Hratch Nerkizian

CFEI, MSME

Senior Managing Consultant

Biography

Hratch Nerkizian is a Mechanical Engineer with over twenty years of experience in consumer product manufacturing and safety. He is a valued member of the YA Group team, providing technical expertise across product safety, testing, and engineering analysis.

Hratch’s previous experience includes serving as the Principal Product Safety Engineer for Sunbeam Products, where he investigated numerous property damage and personal injury claims involving a wide range of kitchen and home appliances. In this role, he examined warranty claims and conducted both field and laboratory evaluations. He has been deposed and has testified in trial as a corporate designee, fact witness, and expert witness in both state and federal courts. As a corporate designee, he was also responsible for fulfilling requests for production, interrogatories, and requests for admissions.

Earlier in his career, Hratch held various Research and Development and Quality roles. These positions involved extensive travel to factories in China, Hong Kong, India, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Mexico, giving him direct exposure to multiple levels of the manufacturing process. In addition to conducting factory inspections, he facilitated training to improve manufacturing and development processes, including Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), ISO 9001, and enhancements to packaging and product instructions.

Hratch is an active member of multiple UL Standards Technical Panels and has contributed to IEC technical committees as well as collaborated with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). He currently provides litigation support, expert testimony to law firms and insurance carriers, and technical guidance to manufacturers and industrial clients.

Credentials

  • CFEI | Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator
  • MSME

Professional Experience

  • 2026 - Current | Senior Managing Consultant | YA Group
  • 2024 - 2026 | Senior Investigator | Jensen Hughes

Education

  • Florida Atlantic University - Masters Business Administration - Boca Raton - Florida
  • Northeastern University - Masters Mechanical Engineering - Boston - Massachusetts
  • Northeastern University - Bachelors Mechanical Engineering - Boston - Massachusetts