Professional Biography
Eldon Leaphart is Director, Accident Reconstruction, YA Engineering Services located in Houston, Texas. Eldon specializes in design analysis aspects of accident reconstruction including systems analysis and has over 35 years of automotive engineering experience. Eldon has expertise in areas of electrical and electronic architectures, algorithm development, software architecture design, failsafe and diagnostic design, functional safety development and systems engineering requirements management for embedded control systems.
Presently, Eldon leads investigations to determine the causes, conditions, and circumstances of defect allegations related to embedded system design within automotive and industrial applications including braking, propulsion, steering, supplemental restraints, advanced driver assistance features, electric vehicle, and failsafe designs.
Eldon holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering from The Ohio State University and is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Texas.
Professional Experience
- Director, Accident Reconstruction | YA Group | 2026 - Current
- Principal Engineer | Carr Engineering Inc. | 2016 - 2026
- Engineering Manager | BWI | 2009 - 2016
- Engineering Manager | Delphi Corporation | 2004 - 2009
- Algorithm / Application Engineer | Delphi Corporation | 1999 - 2004
- Algorithm Engineer | Delphi Corporation | 1991 - 1999
- Product Engineer | Delco Products Divsion of General Motors | 1987 - 1989
Practices & Skillsets
- Computer Programming
- Electrical & Mechanical Systems and Failures
- Products Liability
- Lithium Battery Investigations
- Vehicle Electronic Data Download
Publications and Presentations
- ABA TIPS Conference Presentation: "The Next Frontier: Investigating the Alleged Vehicle Software Failure Claim" - Emerging Issues in Motor Vehicle Product Liability Litigation (June 2016)
Education
- Master of Science (MS), Control Systems - Electrical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 1991
- Bachelor of Science (BS), Electrical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 1987
Training Courses
- SAE C1704, SAE International, Houston, Texas (April 2026)
- EDR Users Summit, Research Collision Analysis-, Houston, Texas (March 2026)
- SAE C0610 Applied Brake Controls, SAE International, Brimley, Michigan (February 2026)
- TBPELS Update Ethics, Texas Boad Professional Engineers & Land Surveyors, Houston, Texas (December 2025)
- SAE PD291809 Hybrid EV Systems, SAE International, Houston, Texas (November 2025)
- SAE PD291810 Lithium Ion Battery Systems, SAE International, Houston, Texas (November 2025)
- Webinar: Machine Learning for Multi-Physics Automotive Simulation, SAE International, Houston, Texas (July 2025)
- TBPELS Update Ethics, Texas Board Professional Engineers & Land Surveyors, Houston, Texas (November 2024)
- SAE C2205 Exploration of Machine Learning & Neural Network for ADAS & Level 4 Vehicle Perception, SAE International, Houston, Texas (November 2024)
- SAE C1210 Applying Automotive EDR Data to Traffic Crash Reconstruction, SAE International, Houston (September 2018)
- SAE 1624 Intro to Radar for Automotive Application, SAE International, Houston, Texas (March 2017)
- SAE C1603 Intro to Active Safety Systems, SAE International, Detroit, Michigan (March 2017)
- Dart Drone FAA Drone Course, Dart Drone, Houston, Texas (February 2017)
- SAE C0414 Applied Vehicle Dynamics, SAE International, Houston, Texas (May 2016)
- SAE C0315 Intro to Brake Systems, SAE International, Houston, Texas (September 2016)
Affiliations
- Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE)
- SAE Event Data Recorder Committee
- SAE TC 22 SC 32 WG8 Functional Safety Committee
Professional Licenses
- Professional Engineer (PE) - Texas - License #150546