Meet Our Experts

Alex Fergusson is the Manager of Chicago Operations and specializes in Risk Management Services including: Facility Siting Studies (FSS), Quantitative Risk Assessments (QRA), and Insurance Risk Engineering.  Alex has worked with clients in the midstream, fertilizer, and specialty chemical industries where he specializes in consequence and risk evaluation of blast, toxic, flammable and fire hazards.  In addition to servicing clients’ process safety needs, Alex also has extensive experience in jet fire and dispersion testing at the Wilfred E. Baker Test Facility, designing and running test and demonstration programs.

Mr. Raibagkar is the Canadian Operations Manager.  His background is in structural analysis, design (static and dynamic), finite element analysis, and software development. He has extensive experience in assessing vulnerability to occupants from explosion and fire hazards. Mr. Raibagkar has participated in numerous Facility Siting and Quantitative Risk Assessments. In addition, Mr. Raibagkar routinely conducts fire studies in Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). Mr. Raibagkar is the lead software developer for the Structures Group.

Anthony Sarrack is a principle risk analyst and the technical lead for toxic shelter design and testing. He came from the nuclear power and weapons reactor industry and has worked for BakerRisk since May 2006.  In that time, he has been instrumental in the development of FSS and QRA methodology and documentation as well as toxic shelter assessments and testing methodology.

Mr. Bingham works at BakerRisk’s San Antonio office in the Structures Group. His background is in structural analysis and design (static and dynamic), finite element analysis, coupled thermal/mechanical analysis, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), and engineering model development. He has extensive experience developing engineering computer models to predict the response of structural systems to impulsive loads (explosives effects, blast, and ground shock).

As a senior principal consultant and Director of Process Safety for BakerRisk, Mr. Mather has provided a wide variety of process safety and risk engineering services to oil, gas, chemical, and petrochemical companies around the world.  Based in the BakerRisk Houston office, his recent projects have included risk management services for LNG liquefaction facilities and regasification terminals; liquid and gas transportation pipeline systems; offshore well and processing platforms, FPSO’s; siting studies for refineries and chemical plants, and QRA’s for major oil and gas operations worldwide.

Cheryl Grounds is a member of BakerRisk’s Process Safety Group. She has over thirty-four years of experience in the oil, gas, and chemical industries providing service worldwide to corporations in the areas of hazard and risk management, fire protection engineering, and management of process safety. Ms. Grounds’ experience includes upstream E&P, downstream manufacturing and distribution, and corporate management of process safety. She rejoined BakerRisk after retiring from BP, and resides in Houston, Texas.

Chris Heaton is BakerRisk’s CEO, working out of the San Antonio headquarters office. He is globally recognized as a leader in operational excellence and management of risk engineering and management services. Chris’ 28 years of client advocacy has spanned multiple industry sectors including energy, consumer products, healthcare, higher education, chemical/flammable liquids operations, developers, public/government entities, and manufacturing & assembly.

Dan Benac works at BakerRisk’s San Antonio office in the Materials Engineering Group. As a registered professional metallurgical engineer in the state of Texas, Mr. Benac is a specialist in structural integrity and material issues, failure analysis of plant equipment, materials evaluations, and materials selection for designs. He has over 35 years of experience investigating and solving structural integrity problems for plant equipment.

Mr. Malik works in the BakerRisk San Antonio office as part of the Blast Effects Section. His primary responsibility is management of the BakerRisk Box Canyon Test Facility. This 2300-acre facility is used to perform vapor cloud explosion (VCE) testing, full-scale structural response tests, and other high hazard tests that require large stand‑off distances. Testing at Box Canyon is primarily focused on the development and validation of blast load or blast response prediction methodologies.  Mr. Malik also has extensive experience in performing facility siting studies and incident investigations.

David Black works at BakerRisk’s Houston office as the company’s lead insurance risk consultant. He has over 27 years of experience in industrial property loss prevention and control, primarily in the oil, gas, petrochemical, and power generation industries. Professional duties have included: loss prevention surveys / evaluations, loss investigations, fire protection systems evaluation and testing, risk modeling of natural peril exposures, and development of loss estimates.

In addition to insurance risk engineering, Mr. Black leads BakerRisk’s Fire Protection Services area, highlighted by the Fire Hazards and Mitigations Analysis (FHMA) service. The FHMA methodology was developed by BakerRisk to assist clients who wish to perform focused, comprehensive analyses of their operation’s fire risks and mitigation resources available to limit fire consequences at their facilities.

Mr. Bogosian is a member of BakerRisk’s Structures Section and manager of the Los Angeles office since joining the company in 2007. During his 30-year career, his professional activities have centered around the design, analysis, and upgrade of structures subjected to blast and impact loads. Areas of practice include industrial facilities (for building subjected to accidental explosions), conventional and nuclear weapons effects, anti-terrorist design, and explosive safety for manufacturing and storage facilities. Project management experience ranges from the small and straightforward to multi-year R&D programs for the U.S. government.

David Wechsler is part of the BakerRisk Process Safety Group working in the Houston office. He is a seasoned, experienced process safety consultant, having more than 40 years of experience in the chemical and insurance industries. He is a recognized subject matter expert dealing with Hazardous Area Classification, and has hands-on global experience with the U.S., European (ATEX) and IEC-, NFPA- and UL/ISA- related codes and standards.

Duane Rehmeyer is a remote staff member in BakerRisk’s Process Safety Group. His 39-year career experience includes all aspects of industrial fire protection and process safety management. Major accomplishments include developing innovative risk assessment techniques and cost effective approaches to lowering process safety and fire risk in the petrochemical and refining industries. Duane’s specific experience ranges from OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) program development and compliance audits, EPA Risk Management Plan (RMP) reporting and auditing, process hazard analysis (PHA), insurance risk assessment surveys, fire investigations, assessment of fire protection system infrastructure, and development of fire prevention and protection standards.

Gabriel Shelton works in the BakerRisk San Antonio office as part of the Structures Group. His work focuses on the impact of toxic gases on buildings, testing buildings for air tightness, and indoor air quality. His work has primarily included modeling of air quality in buildings, as well as analysis of existing buildings and upgrade designs for petrochemical facilities, test cells, and blast-resistant modules.

As Manager of Global Business Development, Mr. Shah specializes in Risk Management Services including: Quantitative Risk Assessments (QRA), Corporate Risk Management, and Risk-based Decision Support. Since 1988, he has performed over 350 global QRA studies of refining, chemical, oil & gas, and transportation operations, more than 65 of which were QRA studies for HF alkylation units. Jatin works with clients to develop conceptual layout and equipment specifications for effective detection, isolation, and Water Mitigation strategies for HF, Ammonia, and other toxic processes.

Mr. Idriss manages the Wilfred E. Baker Test Facility, which is located approximately 45 minutes east of San Antonio in La Vernia, Texas. In addition to housing one of the largest and most fully featured Shock Tubes in the world, it is the home of multidisciplinary testing teams who can evaluate high speed projectile behavior, flammable material dispersion, and jet fire effects. The teams also conduct custom and specialty testing and experiments for clients world-wide, including for litigation support.

Prior to joining BakerRisk, Mr. Idriss served as a Structural Engineer and All-Source Intelligence Analyst for the U.S. Army National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC). He has authored numerous studies on foreign military weapon and fortification technologies, as well as threat analysis reports for U.S. military systems, including Naval Special Warfare and large-caliber ammunition. Mr. Idriss has experience in explosives use and handling, threat characterization for various military and civilian facilities, and intelligence warning and analysis.

Dr. Geng works at BakerRisk’s San Antonio office in the Blast Effects Group. His work at BakerRisk focuses on research and development of 3-D CFD (computational fluid dynamics) code and visualization systems that are capable of simulating generation and propagation of blast and shock waves and their interaction with structures or buildings. Dr. Geng successfully developed a robust three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics code, BWTI© (Blast Wave-Target Interaction), which is routinely used in project work for BakerRisk.

Joan Schork has over 30 years of experience in the Industrial Gases and Chemicals industries.  She has held technical and management positions in Process Safety, Design Engineering, R&D, Gas Plant Operations, and Chemical Manufacturing.  This broad experience base provides valuable perspective in the identification of process hazards, the investigation of safety incidents, and the development of practical solutions to complex problems.  Areas of expertise include cryogenic and adsorbent-based air separation processes, the hydrogen/carbon monoxide (HyCO) process and safety related to: O₂ and other strong oxidizers, fluorine-containing compounds, toxic, flammable and asphyxiant gases, transport and storage of liquefied gases, venting of dense gases, and gas pipelines.

Mr. Dyer works at BakerRisk’s Houston office in the Structures Group.  He is a Registered Professional Engineer with over 20 years of experience in blast-resistant structural design, explosives effects, dynamic structural analysis, and risk-based design.  At BakerRisk, his activities have focused on mitigating risk and hazards to occupants of blast-loaded structures.  Mr. Dyer has extensive experience in the design of blast-resistant buildings and building upgrades to mitigate explosion risk, blast damage, and occupant vulnerability in petrochemical facilities.  He has participated in numerous projects as the lead structural engineer for major international petrochemical companies, including numerous facility siting studies of petrochemical plants and refineries around the world.  Mr. Dyer has authored various papers on structural risk assessment and design of blast-loaded structures.

Mr. Bruce-Black works at BakerRisk’s Houston office in the Process Safety Group.  His experience includes research in gas turbine film cooling, as well as performing Facility Siting Studies, Quantitative Risk Assessments, Water Suitability Assessments, Audits, Process Hazard Analyses, and Hazardous Area Classification Studies for a variety of leading petrochemical and chemical companies in the U.S.

Karen Vilas is the Supervisor of Business Development and Marketing.  In addition, Karen is a Principal Consultant in the Houston Process Safety group specializing in Consequence and Risk Modeling as well as Insurance Risk Engineering.  Karen has worked extensively with clients in the refining and petrochemical industries with a focus on risk quantification and mitigation of blast, toxic, flammable and fire hazards.  In addition to servicing clients’ process safety needs, Karen oversees the Business Development and Marketing group, focusing on industry education of key risk management topics through conference technical content coordination and media content development.

Dr. Thomas’ primary technical focus is on the development and application of empirical, analytical, and numerical models for the characterization of flammability and explosion phenomena. He also actively participates in the investigation of accidental industrial explosions, explosion consequence assessments, and testing. He has led explosion consequence assessments for refineries, chemical processing plants, offshore oil production platforms, other industrial facilities, and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites. Dr. Thomas has been involved with testing projects that include large-scale vapor cloud explosions, vented deflagrations, response of equipment to internal explosions, and gas mixing within enclosures. Dr. Thomas has numerous publications and conference presentations related to these topics.

Mr. Edel works at BakerRisk’s San Antonio office in the Protective Structures Section. His work focuses on impulsive and conventional loading of structures for industrial and government applications. This has primarily included analysis and design of new and existing buildings, blast-resistant upgrade designs, explosive test containment enclosures, and federal building and airport evaluations and site planning. He has performed siting studies for various petrochemical plants to determine the response of structural components and systems to blast loads.

Mr. Broadribb is a remote staff member in BakerRisk’s Process Safety Group. He began work at BakerRisk in December 2009 after forty-one years of service with a major oil company. During the course of his career, Mike has worked in onshore and offshore oil and gas exploration and production facilities, oil refineries, and marine terminals in Europe and North America in a variety of Operations, Technical, and Process Safety roles.

Michael Lowak works in the BakerRisk San Antonio office and is a Principal Consultant. He has 20 years of experience in the design and evaluation of structures subjected to impulsive loadings. His dynamic testing efforts include research and developmental testing, as well as proof testing of structural components and systems loaded by dynamic loadings. Many of the research and developmental test programs were partnered with analytical efforts that resulted in empirically validated analytical methods for evaluating the developed blast resistant structural system, with Mr. Lowak being a significant contributor in the analytical effort, as well as the testing of the projects. These projects have included development of new blast resistant window and door designs, innovative wall systems, and masonry wall retrofit systems. Mr. Lowak also provides structural analysis consulting for blast resistant structures with specialty in blast resistant glazing systems and doors.

Mike Moosemiller’s areas of expertise are in process safety and risk and reliability assessment, with 30 years’ experience in the following areas: Facility Siting Analyses, Quantitative Risk Assessment, Process Hazards Analysis, Reliability/Availability Assessment, Risk-Based Inspection, and auditing of management systems and field installations.

Mr. Polcyn is Manager of the Protective Structures Section, and has over 30 years of experience in the analysis and design of a wide variety of structures subjected to blast or impulsive loads from accidental explosions and security threats. He has designed several explosives handling facilities to ensure that pertinent Quantity-Distance siting requirements are met and working bays and operational buildings are properly designed to protect workers. Mr. Polcyn regularly works with clients to develop economical structural solutions for facilities required to provide occupant protection from blast and related hazards.

Murtaza Gandhi works at BakerRisk’s Houston office in the Process Safety Group. He is an Electrical Controls Engineer with 14 years of experience in controls and safety systems, and 7+ years’ experience in qualitative hazard analysis. He has extensive experience with various phases of the safety life cycle including SIL assignment, SIL calculation, SIL facilitation and verification, FAT, SAT, and startups. He has successfully managed numerous projects, meeting schedules, and budget constraints, along with providing quality product to the client. He has facilitated multiple PHAs and LOPA studies for clients worldwide. He has been a continuous member and leader of ISA at the student, local, and national level since 2001.

Dr Peter Smith leads the protective structures group of BakerRisk Europe Ltd.; BakerRisk’s international office based in the United Kingdom.  His background is in the assessment and forensic examination of structural systems subject to the effects of high-explosive blast and malicious actions, with a focus in progressive collapse.  Peter works with international clients across the construction, petrochemical, government, security and defense sectors to deliver a range of analytical, design and research and development projects that mitigate blast, fire and toxic risk.

Phil Parsons works in the BakerRisk San Antonio office in the Blast Effects Section. He has experience with design, analytical techniques, and hands-on testing. His work at BakerRisk has consisted of performing siting studies and explosion hazard analysis projects in which he has predicted internal and external blast loads from deflagrations and detonations. Blast sources have included high explosives, vapor cloud explosions, dust explosions, bursting pressure vessels, and BLEVEs. His particular area of expertise lies with combustible dust hazards and he has performed over 100 dust hazard analyses as well as numerous incident investigations across a wide range of industries all over the world. Mr. Parsons serves on both the NFPA 654 Committee “Standard for the Prevention of Fire and Dust Explosions from the Manufacturing, Processing, and Handling of Combustible Particulate Solids”, as well as on the NFPA 652 Committee “Standard on the Fundamentals of Combustible Dust”.

Mr. Baker’s career has focused on explosion and combustion phenomena. He has conducted numerous R&D projects, hazards analyses, and engineering studies involving airblast effects from a wide variety of explosion sources, blast loads, fragmentation effects, debris throw, blast damage, and personnel injury. Injury prediction and risk analysis have also been the subject of Mr. Baker’s research; he has contributed to the development of a building occupant vulnerability model.

Robert Magraw is the Operations Manager of BakerRisk Europe Ltd and is part of the BakerRisk Process Safety Group.  He has an extensive career of over twenty-eight years in safety and risk management, including ten years in the oil and gas sector and over eighteen years in the nuclear industry.  His main areas of technical practice currently include PHA, SIS/SIL, QRA, audit, and insurance risk engineering.  He was previously head of environmental, health, safety and quality for an international nuclear services company.  He also managed the corporate HSE management system and assurance program for a major international nuclear business with a global portfolio of nuclear and non-nuclear operations.

Roy Moses is the Manager of Houston Operations and specializes in Risk Management Services including: Quantitative Risk Assessments (QRA), Corporate Risk Management, Accident Investigations, and Hazardous area classifications.  Roy has worked with clients in the chemical (Petro and specialty chemicals), refining, pharmaceuticals, fertilizer, midstream, and Pulp and Paper industries.  In addition to servicing client’s process safety needs, he has participated in numerous incident investigations helping clients identify, preserve, and evaluate materials surrounding industrial events.

Dr. Sean Berg works in our San Antonio office as part of the Investigation and Materials Group. He has a background in both mechanical engineering and metallurgical and materials engineering, and is a registered professional engineer practicing in both disciplines. As a university professor, he has taught university coursework and conducted research in each of these areas of engineering. With 10 years of experience as an engineer, Dr. Berg has expertise in structural and mechanical integrity of fixed and rotating equipment, fitness-for-service assessments, failure analysis of plant and refinery equipment, high pressure high temperature (HPHT) drilling and production systems, and forensic investigation of property damage and determining origin and cause of losses resulting from fire, water, weather, and external forces. Dr. Berg is also a specialist in batteries and battery materials, with in-depth expertise in battery energy storage systems and associated hazards.

Thomas Mander works in the BakerRisk San Antonio office as part of the Protective Structures Group. His work focuses on the assessment and design of buildings, test enclosures, bridges, and infrastructure subjected to explosion hazards. Mr. Mander has managed and supported numerous government, industry, and internal research projects, mostly pertaining to the blast performance of reinforced concrete, precast/prestressed concrete, and masonry wall systems. Mr. Mander is currently working towards a PhD in Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. Mr. Mander has been published in numerous peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings and serves on blast committees for reinforced and precast concrete.

Tom Rodante is a remote staff member in BakerRisk’s Process Safety Group. He has over forty years of international experience in the petroleum and chemical industries providing service to corporations and facilities in the areas of fire protection, process safety management, crisis management, risk engineering, occupational safety & health, environmental management, and incident investigation. Mr. Rodante’s primary experience is in upstream E&P (both on and off shore), downstream manufacturing (refining, petro-chemical, gas plants, grease, and lube oil), downstream distribution (marketing operations, terminals, pipelines), and corporate consulting activities. He joined BakerRisk with the merger of ECRC and BakerRisk in 2000, and resides near Dallas, Texas.

Travis Holland is a Senior Engineer and Supervisor in the Structures Section, specializing in the analysis and design of structures subjected to blast loading.  Travis works with his clients to develop design solutions that can be implemented to address recommendations raised in Facility Siting Studies (FSS) and Quantitative Risk Assessments (QRA).  Travis has worked extensively with a BakerRisk partner, Rigid Global Buildings, to provide clients a single-source solution for the design and fabrication of blast resistant steel structures.