Discovery Engineering

Mark McFarland, PE, DFE, is a licensed and Board Certified electrical and telecommunications engineer. He provides expert consulting for plaintiff and defense counsel on civil and criminal cases nationwide.

Mark's practice covers a wide range of cases, typically involving electrical, electronic, software, cellular, GPS, and telecommunications evidence. He has worked with lawyers in several fields including: wrongful death, personal injury, product liability, securities fraud, homicide, sex trafficking, medical malpractice, class action, insurance claims, patent litigation, contract disputes, and more.

Mark has worked dozens of cases and has testified in court for civil and criminal trials.

Many of the cases Mr. McFarland worked have settled on his expert report.

Services

Mark McFarland, PE, DFE offers the following services:

- Electrical and Electronics Engineering
I investigate electrical and electronic components, equipment, systems, & devices to support litigation related to design, use, defects, malfunctions, modifications, and equipment breakdown for civil and criminal matters.

- Wireless and Telecommunications Engineering
Over 25 years of experience in research, design, analysis, /& measurement of cellular, GPS, 3G--5G, LTE, public safety comm systems, satellite, Internet, wireless, RF, Wi-Fi, radar, networks, data communications, communications protocols and standards, instrumentation, and control systems.

- GPS and Cellular Evidence Analysis
Understanding GPS, cellphone, & base station evidence is critical. I present data and uncertainties in easy to understand maps, animations, timelines, and tables. These can show patterns of communications, whereabouts, and activity. I map & analyze records from all manufacturers and carriers.

- Quality Sciences and Applied Research
Understanding variability is crucial to improving and controlling any process. I bring scholarship & practical experience in applied research & quality sciences to help clients understand variability and improve outcomes.

Litigation Support Services

Discovery Engineering provides expert witness and analytic services to legal, insurance, industry, and government clients.

Testimony History

1. Jeffrey Williams v. State of Maine, Docket No. ALFSC-CR-13-726, February 2021. Trial testimony for appellant.
2. Tomkins v. Remacle, Boulder County Court, Case No. 21C139, May 2021. Trial testimony for defendant.
3. Michael Belz v. State of Iowa, Case No. LACV081940, April 2023. Deposition testimony for plaintiff

Areas of Expertise

Additional Expertise:

Electrical Shock; Electrocution; Networks, Wireless; 5G, GPS; Radar; LTE; Base Stations; SMS; Applied Research; RF; Interference; Radio; Satellite; Internet; Control Systems; Instrumentation; RFID; Mobile; Licenses; Class Action; Geolocation; Geofencing; Computer Networks; Cellular Records; Medical Electronics; Utilities.

Profile

Mark McFarland, P.E., is a licensed engineer and statistician with 25+ years of experience in electrical engineering, telecommunications engineering, and applied research. He is published in several national and international peer-reviewed journals, and he has been a speaker at national and international technical conferences. Mark is currently the CEO of Discovery Engineering, as well as a researcher at the US Department of Commerce in Boulder, CO. His practice areas include electrical engineering, telecommunications, wireless, electronics, other electrical phenomena, applied research, and the quality sciences.

He leads investigations of electrical, electronic, wireless, and telecom systems involving design, use, defects, and malfunctions for legal, insurance, commercial, research, liability, and government matters. Mark is experienced in the design, analysis, and testing of satellite, cellular, LTE, Internet, wireless, Wi-Fi, RF, RADAR, emergency and public safety comm systems, networks, telecom standards and protocols, data communications, GPS, instrumentation, and control systems.

Understanding variability is crucial to controlling and improving processes. Mark brings scholarship and practical experience in applied research to help clients understand variability and improve their outcomes. The financial and legal consequences of improper scientific research methods are enormous. With his education and experience in statistics and applied research, Mark aims to ensure solid and defensible methods inform decision making.

Areas Served

All States

Discovery Engineering in the Social Networks

LinkedIn

Professional Experience

Since 2015 Founder & CEO, Principal Investigator
Discovery Engineering, PLLC
Colorado

Since 2002 Electronics Engineer
US Department of Commerce
Institute for Telecommunication Sciences
Colorado

2000–2001 Software Engineer
Motorola Broadband Communications
Pennsylvania

1996–2000 Antenna Engineer
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space
Pennsylvania

Licenses

2006 - Professional Engineer PE-0040278, State of Colorado
2022 - Professional Engineer E-24276, State of California
2016 - Six Sigma Master Black Belt (Quality Sciences), University of Colorado
2016 - Competent Communicator, Toastmasters International
2022 - Diplomate in Forensic Engineering, National Academy of Forensic Engineers

Legal Experience & Services

Selected Litigation History

1. Mining Accident Investigated underground mine communication system failure resulting in serious personal injury.
2. Automotive Wireless Investigated insurer's claim that vehicle anomalies were caused by insured/claimant using a hidden wireless key fob.
3. Securities Fraud Investigated high-volume stock trades (cross-trading) resulting in $40M deficit to broker. At issue: trades initiated on a private network with computers having allegedly spoofed MAC addresses. (FINRA Arbitration)
4. Electrocution Investigated an electric circuit breaker panel which caused a severe shock, leading to personal injury.
5. Murder Appeal Provided opinion on the whereabouts of an individual's cell phone based upon service provider records for criminal murder appeal.
6. Distracted Driver Analyzed mobile phone records to quantify voice, SMS, & data usage at time of auto accident.
7. Social Media Metadata Examined social media metadata, logs, cache, history, and device system records, as well as email metadata to provide an opinion on an individual's location.
8. Software Licensing Explained differences between types of software licenses related to disagreements regarding the technical terms of a field of use software license.
9. Protection Order Examined threatening SMS texts & social media posts. Testified on authenticity and source.
10. Home Invasion Provided opinion on the whereabouts of an individual's cell phone based upon cellular carrier's base station GPS records for criminal appeal.
11. Sex Trafficking Analyzed, tabulated, and mapped an individual's Google GPS location history record. I provided an opinion on the plaintiff's whereabouts and activity over a three-month period.
12. Hearing Damage Investigated audio equipment which exposed Plaintiff to unsafe and damaging sound levels.
13. Medical Electronics Investigated hospital nurse call button and bed alarm to provide opinion on the cause of a malfunction.
14. Wrongful Death Investigated telecommunications wires & other equipment spanning roadway which contributed to death of motorist.

Affiliations

• National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• National Academy of Forensic Engineers (Member)
• Journal of the National Academy of Forensic Engineers
• NSPE-Colorado Education Foundation

Qualifications

• Diplomate in Forensic Engineering
• Nationally Recognized Expert
• Published in National & International Peer-Reviewed Journals
• Speaker at National & International Technical Conferences
• BS, Electrical Engineering
• MEng, Telecommunications
• MEng, Engineering Management
• Certified Expert in the Quality Sciences (Six Sigma Master Black Belt)
• Twenty-Five+ Years of Experience

Seminars & Training

Presentations and Talks

1. Cellular Evidence in Civil and Criminal Cases: Five Case Studies, Los Angeles Lawyers and Legal Professionals Affinity Group. February 2023, online. CE credit in CA.

2. Insurance Implications of Cellular and GPS Evidence: Four Case Studies, Colorado Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter Society. January 2023, online. CE credit in CO, TX, & WY.

3. Cellular Evidence in Civil and Criminal Cases: Five Case Studies, Silicon Valley Attorney Affinity Group. March 2022, online. CE credit in CA.

4. Verizon's Wireless Lease Agreement: What is it, and What does it Mean to the Residents of Leyden Rock? Leyden Rock Metropolitan District Special Meeting. December 2019, Arvada, CO.

5. Screening Experiments in Mobile Channel Measurements, International Symposium on Advanced Radio Technologies. July 2018, Broomfield, CO.

6. Six Sigma Techniques to Validate and Generalize In-Building Path Loss Models, International Union of Radio Science (URSI). January 2018, Boulder, CO.

7. Statistical Learning to Classify Six In-Building Propagation Environments, International Union of Radio Science (URSI). January 2018, Boulder, CO.

8. Cell Towers: Their Present, Their Future, Broomfield City Council meeting. March 2016, Broomfield, CO.

9. In-Building Path Loss Model Analysis: Testing Assumptions and Identifying Outliers in Propagation Models, International Union of Radio Science (URSI). January 2016, Boulder, CO. (session co-chair)

10. In-Building Path Loss Modeling: An Application of Simple Linear Regression Analysis, University of Colorado Boulder, Guest lecturer for graduate course in applied statistics. March 2015, Boulder, CO. (invited talk)

11. A Fast-Fading Mobile Channel Measurement System, IEEE Antenna Measurement Techniques Association. April 2013, San Diego, CA. (Presented by B Johnk)

12. Characterizing an S-band Marine Radar Receiver in the Presence of Interference, IEEE International Symposium in Electromagnetic Compatibility. August 2012, Pittsburgh, PA.

13. Engineering Licensure: from Point A to P.E., Metropolitan State College of Denver, Tau Alpha Pi National Honor Society 35th Annual Dinner and Awards Program. April 2012, Denver, CO. (invited talk)

14. Assessing the Quality of Recorded Surveillance Video, US Department of Homeland Security. February 2009, Boulder, CO. (invited talk)

15. A Subjective Video Quality Test Method for the Assessment of Recorded Surveillance Video, American Academy of Forensic Sciences. February 2009, Denver, CO

16. Assessing the Quality of Recorded Surveillance Video, Scientific Working Group on Imaging Technology. January 2007, Orlando, FL. (invited talk)

Publications

1. M. McFarland, “Distracted Driving: Determining Cell Phone Usage from Forensic Cellular Records,” in Journal of the National Academy of Forensic Engineers, in review.

2. R. T. Johnk, M. Powell, J. Griffith, M. McFarland, K. Baker, P. Daithanker, S. Samdian, L. Gopal, and S. Gavva, “In-building LTE testing at the University of Colorado,” National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NTIA Report TR-15-518, July 2015. Available: http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/publications/2807.aspx

3. R. Achatz, M. McFarland, R. Dalke, P. McKenna, F. Sanders, and G. Sanders, “Effects of broadband radio service reallocation on S-band marine radars: Front-end overload,” National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NTIA Report TR-15-515, April 2015. Available: http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/publications/2798.aspx

4. M. McFarland and R. Johnk, “Characterizing an S-band marine radar receiver in the presence of interference,” in Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), 2012 IEEE International Symposium on, August 2012, pp. 579–583. Available: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsppartnum=6350926&searchProductType=IEEE%20Conferences

5. R. Johnk, C. Hammerschmidt, M. McFarland, and J. Lemmon, “A fast-fading mobile channel measurement system,” in Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), 2012 IEEE International Symposium on, August 2012, pp. 584–589. Available: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsppartnum=6350925&searchProductType=IEEE%20Conferences

6. M. McFarland, M. Pinson, C. Ford, A. Webster, W. Ingram, S. Hanes, and K. Anderson, “Relating audio and video quality, using CIF video,” National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NTIA Technical Memorandum 10-472, September 2010. Available: http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/publications/2547.aspx

7. R. Johnk, J. Ewan, N. DeMinco, R. Carey, P. McKenna, C. Behm, T. Riley, S. Carroll, M. McFarland, and J. Leslie, “High-resolution propagation measurements using biconical antennas and signal processing,” in Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), 2010 IEEE International Symposium on, July 2010, pp. 85–90. Available: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload=true&arnumber=5711252&contentType=Conference+Publications

8. DHS Public Safety Communications, “Task-based tactical and surveillance videoquality tests,” Statement of Requirements, US Department of Homeland Security, DHS Technical Report DHS-TR-PSC-10-07, July 2010. Available: https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=16117

9. C. Ford, M. McFarland, A. Webster, S. Hanes, M. Pinson, A. Webster, and K. Anderson, “Multimedia synchronization study,” National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NTIA Technical Memorandum 10-464, February 2010. Available: http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/
publications/2501.aspx

10. F. Sanders, R. Johnk, M. McFarland, and R. Hoffman, “Emission measurement results for a cellular and PCS signal-jamming transmitter,” National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NTIA Technical Report 10-465, February 2010. Available: http://www.its.bldrdoc.
gov/publications/2503.aspx

11. M. McFarland, “A subjective video quality test method for the assessment of recorded surveillance video,” in Proceedings of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, vol. 15, February 2009, p. 158. Available: http://www.aafs.org/sites/default/files/pdf/ProceedingsDenver2009.pdf

12. C. Ford, M. McFarland, and I. Stange, “Subjective video quality assessment methods for recognition tasks,” in Proceedings of the SPIE, vol. 7240, February 2009. Available: http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/
proceeding.aspx?articleid=811708

13. ITU-T, Subjective Video Quality Assessment Methods for Recognition Tasks, International Telecommunications Union– Telecommunication Standardization Sector Recommendation P.912, August 2008. Available: https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-P.912-200808-S/en

14. M. McFarland, M. Pinson, and S. Wolf, “Batch video quality metric (BVQM) user's manual,” National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NTIA Handbook 06-441a, December 2006. Available: http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/publications/2476.aspx

15. M. McFarland, “Batch Video Quality Metric Release Notes,” National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NTIA Software & Data SD-06-443, August 2006. Available: https://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/publications/2480.aspx

Professional References

Provided upon request.

Education

BSEE - Lehigh University, Bethlehem PA, 1996
MEng, Telecommunications, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder CO, 2007
MEng, Engineering Management (Quality Sciences), University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder CO, 2017

Training and Continuing Education

2021 5G Networks and Services
2020 Spectrum Analysis Fundamentals
2020 RF Fundamentals Seminar
2020 Signal Integrity Workshop
2019 LTE 5G Boot Camp
2019 Vector Signal Analyzer Training
2018 GPS and the Global Navigation Satellite System
2012–15 Quality Sciences (Applied Statistics: 24 graduate credit hours)
2014 LTE Air Interface and Interference Considerations