Academic Credentials
  • M.S., Fire Protection Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2009
  • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2005
Licenses & Certifications
  • Professional Engineer, Illinois, #62065202
  • 40-Hour Hazardous Waste Operation and Emergency Response Certification (HAZWOPER)
  • Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator (CFEI)
  • Certified Fire Investigator (CFI)
  • Certified Vehicle Fire Investigator (CVFI)
  • Hazardous Material Regulations (HMR) training in accordance with 49 CFR Subchapter C
Professional Honors
  • Percy Bugbee Scholarship, 2007
  • William M. Carey Award, 2007
  • Maatman Fellowship, 2005
Professional Affiliations
  • International Association of Arson Investigators—IAAI
  • International Association of Arson Investigators, Illinois Chapter
  • National Association of Fire Investigators—NAFI
  • National Fire Protection Association—NFPA
    • Technical Committee on LP-Gases at Utility Gas Plants (NFPA 59)
    • Technical Committee on Transportation of Flammable Liquids (NFPA 385)
    • Technical Committee on Industrial Trucks (NFPA 505)
  • National Fire Protection Association, Illiana Chapter, Industrial Fire Protection Section
  • Society of Fire Protection Engineers—SFPE
  • Society of Fire Protection Engineers, Chicago Chapter

Mr. Hetrick applies his knowledge of fire protection engineering principles and fire science to the study and investigation of fires and explosions. His practice area includes the evaluation of product liability issues, origin and cause investigation for fire and explosion accidents, and analysis of building fire and life safety systems. 

Mr. Hetrick specializes in fire science, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and heat transfer. He performs investigations of consumer products, appliances, equipment, passenger vehicles, and properties in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors.

Mr. Hetrick is well-versed in the design, inspection, testing, and maintenance of automatic fire and life safety systems. He has experience with automatic fire sprinkler systems, commercial kitchen fire suppression systems, automatic fire detection and alarm systems, and building code compliance evaluations. Mr. Hetrick is experienced in the design and execution of bench-scale to full-scale fire tests and is skilled in the design, fabrication, and use of thermal and fire test instrumentation. He is also experienced in the validation of theoretical fire, heat transfer, and fluid flow models through experimental studies.

Mr. Hetrick has extensive experience in total flooding clean extinguishing agent technologies and applications. Prior to joining Exponent, Mr. Hetrick supported the National Fire Protection Association and the International Standards Organization in an effort to characterize the transient behavior of clean extinguishing agents in total flooding applications. He has worked with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Air Force Research Lab in efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of candidate halon-replacement agents for passenger and cargo aircraft with an emphasis on suppression of engine nacelle fires. Additional research in this area includes the study of clean agent material compatibility, ambient pressures developed during agent discharge/flooding, agent retention times or hold times, effectiveness of clean agents to suppress smoldering, deep-seated fires, and products of thermal and environmental degradation.

Mr. Hetrick also has experience in the natural gas pipeline industry validating the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) for gas transmission lines, development of pipeline features lists (PFLs), quality control methods for ensuring database accuracy, and evaluating methods for resolving unknown pipeline features.

While a student at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, he served as a teaching assistant and specialized in measurement methods aimed at characterizing the rate of material combustion and heat release with the cone calorimeter, fire propagation apparatus, and large-scale combustion products collector. He is skilled in using PCs to automate routine test methods, standardize calibration procedures, and aid in the evaluation of measurement uncertainty. Mr. Hetrick has experience with prevalent fire modeling software including Fire Dynamics Simulator and CFAST.