Chris Ryan
Christopher Ryan is a mechanical engineer with over 30 years of product design, testing, and manufacturing experience. At John Deere, he managed laboratory testing with authority to approve designs and testing procedures. He is an ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt with formal training in product safety and product liability. His experience includes lawn mowers, outdoor power equipment, tractors, and mechanical, electrical, and hydraulic systems. Since founding CLEAR Consulting in 2020, he has reviewed more than 15 product liability matters involving failure analysis, equipment testing, standards compliance, design defects, warnings, and feasible alternative designs.
- Automotive Engineering
- Design Engineering
- Electrical
- Equipment & Machinery
- Failure Analysis
- Fire
- Lithium Ion Battery Fires
- Mechanical Engineering
- Products Liability
- Safety
- Q: Please list your professional accreditations, degrees, licenses, and certificates granted:
- A: • Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering — Iowa State University
• Certified Six Sigma Black Belt — American Society for Quality (ASQ) - Q: Please list your affiliations or memberships in any professional and/or industry organizations:
- A: Society of Product Safety Professionals (SPSP), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), American Society for Quality (ASQ), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Society of Automative Engineers (SAE), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), National Association of Fire Investigators (NAFI), American Society of Biomechanics (ASB)
- Q: Please list any teaching or speaking experience you have had, including subject matter:
- A: • Mentored University of Illinois senior engineering design team on product design and development.
• Mentored countless engineers on product design, safety, DFMEA, warning labels, etc.
• Delivered technical and business presentations to engineering teams, senior executives, and CEO-level audiences on product development, testing, risk management, manufacturing improvements, and capital investments.
• Presented technical analysis process at multiple corporate seminars. - Q: Have any of your accreditations ever been investigated, suspended or removed? (if yes, explain)
- A: No
- Q: On how many occasions have you been retained as an expert?
- A: 15
- Q: For what area(s) of expertise have you been retained as an expert?
- A: Product liability, product design and manufacturing defects; mechanical and electrical failures; lawn mower and outdoor power equipment safety; operator-presence controls and safety interlocks; machine guarding; thrown-object hazards; fuel-system failures; furniture and chair safety; warnings and instructions; foreseeable use and misuse; industry standards compliance; failure analysis; product testing; farm and agricultural equipment; and feasible alternative designs.
- Q: In what percentage of your cases were you retained by the plaintiff?
- A: 95%
- Q: In what percentage of your cases were you retained by the defendant?
- A: 5%
- Q: For how many years have you worked with the legal industry as an expert?
- A: 7
- Q: What services do you offer? (E.g.: consulting, testing, reports, site inspections etc.)
- A: Engineering consulting; product and site inspections; accident investigation; evidence and engineering document review; failure and root cause analysis; laboratory and field testing; exemplar acquisition and testing; standards compliance evaluations; design and manufacturing defect assessments; warnings and instructions review; feasible alternative design development and evaluation; expert reports and rebuttals; technical exhibits and demonstrations; full lab and field photography; deposition and trial testimony; and technical assistance with discovery and case preparation.
Available Upon Request