News & Events

Stay up to date with Knott Laboratory's recent accolades, ongoing projects and latest events.

Knott Laboratory employees remain active within the engineering field by teaching legal and insurance seminars, publishing through nationwide organizations and participating in trade conferences. Additionally, we promote and sponsor events in the community.

March 5, 2025

Knott Lab Presents at UK Public Safety Conference

CEO and Director of Engineering presenting in Portsmouth, England

February 20, 2025

Introducing the Trucking Trifecta

Trucking Standard of Care | Accident Reconstruction | Visualization

December 13, 2024

Now Offering Professional Land Surveying

Welcome Joseph Stice, PLS, providing surveying services

Recent Cases

January 11, 2016

Forensic Engineering Investigation of Workplace Incidents Involving Machinery (Abstract)

On many occasions, a forensic engineer faces numerous questions when investigating workplace incidents involving machinery, such as: Why did this incident happen? Was it the operator who caused the incident? Was the operator properly trained? Was the equipment properly maintained? Was the equipment defectively designed or manufactured?
This paper focuses on potential product defect issues. How can one determine whether or not the product was defective and unreasonably dangerous? The paper outlines issues related to the investigation of product liability cases, and discusses potential procedures and steps to be taken in order to establish whether or not the product is defective or unreasonably dangerous.

January 8, 2016

Forensic Engineering Investigation of Incidents Involving Corded Window Coverings (Abstract)

It has been recognized for many years that young children have been involved in incidents, including
strangulation, with the cords associated with window covering products such as window blinds or
shades.1, 2 The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has identified window coverings with
cords as one of the top five hidden hazards in the home. According to CPSC a child dies about once
a month and another child suffers a near strangulation.3 The CPSC currently recommends the use of
cordless products wherever children live or visit.

January 1, 2007

Considerations for Applying and Interpreting Monte Carlo Simulation Analyses in Accident Reconstruction (Abstract)

In reconstructing any accident, the reconstructionist must properly account for uncertainty in their analysis. One popular method of examining and quantifying the uncertainty within an analysis is the use of Monte Carlo simulation techniques. The methods have been well established and published over the last several years by numerous authors. One of the key factors underlying the Monte Carlo analysis is the assumed probability distribution of the individual factors within the analysis. The literature has examples and recommendations for assuming normal, uniform, or custom distributions for input parameters. However, the literature to date has not examined how the assumption of a distribution affects the resulting probability distribution of the Monte Carlo analysis. This paper attempts to address this issue. Furthermore, with the large number of samples typically considered during a Monte Carlo analysis, the resulting probability distribution tends to be normal and lends itself well to statistical interpretation as to the “most likely” range of the desired parameter. The analysis in this paper was performed with a plug-in to Excel called Crystal Ball®, and the version of Crystal Ball® used for this paper allows the user to selectively filter results which do not agree with physical reality (for example, non-equal force balances within a crush energy analysis). When filtering results, the final probability distribution can be skewed. This paper also examines methods of identifying the “most likely” range from within a skewed probability distribution.

January 1, 2005

Crush and Conservation of Energy Analysis: Toward a Consistent Methodology (Abstract)

This paper clarifies the relationship between the absorbed crush energy and the dissipated crush energy and explores the use of each in crush and conservation of energy analysis. There is inconsistency and confusion in the literature of accident reconstruction regarding when crush analysis and conservation of energy analysis should use the absorbed crush energy and when it should use the dissipated crush energy. It is demonstrated in this paper that crush analysis calls for the absorbed energy, while conservation of energy analysis calls for the dissipated energy. However, this paper also shows that the equations of crush analysis and conservation of energy analysis can be written in terms of either the absorbed or the dissipated crush energies, since the absorbed and dissipated energies are related through the coefficient of restitution (when friction-type energy losses are assumed negligible). The assumptions of crush analysis are explored in order to develop a consistent approach.