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Curriculum Vitae of George A. Pecoraro, Ph.D.

April 8, 2015

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George A. Pecoraro, Ph. D.

Dr. George A. Pecoraro has a Ph.D. in Material Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1969). His Bachelor of Science and Masters of Science Degrees were in Ceramic Engineering from the University of Illinois (1962 and 1963). He has been serving as an expert witness for glass-related issues since 2003 in more than 95 cases involving:

Float glass furnace and bath optimization and defect reduction Glass product liability cases such as spontaneous breakage of tempered plate glass

and tempered glass shower doors, bare edge shower and bath room doors, architectural laminated glass and balcony enclosures, and breakage of glass table tops, red wine vessels, and commercial plate glass patio doors.

Personal injury cases involving glass from spontaneous and impact breakage of and glass tables, cold milk jugs, glass medicine vials, flower and candle vases, carbonate non-carbonated beverage, food sauce bottles and other glass objects,

Injuries from exterior and storm door glass and panels, fire door wire glass and non- tempered glass breakage from human impact.

Commercial and residential building glass damage issues such as delamination, scratched and gouged windows resulting from unclean tempering furnace atmosphere and roller issues, and improper cleaning or mishandling and from hurricanes.

Impact and ballistic resistant locomotives windshields.

Pecoraro is very well versed in all aspects of flat glass manufacture from glass composition to the melting and refining to the tempering and fabrication of automobile and locomotive glass, and both residential and commercial glazing. He assisted the production facilities of PPG in maximization of glass quality and tonnage by maximizing furnace operation to minimize defects such as bubbles, solid inclusions and striae which result in reduction of furnace yield. His expertise includes both air/gas and oxy-fuel furnaces. He has been involved with problems involving the strength of automotive and small appliance glass having various degrees of temper as well as laminated glass for automotive windshields. He was recently involved with two cases of fractured plate glass that caused severe injury to the plaintiffs. One involved very large 1/2 inch thick tempered glass doors of a commercial building in Washington, DC. The other involved a small non-tempered window of a camper vehicle. He has been involved in two cases involving fractured boro-silicate glass medicine vials, beverage bottles (iced tea, lemonade, beer, etc.), a wide-mouth salsa bottle and pickle jar as well as a beer mug injury, an injury involving fire-rated wire glass. A specialty of his, one that he developed expertise while employed by PPG Industries, is the spontaneous fracture of tempered glass. He has served as an expert witness for cases involving fatalities…one involving exploding fire place glass, a second involving a glass display counter in a bar, a third involving a hit and run, and a fourth involving identifying the sources of broken glass in a GMC van and the get-a-way car during a drug-related case in Washington, DC. He has been hired as an expert for three Asian flat glass assignments in Asia. He travelled to China two times and Korea one time. He has consulted two times in Germany and one time in Mexico for process and defect-related issues.

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He has also travelled to Germany two times to advise a major German Glass Co. on the manufacture of a high temperature glass similar to Corning’s Monster Glass and on the reduction of open-bottom bubble defects generated in the float batch. DEPOSITIONS He has been deposed eighteen times: (listed starting from the most recent)

1. Morgan Keller, Inc. vs. Marathon Cleaning, Inc., et. al., Ellicott, MD, 21043

Deposition, March 6, 2015

2. Watson vs. Farmer Brothers, et. al. No. D-1116-CV-2012-01357

Matt Watson and Sarah Watson, individually and as

Parents of Alexis Watson vs. Farmer Bros. Co., et. al.

3. Lamoure vs. Libbey Glass, Inc.

Civil Action No.: 1:13-cv-00489-WJM

Deposition, October 9, 2013.

4. William Toomey and Mary Toomey against Miller Coors LLC

United States District Court, Eastern District of New York

Case No. 12 CV 3295

Deposition

May 29, 2013

5. Rebecca Francouer v. Merck & Co, Inc., ET. al,

Case No. 1:11-cv-03008-RM

District of Colorado

Deposition

April 2, 2013

6. Young v. Manulife and Capitol Door

Case No. 1:11 CV-02143_RC

Deposition

Oct 5, 2012

7. Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa vs. RA Aluminum

Circa January, 2012.

8. Jeffrey Day et. al. vs. S & P Company

Court of Common Pleas, Warren County, Ohio.

Case No.: 10-CV-76849

2012

9. Heidi Blake v. B52’s Bar & Grill, et. al.

Surrey County, NC Superior Court

10 CVS 849

Deposition

August 12, 2011

10. Lauren Berger v. The Carriage House & Leone Industries

Circuit Court of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, Manatee County, Florida

Case No. 09-10711

Deposition

May 31, 2011

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11. The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co., ET. al.

v. International Glass Products LLC. C.A. No. 208

CV-01564 –DSC, Western District of Pennsylvania

Deposition

March 30, 2011

12. Kristopher Karnauskas v. Sunbeam Products, Inc., et.als.

U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York

CIV No. 09-CIV-7104 (GBD)

Deposition

2010

13. Shane Trabbold v. Mikes Hard Lemonade & Ridge Liquors, et. al.

U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

09-CV-04235, Philadelphia, PA

Deposition

June 26, 2011

14. Vermont Mutual Insurance Co. v. D. F. Maguire

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Civil Action No. 1:08-CV-10965 File No.:2824-55

Deposition

September 9, 2009

15. Shellie R. Catherman v. Pier I Imports (U.S.), Inc.

Lake Superior Court Sitting in Crown Point, Indiana

File No. 0857-1, Cause No.: 45D11-0703-CT-00053

Gary, Indiana

Deposition

May 6, 2008

16. Kenneth Spector v. Matt Brewery and Anchor Glass

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

No. 2:10-CV-00735-BMS

Deposition

October 28, 2010

17. Boyd v. Hollywood Supermarket, Inc. et. al

Case No. 08-096480-NZ

Deposition

Sept, 2009

18. Alexander v. Smith

Broward County, FL

Deposition

February, 2007

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COURT AND ARBITRATOR TESTIMONIES

1. State of Ohio v. Joseph DeRamo

Columbiana County Municipal Court

Case 11 CRD 740

Court Testimony

Friday, November 30, 2012

2. Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa

Hollywood, FL

Arbitrator Testimony

May 9, 2012

3. John Geddie vs. Dave Hochmayr

Civil Action No. 3:11-CV-99

Cause Action No. CV 34417, United States District Court for the Southern

District of Texas, Galveston Division

(My expert letter was read to the judge and jury)

2012

4. Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa

Hollywood, FL

Arbitrator Testimony

2009

5. Vermont Mutual v. Maguire

U.S. District Court (MA)

Civil Action No. 1:08-CV-10965 LC File No.: 2824-55

Court Testimony

September 30, 2009

6. Alexander v. Smith

Broward County, FL

Court Testimony

April, 2007

A favorable outcome was awarded to my clients for each of these six litigations ACTIVITIES Pecoraro Consulting, LLC in conjunction with Edward Kruppa of FAST Consulting LLC also conducts glass fracture analysis and forensics, and simulated fracture testing using strain gauges to calculate fracture stress. They have measured the fracture strength of various glasses using several methods – and have conducted ANSI Z-97.1 testing of float glass to qualify or disqualify it as pass or fail. Dr. Pecoraro was designated as a voting member of the International Code Counsel, an association dedicated to protecting the health, safety and welfare of the public by making buildings safer. He is well versed in commercial and residential building codes for the period 1976 to date - a period during which the codes for the use of fully tempered glass (safety) glass changed dramatically Prior to retirement in 2003, Dr. Pecoraro was employed for almost 40 years by PPG Industries, Inc. at its Glass Research Laboratory near Pittsburgh, PA. It is a manufacture of commodity float glass, laminated and tempered automotive and coated architectural glass, and also continuous strand

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fiberglass. He has developed specialty glass compositions and fuel-saving glass formulations, but yet did not sacrifice end use performance in commercial buildings and residential houses and automobiles. He measured the scratch resistance of various compositions of float glass. He was a major developer of PPG’s proprietary tin bath float glass-forming process which utilized clear fused quartz (pure bubble-free silica glass) at the tin, glass-refractory interface.

Curriculum Vitae

DR. GEORGE A. PECORARO PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 2007 to 2009 Appointed as a voting member of the International Building Code Structural

Committee (IBC-S) by the Board of Directors of the ICC. (International Code Council). Participated in the 2008 meeting.

2003 to 2009 Glass industry consultant for glass related injuries and product liability, glass

technology and the glass founding process. 1963 to 2009 PPG INDUSTRIES, GLASS TECHNOLOGY CENTER Senior Research Engineer

Conducted R&D and process optimization in most aspects of glass manufacture, glass chemistry and glass properties.

Identified additives to the glass batch that virtually eliminated spontaneous glass breakage of fully tempered (safety) glass caused by nickel sulfide stones.

Served as PPG’s representative to the NSF-University-Industry Center for Glass Research since 1996 and as its president for the 1997-1998 calendar year. This organization conducted research in virtually every aspect of glass science and technology by the top scientists and engineers in the specialty glass, fiber glass, flat glass, bottle and TV tube industry.

Appointed as the industrial leader by PPG, Industries, Inc. of a 5 year DOE-funded project the developed the kinetics of silica and alumina soda vapor concentration

Optimized glass composition to obtain the minimum log 2 and log 4 melting and forming viscosities without altering bending and tempering properties.

PUBLICATIONS: Co-edited a book on the corrosion of materials by molten glass, and authored many articles in various technical publications. A sampling of articles is as follows:

Fusion-Cast Refractories Serve at Reduced Pressure, The GlassResearcher, Vol. 6, No. 1 (1996).

How the Properties of Glass Melts Influence the Dissolution of Refractory Materials, Advances in Fusion and Processing of Glass III, Ceramic Transactions, Vol. 141.

Corrosion of Refractory Metals by Molten Oxides, The Glass Industry, Oct, 1970.

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Analytical Models for High-Temperature Corrosion of Silica Refractories in Glass Melting Furnaces, J. Electrochem. Soc.148, B59-67 (2001).

Co-Editor – Corrosion of Materials by Molten Glass, American Ceramic Society, Westerville, OH (1996).

Development in Glass Furnace Refractories, TheGlassResearcher, Vol. 7, No. 2 (1998) U.S. PATENTS:

A sampling of the over 22 U.S. Patents and 40 foreign patents he authored or co-authored are as follows:

U.S. 20040110625A1, Method for making float glass having reduced defect density

U.S. 20040107732A1, Apparatus and method for producing float glass having reduced defect density

U.S. 20030054938AI, Methods of adjusting temperatures of glass characteristics, etc.

U.S. 20020169062A1, Methods of adjusting glass melting and forming temperatures, etc.

U.S. 5,401,287, Reduction of nickel sulfide stones in a glass melting operation (spontaneous glass fracture of tempered glass

U.S. 4,792,536, Transparent infrared absorbing glass and method of making the same

U.S. 4,744,809, Method and apparatus for homogenizing glass

PARTIAL HISTORY OF LITIGATIONS SERVING AS AN EXPERT WITNESS:

1. Testified before a judge and six person jury for a personal injury case as an expert witness for the plaintiff in Alexander v. Smith in Broward County, FL in April, 2007. The attorney was Joseph Boatwright, a personal injury lawyer of Billings, Morgan, Boatwright and Hernandez of Winter Park, FL. The issue was a BB or bullet hole in the plate glass sliding door that was installed in 1968 during initial construction. The defense claimed that the hole did not significantly weaken the glass and that the 11 year old girl would have been injured had the hole not been in the glass. I simulated the impact in my lab, and showed that it weakened the glass by over 75% using a standard strength testing procedure (ANSI Z97.1). The defendant covered the hole with a sun catcher in an attempt to hide the hole. Furthermore, since there was a major addition to the house after 1976, the glass should have been replaced with fully tempered safety glass according to Federal codes. Result was favorable to the plaintiff. I was also deposed by the defense attorneys several months prior to the jury proceedings.

2. Testified before a judge and six-person jury in a personal injury case as an expert witness

for the defense in Boston Mass. The attorney was Paul Kober. The case was Vermont Mutual v. Maquire. I simulated the impact and measured the amount of force it took to fracture a thick-walled glass beer mug versus normal every day forces to open and close doors, etc. The simulation was recorded on a DVD disc. This was done to challenge the plaintiff’s claim that he was only trying to break up a fight by using the mug to separate two people involved in the altercation. Result was favorable to my client, the defense.

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3. Testified before an arbitrator for the plaintiff in a case where polished bare-edged tempered glass hotel bathroom doors were spontaneously exploding. The plaintiff was the Diplomat L.P. (Westin Diplomat in Hollywood FL). I was hired by the Chief facilities Engineer of the hotel, David Martinez. The attorney that I worked with was Ann DePriester of DLA Piper US LLP in Atlanta, Georgia. Results were favorable to my client, the plaintiff. The same hotel also had a spontaneous tempered glass breakage problem of balcony balustrades.

4. Testified before an arbitrator on two separate occasions regarding spontaneously

exploding balcony glass balustrades and badly delaminated hurricane glass windows and doors. Results were favorable to my client, the plaintiff.

5. My expert report was read to a judge and jury as testimony in a case where the plaintiff

impacted a patio door. He claimed that he was walking very slowly. However, my calculations showed that he had to fast walking when he hit the door. Results were favorable to my client, the defendant.

6. Testified before a judge and jury in the case of Ohio vs. Joseph Deramo. His son claimed

that Mr. Deramo pushed his head through a tempered glass SUM backlite, thereby causing severe injury. The glass was too strong for it to have broken from a human head impact. The results were favorable to my client, Mr. Deramo

7. Glass expert for General Electric Corporation locomotive windshields. Conducted a

factory audit of a Chinese glass fabricator regarding ballistic proof locomotive windshields and other glass and windshield requirements. The Chinese manufacturer’s locomotive windshields were not passing the United States ballastics tests requirements. It was explained to them that they were over-tempering the glass (excessive surface compression). The composite windshields passed the tests when the proper tempering levels were used.

8. Expert witness for the plaintiff for a very high profile hit and run case in Los Angeles

involving a fatality. The defendants were Cabrerra and Luna. The Case No. is BA354927. I was hired by the Assistant District Attorney of Los Angeles, Ms. Janis Johnson. I and a colleague, Mr. Edward Kruppa, simulated the impact of a man into an automobile windshield. We showed that the injuries to the abdomen area occurred when he was pulled out of the windshield, not when he went into it. Partly because of our work, the defendants pleaded guilty according to Ms. Johnson. They are in jail.

9. Glass expert for a case where a young man, Charles Boyd, was fatally injured after being pushed into a glass display case during a fight at a bar-restaurant. The display case was not built with tempered glass. The case was Heidi P. Blake, Individually, and as Administrix

of the Estate of Charles Anthony Boyd vs. B52’s Bar & Grill, LLC et.al. James M. Roane, III,

Esq. of Greensboro, NC was the attorney. Samples of annealed and tempered glass were

prepared as a means of demonstrating in court how safety glass breaks into small harmless

pieces whereas annealed glass breaks into dangerous, knife-like shards. The results were favorable to my client.

10. Glass expert for Charrie Yvonne Jones vs. J & J Foods, Inc. (State Court of Hall County,

State of Georgia, Case 2008SV1000N). The plaintiff fell against a glass display case which fractured and severely injured her. The glass was not tempered. The attorney was Christina Wagner.

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11. Glass expert for Snyder v. John Deere Corporation. A soda pop delivery man tripped and fell through a large plate glass window. The glass was not tempered. The question to be answered is - was the annealed glass (not tempered) installed in the building before the code requiring the use of safety (tempered) glass became law.

12. Expert witness for the plaintiff, The New Central Library, City of Des Moines for product

liability law suit involving a spontaneous breakage issue with the very expensive tempered triple glass panels in its new library. The Law Firm is Duncan, Green, Brown and Langeness. The attorney was Martin Kenworthy. The fractured panels of glass were replaced by the manufacturer, and the warrant period was extended for the original panels.

13. Expert witness for a current case Thomas Venti v. Carousel Flowers and Delaware Valley

Floral Group – Case 001841 for the plaintiff. Mr. Venti seriously cut his hand while washing a vase. The cross section shape was square, and one section was very thin - as thin as a light bulb.

14. Expert witness for Forray v. Stoelze-Oberglas File 7261.56520. Miss Forray allegedly cut

her hand while “detailing” a red wine glass. It had been handled, washed and dried numerous times. The wine glasses were mishandled by the dishwashers and the wait staff. I purchased red wine glasses of different brands and actual used Stoelze-Oberglas red wine glasses were used for testing. We abraded the stems of some of the glasses and protected the others from damage. The measured fracture strength of the glasses showed that the abraded glasses broke at low force, while the non-abraded glass stems broke at high force.

15. Glass expert for Heller and Heller, P.A of Coral Springs, FL for their client Danny Moreno

to conduct extensive forensic examination and testing of a vase that broke in his hand while he was filling it with water. I was asked to determine if there was a defect in the design or in the manufacture of the vase. I found that the fracture of the vase originated at a scratch in the inner surface of the vase near the intersection of its conical-shaped side wall and the base. I do not know if the case is proceeding to litigation.

16. Expert glass fracture witness for Beckman, Kelly & Smith of Hammond, IN for the

plaintiff, Shellie Catherman v. Pier I Imports (U.S.), Inc. File No. 0857-1. I was deposed in the case. Ms. Catherman’s lower arm was severely cut by a glass shard as a result of a Daisy Hurricane vase exploding in the process of her filing it with water in her kitchen sink. My forensic examination of the glass showed the presence of a flaw in the rim of the vase which severely weakened it. It could have been a manufacturing defect or damaged by an employee while handling it in the store. The case was settled out of court.

17. Glass fracture expert for Hundley and Johnson, P.C. of Richmond, VA for a severe injury to

the hand of Mr. Barry B. McGranahan. He was injured while attempting to unscrew the lid of a Worcestershire Sauce bottle. My forensic examination showed that the neck of the bottle was too thin to withstand the torque required to unscrew the lid. The Worcestershire sauce acts as a glue when it dries, making the lid very difficult to remove. I am not aware of any law suit against Reckitt Benckiser of Parsippany, NY at this point in time. Mr. McGranahan would be the plaintiff in any law suit.

18. In collaboration with KEYSTONE Engineering Consultants, Inc., I served as a glass

fracture expert for Stoehr and Smith LLC of Duncanville, PA for a severe injury to the hand of Ms. Pamela Zitsch, a potential plaintiff. My examination of the sparkling burgundy bottle that injured her indicated that the bottle was damaged on the inside of its neck as she attempted to open it with a cork screw. The cork was of the type that did not require a cork screw assist. It was shaped like a mushroom. Furthermore, the label clearly

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indicated that a cork screw should not be used to remove the cork, albeit the print was small. Any complaint against the bottle maker may not be justified.

19. Glass fracture expert for the Law Offices of Paul K. DeGrado of Hackensack, NJ for a serious burn to a child from a fractured tea pot full of hot water. The plaintiffs, Edyta and Simon Ostrowski claimed the Whistling Tea kettle broke while just removing it from the burner. However, my forensic analysis of the fracture pattern showed that the tea kettle was broken from impact which refuted the testimony of the Ostrowski’s.

20. Glass fracture expert for Structured Solutions of Beverly, MA. A glass vanity that was

purchased for the Jumeirah Essex House in New York City with the belief that it was fully tempered safety glass fractured into chards when a drinking glass was dropped on it. Mr. Edward Kruppa and I examined over 150 glass vanities in the hotel to determine if they were of safety glass quality. Some were, and some were not.

21. Expert witness for the defense in the case Bizub v. Edinboro County Square Realty. I was

hired by Jennifer Keadle Mason and Robert Aspen of Mintzer, Sarowitz, Ledva and Meyers LLP. Ms. Bizub, while running down a flight of stairs put her hand through a glass insert in an exterior door. My examination of the glass and the local and state and federal codes in effect at the time showed that all were in compliance. The federal codes requiring the use of tempered glass were not passed by the U.S. Congress until 1976. The apartment building that Ms. Bizub was injured in was built in 1968.

22. Expert witness in 2012 case of Young vs. Manulife, et. al. Mr. Young’s head was severely

injured by chunks of falling tempered glass from a thick, 10 foot high bare edge door. I was hired by Mr. Sidney Schupak of Ashcroft and Gerel. The fracture of one of the two adjoining tempered glass doors was caused by damaged resulting from the misaligned doors from their hitting at their tops. The hitting resulted in chipping of the doors which lead to catastrophic failure. We conducted a simulation of the edges of the two doors hitting and chipping. The building engineering group did not properly maintain the doors. The case was settled in favor of my client.

23. Expert witness in the case of John Flinn vs. Forest River, Inc., and Kinro, Inc. Docket No: I

was hired by attorneys for the plaintiff, John Trimble and Katrina Geary of Trimble Law. John Flinn, a minor at the time of the incident, put his hand and arm through the window of a River Forest RV while he was sleeping. The glass window was very weak because of the poor condition of its edges. The edges had numerous medium scale vents of a deep of 0.012 inches which are twice that of typical vents. The deeper vents weakened the glass. In addition, the edges had a defect called “sharks teeth” at the rounded corners of the glass. They are so large that they can reduce the glass strength by 90%. Sharks teeth are caused by improper cutting of the glass at the rounded corners of the window. The case was settled in favor of my client.

24. Expert witness for the defendant H & H Commercial painting company, Inc. This painting

firm as being sued for allegedly scratching newly installed windows in Birch Crest Apartments. I was hired by Krupnick, Campbell, and Malone et. al. of Fort Lauderdale, FL. to defend H & H Commercial painting, Inc. The attorney was Sean F. Thomson, Esq. My on site investigation revealed that drops of paint were found that were on top of the scratches, and that the scratches were underneath the Neoprene rubber gaskets that held the glass into the frames. The scratches were therefore on the glass prior to the painting activity.

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25. Expert for Francouer v. Merck. A medicine vial, fractured during normal usage because it was damaged either during manufacture or during the process of putting anti-biotic in it, severely lacerated the dominant hand of Mrs. Francouer, a registered nurse. There was scuffing of the barrel of the vial. The fracture origin occurred within the scuffed area. I was hired by Angela McGraw of Fleischman and Shapiro, Denver, CO.

26. Expert witness for the plaintiffs for Drake and Mary Mills v. Kolbe and Kolbe, Inc., et. al.

The windows and glass door were scratched in a newly constructed upscale house in Louisiana. It was pointed out inspection during inspection of the glass that some of the scratches were partially located under the muntins (wooden dividers of the windows). This means that some of the glass modules was scratched prior to their being put into their frames by the window company, Kolbe & Kolbe Millwork, Inc. Therefore the source of many of the scratched was the glass manufacture, the glass temperer and/or the window manufacturing company. The amount of scratches caused by the window washer is miniscule.

27. Expert witness for one of the defendants, Marathon Cleaning Co., in Morgan Keller, Inc. v.

Marathon Cleaning Co., et. al. The window cleaning company was being sued for 1.5 million dollars allegedly scratching the majority of the windows in a newly constructed large commercial building near Baltimore, MD. It was shown that the scratches occurred on the glass both under the window frames as well as on the exposed glass surface. Since the framing of the windows covered some of the scratches, they could not have been caused by the window washers. The scratches could have been caused by the window company, Emmitsburg, or the glass temperer, Viracon.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:

American Ceramic Society – Distinguished Fellow NSF University-Industry Center for Glass Research – Past President Keramos (Honorary Fraternity) President of the NSF Industry-University Center for Glass Research PPG Industries, Inc. Presidents Award – 1987 Named to Who’s Who in Technology – 1972 PPG Recognition of Excellence Award – 1993 Named to Madison’s Who’s Who – 2007

CONTINUING EDUCATION:

Brown belt six-sigma diploma from the University of Tennessee Statistical analysis from the Dupont In-House Training Association Quality Management and Applied Statistical Process Control – Crosby Integrity

Systems An Introduction to Multivariate Statistical Process Control – In Control Technologies Technical Writing -PPG In-house course Research Project Management – PPG In-house course