OUR PEOPLE
Maureen Reitman
Sc.D., P.E., NAE, FSPE
Group Vice President and Principal Engineer
Academic Credentials
- Sc.D., Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 1993
- B.S., Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 1990
Licenses & Certifications
- Professional Engineer, Maryland, #46268
Professional Honors
- Elected Member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), 2024
- Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers
- National Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering, 2009
- Tau Beta Pi
- Sigma Xi
- John Wulff Award
- Carl Loeb Fellowship
- NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship
- Malcolm G. Kispert Award
- GTE Academic All-American
Professional Affiliations
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (member)
- American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists—AATCC (senior member)
- American Chemical Society (member)
- ASTM International (member)
- Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (member)
- Society of Plastics Engineers (Fellow)
- Professional Appointments
- Underwriter's Laboratory Standards Technical Panel STP 746 (Polymeric Materials, includes UL94, UL 746 and UL1694)
- Underwriter's Laboratory Standards Technical Panel STP 758 (Appliance Wires/ UL758)
- Medical Plastics Division Board of Directors, Society of Plastics Engineers
- Failure Analysis and Prevention Special Interest Group Board of Directors, Society of Plastics Engineers
Maureen Reitman, Sc.D., P.E., NAE, FSPE, is a principal engineer and group vice president overseeing three Exponent practices: Polymers & Chemistry, Health Sciences, and Biomedical Engineering & Sciences. She has over 30 years of experience in polymer science, materials selection, and product development.
Dr. Reitman advises companies in industries such as life sciences, infrastructure, manufacturing, and industrial chemicals, as well as government entities and law firms, on polymeric materials performance, new product commercialization strategy, intellectual property analysis, and technical disputes. She has particular expertise in medical plastics, high-performance coatings and adhesives, functional textiles, additives and formulated products, and the history of the plastics industry.
Polymers Commercialization Advising
Dr. Reitman provides high-level advisory services to manufacturers, raw material suppliers, and product development teams seeking to introduce new capabilities, improve existing systems, and commercialize products that rely on the performance and durability of polymeric materials, including plastics, rubbers, adhesives, composites, and specialty formulations. Her advisory work spans the full product lifecycle: from materials selection and scale-up through end-use testing, certification, and regulatory strategy.
Dr. Reitman has served on technical advisory boards for major chemical manufacturers and contract converters, helping clients make capital investment decisions, prioritize R&D programs, expand into new markets, and develop technical visibility strategies for novel materials. Her industrial experience at 3M, where she held both research and management roles, informs a practical, global, business-aware approach to materials consulting that bridges laboratory science and commercial strategy.
Medical Device & Combination Device Consulting
Dr. Reitman advises medical device manufacturers, combination device developers, and life sciences companies on the selection, performance, and regulatory compliance of polymeric materials used in implants, diagnostic components, drug delivery systems, and surgical tools. Her expertise encompasses permanently implantable polymers, biocompatibility considerations, accelerated and natural aging of medical-grade materials, and the effects of hospital disinfectants and sterilization processes on polymers.
Dr. Reitman has supported clients in responding to FDA inquiries, evaluating product consistency, and making recall decisions for combination devices that rely on polymeric components. She has served as an expert witness in medical device and combination device litigation and proceedings, including matters involving transdermal and other drug delivery systems, surgical mesh, women's health products, orthopedic implants, cardiovascular stents and grafts, medical balloons, ocular implants, diagnostic consumables, and hospital equipment.
Performance and Durability of Products that Rely on Polymers
Dr. Reitman assists clients across medical, industrial, chemical, consumer, communications, and infrastructure sectors in identifying and evaluating materials to achieve product performance goals, especially when success requires a balance of performance, sustainability, manufacturability, cost, and supply challenges. This can be part of material selection for new applications, material substitution and alternatives analysis for existing applications, or as part of an analysis of historical compositions and the evolving state of the art in plastics technologies.
Dr. Reitman evaluates candidate materials against technical performance requirements, regulatory standards, processing constraints, and end-use testing protocols to assess service life and potential failure mechanisms, helping clients maintain product functionality while managing user and environmental risk. She builds on her extensive failure analysis expertise and deep familiarity with UL standards, ASTM test methods, and FDA regulatory frameworks to provide practical, actionable guidance.
Polymeric Materials Expert Testimony
Dr. Reitman serves as a testifying expert in product liability, intellectual property, toxic tort, construction litigation, contract disputes, and international arbitration matters involving polymeric materials and products that rely on them. Her testimony experience spans plastics, composites, rubber, coatings, textiles, adhesives, and specialty formulations across consumer product, medical device, infrastructure, automotive, and industrial sectors.
Dr. Reitman has been retained to provide expert opinions in U.S. federal and state courts, International Trade Commission (ITC) Section 337 investigations, Canadian superior courts, and international arbitration forums. Her opinions address material performance and durability, material identification, formulation analysis, the technical basis for product performance claims, supply chain risk, and failure mechanisms, as well as allegations of product defect in design, materials, or manufacturing, providing legal teams with rigorous, defensible scientific analysis on matters where the chemistry and behavior of polymeric materials are at issue.
Dr. Reitman has testified in patent and trade secret disputes involving medical, dental, and drug delivery devices; sports and recreation equipment; specialty coatings; food and beverage packaging; high-performance textiles; superabsorbent polymers; protective underlayment; and proppants, among other topics. She assists clients in early stage assessments of the IP landscape for strategic and due diligence purposes, as well as in product infringement evaluations and validity analyses.
Beyond disputes related to intellectual property and the life sciences, Dr. Reitman has provided analysis and opinions related to products such as components of plumbing and heating systems, industrial and chemical processing equipment, windows and roofing, motor and fuel system components, paints and coatings, specialty fibers, nonwovens, apparel and protective gear, sports surfaces, historical plastics compositions, adhesives, sealants, and encapsulants.
