"Teamwork is the cornerstone of good business practice." I learned this philosophy during my thirteen years with IBM, and when I joined Wandling Engineering sixteen years ago, this was already an important part of the company culture.

Over the past 36 years, our company's client base has grown significantly. When I assumed leadership for Wandling Engineering in 2010, hiring more engineers with diverse backgrounds was one of my priorities. Dr. Alan Lynch was my first new hire, and he joined our group in June 2010.

Another priority was to provide our clients with company news and industry updates by publishing a newsletter. This is our first edition of "The Resource." You may have also noticed the new look of our logo and materials — these updates represent our goal to meet future challenges with renewed vigor. We remain grounded in the solid engineering and teamwork principles that have always been a part of the Wandling Engineering core values. We welcome the opportunity to continue working with you to meet your engineering and forensic needs in the future.

Dr. Alan G. Lynch, P.E. hired in June 2010, brings a background in mechanical engineering as a senior design engineer with General Motors – his specialty: design, analysis, and computer simulation of advanced vehicle suspension systems.

An Iowa City native, Lynch received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Iowa in 1983, completed his M.S. in 1985, and Ph.D. in 1988 at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. During his time in Ames, Lynch mastered a variety of techniques used to evaluate mechanical designs before and during the prototype stage. He would later rely on these tools for accident reconstruction to effectively present demonstrative evidence as an expert witness in the field of forensic engineering.

From 1988 to 1994, Lynch was a senior design engineer for General Motors in Warren, Michigan. His focus was computer-controlled automotive suspension design. During this time, he also taught vehicle dynamics courses for employees of General Motors through Purdue and the University of Illinois continuing education programs.

In 1994, Lynch and his family chose to return to Ames. He joined UGS Corporation, formerly Engineering Animation, as a senior project manager. He worked on forensic computer animation projects with subject-matter experts and law firms nationwide. He also consulted with a large variety of manufacturing companies working closely with the client management, engineering, IT, and supply divisions. In this position, Lynch found himself in the courtroom using his skills in accident reconstruction.

When approached by Wandling Engineering, Lynch saw the opportunity to fully utilize his design, analysis, and management experience. The variety of design and forensic engineering cases provide a challenge that Dr. Lynch enjoys because, "No two days are the same."

The prevention of flammable vapor ignition is one key area in which the technology and the standards continue to evolve. Wandling Engineering has been involved in the investigation of fires and explosions due to flammable vapors and the evaluation of accident prevention techniques in this area for nearly forty years. Today, we recall an important time in history when technology and innovation helped define the basic principles of flammable vapor ignition prevention.

In the early nineteenth century, work was being done to try to reduce fires and explosions in coal mines due to miner's candle-lit lanterns. The first mine safety lamp was constructed by Dr. William Reid Clanny. The Clanny lamp was a cylindrical case in which a candle was supported. Air was forced into the bottom of a water filled bowl using bellows to supply combustion air for the candle. The light from the candle was emitted through a glass front. The flame of the burned gases rose to the top of the conical shaped cap. At this narrow point, the flame would not pass through the small exhaust hole at the top and could not come into contact with any flammable vapors in the mine atmosphere. Dr. Clanny presented his safety lamp to the Royal Society of Arts in May of 1813.

Sir Humphry Davy found that wire gauze or mesh could be used to form a flame arrester that allowed the free flow of air to feed the candle. He used steel gauze to prevent gas ignited inside the lamp from igniting the coal gas outside the lamp. Sir Davy found that using steel wire gauze of 28 wires to the inch was sufficient to quench the flames and function as a flame arrester. His lamp was first used in a mine in December 1815.

Mr. George Stephenson sought to improve the pattern of air circulation in mine lamps to allow better functionality in the mine. His lamp allowed a pocket of burnt air to be retained above the candle flame and permitted some of the combustible mine air to enter below the flame in small quantities to be consumed. This design provided a suitable air barrier between the flame and heat from inside the lamp and the combustible air outside. His design was found to be successful in late 1815.

Together, these three men provided the main principles necessary for a safe and useful mine lamp. Dr. Clanny contributed the concept of an enclosed combustion chamber. Sir Davy furnished the idea of using wire gauze as a flame arrester. Mr. Stephenson added the concept of a controlled air circulation pattern. Using these three concepts, early safety lamp designs were continually modified and updated to improve safe operation, to increase the amount of light provided, and to develop better fuel sources. There were many manufactures of mine safety lamps, and numerous similar and improved designs emerged over time. These innovative concepts were introduced beyond the realm of mine lighting. Today, the concept of flammable vapor ignition resistant technology in many types of devices still builds upon these original three principles that worked so long ago.

• Beard, J. T. Mine Gases and Explosions. New York: Wiley, 1908. Print.
• Pohs, Henry A. Early Underground Mine Lamps: Mine Lighting from Antiquity to Arizona. Tucson: Arizona Historical Society, 1974. Print.