Blake Gifford Email & Phone Number

Sparks, NV, US

Reno, NV, US

Carson City, Nevada, US

• Lead Controls Engineer for Redwood's newest recycling factory.
• Leading controls design of new equipment to safely and efficiently load new battery types into our recycling process.
• Writing and testing PLC logic in Siemens TIA Portal based on peer reviewed controls narratives for new equipment.
• Contributing to the Hazard Analysis and P&ID drawings of new equipment.
• Reviewing and redlining electrical drawings for new equipment.
• Configured, tested and commissioned a Siemens servo drive and Siemens Soft Starters.

Carson City, Nevada, US

• Lead Controls Engineer for Redwood's newest recycling factory from design through commissioning.
• Wrote and tested PLC logic in Siemens TIA Portal based on peer reviewed controls narratives.
• Reviewed and redlined electrical drawings for over 20 electrical panels.
• Audited P&IDs and ordered over 500 instruments for the plant based on process conditions.
• Performed loop checks on over 200 instruments with varying feedback types.
• Contributed to a several week long Hazard Analysis to identify and correct potential risks.

Carson City, Nevada, US

• Primary controls team point of contact for Redwood’s recycling plant. Attended daily cross functional meetings, coordinated projects, and documented project progress through completion.
• Controls lead for an infeed system to a proprietary piece of equipment that significantly decreased process time.
• Wrote, tested, and implemented ladder logic in Siemens TIA Portal to include safety hardware, varying IO types, and IR cameras.
• Developed HMI’s for system control that provide clear information for workers and historize data for troubleshooting.
• Installed and integrated barcode scanners to document product consumption. This project’s completion was vital to solidifying developing business partnerships.

Hawthorne, California, US

• Project lead for commissioning, troubleshooting, and validating all controls of a 3 axis dispense robot to increase production and protect key electrical components in extreme thermal conditions
• Designed, sourced, and integrated multiple electrical panels and pneumatic systems that increased production by 50% for an existing workstation
• Developed and tested code within TwinCAT to trigger a barcode scanner, collect and package the data for part tracking, and significantly reduce the scope of work of an operator
• Further refined my understanding of the Tesla State Machine code structure
• Developed and tested the dispense robot’s Safety Project within the TwinCAT Environment
• Documented lessons learned on Confluence to reduce roadblocks on future robot commissioning to reduce timeline for future projects

Austin, Texas, US

• Project lead for 1/3 new conveyance lines responsible for increasing production of a product by 50%
• Led the integration checklist completion for all three new lines of conveyance during FAT at vendor
• Documented availability data for all 3 conveyance lines and reported key faults to target each week
• Responsible for increasing availability at this new conveyance line to 99% within one month
• Solved punch list items and troubleshot issues from FAT to start of production
• Integrated Alarm History page in HMI for all conveyance lines to log fault data for 30 days

Austin, Texas, US

• Designed, programmed, and published 5 interactive screens within Ignition to display the status of conveyors and the locations of pallets
• Designed, constructed, and published Ignition screens for 3 systems showing the daily fault count at each conveyor group allowing us to prioritize high fault areas
• Designed, fabricated, and installed camera mounts used to monitor locations with high faults for RCA and time savings
• Rewrote Visual Basic code in four robot cells to limit/grant access based on credentials used to log in
• Constructed logic in 120+ RS Logix 5000 programs to confirm communication between PLC's through the use of produced and consumed tags. Displaying this information in Ignition
• Successfully programmed email notifications in Ignition: sent when defined PLC conditions are met

Plano, TX, US

• Project Lead for two material conversions that led to minimal downtime at startup and savings of over $350,000/year
• Eliminated two sealer defects per Highlander and reduced overall sealer usage by trialing the need for area specific sealer coverage
• Designing, prototyping, and fabricating components using AutoDesk Inventor
• Re-worked ladder logic in a PLC using RSLogix 5000 determine cost savings and minimize unnecessary spending
• Constructed and programmed several safety circuits to ensure the well being of team members
• Designed, constructed, and programmed a variable frequency drive trainer for new team members

• Job shadowed Steve Strope as he and his team fully restored classic muscle cars
• Learned the fundamentals of car restoration, wiring, and engine rebuilds
• Witnessed how to bore the engine of a 1965 Mustang GT and the basics of wiring air conditioning units

• Designed a new layout for the tire inventory in order to increase productivity and efficiency
• Cleaned the display room, the shop, and many of the tools used by the mechanics

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Mechatronics And Robotics Engineering Technology

Diploma