January of 2020 I quit my job as Director of Engineering at Napoleon Engineering Services to pursue my consulting business full time. I specialize in developing manufacturing processes and the related equipment needed, as well as product design with an eye toward optimizing designs for manufacturing. -Perform design reviews and engineering consultation on electromechanical and mechanical designs including performing FMEA and Design for Manufacturing reviews-Mechanical product design and fabrication of prototypes (Solidworks)-Manufacturing process design using Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma quality management-Mechanical and electrical design of manual, semi-automated, and automated manufacturing process and test equipment using a variety of control systems dependent on customer needs (Beckhoff PLCs, Automation Direct PLCs/ HMIs, Allen Bradley PLCs/HMIs, Bosch Servo Systems and actuators, Nidec Servo Systems, Labview)-Software and database development with Microsoft SQL server and Visual Studio using C# and VB.NET-Design and manufacturing of specialized tools for avian and entomological biological field research

Development of glass scale linear encoder manufacturing equipment.Participation in NSF Phase I grant program and Technical Lead for 2022 NSF I-CORPS SBIR cohort.

- Optimization of production process for the grinding & superfinishing areas through setup reduction, tooling & machine upgrades, and creation of mathematical models for optimal setups.- Multiple machine rebuild projects to support the expansion of production capabilities including reverse engineering to create 3D models, control upgrades with new PLCs and HMIs, circuit-board level electronics repair, and mechanical design upgrades. Machines included CNC and manual superfinishing machines, profile measurement machines, roundness tester, & bearing noise tester.- Programmed Labview to acquire telemetry from sensors through NI cDAQ equipment and display on real-time dashboards while recording data to .csv files. Each input has limits to shut down the test stand when a failure is detected.- Improvements in accelerometer telemetry to reduce SN ratios including design of analog bandpass filters and diagnosing errors in signal conditioning circuits.- Development of bearing test concepts for a wide range of applications. Tech used include pneumatics, hydraulics, motor controls, safety relays, PLC controls, & weldments.- Analysis of bearing failures through visual inspection.- Created a common job management system for the Testing, Inspection, and Failure Analysis departments that helped eliminate late jobs and reduce overhead. Created a common job numbering format, assigned test stand & sample IDs, & programmed SQL database system to manage these systems. - Improved test report template and created style guide allowing depts. to share a common format and nomenclature providing customers with consistency.- Standardization of Solidworks by creation of new templates, common material library, configurations, & a style guide/directory structure to organize CAD files.- Gave training of statistical analysis techniques (2-Sample T-tests, ANOVA analysis, Weibull distributions and L10 life, Accelerated life testing, & determination of sample sizes).

-Managed fifteen direct reports supporting eighteen departments across three manufacturing sites.-Managed the chemistry lab supporting the Plating and Waste Treatment departments.-Participated as a member of the New Product Development team working to expand product line offerings outside of Zippo’s iconic windproof lighter. * Also worked to develop a NPD procedure which included a workflow checklist based on project risk, and associated templates.-Supported purchasing to manage the quality of domestic and international supply chains. * Reduced number of supplier corrective actions to 33% of previous levels * Reduced days open of supplier corrective actions in half-Worked with cross functional groups to reduce in-process inspection failures * Reduced to 31% of previous number of alarms. * Looked at process capability, print tolerances, and gauge/operator capability (Gauge R&R)-Rewrote the Quality Management System and associated procedures, and instituted these new systems to prepare for ISO 9001:2008 certification. Some of the major processes improvements included. * Management Responsibility (Management Review) * Document control (expanded ECN process outside engineering drawings, updated storage) * Supplier Procedures (New supplier development, Audits, and Scorecard) * Training Procedure * Customer Related Processes (New customer complaint system) * Corrective Actions (CAPA and SCAR systems) * Internal Audits * Control of IMTE (Calibration System)

-Manage and develop a team of manufacturing, process, and controls engineers responsible for the Olean arrester assembly plant and MOV processing plant.-Capital Coordinator in charge of managing all capital projects for both plants.-Productivity Champion tasked with delivering productivity and sourcing projects, manage tracking database for these projects, and building a pipeline of proposed projects.-Project Council Facilitator tasked with leading the Project Council meetings to allocate project resources and set priorities.-Successfully transferred manufacturing of the M-Force 3-phase switch from Guadalajara, Mexico to Olean, NY.-Serve as a member of the executive committee for the Workforce Investment Board for Allegany and Cattaraugus counties.-Volunteer for the "Dream it Do it" program supporting STEM education

-Formerly Cooper Power Systems-Mechanical design and development of high voltage surge arresters-Strength of Materials analysis of arrester designs -Mechanical testing of high voltage surge arresters and components-CAD development in Pro/E and AutoCAD Inventor-FEA using Autodesk Algor-Programing in LabView to control data acquisition using NI cards, DMMs, Oscilloscopes, Network Analyzers, and PLCs, including data export to SQL databases.-Member of Productivity Council tasked with delivering $2.3MM of productivity and sourcing projects.-Project leader in charge of working with machine builders to successfully bring in a new $500K automation project.Completed Training- ASM Materials Failure Analysis - Cooper TNT (Ten day Six-Sigma training & certification)- Humantech Applied Industrial Ergonomics (3 day class)- Cooper Project Management (3 day class)- Jason Jennings “Productivity!”- Brian Tracy "Excellence In Management", “Time Management For Results”, and "Maximum Performance"

-Creation of high-voltage impulse generator/testers including mechanical design, PLC automation, and safety relays/interlocks.-Mechanical design of large scale automated assembly fixtures using Autocad Inventor.-Pneumatic and hydraulic system design. -Optimization of several production processes including Wire Arc Spray Metalizing, composite pre-preg mandrel wrapping, and tension control in web systems.-Design and execution of Gauge R&R and DOE execution for production processes and fixtures.-Integration of vision systems as a 100% part inspection system-Ergonomics assessment and design of machine guarding systems-PLC Programing using RSLogix 500, RSLogix 5000, PannelBuilder 32, and FactoryTalk.-Creation and implementation of Visual Basic programs to capture mission critical data to a SQL database and track data using control charts.

-Created and managed a nine person cross-functional department whose primary goal was to support manufacturing in an cGMP, FDA, ISO 13485 regulated manufacturing environment of Class II medical devices.-Managed a five person in-process rework department.-Increased production from 200 pumps/week to over 800 pumps/week by moving the production into a lean manufacturing environment and working to eliminate Muda (wasteful activity) through Value Stream Mapping. This included a new 20,000 sq-ft production area with new benches, assembly & test fixtures, and manufacturing processes.-Identified production areas in need of improvement and utilized resources both within and external to the department to implement changes and corrective actions through Kaizen events. -Engaged our suppliers with the help of purchasing and quality to reduce non-conforming material and streamline material handling through Kanban, material packaging, and inspection & sampling plans. Identified new suppliers and was the senior member of a three person team to audit new and current suppliers.-Designed and implemented new tooling and automation that allowed increasing both production capacity and product quality. Fixture technology included PLC control, LabVIEW data acquisition, pneumatics, vision, and SQL database connectivity. Implementation included validation (IQ, OQ, and PQ) of the fixtures and related processes.-Involved as an engineer or mentor in resolving every critical or highly complex quality problem that affected manufacturing or new product design during my tenure.-Championed design changes to improve the manufacturability (Design for Manufacturing) of the pump while improving quality.-Initiated a long-term project to increase the knowledge of the variables that affect the accuracy of Sigma’s infusion pump through designed experiments and to mitigate the effects of these variables through design and tolerance changes. Data was analyzed with Minitab and Excel.

- Implementation of new encoder product lines and changes to existing products into manufacturing. This included large volume increases with no additional personnel required.- Technical support & troubleshooting for both US & Chinese encoder production.- Closely worked with R&D on design reviews for new & existing products.- Design of production tooling for US & Chinese factories. This included travel to China.- Design of all manufacturing processes, including writing of all Manufacturing Operating Procedures.- Proposed & executed a complete reorganization of the production floor (over 60,000 ft^2) including new product flows and major building improvements that affected all manufacturing departments.- Proposed & executed a redesign of product & packaging labeling processes for all products.- Proposed & executed new quality control systems and reports.- Participated in the implementation team for the company’s PDM system- Purchase of equipment and supplies including many capital expenditures.