Neil Barker Email & Phone Number

Lockport, Il, Us

Greater Chicago Area

Full time instructor of courses leading to the Applied Science Associates Degree.

Chicago Metropolitan Area

It was a difficult decision not to become a teacher right out of high school, as many teachers encouraged me. But I had a teacher that designed the fuel system for the Concorde, and wanted to follow his good example. After 20 years in industry it was time to give something back. I'm not one to do things by half, so I jumped in with both feet. I changed careers after a year at college. Perhaps the hardest choice was the impact on my family, including the low pay and poor reputation. It was therefore a pleasant surprise to work in such a progressive school district and with such a great staff and student body. Education is changing rapidly, to meet the needs of today's young people, that take technology for granted. I provided engaging instruction of multi-level high school courses, and was a content expert in CAD, Electronics, Automotive, Computer Maintenance, Engineering, and Manufacturing Processes. The next step for traditional school districts is combining Science Mathematics and Technology departments into the new STEM model to stay at the leading edge. Kudos to those that spend their lives in education, I always respected and admired my teachers.

Lagrange, Illinois

Grayhill's claim to fame was it's global leadership role in DIP switches, from the dawn of the digital communications era. It has maintained its leadership in switching components and communications to the present day, now specializing in custom user interfaces. The thing I loved about Grayhill was it's innovative staff. As a proposal developer you need to know all the key players that connect your clients to tomorrow's technology. Grayhill has built a first rate team of technical graduates that bridge research and manufacture, to bring innovative products to their clients. Working with sales and marketing so closely, allowed me to really understand the role of sales in a new way. Grayhill's sales force are an excellent blend of technical minds and commercial awareness. This has allowed them to consistently lead the way in product innovations. My role as Proposal Developer, was to bring a consistency and professional look and feel to the technical and commercial RFP responses. This allowed the sales force to focus on customer satisfaction and connecting clients with new approaches.

Chicago

The Verson Division of Allied Products Corporation was a world-leading builder of metal-forming presses. Primary clients were Tier 1 suppliers to the automotive industry. I managed projects valued at over $10milllion over a two year period. My projects were single-slide presses, competing for resources alongside some huge multi-slide machines. The key to my success was keeping in touch with the engineering, manufacturing, and purchasing leaders, to ensure that everything came together. Doing this for one press would be a challenge, doing it for 10, with staggered project plans and delivery dates was a little like juggling chainsaws! You really have to know what you're doing, and what everyone else SHOULD be doing. Customer interfacing was a critical role at the time, because recent late deliveries and a falling stock price had made customers very nervous. In addition steel dumping from 2nd world steelmakers, was impacting domestic supplier viability and profitability. This all occurred in the wake of huge domestic growth, and expansion. Clients all wanted to be in on the action. I made it happen for all my clients, bringing the bacon home on time and within budget, by going that extra mile. This was quite an achievement of which I am proud.

Greater Chicago Area

The Verson Division of Allied Products Corporation was a leading builder of metal-forming presses to the automotive industry. Primary clients were General Motors, Ford and Daimler-Chrysler. In that time frame I collaborated on the introduction of the ISO9000 total quality management system. As a result, the company was certified to QS9000 to the Test Equipment (TE) Supplement. The quality department employed 13 people including UAW inspectors, and 6 staff. In my first month I caught up on a backlog of staff evaluations. Being fair and positive is the key to good morale. My team varies in experience, but were mostly older than me. That presents some challenges, but being respectful and showing appreciation for you people counts tremendously. For me the start point was learning what skills we had and where we needed to grow. This allowed me to set mutually beneficial goals with the employees and engage them in progress.

Romeoville, Il

International Imaging Electronics (IIE) was a medical diagnostic imaging camera manufacturer. It specialized in multi-format X-ray imaging, and was transitioning into the digital imaging sector. At the same time, it had strong R&D development projects to diversify its portfolio, and leverage its technological know-how. I also brought new projects from concept to prototype market testing. This included developing new manufacturing techniques, vendor development, and product development. The most difficult part of the project was developing a Lithium Ion Battery Charging system. The main problem was the tendency of Li-Ion batteries to overheat. This was overcome by providing discrete circuitry to charge each individual cell as required, and not to rely on traditional parallel circuit charging regimes. The system was under prototype evaluation by 40 selected medical specialists from across the United States. Another major project in which I led the way, was marrying up medical FDA GMP's with ISO9000 standards, to allow regulatory compliance.

Cheltenham, United Kingdom

Worked in Avionics R&D with Smiths Industries Aerospace Division, which is now GE Aviation Systems. http://www.geaviation.com/systems/

Cheltenham, United Kingdom

Quality Assurance, Test and Development, Performance Engineering, Design Draftsman, Production Questionnaire, Arle Court, Student Apprenticeship, Dowty Rotol, Dowty Fuel Systems, Dowty Group, Dowty Mining Equipment, Structures, Dowty Hydraulics

Master'S Degree, Stem, 4.0

Activities and Societies: Off campus student. Prior involvement through the Illinois Drafting Educator's Association, and the Illinois.

Teacher Certification, Secondary Education And Teaching, 3.92 Undergraduate / 4.0 Graduate

Activities and Societies: Off campus, part-time student.Major in Secondary Technology Education with a total of 53 credit hours.

Bachelor Of Engineering - Be, Systems Engineering

Bachelor Of Science (Bsc), Engineering, Minor In Systems Engineering

Activities and Societies: Symphony Orchestra Swim Team Asian SocietyMajor - Mechanical Engineering. Minor - Systems. Course focus.

High School, Mathematics And Physics

Activities and Societies: Swim Team, Orchestra, BandCompleted 10 'O' Levels, 4 'A' Levels. Each of the Advanced Level ('A') courses last 2.