Karl Newman Email & Phone Number

Maui, Hi

Santa Rosa, California, United States

Create and support technologies to assist in optimizing thin-film optical coating process.

Maui, Hi

Member of the Integration, Testing and Commissioning (IT&C) group involved in completing construction of the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) on the summit of Haleakalā, Maui.Responsible for commissioning, troubleshooting and improving a diverse array of critical systems including servo turning for the telescope, Coudé instrument lab and telescope dome enclosure; improving the support equipment for cleaning and coating the primary mirror; programming the drives to control the aperture which lets sunlight onto the telescope; parsing key weather station and other environmental monitoring data; improving the observatory-wide PTP (IEC 1588) time synchronization network.Helped in the programming and testing protocol for the site-wide functional safety system implemented using Allen-Bradly GuardLogix PLCs and hazardous zone access control using trapped keys.Involved in First Light Initiative—commissioned and monitored key telescope thermal management system during campaign to acquire first published images from the telescope.Participated as a member of the committee for Conceptual Design Review of the functional safety system for the Giant Magellan Telescope under construction at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.

San Francisco Bay Area

Design safe electrical and control aspects of high temperature vacuum furnace systems according to NEC, NFPA, UL, and CE requirements. Component subsystems include furnace heater (“hot zone”) power supplies comprised of SCRs driving low voltage, high current transformers, partial pressure and vacuum pumping systems with pneumatically actuated valves, hydraulic systems, inert and combustible gas systems, material handling systems, with integrated safety interlocking across all subsystems. Analysis and sizing of conductors (including water-cooled power cables) and circuit protective devices. Create electrical schematics using AutoCAD and AutoCAD Electrical. Develop clear and well-structured PLC logic and HMI screens. Build programs and configurations for loop controllers and setpoint programmers, high speed motion controllers and other specialized devices as needed. Support manufacturing by commissioning and testing custom furnace systems both in-house and at customer’s facility. Engage in training and contribute to system documentation. Apply troubleshooting skills across all machine subsystems for in-house and remote support of field service staff and customer personnel.

Napa, Ca

Sustaining engineer for current products and new product development. Create and maintain electrical panel diagrams, P&IDs, parts specifications as well as database-driven BOM and spare parts lists. Ensure designs are UL and CE compliant and work with external agencies to achieve relevant certification. Coordinate with project managers and vendors for product changes and production issues.Act as system expert for products for which I am responsible. This includes reviewing and approving test results, making decisions on design changes, providing troubleshooting assistance for electrical, instrumentation and software issues, answering technical questions and demonstrating products. Maintain PLC code, working closely with Software Engineering for synchronized changes.Design, write and perform test plans for verification of ECR changes. Review documentation, test plans and validation protocols for accuracy and completeness. Peer review design and drawings for other products.

Design, implement and start up a variety of control systems in pharmaceutical, water and wastewater, energy and heavy industry settings. Troubleshoot electrical, instrumentation and software issues on many PLC and HMI platforms.Design and implement several complex Modbus serial PLC radio networks with repeater links and arbitrators for multiple requesters on a single network. The radio networks provide municipal water supply systems with complete monitoring and local and remote control for reservoirs, wells, booster pumps and pressure control valves. Provide local control via text-based operator terminal. Create centralized HMI/SCADA systems for monitoring and control of equipment, including overview and detail screens, logging, trending and alarms with autodialer support.Programming in Visual Basic and C++ with SQL Server database to support the specialized needs of various projects.VFD configuration and automation for motion control and pumping applications.

Design and implement control improvements to liquid plastic foam grip forming machine. Enhance usage of existing ultrasonic distance instrumentation by coordinating encoded data strobing between PLC and servo motor controller to provide accurate, repeatable grip lengths. Design PLC-coordinated automatic calibration method for ultrasonic sensor to overcome temperature drift effects.Implement advanced batch recipe control of machine cells and overall process in HMI. Create HMI graphical screens to support recipe changes. Create system documentation for engineering and operations.