Services – Expert Chemical Engineering Consulting & Forensic Analysis

Expert Witness Services

Litigation & Intellectual Property Support

Rockstraw has testified in deposition, trial, arbitration, inter partes review (IPR), and post grant review (PGR). He has appeared in United States Federal Court, the International Trade Commission, before the European Patent Office (Germany), the Vienna International Arbitral Centre (Austria), and had testimony entered before the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (France), the Superior Court of Justice (Canada). He has sat in the witness chair for 20 hours in a single trial.

Rockstraw has strong laboratory and pilot plant skills, can design and build chemical process experiments at both scales, and is able to design and carry out experiments to collect statistically-significant data. Rockstraw has rented lab space at a major academic institution on the east coast, relocated temporarily to the region, then spent a month performing chemical reaction engineering research in support of a patent infringement litigation.

Rockstraw is highly skilled at use of material and energy balance concepts to provide forensic analysis of process data to account for yield losses, product contaminations, or understand conditions leading to process failures, explosions, or fires. Valuable in cases involving contractual disputes over use of natural resources, utilization of raw materials, or source of product contamination. In one matter, Rockstraw was able to extract evidence of technology theft from over four years of DCS process data of a chemical process facility (nearly 1/4 of a billion data points).

With over 85 expert witness engagements and extensive deposition and trial experience, his testimony is trusted in high-stakes litigation and arbitration.

Forensic Analysis Services

Uncovering Process Anomalies & Failures

When process failures occur, Dr. Rockstraw’s forensic analysis is your key to understanding what went wrong:

• Material & Energy Balances: Detailed investigations to account for yield losses, product contaminations, and inefficiencies.
• Process Data Analysis: Utilizing extensive datasets—from activated carbon applications to ultrasonic flash pyrolysis—to pinpoint the causes of process anomalies.
• Safety Investigations: Evaluating conditions leading to spontaneous combustion, runaway reactions, explosions, and BLEVE incidents.

In one matter, Rockstraw was able to extract evidence of technology theft from over four years of DCS process data of a chemical process facility (nearly 1/4 of a billion data points).

His forensic services are invaluable in cases involving processed foods, reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, spray drying, emulsification, extrusion, fermentation, distillation, azeotropic distillation, and more.