Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 2011
  • M.S., Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 2009
  • B.S., Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, 2005
Licenses & Certifications
  • Professional Engineer, Alabama, #34215
  • Professional Engineer Metallurgical, California, #1974
  • Professional Engineer, Georgia, #PE039760
  • Professional Engineer, Louisiana, #47019
  • Professional Engineer, Michigan, #6201315805
  • Professional Engineer, New York, #98605
  • Professional Engineer, North Carolina, #41149
  • Professional Engineer Metallurgical, Texas, #122823
  • Transportation Safety Institute, Transit Rail Incident Investigation Certificate
  • Transportation Workers Identification Card (TWIC)
  • Certified Corrosion and Materials Professional (API 571)
  • API 577 Welding Inspection and Metallurgy
Professional Honors
  • National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow, 2006-2009
Professional Affiliations
  • ASM
  • Failure Analysis Society – Secretary (2023 – 2025)
  • Failure Analysis Society Board Member (2025 - )
  • Tau Beta Pi

Joe Lemberg, Ph.D., P.E., is a principal engineer in Exponent's Metallurgical & Corrosion Engineering practice with more than 15 years of experience in failure analysis, fracture mechanics, metallurgy, and corrosion engineering. He advises law firms, insurers, and industrial clients on materials failures across oil and gas, industrial equipment, consumer products, glass and ceramics, and medical devices, with particular depth in litigation and arbitration support.

Throughout his career, Dr. Lemberg has applied his knowledge of relevant consensus standards and regulations, including API, ASME, ASTM, ISO, AAR Interchange Rules, and others, as part of his failure analysis consulting practice. The complex, multidisciplinary issues Dr. Lemberg typically encounters allow him to leverage the wide variety of expertise available at Exponent to address issues that require additional expertise.

Oil & Gas Disputes

Dr. Lemberg supports attorneys, insurers, and operators in oil and gas disputes in the upstream (production), midstream (crude oil transportation and storage), and downstream (refining and refined product distribution) sectors involving pipeline failures, pressure vessel ruptures, storage tank cracking, compressor failures, and downhole equipment degradation, among other metallurgical issues. His investigations address failure mechanisms including fatigue, corrosion-induced wall loss, weld-related defects, stress corrosion cracking (SCC), and embrittlement mechanisms, such as hydrogen embrittlement, in systems subject to industry standards such as API 571, API 577, API 579, ASME B31.3, and ASME BPVC standards.

Dr. Lemberg has evaluated oil country tubular goods (OCTG), frac tank coatings, flexible hoses used in hydraulic fracturing, and large-scale compressors at liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing facilities. He applies both destructive and nondestructive examination methods — including metallography, fractography, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and mechanical testing — to deliver technically rigorous, defensible conclusions, and he has served as an expert witness in oil and gas failure disputes and related proceedings, generally in the southeastern U.S. and Gulf Coast Region. Dr. Lemberg is a Certified Corrosion and Materials Professional (API 571) and holds a Welding and Metallurgy certification (API 577) through the American Petroleum Institute.

Industrial Equipment and Piping Failures

Dr. Lemberg investigates the root causes of failures in heavy industrial equipment and piping, including railroad rolling stock, rotating machinery, pressure vessels, storage tanks, industrial piping, and fabricated structural assemblies. His work spans ferrous and non-ferrous alloy systems and addresses failure modes such as fatigue fracture, overload, SCC, and manufacturing or design deficiencies. He has evaluated DOT 105 and DOT 111 tank cars, large-scale forge presses, compressors, trunnion axles on multi-axle trailers, air, water, gas, and chemical piping, expansion joints, and screw coolers, among other industrial components. Dr. Lemberg's consulting integrates fracture mechanics analysis, mechanical testing, corrosion data, and applicable industry standards to help clients — including manufacturers, insurers, and legal counsel — understand the cause and origin of equipment failures and assess liability in disputes and arbitration proceedings.

Consumer Product Liability and Recall Evaluations

Dr. Lemberg assists product manufacturers, retailers, insurers, and attorneys in consumer product liability investigations and recall evaluations involving fracture, corrosion, and materials degradation. His experience includes failure analyses of brass plumbing components and potable water fittings, fire sprinklers (including fusible link and glass bulb types), flexible stainless steel water hoses, fall-prevention devices, garage door torsion springs, flatware and other kitchen gadgets, and a broad range of household and commercial products. He applies industry standard root-cause analysis frameworks and techniques — including fractography, metallography, and materials characterization — to determine whether failures resulted from design deficiencies, manufacturing issues, improper installation, or in-service misuse. Dr. Lemberg has provided deposition testimony in consumer product liability matters and has been retained as an expert in personal injury and premises liability proceedings.

Glass & Ceramic Failures

Dr. Lemberg performs failure and fracture analyses of glass and ceramic components for clients in litigation, insurance, and product development contexts. His work encompasses architectural glazing systems, glass cookware and drinkware, fire sprinkler glass bulbs, and ceramic and glass components used in industrial and consumer applications. He identifies fracture origins, characterizes crack propagation patterns, and evaluates the role of manufacturing defects, thermal gradients, impact loading, and environmental factors in glass and ceramic failures. He has applied advanced analytical techniques including fractography and optical and electron microscopy to support product liability and insurance disputes, and he has provided deposition testimony regarding windowpane fracture.

Medical Device Failure Analysis

Dr. Lemberg advises medical device manufacturers, hospitals, and legal counsel on fracture and corrosion failures in implantable and surgical devices. His investigations have addressed orthopedic implants, surgical instruments, stents, and other devices fabricated from stainless steel, titanium, cobalt-chromium, and Nitinol alloys. He evaluates the interplay between patient factors, surgical technique, device design, and material properties to determine the root cause of in vivo and ex vivo failures. Dr. Lemberg leverages scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), metallography, and mechanical testing, and his work supports both premarket design evaluation and postmarket failure investigation in regulatory and litigation contexts. He has been retained as an expert in medical device product liability matters.

Geographic Coverage

Based in Atlanta, Dr. Lemberg consults on matters in the southeastern U.S. and Gulf Coast region but also provides expertise nationwide and internationally. He is licensed as a professional engineer in Alabama, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, and Texas.