Some of our consultants are listed below but many more are available with complimentary technology to provide synergism to each project as required.

Dale A. Poteet, Jr.
Owner of IMT & Principal Consultant

Mr. Poteet leads the heat treating and metallurgical consulting practice. He spent twenty years of his career with John Deere and he also founded, co-owned, and operated a commercial heat treating company. Mr. Poteet's practice areas are in materials applications, all heat treat process applications and process development, trouble shooting heat treat processes and equipment, implementation of heat treating into just-in-time manufacturing and into manufacturing cells, brazing and soldering, cold spray metal powder coatings, cleaning and deburring, failure analysis, and equipment selection and sales.

Product and process improvements at reduced cost are his specialty.

Mr. Poteet has a B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering and an MBA.

Debbie Aliya
IMT Associate & Owner of Aliya Analytical

Ms. Aliya is an expert in materials characterization, failure analysis and failure prevention. To support her failure analyses she uses a portable metallography and hardness testing lab for customer visits. In addition, at her location she does Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Low Element/Semi Quant EDS, and Microhardness studies. She also provides Quality Audit, D-FMEA and P-FMEA team support.

Ms. Aliya is an excellent training instructor for failure analysis and testing methodologies, metallurgy, heat treatment, and metallography.

She has a B.S. and an M.S. in Metallurgy and Materials Science and over 18 years materials engineering experience.

George E. Totten, Ph.D.
IMT Associate and Owner of Totten & Associates

Dr. Totten worked as a research scientist at Union Carbide Corporation for many years. His consulting practice areas include all types of quenches and quenching behavior on ferrous and nonferrous alloys. Synthetic or polymer quenches are his specialty. He also has experience with other industrial fluids such as coolants for machine tools or grinders. Dr. Totten has published more than 300 papers in his field and has co-edited or co-authored 17 books. He is recognized as the world's foremost expert in quenching technology and distortion control caused by heat treating, especially quenching.

Dr. Totten has a B.S. in Chemistry, an M.S. in Organic Chemistry, and a Ph.D in Organic Chemistry.

Wayne N. Coursey, CLS
Owner, PAN Teknology

Wayne Coursey worked at the John Deere Dubuque Works in the Materials Engineering Department for 29 years. His last position was Senior Chemical Engineer in charge of the environmental and analytical groups. He performed duties as a Lubrication Engineer for both Manufacturing and Product Engineering in Deere's Industrial Division. While at John Deere he was responsible for all lubricants, oil conservation and recycling, and analysis methods and procedures.

Wayne has been very active In the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers and, after holding a number of other offices, served as National President in 1984-1985. He was Chairman of the founding committee which developed the Lubrication Engineering Certification Program.

After his retirement from John Deere he worked for 13 years as Senior Engineer for Process Development for Rock Valley 011 & Chemical in Rockford, Illinois, where he designed an oil recycling center, a new chemical laboratory and a modern" automated oil storage facility and compound blending plant.

He is an instrument rated private pilot and owns his own aircraft.

He has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Montana State University.

David G. Smith, PE (WI)
IMT Associate and Owner of HTF

Mr. Smith owns HTF, a custom manufacturer for heat treating furnaces and other specialty furnace applications. He also has a background of aircraft engine design and testing. His consulting practice area is in thermal process applications and manufacturing, systems integration, energy reduction for high energy processes, heat transfer calculations, high temperature equipment, and high temperature material handling.

Mr. Smith has a B.S. in Aero & Mechanical Engineering and his Professional Engineering license in Wisconsin.

L. Terry Clausing, PE
IMT Associate & President of Drysdale & Associates

Mr. Clausing is a leading expert in the United States on infrared temperature measurement, thermal imaging, and blackbody calibration services. He is familiar with UV/VIS/NIR spectroscopy for process and laboratory measurements, vacuum instrumentation and mass flowmeters for gases, and on-line moisture analysis for processes. He has considerable experience in measuring temperatures of billets and bars heated for forging.

Mr. Clausing has a B.S. Mechanical Engineering, an MBA, and his Professional Engineering license.

Herbert R. (Herb) Baker
IMT Associate and President of Baker Co., Inc.

Mr. Baker is an engineer who specializes in product enhancement and equipment design. His 40-year career has included work with the Gemini space capsule, industrial equipment such as trenchers, loaders, vibratory plows, backhoes and pneumatic conveying equipment and processes; hydraulic and mechanical power transmission equipment and aircraft maintenance engineering. He has experience with titanium, aluminum, steel and all other common metals and the processes associated with them.

He is also an entrepreneur who designed, manufactured and marketed a highly successful home-owner chipper-shredder for the lawn and garden industry. He eventually sold the business to Simplicity Tractor Company.

Mr. Baker has a B.S. in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering. He has airframe & engine mechanic aviation licenses and a commercial pilot license with instrument and multi-engine instructor ratings.