Personnel
Our principal consultants are Mr. John F. Kerkhoff, Mr. Michael S. Varat, and Mr. Stein E. Husher. Their combined experience totals over 60 years in automotive safety and accident reconstruction. Through active involvement in current scientific committees and research projects, our consultants bring a solid scientific and practical background to the science of accident reconstruction. Our engineering staff also consists of drafting engineering assistance, office and case management assistance and mechanical assistance. Our personnel perform all tasks associated with an accident reconstruction case analysis including inspections, test fabrication, reconstruction analysis, drafting, demonstrative exhibit preparation and court testimony. For complete curriculum vitaes and fee schedule, please contact us directly.

John F. Kerkhoff
Mr. Kerkhoff began his career in automotive safety and crash analysis while associated with the Automotive Collision Research Project at UCLA in the 1960's. This involved preparing, conducting and analyzing over 50 full scale collision tests. He then continued on to Ford Motor Company as a Proving Ground Test Engineer where he coordinated test programs encompassing thousands of performance test miles on all types and makes of vehicles. In 1972, Mr. Kerkhoff returned to California as a Research Engineer for the accident reconstruction firm of Severy Incorporated. Mr. Kerkhoff has been employed full time from 1972 to the present in Accident Reconstruction and has analyzed more than 2000 vehicular accidents and conducted additional full scale collision tests and hundreds of component tests. Mr. Kerkhoff has authored numerous technical papers and is the recipient of the 1975 Society of Automotive Engineers Colwell Award for outstanding contribution to SAE technical literature.

Michael S. Varat
Mr. Varat has been involved in the accident reconstruction field full time since receiving his Mechanical Engineering degree in 1988. He started as a Research Engineer for the accident reconstruction firm of Collision Research and Analysis and then moved to KEVA Engineering. He has designed and conducted numerous static and dynamic laboratory experiments to evaluate the performance of safety related vehicle components including seats, seat belts, fuel systems, door latches, and bumpers. He has also participated in the conducting and analysis of numerous full scale automotive collision tests. Additionally, Mr. Varat has authored numerous technical papers in the areas of accident reconstruction and vehicle safety. Mr. Varat has chaired the Accident Reconstruction Session at SAE International Congress, has received SAE Recognition Awards for organizing the Automotive Seat Design for Safety TOPTEC Conference and the Accident Reconstruction: State of the Art TOPTEC Conference. He has served as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the international journal, Accident Analysis and Prevention. He is also a member of the SAE Transactions Selection Committees #22, #22AR, and #70 in the areas of Passenger Protection, PC Accident Reconstruction, and Safety. Mr. Varat has analyzed over 1000 transportation accidents. Mr. Varat is a member of: SAE, AAAM, ASME, and HFES. Additionally, he is actively involved with the SAE Seat Standards Committee and the SAE Accident Investigation and Reconstruction Practices Standards Committee.

Stein E. Husher
Mr. Husher has been involved in the reconstruction and analysis of automotive collisions since he began working at Severy Incorporated in 1979. He has been a research engineer since 1985 specializing in collision analysis and vehicle safety. He received his BA in Mathematics from the University of California at Los Angeles and his MS in Mechanical Engineering from California State University at Long Beach. He has performed research and testing involving occupant kinematics and restraint performance, vehicle dynamics, vehicle component performance, and vehicle crush performance. He has been involved with numerous tests from component performance to full scale vehicle impacts. He is a member of ASME, AAAM, and SAE. He serves on the SAE seat standards committee and the Accident Investigation and Reconstruction Practices Standards Committee.

John C. Steiner
Mr. Steiner has been involved in the reconstruction and analysis of automotive collisions since 2000. He received his Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from California State University, Long Beach. Mr. Steiner has been involved in the analysis and case preparation of hundreds of vehicular collisions. Mr. Steiner is also on the forefront of Event Data Recorders for both Passenger Vehicles and Commercial Vehicles through his involvement in the IEEE and SAE Event Data Recorders Standards Committees. Mr. Steiner is an active member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) on a local and national level as well as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM).

Christopher D. Armstrong
Mr. Armstrong has been working as a staff engineer at KEVA Engineering since 1993. He holds an Aeronautical Engineering degree from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. He has been involved in the engineering analysis and case preparation of hundreds of vehicular collisions. He has taken continuing engineering courses from the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine in the areas of Accident Reconstruction and Collision Investigation. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers.

Karl F. Shuman
Mr. Shuman has been working as a staff engineer at KEVA Engineering since 2000. He graduated with Honors and Distinction in The Major with a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He has been involved in the engineering analysis and case preparation of hundreds of vehicular collisions. He has taken continuing engineering courses and attended conferences with the Society of Automotive Engineers in the areas of Accident Reconstruction and Collision Investigation. He is a member of Pi TAU SIGMA, A Mechanical Engineering Honor Society, the Society of Automotive Engineers, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.