Gregory Wilk Email & Phone Number

Chicago

I work on a research and development team to engineer products for the future electricity grid. It's an extremely exciting time for the industry because distributed generation (solar and batteries) means traditional electricity customers are also electricity suppliers. Future electricity grids must both provide electricity to customers while enabling the same customers to sell electricity to neighbors.

Greater Chicago Area

I perform thermal runaway propagation experiments on lithium-ion battery packs. AllCell manufactures a material that helps prevent battery fires (agnostic to cell type) and I am responsible for testing different pack materials and different pack designs to validate if thermal runaway propagation (battery explosion) occurs. Tests are performed by remotely driving a nail into one battery cell and recording temperature, voltage, and video of the ensuing battery pack explosion.I also work on techno-economic analyses to identify new market opportunities for AllCell products. Working with the NREL developed tool for lithium ion batteries, I analyze real building electricity loads for demand charge reduction potential.Finally, I work with a research and development team to improve thermal and electrical properties of AllCell's graphite wax composite. These improvements help drive sales of AllCell batteries.

I worked as a mechanical engineer consultant for utility companies operating Nuclear Power Plants. I wrote a calculation that showed Point Beach Nuclear Plant had double the design margin than the previous calculation for wear on exterior reactor vessel components. I was a project engineer on a project to install incipient smoke detection at Turkey Point Nuclear Plant.

Greater Atlanta Area

I worked in a premier energy research laboratory experimentally investigating liquid metals for concentrated solar power. As part of a four person team, I designed, simulated, machined, and then tested ceramic prototypes for liquid metal flow. Individually I was responsible for a molten metal heat sink to decrease the temperature of tin from 2500 F to 750 F. I led three undergraduate students as they designed, machined, and tested other systems for the liquid metal experimental loops.I published a design for a full scale liquid metal concentrated solar power plant that could reduce costs by 30% compared to current molten salt technology.

Peoria, Illinois Area

Wrote a white paper detailing how simulation could potentially replace three motor grader test procedures and presented the ideas to Caterpillar upper management.Performed 1 dimensional simulations of diesel engine systems using Caterpillar's in house software Dynasty.Performed 3 dimensional fluid simulations of diesel combustion that modeled turbulent fluid flow and spray dynamics.

Rolling Meadows Illinois

Evaluated electronic packaging components for circuit cards. Conducted thermal analyses on circuit cards using ANSYS Workbench. Designed moisture seal and desiccant for an air force missile warning sensor using ProEngineer. Created 7 drawings for a missile countermeasures prototype. Designed test oscillator to simulate variable vibrations for an F-16 targeting pod.

Constructed vacuum chambers for plasma experiments. Built an impedance matcher for plasma power system

Worked in fluids laboratory running rheology tests on paints. Tested malfunctioning paint shakers and designed alternate shaker can. Used SolidWorks to design test platform for paint moisture test

Mechanical Engineering M.S., Thermodynamics And Heat Transfer

Activities and Societies: Research Assistant for solar thermal energy prototype

Bachelor Of Science (Bs), Engineering Mechanics