Augspurger Komm Engineering & President David Komm
Recognizing its 50-year anniversary in 2025, Augspurger Komm Engineering (AKE) is a well-respected engineering firm based in Phoenix, Arizona that provides forensic engineering services and expert witness testimony nationwide. Some of the areas for which it is known include construction, biomechanics, human factors, accident reconstruction, roadway design, workplace safety, and civil and mechanical engineering. The team is composed of distinguished engineers licensed in several states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Washington, and the Province of Alberta, Canada.
“We believe our clients deserve a clear, concise, and accurate product for ‘When you need to know why,’ ” according to the AKE website.
Key Milestones
In 1975, AKE was founded by Quent Augspurger as Augspurger Engineering (AE). At the request of an existing client, Quent was asked to investigate the failure of a water check valve.
In 1975, no one had yet seen a “CSI” episode or laughed with the cast of “Mythbusters.” Forensic work, which had been going on since machines were built, was a very niche area of engineering. But from that very simple case, AE was asked to look at more cases of varying complexity.
By the turn of the century, the firm resided in a small space adjacent to the Scottsdale Airpark as a design engineering firm, incorporating forensics after being called upon to become more involved in those types of cases.
In 2000, David Komm joined Augspurger Engineering from his previous role as Director of Engineering at Honeywell International Inc. Dave had already gained experience with explanation and presentation from leading his design group and was familiar with failure analysis. When he joined the AKE team, there were only four employees including himself.
Over the ensuing years the firm updated its technology, including utilizing the English XL Tribometer to measure flooring slip resistance, accelerometers to measure g-forces on impacts and complex software to model component stresses. The firm developed a staff of specialists in the fields of construction, crane operations, biomechanics, and mechanical design. In 2003, the name of the firm was changed to Augspurger Komm Engineering, Inc. and in 2004, David Komm was named President.
Realizing the need for more space, the firm moved to its current state-of-the-art headquarters of 16,000-SF in Phoenix in 2007. At the same time, the firm also acquired BTI, a forensic firm in the Valley, which brought experience in heavy machinery and accident reconstruction. Additional expertise to the team included biomechanics and human factors. Other expanded capabilities include the ability to measure sound intensity/illumination, light meters, pressure, flow, and vibration.
By 2008, the firm had 16 full-time and part-time experts plus two technicians and two administration staff members. Some of the additional expertise included structural engineering with Joe Zbick, PE, workplace safety with Mark Cannon, PE, and Jeremy Bethancourt, CHST, as well as mechanical engineering with Todd Springer, PE.
The firm’s capabilities also continued to grow with the addition of x-ray capability, small and large explosion chambers, on-site propane and natural gas testing as well as improved analytical tools including vapor diffusion modeling. In 2021 the lab was expanded, providing an open, conditioned, and easy to work in space for a wide range of inspections. Take Virtual Tour.
In 2020, the firm began an internship partnership with Paradise Valley Schools (CREST Program). Read more. AKE added another accident reconstruction expert with Justin Saint-Amour, PE, CFEI and architectural expertise with Paul Bakalis, AIA, NCARB, CSBA.
Today, the firm remains committed to utilizing the best tools for forensic work, including 3-D scene scanning and Berla, a vehicle forensics tool utilizing proprietary technology to uncover data about vehicle collisions like never before. Read more.
What Makes AKE Different?
At half a century old, AKE has not only maintained but furthered its reputation in its industry as a team of trusted experts with a breadth of expertise that invests in innovation and has the ability to handle complex failure investigations. On the internal side, the firm is proud to have a culture of people who are always willing to help each other and enjoy challenging yet interesting cases to solve.
As noted by David Komm: “The strength of our company is of course our people – and the way they work with the client to accurately answer the questions at hand. Within our company, the interaction of our people and the sharing of their diverse experiences makes all of us better engineers and investigators.”