Charles Murdoch

Charles’ background is in materials, having graduated with an MEng in Materials Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, UK. In his final year of study he took a slight specialism into Aerospace Materials covering aerospace structures and design. After leaving Imperial College, Charles secured a graduate scheme position with Rolls-Royce plc based initially in Derby, UK. As a graduate he spent placements on the shop floor, at the Heathrow field service office looking after British Airways and also spent time in Montreal, Canada, with the Energy business. After 18 months, he graduated from the scheme and into the Rolls-Royce internal Failure Investigation Team investigating a wide range of components from failed bolts to failed fan blades. In the majority of cases investigations concerned metallic components, however polymer, composite or even cardboard components were not uncommon. Investigations regularly included an aspect of tribology or fractography using a high magnification scanning electron microscope. In 2014 Charles relocated back to London and to Hawkins, and has continued to investigate Materials and Mechanical failures. Charles now regularly returns to his ‘student days’ at Imperial College to perform analysis of fracture surfaces on the microscopes available. Since joining Charles expanded his areas of expertise […]

James Kingham

James graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2005 with a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, having completed an industrial placement year working in cryogenics for The Hymatic Engineering Company (now part of Honeywell Aerospace’s Defence & Space business group). After graduating, James returned to Honeywell Aerospace as a development engineer, working on Joule-Thomson coolers and Stirling Cycle Cryocoolers primarily for missile and satellite applications. This included customer driven development projects as well as R&D and investigative projects. In 2010, James took on the role of New Product Development Manager with ITT (later Xylem) Flow Control, overseeing the development of pneumatic and hydraulic valve actuation controls and actuators for use in severe service environments, including the oil & gas and rail industries. James was then promoted to Centre of Excellence Engineering Lead – Valves (Technical Manager) in 2013, becoming the senior technical contact at the Wolverhampton site overseeing product development, project management and product certification activities within the business. James is a Chartered Engineer and as such is a full member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. James also holds a Level 5 diploma in Management & Leadership and is a Six Sigma Black Belt.

John Holland

An Intel scholar, John graduated with a 1st Class Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering from University College Dublin, Ireland in 2000. As part of his degree he developed an automatic moisture sensor for use in the peat industry for which he was awarded the Hewlett Packard national award for innovation in engineering. After a brief period with Schlumberger Oilfield Services in Peru, John returned to Ireland to take up a position with Teradyne Connection Systems, before joining Timoney Technology as a mechanical design engineer, where he specialised in the design and development of Hydropneumatic Suspension Systems for specialty off road vehicles. In this role he also gained considerable experience with computer aided engineering techniques such as Finite Element Analysis and Vehicle Multi-body Dynamic Analysis. John was appointed engineering manager with Timoney Technology and took over full technical responsibility for all engineering projects and products. Projects of note include the DARPA Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle, the USMC Gladiator Tactical Unmanned Vehicle and the Timoney ADT Independent Suspension Axle System manufactured under licence by Terex Equipment Ltd. John was also involved with the Ginaf Rally Power and DeRooy race teams for the 2007 Dakar Rally and has numerous automotive suspension patents filed […]

Callum Hogan

Callum graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in 2017 with a First Class Honours degree in Forensic Computing. He has previously occupied the positions of Digital Forensic Analyst, Senior eDiscovery and Digital Forensic Analyst and Digital Forensic Project Manager at different global companies. Callum specialises in Digital Forensics and eDiscovery. His expertise means he completes each stage of Digital Forensic Investigation (DFI) models and the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) whilst conforming to ACPO guidelines and ISO standards. This requires using various industry standard Digital Forensic acquisition and analysis tools, as well as eDiscovery platforms, so digital devices and their data can be properly identified, preserved, collected, examined, analysed and presented. Callum has been instructed on several high-profile criminal and civil litigations, investigations, and matters, as well as a public inquiry. This has involved the preparation of expert witness reports for use in Criminal, Civil and Family law courts. Callum joined Hawkins in June 2021 and is an Associate based in our Manchester office. He is a Professional Member of the British Computer Society and holds multiple accreditations for Digital Forensic tools and eDiscovery platforms.

Gavin Dunn

Having gained a first-class MEng degree in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), Gavin started his career by taking on the role of Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate with QUB and John Huddleston Engineering.  During this time, he developed the use of CATIA computer aided design software across the business to manufacture 5-axis precision machined aerospace parts, before accepting a position with John Huddleston Engineering as an Engineer.  In this role Gavin programmed 5-axis machining centres, designed tooling and jigs, and ensured a consistent production of complex precision aerospace parts was maintained. In 2010, Gavin joined Forensic Science Northern Ireland as a Forensic Engineer in the Road Traffic Collisions (RTC) team.  In this role, Gavin attended serious and fatal road traffic collision scenes across Northern Ireland often in the immediate aftermath while the road remained closed by police.  Gavin was responsible for the forensic reconstruction of collisions from the scene through to the court room.  He conducted examinations, tests, and analyses to determine the circumstances of each collision as fully as possible, many of which were high profile cases.  He routinely advised investigation teams on forensic strategy, provided direction to other scientific staff, and liaised with external technical […]

Ross Clarke

Ross graduated from Loughborough University in 2013 with a master’s degree in Automotive Engineering. During his time at university, Ross worked on a joint venture project with JCB to propose a design for a new vehicle to be included in the JCB range. In his final year, he worked in a team to design the drive train system for the University’s Formula Student 2013/2014 vehicle. Since then he has gained over 5 years of engineering experience. Upon graduating from university, he accepted a role as an Engineer at Millbrook Proving Ground. His work included all aspects of testing from components to full vehicle crash safety. His time at Millbrook gained him valuable experience in vehicle collision investigation, and mechanical failure analysis. He was also trained in the use of 3D metrology equipment. In April 2016, Ross setup his own company to provide crash safety consultancy services to OEM’s. He was in a contract with Nissan from March 2016 until December 2018, where he developed their new and existing vehicles’ crash safety performance. He was based in Bedfordshire, but worked throughout Europe. Ross joined Hawkins in January 2019 and is a Senior Associate based in our London office.

Inigo Beckett

Inigo graduated from the University of Warwick with a First-Class Masters Degree in Mathematics having studied topics including Machine Learning, Advanced Real Analysis and Group Theory. His dissertation project explored the mathematics behind Linear Inverse Theory with applications in medical tomography. This included programming in MATLAB to demonstrate the inner workings of a CT-scan using Randomised Algebraic Reconstruction Techniques. Inigo joined Hawkins in 2020 as a Researcher in our Reigate office before progressing to Associate, expanding and strengthening Hawkins’ offerings in Digital Forensic Services. In 2022, he developed and implemented a new 3D Photogrammetric Modelling and Forensic Photogrammetry Service whereby he performs 3D modelling of retained forensic exhibits such as pipes, buildings, fire damaged electrical appliances, vehicles. Inigo applies key mathematical principles in remote-sensing and computer vision to deduce camera positions and lengths of objects. This area of work often coincides with his expertise in producing virtual visualisations & reconstructions, combining digital 3D models of exhibits and scenes to assist interpretations of imagery and videos of interest to insurance and legal professions. Inigo is also an A2 Certificate of Competence (A2CofC) certified drone pilot, regularly assisting clients with aerial surveys on cases relating to fires, structural failures, and personal injuries. […]

Richard Baker

Richard joined Hawkins in 2017 as a Chartered Mechanical Engineer. He graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2009 with a First Class Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering. Richard has previously occupied the roles of Engineer, Senior Engineer and Principal Engineer. He now specialises in the forensic investigation of road traffic accidents/collisions, vehicle and mechanical failures, and image analysis typically of video recordings from CCTV systems and ‘dash-cams’. Richard has extensive experience in engineering design and analysis. As well as taking on more traditional mechanical engineering cases, such as those involving failures of mechanical joints and fasteners, Richard uses his experience in engineering data analysis and interrogation in cases involving video analysis. Richard applies scientific analysis methods to video recordings to facilitate interpretation of events in the context of space (position), time, speed, and the fundamental scientific and engineering principles that bound the problem. This work includes video clarification and enhancement, relating to single and multiple vehicle accidents, and collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists. This area of Richard’s work often strongly overlaps with his expertise in collision investigation and Richard is regularly instructed to deal with both Video Analysis Expert and Collision Reconstruction Expert aspects of a case. Richard has […]

Digital Forensics Article By Callum Hogan Published in FOIL’s The Voice

Digital Investigator Callum Hogan has had an article featured in the Forum Of Insurance Lawyers (FOIL) magazine, The Voice.

Droning On…

Over the past few years, drones have become increasingly common and are now frequently used by both hobbyists and commercial operators.