Daryl J. Smith Mechanical Engineer & Building Systems Expert

Daryl J. Smith, Mechanical Engineer & Building Systems Expert

Daryl is a Mechanical Engineer with over 30 years of hands-on career experience and aggregate facilities/building systems expertise. He has held Senior Project/Engineering Manager positions within healthcare, educational and industrial facilities, where he has been responsible for capital project management, facilities design, construction management, maintenance/modification and buildings and grounds. He has particular expertise in specialized spaces: laboratories, data centers, pharmaceutical facilities, manufacturing, and product distribution facilities.

His expertise allows him to analyze overall building mechanical utility systems, and the individual components within, such as heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, boilers, plumbing and piping systems, hot water heaters, fire protection, sprinkler and alarm systems, exhaust, utility and process piping systems, electrical and building automation systems, and more. Working within a variety of settings has also given him perspective on industrial troubleshooting, failure analysis, machine guarding and protection, scalds and workplace/construction safety.

Senior mechanical facilities engineer with over 25 years of facilities project management experience in the semiconductor, consumer products, pharmaceutical, health care, and education industries. Experienced in the planning, engineering/design and construction of industrial, health care and educational facilities, including cleanroom and cGMP process, manufacturing/ production, packaging, laboratory, distribution/warehousing, utility, administrative and educational spaces, mechanical, HVAC, plumbing, fire protection, exhaust, utility and process piping, building automation and electrical systems, project, design and construction management and commissioning, qualification, validation, operation and maintenance of same.

Professional Experience

Robson Forensic, Inc.

Associate

2008 to present

Provide technical investigations, analysis, reports, and testimony toward failure analysis and the resolution of commercial and personal injury litigation involving all aspects of HVAC, plumbing, fire protection and process systems for buildings and facilities including design, project management, construction, testing, operation and maintenance. Areas of expertise include:

HVAC

  • Supply, return and exhaust systems; constant volume, variable air volume, 100% outside air systems; hot deck / cold deck, heating and cooling, humidification and dehumidification systems.
  • Heating equipment: hydronic and steam heating systems, gas and oil-fired burners, furnaces, boilers, flues, air separators, expansion tanks, strainers, safety relief valves, heat exchangers, cabinet unit heaters, fin tube radiation and radiant heat systems, steam, hot water and electric heating coils, heat pumps, heat recovery systems.
  • Cooling equipment: chillers, cooling towers, DX and split systems, condensing units, closed circuit fluid coolers, “free” cooling systems.
  • Controls: electric, pneumatic and electronic, DDC/PLC BAS/BMS systems; HVAC airflow, temperature and humidity controls, HEPA filtration and particulate control, pressurization control; fan coil units, VAV boxes, VFDs and energy management systems, modulating and balancing valves, safety and freeze protection systems.
  • Distribution: air handlers, economizers, ductwork, dampers, control boxes, outlets and return systems; pumps, circulators, piping, valving systems; vibration and noise control.
  • Ventilation/exhaust systems: ventilators, exhaust fans, minimum outdoor air levels, indoor air quality, exhaust and fume hoods, battery room ventilation, carbon filtration and odor control systems.
  • TAB: testing, adjusting, and balancing of air and hydronic systems.

Plumbing

  • Domestic hot and cold water systems: water heaters, temperature controls, mixing valves, pumps, circulators, water hammer / surge suppression, water treatment and filtration systems.
  • Sanitary and storm drainage systems: gravity and pumped, grease interceptors, lift stations, chlorination, sand filters, overflows.
  • Fuel oil storage, pumping and delivery systems.
  • Heat trace systems.

Fire Protection

  • Thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, combustion, fire safety.
  • Wet, dry, and double interlock preaction sprinkler systems, in-rack and ESFR systems, Halon suppression systems, fire pump systems and jockey pumps, water storage tanks and municipal water supply systems, hydraulic analyses.
  • Supervisory and addressable fire detection and alarm systems, heat, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, flow and pressure switches, pull stations.

Process/Industrial Systems

  • Reverse Osmosis and De-Ionized process water systems.
  • Natural gas, compressed air, O2, N2, H2 and process gas piping, regulators, appliances; medical gas systems.
  • Process chemical storage, delivery and drainage systems.
  • High pressure steam, high temperature hot water and jacket cooling water systems.
  • Thermal oxidizer systems.
  • Explosion-proof equipment and systems.
  • Emergency generator systems.

Construction and Work Place Safety

  • Construction safety procedures and requirements: right-to-know, material safety data sheets, personal protective equipment, confined space entry, lockout/tagout, ladder, scaffolding and elevated work surface fall protection, asbestos abatement, training, policies, inspections and OSHA requirements.

Sports, Fitness, Athletic Training and Coaching

  • Baseball
    • Baseball manager/coach for over 20 years in all levels of play, including Little League, Senior League, Babe Ruth, American Legion, High School, Men’s Adult/Senior and Youth Travel baseball leagues.
    • Coach/Instructor/Counselor at baseball camp and participation in numerous coaching and instructional clinics over 15 years.
    • Active baseball player for over 40 years in all levels of play, including Little League, Senior League, American Legion, High School, College and presently Men’s Adult/Senior baseball leagues.
    • Well versed in practice and training methodology, proper equipment, applicable rules and regulations.
  • Soccer
    • Soccer coach for over 10 years in all levels of play, including Youth Recreation, Youth Travel and Men’s Adult soccer leagues; presently inactive.
    • Soccer player for over 25 years (Youth, High School, College and Men’s Adult soccer leagues; presently retired).
    • New Jersey State Youth Soccer Association “F” Coach’s License (inactive). 
    • Rutgers University Youth Sports Safety Clinic Attendee.
  • Running
    • Adult running coach for over 10 years (presently inactive). 
    • Competitive adult road and track runner and racer for over 25 years (presently retired). 
    • Ten-time Boston Marathon finisher.

The University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey

Senior Project Manager, Facilities Planning & Construction Department
Somerset, NJ

2007 to 2008

Responsible for management of facilities capital projects at the University’s Central & Southern Campuses.

Johnson & Johnson

Senior Project Manager, Facilities Project Management Department
Morris Plains, NJ

2006 to 2007

Responsible for management of facilities capital projects at Johnson & Johnson’s Consumer Healthcare Division campus.

Pfizer Incorporated

Senior Project Manager, Global Operations Facilities Solutions Department
Morris Plains, NJ

2001 to 2006

Responsible for management of facilities capital projects at Pfizer’s Consumer Healthcare Headquarters complex that housed consumer health care and pharmaceutical research and development laboratories, corporate data center, offices and administrative support areas.

Pfizer Incorporated

Parsippany, NJ

1993 to 2001

Project Engineering Manager 1996-2001
Directed site’s Project Engineering Department and managed associated capital and operating budgets. Supervised professional/technical project management employees; responsible for management of all facility capital projects for Pfizer’s Consumer Healthcare site that contained consumer health care research and development laboratories, corporate data center, offices, consumer product manufacturing and pharmaceutical packaging operations, and product distribution facility.

Maintenance Manager, Engineering Department 1994-1996
Directed site’s Maintenance and Operations group and managed associated operating budget for Pfizer’s Consumer Healthcare site. Supervised maintenance engineering and maintenance supervisory employees, trade craftsman and technicians, and contract maintenance, buildings & grounds and security vendor personnel. Responsible for proper reliable and efficient maintenance, operation and upgrade/modification of all site building & grounds components and utility systems.

Senior Project Engineer, Engineering Department 1993-1994
Responsible for management of facilities capital projects at the in the Engineering Department for Pfizer’s Consumer Healthcare site. Duties included all aspects of facilities design and construction project management, responsibility for upgrading and maintaining optimal performance of all building mechanical utility systems.

IBM Corporation

Associate Engineer, Staff Engineer, Advisory Engineer
East Fishkill, NY

1983 to 1993

Held engineering positions of increasing responsibility in the Facilities Engineering organization responsible for IBM’s large semi-conductor manufacturing and development facility. Duties included all aspects of facilities design and construction project management, responsibility for upgrading and maintaining optimal performance of all building mechanical utility systems.

Professional Credentials

  • Licensed Professional Engineer in New York March 1991 through October 2019, license voluntarily placed in inactive status as of November 2019
  • Licensed Professional Engineer in New Jersey April 1995 through May 2020, license voluntarily placed in inactive status as of June 2020

Education

  • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Summa Cum Laude, The University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1983
    Member, Tau Beta Pi, Engineering Honor Society

Representative Continuing Education:

  • A Roadmap to Construction Contracting and Related Legal & Ethical Considerations for Design Professionals, Institute for Design Professionals, 2017
  • Design of Small Water Systems, 2015
  • OSHA Safety Requirements for Construction, Parts 1 & 2, 2014
  • Mechanics of Materials, 2014
  • Basic Concepts of Thermodynamics, 2014
  • Facilities Management in Industrial and Commercial Environments, 2013
  • Electrical Forensics Engineering, 2012
  • Smoke Detection in Challenging Environments, Fire Protection Engineering, 2012
  • National Association of Subrogation Professionals (NASP) – Commercial Kitchen Fires, 2012
  • Design of Potable Water Plumbing Systems, 2012
  • HVAC – Hydronic Systems, 2011
  • Petroleum Storage Tank Design, Maintenance and Inspection, October, 2011
  • HVAC – Boiler Systems, 2010
  • Dry Pipe, Deluge & Pre-Action Sprinkler Systems, Chubb Loss Control University, 2010
  • The Subsurface Engineering Process, 2009
  • Failure Appraisement, 2009
  • Technology and Applications for Subsurface Imaging in Construction, 2009
  • Construction & Workplace Safety, 2009
  • Failure Analysis of Water Main Breaks, Bronze Valves and Shaft Caps, 2008
  • LEED for New Construction Technical Review Workshop, U.S. Green Building Council, 2007
  • The Business Savvy Project Manager, PMI Management Solutions Group, 2006
  • OSHA 10 hour Construction Safety Class & Certification, 2004
  • Industrial Dehumidification System Course, Munters Inc., 2003
  • Improving Managerial Effectiveness Seminar, American Management Association, 2000
  • Manufacturing Plant Layout Seminar, Wright State University, 1997
  • Clean Room Technology Course, The Institute for Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences, Center for Professional Advancement, 1995
  • ASHRAE Operating and Maintaining Buildings for Health, Comfort and Productivity IAQ Seminar, 1993
  • Leadership through Communication Seminar, IDEA, 1993
  • Improvement of On-site Construction Productivity Seminar, K.E. O’Brien Assoc., 1991
  • Project Management for Engineers short course, ASME, 1988
  • Leading Project Teams short course, ASME, 1988
  • IBM Corporate Contamination Control Technology Seminar, 1987
  • Fundamentals of Industrial Measurement and Control Class, The Instrument Society of America, 1986
  • Project Management Seminar, American Management Association, 1985

Publications

  • Non-Destructive Testing of High-Purity Gas Piping Systems, 1984

Presentations

  • Mechanical and Plumbing Systems, New Jersey Building Codes, Lorman, Cherry Hill, NJ, 2009

v. 04/20/22

Related Resources