Title: Senior Engineer VI
Company: J.S. Held
Location: Tampa, Florida, United States
Donald J. Fournier Jr., PE, Senior Engineer VI at J.S. Held, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Business Owners for dedication, achievements, and leadership in forensic engineering and accident reconstruction.
Donald J. Fournier Jr., PE, has more than 35 years of experience in mechanical engineering as a test engineer, professor, consultant, expert witness, entrepreneur, and business leader. He joined J.S. Held as a senior engineer after successfully merging Forensic Engineering Technologies (FET) with J.S. Held in December 2020. He formed FET in 2009 and served as its chief executive officer until 2020 when FET was acquired by J.S. Held. During his tenure at the helm of FET, he increased the staff and revenue by a factor of seven, while under his leadership FET earned the reputation as one of Florida’s leading forensic engineering and accident reconstruction firms.
Prior to forming FET, Mr. Fournier rose from project manager to senior vice president at Kimley Horn & Associates, where he directed the significant growth of the forensic engineering and accident reconstruction practice in Florida after joining in 2000. He developed his teaching skills at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he served as an assistant professor from 1997 to 2000 in the School of Engineering Technology, teaching courses in mechanical engineering, safety, human factors, environmental compliance, and pollution control. During this period, he also served as the president of Spectrum Design & Consulting, a startup product development firm focused on combustion equipment for glass manufacturing and iron ore reduction. From 1995 to 1996 he served as a project engineer with Combustion Tec, building on his R&D, testing and combustion engineering experience from Acurex Environmental, where he began his professional career as an engineer in 1988.
While he has no formal training in business or marketing, Mr. Fournier has an entrepreneurial spirit with a skill for recruiting and developing talented engineers and scientists. By developing a culture of teamwork, attention to detail, early adoption of technology, and focus on client service he has led the growth of forensic engineering and accident reconstruction practices at Kimley Horn, FET and J.S. Held.
Mr. Fournier has been continuously licensed as a Professional Engineer by the state of Florida since 1994. He is a Board-Certified Diplomate in Forensic Engineering by the National Academy of Forensic Engineers and is an ACTAR Accredited Traffic Accident Reconstructionist. He is the co-inventor of four patents and has published extensively in the fields of accident reconstruction, failure analysis, training, pollution control, and hazardous waste incineration.
In preparation for his professional pursuits, Mr. Fournier attended the University of Florida and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, with High Honors, in 1986. He continued his studies at UF and went on to earn a Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering in 1988 with a focus on combustion and hazardous waste incineration.
Among his accomplishments, Mr. Fournier was the recipient of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023. He has been previously recognized and listed by Marquis Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, and Who’s Who in the World. He has been recognized by the Lions Club as a Melvin Jones Fellow for Humanitarian Service, received the USEPA STAR Award for Excellence in Research, and the University of Florida President Recognition Award. In his spare time, Mr. Fournier enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, history, and outdoor activities.
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