Dr. Neyer is currently the Vice President of Technology, Defense
& Aerospace at Excelitas Technologies. He was previously the CTO, Advanced
Electronic Systems, for Excelitas Technologies, and CTO Defense for
PerkinElmer. He is internationally known for his work in the field of
statistical testing of energetic components, particularly for his approach to
detonator threshold testing and analysis (the Neyer D-Optimal Test). This test
and analysis method provides more accurate and precise estimates of all-fire
levels for reliability and no-fire levels for safety. The Neyer Test has been
adopted for use throughout the industry. This method is now specified in both
DOD and ISO test standards. In addition to his pioneering work with statistical
testing, Dr. Neyer has made major contributions in the area of detonation
systems and their diagnostics. He has helped to make the VISAR a routine tool
to measure the velocity of detonators, developed the streak camera curvature
techniques to measure the curvature and integrity of Exploding Foil Initiators,
and has utilized high speed photography and electrical measurements to
characterize detonator performance. In addition to developing diagnostics
during his years at EG&G Mound and PerkinElmer Optoelectronics, Dr. Neyer
has also developed energetic components utilizing traditional Exploding Foil
Initiators, chip slappers, and laser detonators. He has also helped both DOD
and commercial concerns to investigate and engineer solutions to failures in
energetic component systems.
Dr. Neyer is the Editor, Co-editor, or Co-author of four books in the fields of high-speed diagnostics and explosive devices. He has authored or co-authored over 100 papers in the fields of explosive components, high-speed diagnostics, statistics, and nuclear physics. He has 5 patents with more pending in the field of energetic components. He has served as leader and on the governing board of several international organizations. Dr. Neyer is the past chair of the Energetic Components and Systems Group of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). He is also an Associate Fellow of AIAA. He is also a past chair of the High Speed Working Group of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering and of the Fuze Section Steering Committee of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA).
Dr. Neyer has over one quarter century of teaching experience. He has been an acting instructor in Physics at both Xavier University in Ohio and Stanford University in California. He has taught this sensitivity test and analysis course at a number of government and commercial laboratories throughout the country, consistently receiving high ratings by his students.