Neil grew up in the South Bronx, sold hot dogs at the Bronx Zoo, graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and was a 3-sewer hitter no matter what his brother-in-law says. He is a licensed Professional Engineer, Architect, Landscape Architect and Interior Designer with 20 construction experience in the Army Corps of Engineers and Navy Civil Engineer Corps plus 32 years experience as a forensic engineer in private practice. He holds four college degress plus a PhD in Urban Studies, writing his dissertation on urban planning in the Philippines, where he served as a Special Forces Advisor to the USAID Flood Rehabilitation Program. As owner of Groundtruth Forensics, he maintains an eclectic practice of failure analysis including first party insurance claims, IAQ and building science, fire investigations, construction claims and premises liability.