---
title: "When standard analysis isn't enough"
url: "https://mat-cs.com/consulting/"
description: "When standard analysis isn't enough — expert-witness work, regulatory method development, specialized lab sourcing, and multi-technique problem solving."
---

Consulting

# When standard analysis isn't enough

Our daily routine is dealing with the non-routine. When you can't find a lab, a method, or even a question worded the right way — that's where we come in.

How we work

Many of our customers come to us after searching far and wide for the analysis that will answer their questions — and finding nothing. Solving those problems has taught us to think outside the box, and to stop and ask questions before jumping to conclusions.

Areas of expertise

## Where consulting comes in

Beyond standard testing, we help when the problem is harder than running a sample.

### Expert witness testimony

Independent technical opinion for litigation, trade disputes, and regulatory proceedings.

### Method development

Refining standard test methods — or inventing new ones — to fit non-standard products.

### Specialized lab sourcing

Tracking down the one lab in the world that can do what you need — academic, government, or commercial.

### Multi-technique problem solving

Combining results from multiple methods when no single technique answers the question.

Case files

## Real problems we've solved

A sampling of the unusual asks that have come through our doors.

01

Expert Witness

### Federal Trade Commission trade dispute

Served as expert witness in a trade dispute regarding building insulation argued before the Federal Trade Commission.

02

Litigation Support

### Chain-of-custody sampling for a legal case

Sourced a qualified consultant to visit a factory, sample bags of product in front of legal teams from both sides, document the sampling, and personally deliver the samples to a lab several hundred miles away.

03

Regulatory

### EPA TBBPA method refinement

Worked with a customer to find a lab capable of analyzing samples for TBBPA (Tetrabromobisphenol A), then interfaced with the EPA to refine the existing test method so it could be applied to the customer's product — and helped with submission of final results to the EPA for review.

04

Specialized Technique

### PALS for semiconductor thin films

Located a lab that could perform PALS (Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy) — a technique that uses positrons (anti-matter) to probe the porosity of semiconductor thin films.

05

Government Lab Access

### Synchrotron XANES on uranium soil samples

Contracted with a government synchrotron laboratory to use XANES (X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy) to measure the oxidation state of trace amounts of uranium in soil samples.

Our analysts aren't focused on just doing routine analyses — they enjoy getting to know our customers' problems and finding a way to solve them. Tell us your story.

## Got a non-routine analytical problem?

The harder the question, the more interesting we find it. Tell us what you're up against and we'll figure out an approach.

[Start a Conversation](/contact/) [Get a Quote](/get-a-quote/)