Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 2012
  • B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2007
Licenses & Certifications
  • Professional Engineer Chemical, California, #6695
Professional Affiliations
  • Standards Committee Participation (Current and Past)
  • • UL TC 2596 - Technical Committee for Thermal and Mechanical Performance of Battery Enclosure Materials
  • • SAE Micromobility Battery Standards Committee Member
  • • IEEE P1725 Working Group (Standard for Rechargeable Batteries for Cellular Telephones) Member
  • Professional Affiliations
  • Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers – IEEE
  • • IEEE Senior Member
  • • IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society Member
  • American Society for Quality – ASQ
  • • ASQ Member
  • Society of Automotive Engineers – SAE
  • • SAE Member
  • National Association of Fire Investigators - NAFI
  • • NAFI Member

Dr. Beers's areas of expertise include battery technology and polymer science. He has significant experience in the design, qualification, performance, reliability, safety, and failure analysis of batteries of varying formats, chemistries, and applications. Additionally, he has a specialized understanding of polymeric materials used in electrochemical and filtration systems, and the associated transport phenomena. He routinely solves complex technical problems related to the reliability and end-use performance of battery-powered consumer products, medical devices, energy storage systems, vehicles, and military and industrial equipment. Dr. Beers also leads product recall investigations and provides litigation support for intellectual property and product liability matters.

In his battery consulting practice, Dr. Beers assists clients with issues related to the full life cycle of battery-containing products, ranging from the early design and qualification of batteries to the analysis of field returns for safety and performance issues. During the product development stage, he utilizes a variety of methods to assist clients such as quality assessments, risk assessments (e.g., FMEA), non-standard testing tailored to end-use, accelerated aging, and forced thermal runaway testing.  He has experience with a number of battery chemistries including more traditional systems (e.g., lead acid, nickel metal hydride, nickel cadmium, alkaline, lithium-ion, primary lithium metal, etc.) and technologies that are in development for commercial applications (e.g., sodium-ion, solid state, high mass loading silicon anodes, etc.). He also has experience providing technical consulting during due diligence assessments, as well as consulting related to the Inflation Reduction Act (e.g., Section 45X).  For his work in this area, he utilizes a variety of  testing including: X-ray CT scanning, cell teardowns, full cell cross sections, reference electrode testing, charge / discharge cycling, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), imaging techniques (SEM, FIB, TEM), chemical analysis techniques (FTIR, Raman, EDS, GC-MS), and mechanical and thermal testing. He is also a current and past member of various standards committees related to batteries and battery safety.

In the field of polymer science, Dr. Beers consults on topics ranging from materials compatibility, small molecule migration and transport, adhesion, failure analysis, and polymers used in electrochemical and filtration applications. He has contributed to technology and product development, and the evaluation and mitigation of performance-based risk. Prior to joining Exponent, he researched fuel cell membranes, semi-crystalline polymer membranes, battery separators, filtration membranes, ion-exchange resins, solid polymer electrolytes, and polymer binders.