Alexander Thal Email & Phone Number

California, United States

South San Francisco, California, United States

Mountain View

• Managed automation test and commissioning team
• Team was responsible for developing the commissioning and testing programs for all automated balloon launch related equipment.
• Successfully, lead commissioning of a multimillion-dollar upgrade to the “Portable Launch Rig” (PLR), a customized 65’ gantry crane that allows for balloons to be filled and launched.
• Member of the design committee of next generation automation launch equipment.
• Created test plans for failure analysis, new balloon shapes/materials, wind dynamic studies, process optimization and equipment automation.
• My team managed the launch crew’s SOPs and checklists.

Mountain View

• Test automated balloon launching equipment
• Improve on pneumatic, hydraulic and mechanical design of equipment.
• Develop Standard Operating Procedures for equipment used by the operations team
• Worked aside a cross functional team in characterizing wind conditions, launch heights and dynamics of the initial PLR, a custom gantry crane, by launching tethered balloons.
• Installed and troubleshot mechanical subsystems, cameras, sensors, pneumatics, hydraulics, fiber optics and Ethernet on the PLR.
• Designed and tested a mobile pressure manifold, housed in a pelican case that regulated a high pressure input into several varied low-pressure outputs.

• Designed, machined, wired and assembled a timed adjustable foot activated pneumatic micro clamp for the manufacturing line.
• Designed new micro safety valve that was both pressure and dissolution time sensitive.
• Developed an in vitro (canine and porcine small intestines) test procedure/ fixture that compared different biodegradable needle shapes by utilizing a high-speed camera and a pneumatic glass nanotube cannon.
• Devised the concept of an IR phototransistor sensor for detecting the velocity of micro projectiles and worked with a principal electrical engineer in transforming the concept into an operating sensor.
• Compared theoretical to actual projectile velocities to optimize the needle piston assembly’s stroke and mass.
• Consulted on the device’s safety and design through separate FMEAs.

• Summer 2012
• Ran regression experiment on minimal treatment monitoring calcium build up on mixed oxidant cells.
• Created and edited AutoCAD schematics of oil drilling with MIOX technology implemented. Summer 2011
• Conducted laboratory experiments to determine chlorine levels of different testing vessels.
• Assisted senior engineers with data collection and formatted data in Excel. Summer 2010
• Organized created, and formatted graphics for technical manuals for various on-site chlorine generators.

Mechanical Engineering

Activities and Societies: Sigma Chi ASME

Mechanical Engineering

Study Abroad

Mechanical Engineering