Kevin has extensive experience in the forensic analysis of electrical systems across consumer electronics, industrial machinery, transportation, HVAC, and energy storage applications. His investigative scope spans residential and commercial appliances, battery systems, multi-phase switchgear, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), electric vehicles, marine and agricultural equipment, and aviation systems.
Kevin is highly skilled in field and laboratory-based forensic examinations, including destructive analysis and physics-of-failure assessments. He possesses deep technical knowledge of component-level operation, including battery management systems (BMS), control electronics, and circuit board assemblies. His investigations often involve failures at the microcontroller or printed circuit board (PCB) level, particularly those that result in thermal events or fires. He frequently encounters contamination-related failures on circuit boards—such as ionic residues or flux remnants.
In addition to investigative casework, Kevin leads the lithium-ion battery testing laboratory at Jensen Hughes’ Fort Wayne, Indiana, facility. He has performed detailed design reviews and safety validation testing on lithium-ion and other rechargeable battery systems, helping clients identify design deficiencies and implement improved protective circuitry and fault-tolerance strategies in BMS architectures. His work frequently involves reverse-engineering and dynamic testing of systems utilizing unknown or custom ASIC-based control chips.
Kevin regularly coordinates with other technical disciplines within Jensen Hughes—such as metallurgy, materials science, product safety and compliance, and chemical analysis—to conduct thorough multidisciplinary investigations when failure mechanisms extend beyond electrical causes. This collaborative approach allows for a complete, scientifically defensible analysis of fire causation and product safety failures.
Kevin Hecksher, EIT, is an experienced Senior Forensic Electrical Consultant, with extensive experience in consumer and industrial appliances (both large and countertop) and HVAC systems. Mr. Hecksher has performed numerous forensic exams (in the field and in the lab) on all makes and models of such products, and has a strong command for not only the system architecture for these products, but a firm technical understanding of the operation of the electrical and mechanical components that comprise them. He demonstrates an advanced ability to perform destructive root cause and physics of failure analysis on the componentry of appliances, down to the circuit board and microcontroller level. Kevin has created coursework and has provided training and instruction on comprehensive appliance analysis and documentation techniques, which includes and emphasizes the proper installation, maintenance, operator use and compliance to applicable codes required for safe appliance operation.
Kevin Hecksher, EIT, is an experienced Senior Forensic Electrical Consultant, with extensive experience in consumer and industrial appliances (both large and countertop) and HVAC systems. Mr. Hecksher has performed numerous forensic exams (in the field and in the lab) on all makes and models of such products, and has a strong command for not only the system architecture for these products, but a firm technical understanding of the operation of the electrical and mechanical components that comprise them. He demonstrates an advanced ability to perform destructive root cause and physics of failure analysis on the componentry of appliances, down to the circuit board and microcontroller level. Kevin has created coursework and has provided training and instruction on comprehensive appliance analysis and documentation techniques, which includes and emphasizes the proper installation, maintenance, operator use and compliance to applicable codes required for safe appliance operation.
Kevin Hecksher, EIT, is an experienced Senior Forensic Electrical Consultant, with extensive experience in consumer and industrial appliances (both large and countertop) and HVAC systems. Mr. Hecksher has performed numerous forensic exams (in the field and in the lab) on all makes and models of such products, and has a strong command for not only the system architecture for these products, but a firm technical understanding of the operation of the electrical and mechanical components that comprise them. He demonstrates an advanced ability to perform destructive root cause and physics of failure analysis on the componentry of appliances, down to the circuit board and microcontroller level. Kevin has created coursework and has provided training and instruction on comprehensive appliance analysis and documentation techniques, which includes and emphasizes the proper installation, maintenance, operator use and compliance to applicable codes required for safe appliance operation.
