Meet Our Experts - Hawkins Forensic Investigation

John Gow

Lorraine — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 10:56:19 +0000

John is a highly experienced fire investigator who has provided expert testimony in fatal accident inquiries in both criminal and civil Courts. His work has seen him accepted as an expert in the US.

John started his working life in the military before embarking on a 45-year career in the fire industry. He joined Strathclyde Fire Brigade in 1979 and saw 31 years’ service during which he gained experience, amongst other roles, as an operational firefighter, incident commander and training officer and full time fire investigator.

During his secondment to training, John was responsible for the design and delivery of training programmes to operational firefighters and officers and clients from the private sector. Over a period of about 4 years John also delivered STCW Basic and Advanced firefighting as well as Command and Control training to ship’s crew and officers using a live fire environment.

During the last 13 years of his fire service career, John served as a full-time fire investigation officer where he was involved in the development of the unit’s Modus Operandi. He represented both Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service and the Chief Fire Officers Association (Scotland) at national forums on the development of fire investigation and crime scene standards relevant to that specialism

Following his departure from service, John joined a Forensic investigation company undertaking investigations on land across a wide spectrum of industrial, commercial, residential and transport risks. John contributed regularly to company publications and was published in Maritime Logistics Professional & Maritime Reporter and Engineering News. During this period, John was part of the team that analysed evidence and reported to the Coroner during the Stardust Fire Inquest. As part of this process, he provided written testimony on the fire service response.

John is also a highly experienced marine fire expert and has given expert testimony and advice as lead investigator in many high-profile cases. He has been engaged as either an origin and cause expert, or a firefighting expert and on some occasions as both.

He has undertaken investigations on behalf of underwriters, charterers, cargo interests and salvors involving a variety of vessels including, container ships, Ro-Pax, PCTC, and cruise ships and tankers.

John has undertaken many specialist training courses in fire and explosion investigation including the Advanced Post Blast Investigation course with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) at Fort AP Hill in Virginia, USA.

John was invited to participate as a member of the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) Expert Group on Containership Fire Safety. He was also part of the CINS Technical Advisory Committee (CINS -TAC) on Fire and Safety, which developed advice and guidance to the maritime sector on the issues surrounding the carriage and emergency response to Lithium-ion batteries.

John is currently appointed to serve on the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Technical Committee for NFPA 310 Code for Safety to Life from Fire on Merchant Vessels.

John also contributed to the development of the now-published judicial primer “Fire Investigation – A Primer for Courts” as a peer reviewer.

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Jason Atkinson

Chloe Duggan — Wed, 22 May 2024 11:43:25 +0000

Jason, an Intel scholar, graduated from University College Dublin with a 1st Class Honours Masters of Material Science and Engineering. While studying, Jason completed an internship with the materials and coating team in DePuy Synthes. He also conducted research on the use of digital image correlation to measure the strain field formed ahead of a crack’s tip during fracture to analyse the fracture behaviour of adhesive joints.

Jason continued his studies by completing a master’s by research, in the development and optimisation of projection stereolithography additive manufacturing. The focus of this work was to establish a relationship between process parameters, material structure, and mechanical properties, for this manufacturing process. Noteworthy findings included the identification of limitations associated with the current ultraviolet post-processing approach used and a proposed redesign of the printing process which would remove the need for post-processing entirely.

Jason then joined Stryker Instruments working as a Manufacturing Engineer. He was responsible for the support of production through problem solving and fault finding on various manufacturing processes, including laser welding, laser cutting, laser marking, linishing and electro polishing. He also sought to optimise production through cost saving and efficiency improvement projects.

In 2021 Jason joined DePuy Synthes working as a Materials Engineer in the Additive Manufacturing department. The focus of his work was the development of polymer additive manufacturing processes for medical implants and instruments. As a technical expert on new process introduction projects, he was responsible for ensuring that the chosen technology was capable of meeting product requirements and delivering clinical and business benefits. In this role he worked on Polyetheretherketone (PEEK), fibre reinforced PEEK, nylon, and titanium printing projects. Jason also led a software assessment project, testing and establishing an additive manufacturing software platform. The objective was to find a platform with the capability of digitally connecting the product development chain from part design through to manufacture.

Jason joined Hawkins in 2024 and is an Associate in the Dublin office.

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Adam Barrow

Lorraine — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 13:44:56 +0000

Adam graduated from the University of Manchester in 2012 with a degree with honours in Biomedical Sciences and a master’s degree in Biomechanics. Since then, he has gained over 12 years’ experience in collision investigation and road safety research, publishing peer-reviewed papers and reports throughout his career.

After graduating from university, Adam joined the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory as a collision investigator and injury biomechanics researcher before progressing to Head of Collision Research. His work included attending live collision scenes and using forensic investigation techniques to identify the root cause of the collision and injuries sustained. Adam is experienced with collision reconstructions and investigating vehicle crashworthiness, occupant and vulnerable road user protection, injury biomechanics, safe-system failure analysis and network operational safety.

Adam has used his expertise to lead research into active and passive safety technologies, develop road safety strategies and contribute to international vehicle safety regulations. This included leading the National Highways Fatality Research Programme which was awarded the Prince Michael of Kent International Road Safety Award in 2016.

In 2021, Adam joined WSP as an Associate Consultant, focusing on safety in the design and operation of national engineering programmes. These included operational technology and upgrade scheme designs on the Strategic Road Network and Smart Motorway Network.

Adam joined Hawkins in September 2024 as an Associate based in our London office.

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Andrew Peplow

Lorraine — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 11:32:02 +0000

With an academic background and over thirty years of experience in civil and environmental engineering, Andrew began studying at the University of Bath, where he earned degrees in Mathematics. This led him to obtain a PhD in 1996, specialising in computational mechanics applied to acoustic scattering from roadside noise barriers.

Andrew has been engaged in the understanding of computational dynamics, environmental noise, and vibration control. His early work on the Boundary Element Method (BEM) for acoustic and elastic wave propagation set the stage for contributions in the field. Andrew’s expertise has been further enriched through collaboration with institutions such as KTH in Stockholm, TUM Munich and Aalborg University in Denmark. Supported by a Royal Academy of Engineering and EU Marie Curie grant, his joint research on the Waveguide Finite Element Method (FEM) and Exact FEM/BEM modelling has advanced the understanding of wave propagation in periodic and waveguide structures.

Andrew is an enthusiastic and experienced researcher and presenter in acoustics and computational methods organising summer schools in Europe and special sessions at international conferences since 1996. His research has produced over 60 high-impact publications and ongoing international partnerships while supervising MSc and PhD candidates.

Andrew has provided his expertise on topics applied to advise and solve complex challenges in railway vibration, structural and building vibration prediction, and environmental noise control. He has been instructed as technical expert for industries ranging from heavy plant operations to large-scale HVDC stations and wind farms.

Andrew joined Hawkins in September 2024 as an Principal Consultant based in our Cambridge office.

Languages

Andrew is also proficient in Swedish

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Marie Gauthier

Lorraine — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 12:57:40 +0000

Marie is an acoustics and vibration consultant, who relocated from France in 2016, and brings a wealth of experience across various sectors. She holds a Master’s degree in Engineering from Nice, completing her studies through an apprenticeship. Marie’s placement at a research lab saw her specialising in acoustic porous materials where she focused her thesis on developing an auralisation module with existing software that evaluates the sound absorption and transmission properties of complex multi-layer systems. This innovation allows listeners to understand how acoustic treatment would sound within a simulated room, which has proven to be valuable in explaining acoustic concepts to clients and manufacturers in the construction industry.

Marie is dedicated to continuous learning and has recently enhanced her skill set by acquiring coding abilities. This has sparked a keen interest in sound propagation and room acoustics modelling, which she has applied to numerous prestigious projects across Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Each project has presented unique acoustic challenges, requiring a blend of technical expertise, creativity, and collaboration with architects, mechanical engineers, and construction teams throughout the RIBA Stages 0 to 7. Her goal is always to ensure that the acoustic design is seamlessly integrated into the overall project, whether for residential, healthcare, educational, cultural, or governmental premises.

In her free time, Marie enjoys creating soundscapes for festivals. She has also been playing the piano since the age of six.

LANGUAGES

Marie is also proficient in French and beginner in German and Spanish.

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Chris Taylor

Jodie — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 15:30:09 +0000

Chris has over two decades of experience in the fire industry. He first worked in the rail sector on the London Underground (LU), managing the fire safety aspects of the project to ensure any works being undertaken were in accordance with LU standards and the correct assurance processes were followed. Chris then moved into an engineering consultancy role with WSP working on a wider portfolio of projects including: rail and other transport sectors, high rise, residential, commercial/office, retail, heritage, education and industrial. By working in a multitude of sectors at both WSP and Ramboll, Chris has had to apply a range of fire engineering techniques to a variety of situations considering the impact on compliance, functionality, cost, time and safety.

Chris has developed his own quasi-steady state tools for analysing both smoke and people movements as well as applying other recognised tools such as FDS, B-RISK, CFAST and STEPS. As a reaction to the legislative changes brought about by the tragedy occurring at Grenfell, Chris has experience in applying the FN Curve and has been using this to determine the overall risk scale of buildings. This is a useful method for prioritising remedial works at higher risk buildings and identifying optimal risk mitigation solutions. This approach is especially helpful for more complex buildings, fire safety guidance documents BS 9999 and BS 9991 both highlight their limitations for buildings over 50 m and consider the need for a Qualitative Design Review (QDR) above this height.

Chris has a very good theoretical understanding behind the underlying principles of both suppression and detection systems and through this knowledge can evaluate whether the system installed is suitable for the actual application, assess alternatives and provide commentary on the compliance of these systems.

Throughout Chris’ time in consultancy at both Ramboll and WSP, he undertook several third-party reviews on behalf of approvals authorities, developers and contractors to give assurance when advanced performance-based fire engineering techniques have been applied. These focused on both the suitability of the method applied as well as the accuracy of the assessment. In addition, Chris recognises the significance of the inputs used in both quantitative deterministic and probabilistic studies and has found that this will often have significant implications on the output of the studies. He can communicate the sensitivity these inputs may have and advise on how to improve modelling accuracy.

Chris joined Hawkins in September 2024 as a Principal Associate based in our Birmingham office.

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Patrick Walsh

Chloe Duggan — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 12:44:38 +0000

Patrick graduated from the University of Technology Sydney in 2017 with a second-class honours degree in Civil Engineering. He started his career as an undergraduate and then graduate Engineer at WSP Hong Kong where he gained solid experience in the design and analysis of reinforced concrete high-rise towers as well as long-span cantilever structures. During this time, Patrick also completed a six-month secondment to Hip Hing, where he gained experience in temporary works design and construction sequencing.

In 2021 Patrick joined Prime Consulting Engineers to broaden his structural skillset and knowledge. Patrick held a leading role on numerous high end retail projects in Hong Kong, China, and overseas. During his time at Prime Consulting Engineers Patrick became Chartered in both the UK and Australia and was promoted to the grade of Principal Engineer.

Patrick has gained a wide range of practical experience, from high-rise reinforced concrete structures to intricate and complex stainless steel designs. His experiences include working as an on-site resident engineer on major developments, as well as collaborating with high end brands from early concept stage to execution. Additionally, Patrick has published research in the Australian Journal of Structural Engineering.

Patrick joined Hawkins in 2024 to expand the structural engineering capabilities of the company in the Greater China and Asia region. Patrick is currently an Associate based in our Hong Kong office.

LANGUAGES

Patrick is fluent in English

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Paul McCaughran

Chloe Duggan — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 12:40:08 +0000

Paul is a Chartered Architect with over 20 years of construction industry experience. Paul graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 2003 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree and previously graduated in 2000 with a BA Honours in Architectural Studies. His interests in university were in the design of theatres initially, and then television and broadcasting facilities. This appeal was largely due to the combination of art and science, together with complex user and technical requirements.

After his studies, Paul returned to Belfast to gain his professional practice exam at Queen’s University Belfast whilst working at Kennedy Fitzgerald & Associates, and became a chartered architect in 2005. His experience was varied from leisure centres, hotels, commercial and retail buildings. In 2010 he relocated to London and worked on flagship retail, and industrial-scale projects.

Since then, he has worked on aviation, civic, residential and community buildings. He has experience of all project stages with a focus on the technical stages of projects through to leading teams and delivery on site, including projects in Southeast England, London, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. More recently, projects were designed and developed using Building Information Modelling (BIM), carrying out design coordination with other disciplines using this software. Paul has also worked as a client representative, as Project Manager, gaining an NEC Project Manager’s accreditation, working for the Education Authority in Northern Ireland. There he assisted with the delivery of schools and managed integrated consultant teams.

Paul is registered with the Architect’s Registration Board (ARB) and has been a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) since 2005. In 2021, due to working on projects that were in the Republic of Ireland, Paul became a member of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI).

Paul joined Hawkins in October 2024 to become the newest member of the Belfast team.

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Simon Bateman

Chloe Duggan — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:21:23 +0000

Simon graduated from Cambridge University in 2010 with a first-class degree in Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering before joining Arup for a placement as a Structural Engineer in their Advanced Technology & Research team. During this time he contributed to specialist consulting engineering work including assessment of building defects and building damage assessment for the forthcoming Thames Tideway Tunnel.

Continuing his career in Arup’s Buildings London group, he gained experience of design of a wide variety of structural typologies, including reinforced concrete frames, post-tensioned concrete, structural steelwork and concrete basements. He has also worked on several projects with structural timber, including with modern techniques such as cross-laminated timber (CLT), and steel-timber and concrete-timber hybrids. Simon also led the structural design of a major refurbishment and lab retrofit scheme, including providing advice on the load capacity and vibration performance of the existing and proposed floors. Simon’s structural design experience also spans a wide variety of other sectors including residential, office, leisure, fit-out and sculpture. His CV includes a number of award-winning projects including the eye-catching Coal Drops Yard in London.

As well as design experience, Simon also has extensive experience of projects on site. This includes a contractor-side secondment with Costain on Bond Street Crossrail Station in the site engineering team of the tunnelled station platforms, as well as monitoring works on site as the designer on various projects. Simon’s site involvement in timber and refurbishment projects have brought him experience in issues pertinent to modern building trends, including moisture control in timber and defects in existing frames undergoing refurbishment. Simon has worked on both traditionally procured and design & build projects, the latter on both client and contractor side, and has also provided post-construction advice to building owners and occupiers, such as review of tenant fit-out requests.

Simon is a Chartered Member of both Institution of Civil Engineers and Institution of Structural Engineers. He joined Hawkins’ Built Environment team in December 2024 following 13 years of design experience.

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Jane Cook

Chloe Duggan — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 11:23:34 +0000

Jane started her career as a junior engineer in 2008 in Canada working with John Cooke & Associates inspecting local government buildings and churches in the Ottawa area. After graduating from McGill University in Montreal with a civil engineering degree, she travelled to Bath in the UK to complete her MSc in Conservation of Historic Buildings.

Jane worked for over 12 years as a consultant design engineer with The Morton Partnership on adaptive reuse projects. She has extensive site investigation experience of structures in different states of repair. Jane has worked on a variety of different types of structures including concrete and steel framed industrial buildings, stone cathedrals, concrete military structures, timber framed barns, and masonry rail bridges.

Through her design consulting work in the UK, Jane worked on the Abney Park Restoration project. She was involved in this multi-phase project for several years, specifying and supervising the long term monitoring of the chapel, as well as the soil investigations and material testing for the restoration. She assessed the capacity and condition of existing buildings, and designed the strengthening, and the design of the new structures on the site.

Other projects Jane worked on while at the Morton Partnership include the design of a steel framed education centre on a brownfield site, a piled reinforced concrete subterranean plant room, stone cantilevered stairs for historic houses, new steel framed lift shafts, and a 3000m² gallery and sculpture studio for a private client.

LANGUAGES

Jane is fluent in English

QUALIFICATIONS

BEng – Civil Engineering – McGill University
MSc- Historic Building Conservation

Disclaimer – Professional Engineers Act 1991, Singapore
We are not registered as Professional Engineers under the Professional Engineers Act 1991. Accordingly, we do not offer or provide professional engineering services in Singapore as defined under the Act. Our forensic investigation and root cause analysis services are conducted strictly within the scope of our expertise and do not constitute professional engineering services as defined under the Act. Any findings or conclusions presented are intended solely for investigative purposes and should not be construed as a substitute for services requiring registration under the Act.

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