Joe Torline Email & Phone Number

Boulder, Colorado

Louisville, Co

Program Management and Product Development - Lead engineer for the introduction of new data recording heads for the LTO4, LTO5, and LTO6 generation of drives for HP and Quantum. Provided technical consultation to the customers during the design/program definition phase. Introduced state-of the art technologies and designs to provide product solutions to the customers. Directed the activities of cross-functional teams of engineers and technicians on developing unique processes and equipment capable of producing complex new designs and managed the transfer of the processes to offshore manufacturing partners in China. Coordinated the activities of the overseas manufacturing partners during prototype, pre-production, and early production builds. Created and monitored project plans to achieve the delivery of product to the customer on schedule and communicated plans to management.Mechanical Assembly Team Member- Manufacturing advisor for a linear head actuator design team (used in Oracle/StorageTek T10000C/D drives). Provided design for assembly (DFA) input for the redesign of the actuator to isolate actuator energy from the drive deck. Managed in-house prototype builds and the subsequent transfer of the design/process to an offshore manufacturing partner. Performed reliability testing to ensure product robustness. Conducted shipping tests and redesigned the shipping packaging for improved protection of the new actuator.

Louisville, Co

Program Management and Product Development - Lead engineer for the introduction of the first production thin film MR recording head to be used in a helical scan drive for Exabyte Corporation (VXA-3). Worked with Exabyte engineers to understand the unique requirements of a helical scan head and developed a manufacturable thin film head design. Coordinated the efforts of an internal cross-functional team to develop the needed manufacturing and test processes. Invented several new mechanical processes, including a unique contour process/machine. Directed the transfer and qualification of the manufacturing and test processes to a Chinese manufacturing partner. Interfaced with Hitachi engineers in Japan to ensure successful integration of the recording heads into the helical scan drive.

Louisville, Co

Offshore Manufacturing Support - Established manufacturing capabilities at two offshore facilities. Trained partners on product designs and manufacturing processes and provided engineering support for technical issues. Used data analysis to monitor the product quality and process robustness from afar.Production and Manufacturing Engineering - Provided engineering support in the precision machining and clean room (physical vapor deposition) areas of a recording head manufacturing line that operated 3 shifts and produced 40K recording heads per year. Selected, acquired, and qualified over $5 million of manufacturing and measurement equipment to enhance manufacturing capabilities. Used Six Sigma (DMAIC) principles to continuously improve process capabilities, reduce waste, and increase process efficiencies. Increased yields by over 50% and developed production capacity to successfully meet market demand. Research and Development - Served as a key member of research and development team, providing expertise to assure the manufacturability of new product designs. Led mechanical design and process development efforts for full thin film recording heads for the StorageTek 9840/9940 generation of drives. Managed a prototype fabrication laboratory and supervised two senior technicians. Designed new processes and delivered high-quality product prototypes. Led concurrent engineering teams that successfully transferred new products to manufacturing.Manufacturing Equipment Design - Created a critical diamond lapping system that processed all recording head products for over 10 years. Updated a vital sputter deposition system with new instrumentation and controls. Deployed automated data collection. Developed semi-automated tooling to streamline manufacturing.

Master'S Degree, Mechanical Engineering

Emphasis in Mechatronics

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Mechanical Engineering