McCabe Karcher holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Portland State University and has worked in the construction field for more than a dozen years. After his military service following High School, McCabe worked for various construction contracting firms, home builders, and a structural engineering firm before committing to completing his college degree in engineering. McCabe was originally hired as student to complete the fieldwork on the Northwest Wall & Ceiling Bureau, Labor Productivity Impact Study for the firm, and subsequently has become an outstanding consultant working on both payment and construction defect claims. His years as a builder have given him a particular expertise in understanding defective construction and code compliance issues.



Email: mccabe@cemresearch.com

Corky has over 32 years experience in various construction industries. A fourth generation Oregonian, Corky has lived and worked in Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. He put himself through college by working summers beginning at the age of 14 for a major demolition/construction company.
After studying at Oregon State University in the Civil Engineering program, he transferred to the University of Oregon and earned his B.S. in Business Administration.

Peter is a junior at the University of California at Irvine and plans to major in Mechanical Engineering. During his junior year at Harbor High School in Santa Cruz, CA, Peter engineered a brake light system (Progressive Brake Light System) to prevent rear-end collisions. The PBLS warns the drivers in the cars behind the vehicle whether the vehicle is simply slowing down or suddenly stopping. It consists of a series LEDs, a magnetic sensor, and a circuit board acting as the controller.

Evan has worked for the firm since his sophomore year at Arizona State University, during summers as the principal field work Research Assistant on the Northwest Wall & Ceiling Bureau, Labor Productivity Study. As a Sophomore, Evan was the only undergraduate to present a paper (based on the NWCB pilot study) at the prestigious INFORMS conference in San Francisco.

Dr. Franz N. Rad, Ph.D., P.E., S.E., headed the Civil Engineering Department at Portland State University for nearly three decades and currently leads the Structural Engineering group at PSU. Dr. Rad has worked on a number of projects for the firm, most recently he has been involved in the analysis of the collapse of a warehouse roof in Gresham, Oregon, for the firm. Dr. Rad has also worked as a consultant to the firm on various retaining walls and other structural engineering issues and he has also consulted with other firms on major structural failures. Dr. Rad recruited Dr. Williams to teach at PSU in the 1990’s and that relationship has endured since; he brings a wealth of experience and understanding of complex structural engineering issues and unmatched technical knowledge to every project he has worked on.

Abby is a graphic and web designer with more than 20 year’s experience in design and marketing. She is co-owner of AMP Marketing & Communications, a boutique agency in Portland, Oregon that provides marketing and design services to small businesses and start-ups.

Abby holds a bachelor degree in Organizational Communications from Marylhurst University. She works with the Construction Research team on communications and other projects as needed.