Good day and welcome to the Exponent, Incoporated Third Quarter of Fiscal Year 2022 Financial Results Conference Call. Today's conference is being recorded. And now at this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Joni Konstantelos. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining us on Exponent's third quarter 2022 financial results conference call. Please note that this call will be simultaneously webcast on the Investor Relations section of the company's corporate website at www.exponent.com/investors. This conference call is the property of Exponent, and any taping or other reproduction is expressly prohibited without prior written consent. Joining me on the call today are Dr. Catherine Corrigan, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Rich Schlenker, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we start, I would like to remind you that the following discussion contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, Exponent's market opportunities and future financial results that involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed here. Additional information that could cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements can be found in Exponent's periodic SEC filings, including those factors discussed under the caption Risk Factor in Exponent's most recent Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements and risks in this conference call are based on current expectations as of today, and Exponent assumes no obligation to update or revise them, whether as a result of new developments or otherwise. And now, I will turn the call over to Dr. Catherine Corrigan, Chief Executive Officer. Catherine?

Thank you, Joni, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. I will start off by reviewing our third quarter 2022 business performance. Rich will then provide a more detailed review of our financial results and outlook, and we will then open the call for questions. Exponent delivered another solid quarter with year-over-year growth in revenue, EBITDA and diluted earnings per share. These results demonstrate the strength and resiliency of Exponent's business model and our ability to grow as an organization, despite ever evolving macroeconomic challenges and uncertainty. As companies push forward innovations with increasing attention to safety, health and the environment, Exponent remains a necessary and critical advisor as they leverage our differentiated data analytics and unrivaled subject matter expertise to help solve their most profound challenges. Demand for our scientific and engineering expertise remains strong with broad-based growth driven by work related to the consumer products, utilities, automotive and life sciences sectors. Within our proactive services, we saw strong demand for our work related to virtual reality, wearable technologies and energy storage. On the reactive side, we benefited from a robust litigation activity and also a diversified portfolio of product safety and recall related work particularly in the life sciences space. Overall, traction across our multidisciplinary offering showcases the strength of our long-term strategy. Turning to our engagements in more detail, on the proactive side, we saw increased demand for virtual and augmented reality work, driven by our clients' need to better understand the cognitive impacts of these technologies. We also saw increased engagements related to machine learning and human participant studies as clients remain reliant on Exponent's data driven insights to improve user experience and product performance. Importantly, the increasing need for scientific data regarding the safety and value of healthcare products and treatments has furthered our…

Thank you, Catherine, and good afternoon, everyone. Let me start by saying all comparisons will be on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise noted. For the third quarter of 2022, total revenues increased 9.3% to $127.2 million and revenues before reimbursements or net revenues, as I will refer to them from hereon increased 6.2% to $115.1 million, as compared to the third quarter of 2021. It should be noted that the third quarter net revenue growth was impacted by an [0.008%] (ph) from foreign exchange. Net income for the third quarter decreased slightly to $24.4 million, as compared to $24.6 million in the prior year period. On the other hand, earnings per diluted share increased to $0.47, as compared to $0.46 per share as our share count was down year-over-year as a result of our share repurchases. EBITDA for the quarter increased 1.6% to $34.6 million producing a margin of 30% of net revenues, which is a decrease of 140 basis points, as compared to the third quarter of 2021. EBITDA margin exceeded our expectations as expenses were slightly lower than anticipated. Billable hours in the third quarter were $365,000, an increase of 4.8% year-over-year. Technical full-time equivalent employees in the third quarter were 958, up 8.4%, as compared to the same period one year ago. Utilization in the third quarter was 73%, down from 76% in the same quarter of 2021. As expected, utilization in the quarter was lower than a year ago as we continue to balance headcount growth and utilization. The realized bill rate increase was approximately 2.5% for the third quarter, which was slightly offset by the foreign exchange conversion for consolidation purposes. Compensation expense after adjusting for gains and losses in deferred compensation increased 5.1%. Included in total compensation expense is a loss in deferred compensation…

Thank you, Rich. As clients rapidly innovate and respond to ever changing market dynamics, Exponent is primed and ready to deliver data driven insights that support our clients on the critical paths of their business strategy. We will continue to build upon our 55-year history by growing and maintaining our high quality talent pool, all the while maintaining the strong flow of new engagements across industries on both proactive and reactive sides of the business. Overall, we remain confident that Exponent's Vital Service offerings will continue to drive strong profitable growth and long-term value for our shareholders. Operator, we are now ready for questions.