
Certified Fire Investigation Instructor
Broad training across engineering and science disciplines -- How is this possible?
Broad experience before and in Forensics
Electrical, Mechanical, Control Software, Control Hardware, Analysis
Forensic Experience: 14 years: From 9/11 to Sunrise Propane and beyond
Engineering Experience: Decades
Biography
Prior to university, Matt Malone had a rural upbringing which resulted in a range of practical skills and self-reliance that have served him well through his career. Matt also had the space and freedom to experiment with machinery, fire, chemistry, home-made rockets, low and high voltage electricity, welding, casting -- in general a variety of otherwise dangerous, unsupervised experiments often involving tremendous forces -- as well as electronics and computer programming.
Matt Malone graduated with a B.A.Sc. in 1986 from Engineering Science at the University of Toronto and pursued masters and doctoral postgraduate studies at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies. His masters research involved experiments as a contractor at Defence Research Establishment Suffield in the Blast Tube on the 30 square mile Experimental Proving Ground. He followed up these experiments with 3D dynamic finite element analysis of the effects of explosives and fuel-air detonations and deflagrations on structures using the University of Toronto's Cray supercomputer.
Matt Malone was offered a full-time staff appointment at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies. When not teaching in the Division of Engineering Science, Matt was involved in research involving outside agencies. For instance, he worked on flight hardware at NASA's Johnson Space Center with 5 out of the 6 original Canadian astronauts and later designed, constructed and operated the analytical test rig used to analyse the post-flight samples from the NASA Long Duration Exposure Facility after their 5.7 years in space. Matt Malone returned for doctoral studies as a Connaught Scholar in space robotics and was again offered a teaching position at the University of Toronto, this time on the academic staff as an assistant professor supervising and teaching Engineering Design, the aerospace laboratories and Space Systems Design. Matt served on a number of important committees including 14 years on and finally chairing the Safety Committee, as well as the Dean's Task Forces for Engineering Design and Safety in the Curriculum. In 2000, Matt Malone was awarded the Spirit of EngSci Award for his contributions.
Matt went on to work for a year with a start-up R&D company developing electronics, monitoring and control systems for the system under development. Weeks after September 11, 2001 Matt was offered a position as a technical consultant at LWG Consulting. Matt applied for and received his P.Eng in October 2002, and his CFEI and CFII the following March. In 2006, seeking a more dedicated forensic practice, Matt joined R.J.Shirer & Associates and it was there he first applied his dynamics and analytical physics to vehicle accident reconstruction. It was also at R.J.Shirer & Associates that Matt Malone learned and contributed to the precision for the reporting of technical material in legal cases for which R.J.Shirer & Associates is well known.
In October 2014, Matt Malone earned his designation as a consulting engineer in the Province of Ontario. In February 2015, Matt Malone founded Root Cause Forensic Science and Engineering.
Back to Top - Contact - Expertise - Experts - About - Example Cases -
Root Cause Forensic Science and Engineering (RCFSaE) is dedicated to the science of finding the cause. We assist clients through every stage, from primary investigation, loss adjusting, subrogation, litigation support, and to trial if needed. We believe strongly that decades of engineering experience, and a broad technical training are the best preparation for forensic engineering. Further, we believe strongly that losses in multidisciplinary systems, which include nearly all modern machinery, are best investigated using a systems approach. That approach starts with an on-site, hands-on leader with an extensive multidisciplinary training and experience — systems-level experience. Throwing a group of individually-competent engineers at a project without technical leadership could very well be how the system was created in the first place, and why the loss occurred. For example, take a system where the electrical and mechanical designs did not quite match. Either part may look fine when examined on its own and this may lead to a lot of finger-pointing after the loss when it is two different subcontractors who contributed these components. When examined as a system we might find there is a gap between them that only manifested in a particular circumstance along the chain of causation in a particular loss. Such gaps may arise anywhere in a system. The march from automatic to automated to computerized to "smart" has only added more layers of complexity to modern systems and machinery, and left more possible gaps. With more outsourcing at every level of production and operations, and the design of large installations spread over several companies if not countries and languages, we ask, has the need for a systems approach decreased or increased with time? We believe the time is right for a forensic company with a different approach, one that is not prone to the types or thinking that can cause losses. It is your project; it deserves the right start. Root Cause Forensic Science and Engineering will pull in only the staff, services and equipment your project needs so you are not paying to maintain what you do not require.
Back to Top - Contact - Expertise - Experts - About - Example Cases -