Expert Details
Reverse Engineering & Digital/Mobile Forensics: Automotive Infotainment & Telematics Systems, Embedded Systems & Hardware Forensics, RF/Signal Analysis
ID: 740953
Virginia, USA
Expert currently serves as a Senior Reverse Engineer for a forensic technology company, developing acquisition methods and forensic software tools used by investigators worldwide to recover data from vehicle systems, including GPS histories, communications records, and user-interaction timelines. Prior to this role, Expert supported federal law enforcement technical programs through several contracting organizations over more than a decade, reverse-engineering automotive and embedded systems, developing custom forensic tools, and conducting RF and signal analysis. Expert's forensic recovery work has directly supported major criminal investigations, including matters resulting in the recovery of a missing person's remains and evidentiary recovery connected to a mass-shooting investigation, and Expert has received formal recognition for these contributions.
Expert began his technical career in the United States Navy, serving as an Electronic Technician and later Work Center Supervisor aboard a guided-missile destroyer, maintaining shipboard communications systems. Expert holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Mathematics, graduating magna cum laude, and holds certifications including the GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst credential, Engineer in Training status, Electronic Technician Journeyman certification, and a General Radiotelephone Operator License. Expert previously held a Top Secret security clearance.
Building on this technical foundation, Expert now offers independent expert witness and litigation consulting services, including technical review of reverse-engineering and forensic analyses, acquisition and analysis of proprietary systems and automotive digital evidence, validation of forensic methodologies, and support with discovery, deposition preparation, and testimony.
Education
| Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year: 2009 | Degree: BS | Subject: Electrical Engineering (Minor in Mathematics) | Institution: West Virginia University Institute of Technology |
Work History
| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years: 2023 to 2026 | Employer: Berla Corporation | Title: Senior Reverse Engineer | Department: Vehicle Forensics |
Responsibilities:• Reverse-engineered automotive infotainment and telematics systems to acquire and recover forensically valuable data, developing acquisition methods using in-circuit eMMC reads, chip-off techniques, software vulnerabilities, and operating-system-level access.• Analyzed proprietary file systems, databases, and binary data structures, developing acquisition tools and parsers for a commercial vehicle-forensics software platform used by investigators worldwide. • Added forensic support for multiple vehicle infotainment platforms by identifying software-update weaknesses, developed raw-memory carving techniques recovering deleted GPS location data across multiple vehicle manufacturers, and recovered encryption keys enabling decryption of user data files across several vehicle platforms. • Evaluated hybrid deterministic and AI-assisted analysis workflows to automate otherwise impractical technical tasks while controlling cost. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2021 to 2023 | Employer: Tridea Works | Title: Software Developer | Department: FBI National Domestic Communications Assistance Center (NDCAC) |
Responsibilities:• Developed software tools to process large, unstructured data productions received from major technology companies in response to criminal subpoenas and warrants, parsing message, account-activity, and geolocation data into searchable databases and common evidentiary formats with examiner-facing interfaces.• Created repeatable workflows converting complex provider data into searchable, filterable evidence for law enforcement analysis. • Conducted a forensic analysis of website data establishing that medical documentation had been altered to support fraudulent billing. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2017 to 2020 | Employer: Northrop Grumman | Title: Computer Engineer | Department: FBI Strategic Vehicles Technical Program |
Responsibilities:• Extracted and parsed forensic and surveillance data from embedded systems for counterintelligence purposes, reverse-engineering automotive infotainment and telematics systems, evaluating system access methods, and developing extraction and conversion tools.• Tested and evaluated specialized software tools, worked with multiple contractors to steer technical efforts based on feasibility and program requirements. • Served as a subject-matter expert consultant on active and pending cases. • Work included embedded scripting and configuration across multiple operating systems, system access and authentication analysis, microcontroller programming for sensor and bus interfacing, and custom hardware enclosure design and fabrication. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2013 to 2017 | Employer: Booz Allen Hamilton | Title: Reverse Engineer | Department: FBI Embedded Engineering Program |
Responsibilities:• Supported FBI efforts to extract forensically valuable information from automotive infotainment and telematics systems, reverse-engineering vehicle bus communications and acquiring memory through hardware and software techniques.• Developed specialized routines to acquire memory contents through processor interfaces, reverse-engineered multiple proprietary flash filesystem formats with corresponding reconstruction tools, and reverse-engineered a secure diagnostic access algorithm enabling protected vehicle diagnostic access. • Exploited software-update processes on multiple infotainment systems to enable forensic data collection, and developed GPS extraction and mapping tools used in multiple homicide investigations |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2013 to 2013 | Employer: Booz Allen Hamilton | Title: Reverse Engineer / Senior Consultant | Department: Automotive CAN Research |
Responsibilities:Researched low-speed automotive network security to identify technical and commercial opportunities, bench-testing vehicle modules, developing simulated network nodes, and building tools to identify previously unobserved vehicle commands. Used standard diagnostic protocols to extract firmware from vehicle modules and developed navigation modeling techniques using vehicle sensor bus data. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2009 to 2012 | Employer: Booz Allen Hamilton | Title: Reverse Engineer | Department: FBI Technical Exploitation Unit |
Responsibilities:Reverse-engineered custom circuits and commercial products modified for use in improvised explosive devices, producing detailed schematics and component-level technical reports. Conducted RF testing to characterize device operational parameters and analyzed signal structures to support device functionality verification. Received a company performance and team award during this engagement. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2003 to 2005 | Employer: United States Navy | Title: Work Center Supervisor | Department: USS Arleigh Burke — Communications and Electronics |
Responsibilities:Supervised electronic technicians responsible for shipboard external communications systems, overseeing scheduling, staff performance evaluations, and maintenance coordination. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 1999 to 2003 | Employer: United States Navy | Title: Electronic Technician | Department: USS Arleigh Burke — Communications and Electronics |
Responsibilities:Performed preventive and corrective maintenance on shipboard communications systems, computers, antennas, radar, and high-voltage systems, troubleshooting to component-level faults. Expert received a Letter of Commendation for satellite antenna system repair work. |
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Additional Experience
| Expert Witness Experience |
|---|
| Provides expert witness and litigation consulting services centered on reverse engineering, embedded systems, and digital/automotive forensic evidence. Services include independent technical review of reverse-engineering and digital-forensic analyses, reports, methodologies, and conclusions; acquisition and analysis of proprietary hardware, embedded devices, firmware, operating systems, and automotive systems; recovery and interpretation of undocumented or deleted data; validation of acquisition methods and evidentiary limitations; and assistance with discovery requests, opposing-expert review, deposition preparation, technical reports, demonstrative exhibits, and testimony. Expert's technical work supporting FBI technical, forensic, counterintelligence, and exploitation programs has directly supported criminal investigations, including matters resulting in the recovery of a missing person's remains and recovery of vehicle tracking data connected to a mass-shooting investigation. |
Career Accomplishments
| Licenses / Certifications |
|---|
| • GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst (GCFA) — The SANS Institute • Engineer in Training / Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) — West Virginia Board of Professional Engineers • Electronic Technician Journeyman — U.S. Department of Labor and Virginia Apprenticeship Council • General Radiotelephone Operator License — Federal Communications Commission • Previous Top Secret (TS) security clearance held |
| Awards / Recognition |
|---|
| • Contractor recognition for locating a missing person's remains through recovery of previously undocumented automotive GPS evidence • Recognition for recovering extensive vehicle tracking evidence connected to a mass-shooting investigation • Performance and Team Award (prior engagement) • United States Navy Letter of Commendation, for satellite antenna system repair |
Fields of Expertise
reverse engineering, embedded systems, digital forensics, computer forensics, automotive forensics, infotainment systems, telematics systems, firmware analysis, encryption/key recovery, GPS data recovery, RF signal analysis, forensic tool development, law enforcement forensics, proprietary file systems, deleted data recovery, digital evidence