John Pleitz Email & Phone Number

Electronics design consultant specializing in analog/power electronics. Latest assignment : Served as an offsite design consultant/advisor for the clients (IED LLC - Louisville, KY) audio power amplification product. In this role my initial focus was on resolving conceptual/design issues on the “F6 Multichannel Power Amplifier” – which is a class D multi-channel commercial grade sound reinforcement power audio amplifier. (Analog/Digital Input 6 CH @ 200 W Standard EIA 19 inch Rack Mount - 120/240 VAC config). Client – Innovative Electronic Designs LLC , Louisville, KY

Rossford

Served as an Technical service resource for Industrial controls, Instrumentation, Programmable Logic Controllers, Power Supplies and Variable Frequency Motor Drives.

Toledo, Ohio Area

This project was for the design of a minaturized low profile -10 KV 50 uA switchmode power supply. Comprised of all SMD componentry, including the low profile high voltage transformer, this unit accepts a 18 - 36 VAC input and produces a regulated negative 10 KV DC @ 50 uA output. The design is based on single ended forward converter with an 8 stage high voltage multiplier. The entire assembly fits into a potted 0.50” H x 3.0” W x 1.8” D enclosure. Client - Rocky Test Sytems, Aurora, OR 97002

Phoenix, Arizona Area

• Designed the BT series of mobile amplification products, consisting of six models which garnered numerous product review wins. These design's utilized the seminal circuit breakthroughs as taught in US Patents 5,631,608, & 5,598,325. As a result the Thunder series of designs enabled Mitek Corp to successfully enter & compete head to head in the mature and very competitive marketplace of aftermarket mobile electronics, eventually capturing a signifigant portion of this large international market (~ $1,000 Mil). These models were extensions of the very successful original Thunder Amplifier line (see below), additionally the Blue Thunder variation offered an enhanced feature set coupled with an extremely refined appearance that allowed the MTX brand to further differentiate itself with "premium product" available at "select retailers" (Circuit CIty) thus capturing additional sales.• Continued to direct a staff (5) of engineers, technicians & draftsmen with an emphasis on technical leadership. • Supported the technical portion of production engineering thru the ongoing evaluation of second source electronic components Ferrites, Power Mosfets, Hi Ripple Current Capacitors etc.

Phoenix, Arizona Area

• Led the companies electronic product design activity in the Phoenix AZ 100,000 sq ft manufacturing facility. • Directed the circuit design, magnetics design, thermal design, mechanical design, development plan creation & review • Responsible for staffing / mentoring junior engineers and further developing Mitek's Electronics Engineering department, including organizing the technical library, conducting design review & UL & CE compliance testing activities both onsite and offsite. • Oversaw related Drafting, Schematic Capture and PCB layout/creation activities. creating design processes and controls. • Designed the original PS15 Powered Subwoofer Class D circuitry for use in the MTX brand of Amplified Subwoofer product for home. This product and the resultant circuitry represented Mitek Corps 1st successful Class D Amplifier "production grade circuit" and proved to be a very valuable reference design which was later adapted for use in the MTX brand of multi-channel mobile amplifiers. This innovation also established MTX as the first company to offer Class D power audio amplification market in the Phoenix AZ area - successfully introducing Class D product years prior to competitors such as Rockford Corp, Precision Power & Orion audio. • Responsible for staffing and mentoring junior engineers. • Provided technical guidance and support / redesign of older models including the Soundscraftsmen home amplifier line (PCR800 driver circuitry revision) and Blackgold Mobile Amplifier Platform (High freq power supply xformer redesign).

Phoenix, Arizona Area

• Designed the Thunder series of mobile amplification products, consisting of six models which garnered numerous product review wins. These design's utilized the seminal circuit breakthroughs as taught in US Patents 5,631,608, & 5,598,325. As a result the Thunder series of designs enabled Mitek Corp to successfully enter and compete head to head in the mature and very competitive marketplace of aftermarket mobile electronics, eventually capturing a signifigant portion of the market. Debuted at CES 95.

Phoenix, Az

Joined Mitek Corporation as a design consultant for a new series of Automotive Amplifier products, eventually this led to a full time position as a senior design engineer - approximately six months into the project accepted the promotion to Director of Electronics Engineering. As this division (Phoenix) of the company was in start up mode many of the design support systems were not fully developed and had to be rethought and revised.

Tempe, Arizona

• Served as the senior / principal design engineer (electronics / magnetics / pcb / thermal) on the companies flagship line of mobile amplifiication products (8 models) from 1988 - 1993 ie "The Punch Amplifiers" models included P45HD, P75HD, P150HD and P40DSM, P60DSM, P100DSM & P200DSM. • Designed the driver / output circuitry for the Surface Mount Technology SIP Ceramic "Hybrid Modules" utilized in the HD series of Automotive Amplifiers. Utilizing all SMD components, (17 Transistors, 10 Diodes & 20 Ink Resistors) the production of these bullet proof linear "Hybrid Modules" circuits numbered in the 100,000's of units, allowing for smooth profitable high volume manufacturing. • Authored the requisite electrical specifications / datasheets (Input Offset Voltage, Input Noise, Phase Margin etc) for the above Hybrid Modules which allowed multiple supplier's to test each module to the same functional standards considerably increasing supplier manufacturing yield.

Tempe, Az

• Implemented production driven design upgrades to the companies flagship line of products which dramatically increased the manufacturing yield and field reliability of the Rockford Punch Amplifier product line. • Redesigned & upgraded various older models including the newly acquired Hafler Corporation mobile amplifier line. • Directed several Engineering Aides production engineering and research related activities.

Toledo, Ohio Area

• Redesigned the "Starlet" Amplifier module (100 Watt 4 Ohms) which consisted of replacing the original RCA HC2000 aerospace grade (hermetically sealed metal power package) linear power op amp IC (+/- 37 VCC 7 Ampere capability) with modern discrete driver circuitry coupled to a modern Thick Film power transistor output module thus reducing cost whilst increasing performance, reliability and field serviceability. • Designed the circuitry for 2 processing cards used in a rackmount modular theatre sound processor. The first card was a 10 to 100 mS time delay for the surround channel of the processor utilizing bucket brigade technology and compander circuitry. The units freq response was 100 Hz - 7 KHz with a noise floor below -80 dB with less .5 % THD. The second card was a synthesized 1ch to 5ch simulator. Essentially the unit took a line level mono input (Cinema/optical film soundtrack) and produced simulated Right, Center, Left, Surround and Subwoofer line level outputs. These cards utilized in tandem produced a "dynamic multichannel sound experience" from older monaural film/sound tracks. • Designed and developed additional linear amplifier product including an Bi-polar 150 Watts/Ch into 4 Ohms from 20-20KHz with less than .1 THD - and a complementary MOSFET (Hitachi Lateral) design (non production - prototype stage) rated at 200 Watts/Ch into 8 ohms from 20-20 KHz at less than .1 % THD. (5.25” EIA rack space 120/240 VAC).Photos of Eprad's products referenced above (also see "Projects" area below) can be viewed at the URL http://dsxaudio.scienceontheweb.net/eprad.htm

Toledo, Ohio Area

• Aided production efforts/setup and aligned the companies optical film sound processor and film handing equipment.