Team

Matt Barsotti

Matt Barsotti's general areas of expertise include mechanical design, numerical modeling, system optimization and energy-absorbing systems. He has served as principal investigator on projects for a variety of government, military and commercial clientele, including the Technical Support Working Group (TSWG), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Transportation Research Board (TRB/ACRP). Matt was principal investigator for PEC’s alternative aircraft arrestor system development for the TRB/ACRP.  

Other research efforts include characterization of shock-mitigating systems for armored vehicles, foam material development for anti-personnel doorway barriers, and development of frequency-filtering helmet materials to reduce traumatic brain injury (TBI). Matt earned a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a Bachelor of Engineering degree with a Mechanical Emphasis from John Brown University.

Edward Conrath, P.E.

Ed Conrath, a long-time security engineering expert with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, joined Protection Engineering Consultants as Senior Principal in April 2008.  

Assigned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Protective Design Center from 1985 to 2008, Ed has been at the leading edge of protecting people and structures from the effects of terrorist attacks in the United States and around the world.  He is a leading analyst and developer of security design guidelines and has performed more than 100 building vulnerability assessments in the U.S. and over 20 countries throughout the world, including assessments in the high-threat environments of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ed completed two rotational assignments in Baghdad, providing support to U.S. and coalition forces. In this capacity, he performed vulnerability assessments and worked with local architects and material vendors to produce blast-mitigating products locally, allowing for rapid and cost-effective protection of U.S. and Iraqi personnel. His work was profiled in the January 2004 Engineer Update published by the Corps of Engineers.

Ed has conducted post-blast investigations in Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and he provided support to U.S. federal agencies after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing attack. He also served as a United Nations inspector in Baghdad following the 1991 Gulf War.

Prior to his security engineering duties, Ed worked as a structural engineer on the Air Launch Cruise Missile Support Facilities and on the Underground Munitions Storage Complex at Kirtland AFB in New Mexico.

A 1977 graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Ed holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Nebraska, a member of the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the local chapter of the American Concrete Institute (ACI), and ASTM International, for which he is the committee chairman of F12.

Kirk Marchand, P.E.

For 25 years, Kirk Marchand has performed research and managed small and large-scale projects in facility and building security, blast-resistant design and analysis, threat assessment and vulnerability analysis, and security engineering for government agencies and commercial enterprises.

Kirk has held key leadership positions at Walter P. Moore, Applied Research Associates and Southwest Research Institute. A graduate of Texas A&M University, he began his career as an active duty U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officer and research engineer.

Kirk has authored or co-authored and presented numerous research reports, guidelines and published articles, and he holds or shares five U.S. patents. He has chaired or served on technical committees of the American Concrete Institute, American Society of Civil Engineers, ASTM International, and American Institute of Steel Construction.

Aldo McKay, P.E.

Aldo McKay has more than six years of experience in the fields of security and protection engineering, including blast-resistant design and analysis of structures, progressive collapse analysis and mitigation concept development, and vulnerability assessment of civilian and government facilities. 

Aldo regularly manages numerous design projects supporting DoD facilities subject to the requirements of UFC 4-010-01, and he has expertise in the design of window systems and supporting elements for those facilities. Aldo earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from John Brown University and a Master of Science degree in Structural Engineering from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Charles Oswald, Ph.D.,P.E.

Dr. Chuck Oswald has over 20 years of experience in the areas of blast effects and structural response to blast loads. He has designed and analyzed government and commercial facilities, explosive manufacturing bays, and blast containment chambers subject to a wide variety of explosive threats. He has investigated numerous accidental explosions and managed test programs studying structural component response to explosive loads.   

Chuck has developed several blast-effects analysis applications, including the FACEDAP and CEDAW programs that quickly assess blast damage to conventionally constructed buildings using P-i diagrams, and the SBEDS software that calculates response of blast-loaded components. He also developed the BICADS program that predicts injuries to occupants of blast-loaded buildings. Chuck has considerable experience in explosive hazards analysis and assessment, including analyses of fragments, building debris, and blast-related hazards to personnel from accidental explosions.

Chuck has served on a National Academy of Science committee to assess blast design criteria for government buildings and has presented numerous papers on structural response to blast, blast pressure prediction, explosion safety studies, fragment dispersion analyses, and injuries to occupants of blast-loaded buildings. An instructor in short courses in these areas, he has been a staff member at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He earned a doctorate in structural engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.

David Stevens, Ph.D., P.E.

Dr. David Stevens has 20 years of experience in the design, testing and analysis of structures subjected to extreme dynamic loads. Over the past 10 years, he has performed numerical modeling studies of blast and impact-loaded armored vehicles and hardened structures, vehicle impact of countermobility barriers, and collisions between locomotives and nuclear waste containers. He has conducted explosive tests on building walls, windows, military shelters, protective barriers, blast walls, and armored and unarmored vehicles.

Previously a principal engineer at Applied Research Associates, Dave has conducted research and design for Southwest Research Institute and LTV Aerospace. He has taught undergraduate and graduate-level engineering courses, is a frequent presenter at industry conferences, and has written and edited numerous research reports and articles for peer-reviewed journals and proceedings publications. He holds or shares five U.S. patents.

Dave earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics from Hope College, Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Civil Engineering from Clemson University, and a doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Minnesota. He has served on committees of the American Concrete Institute, which honored him in 2008 with the rank of Fellow, and the American Society of Civil Engineers.