Academic Credentials
  • M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 1987
  • B.S., Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, 1986
Licenses & Certifications
  • Professional Engineer Mechanical, Alaska, #AELM11067
  • Professional Engineer, Alabama, #26506
  • Professional Engineer, Arkansas, #12792
  • Professional Engineer Mechanical, Arizona, #27858
  • Professional Engineer Mechanical, California, #29226
  • Professional Engineer, Connecticut, #PEN.0027592
  • Professional Engineer, Georgia, #PE049289
  • Professional Engineer, Hawaii, #PE-14611
  • Professional Engineer, Illinois, #62060618
  • Professional Engineer, Louisiana, #PE0045213
  • Professional Engineer Mechanical, Massachusetts, #48304
  • Professional Engineer, North Carolina, #37030
  • Professional Engineer, North Dakota, #PE-7831
  • Professional Engineer, New Jersey, #24GE04533800
  • Professional Engineer, New Mexico, #24472
  • Professional Engineer Mechanical, Nevada, #020867
  • Professional Engineer, New York, #80856-01
  • Professional Engineer Mechanical, Oregon, #85697PE
  • Professional Engineer, Rhode Island, #PE.0008165
  • Professional Engineer, South Carolina, #23627
  • Professional Engineer Mechanical, Washington, #46857
  • 40-Hour Hazardous Waste Operation and Emergency Response Certification (HAZWOPER)
  • Certified Corrosion and Materials Professional (API 571)
  • Certified Fire Investigator (CFI)
  • Fire Investigation 1A (Cause and Origin), California Office of State Fire Marshal
Professional Honors
  • Principal member, NFPA Technical Committee on Explosives that is responsible for a) Explosive Materials Code (NFPA 495) and b) Standard for Safe Havens and Interchange Lots for Vehicles Transporting Explosives (NFPA 498)
  • Principal member, NFPA Technical Committee on Handling and Conveying of Dusts, Vapors, and Gases that is responsible for a) Standard for the Prevention of Fire and Dust Explosions from the Manufacturing, Processing, and Handling of Combustible Particulate Solids (NFPA 654), b) Standard for Exhaust Systems for Air Conveying of Vapors, Gases, Mists, and Noncombustible Particulate Solids (NFPA 91), and c) Standard for Prevention of Sulfur Fires and Explosions (NFPA 655)
  • Alternate, NFPA 56 Technical Committee on Gas Process Safety
  • Member Technical Program Committee (International Structures and Materials and Reliability, Risk and Safety), International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers; Chair and Peer Reviewer, Asset Integrity Symposium
  • Peer Reviewer, Journal of Engineering Failure Analysis (Elsevier), Process Safety Progress (AICHE), International Journal of Offshore and Polar Engineering (IJOPE) and International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference (ISOPE)
  • Sigma Xi, Scientific Research Honor Society
  • Princeton University Scholarship 1982-1986
  • Princeton University Presidents Fund Research Award (1985,1986); The Fred Fox '39 Fund: Research Award, 1985; Class of 1942 Research Award, 1986
  • Aga Khan Scholar, Stanford University, 1986-1987
  • Mensa
Professional Affiliations
  • Combustion Institute
  • National Fire Protection Association
  • International Society of Explosives Engineers
  • American Society of Mechanical Engineers
  • American Institute of Chemical Engineers
  • International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers
Languages
  • Urdu

Mr. Reza investigates Loss of Containment (LOC) events and large loss fires and explosions, with a focus on the petrochemical industry. He has conducted process safety, risk assessment, design, and performance reviews of a wide range of petrochemical facilities, industrial and consumer equipment, and appliances, and is experienced in evaluating site-specific procedures, including engineering and regulatory controls designed to mitigate or prevent such events. 

He is also experienced in evaluating the relationship between equipment design, automation, and operator decisions and practices and leads multidisciplinary teams to assess the integrity of large assets and the potential risk and mechanism of failure. He investigates complex engineering failures by evaluating design and specification documents, process and operations data, alarm logs, available videos and photographs, laboratory test results, examination of physical artifacts, and witness interviews in an integrated manner.

Mr. Reza's primary expertise is in the engineering investigation and prevention of industrial, commercial, and residential fires and explosions, particularly in relation to the ignition, flame propagation, chemical kinetics, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics processes associated with combustion and explosion events. He has specific expertise in evaluating the hazards of reactive chemicals and the conditions that might cause a runaway chemical reaction, vapor cloud explosion, or detonation.

He has investigated several hundred fire and explosion incidents, including petrochemical, semiconductor and aerospace plants and equipment, dust explosions in various automotive, metal processing, pharmaceutical and food and dye operations, natural gas and propane explosions, accidental ignition or disposal of munitions fireworks and reactive chemicals, and residential and commercial fires. He has also conducted design and performance reviews of a wide range of commercial and consumer equipment, appliances, and processes. 

Mr. Reza has testified as an expert witness in various state and federal courts and presently serves on the NFPA committees on explosives (NFPA 495) and combustible dusts (NFPA 654). He is a registered Mechanical Engineer and a Certified Fire Investigator (by the International Association of Arson Investigators). He also holds certification as a corrosion and materials professional (API 571) from the American Petroleum Institute and assists clients with evaluating their Asset Integrity Management programs, including the review of applicable damage mechanisms that might affect these assets. 

He has held research positions with the Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba, Israel; the National Laboratory for Research in Energy Applications in Lisbon, Portugal; and the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies at Princeton University. Prior to joining Exponent, he was a Research Assistant in the High Temperature Gas Dynamics Laboratory at Stanford University.