My responsibilities include driveline product design and project management for the products I design. The customers I focus on make side by side utility terrain vehicles, agricultural combines, and solar tracker systems.NEAPCO is ISO 9001 certified, so I use that management system methodology for documenting my design work. I also incorporate some parts of automotive management systems when I believe they will be beneficial.I perform most of my own CAD work including part modeling, detailed drawings, and stress calculations through FEA. I also generate models in mechanism to check clearances during motion.A typical project includes the following:• Meet with the customer to determine the initial product requirements.• Put together a team and develop a preliminary design including a budget and a timeline.• Present the preliminary design to the customer and work with them to refine it.• Build and test prototypes. Further refine the design as necessary.• Lead the team that launches the product into production.• Troubleshoot any product related issues that arise.My work load ebs and flows. When I have time, I work on continuous improvement projects. These relate to product designs, testing, and office processes. I also continue to develop my skills in the software I use so that I can become more efficient at what I do.

Attended customer pre-bid meetings for industrial refrigeration or mechanical piping. Put together costs to complete work.Designed and modeled piping layout in 3D with Inventor.Managed crews at customer location from office.Coordinated resources to assure work was completed on time and in budget. Worked with crews, customers, and sub-contractors to overcome obstacles.Visited job sites as necessary.Purchased materials.Helped develop new markets and new customers.Determined ways to improve processes and implemented them.

Was asked to hold various positions throughout my 19 years of employment, but found engineering work to be the most rewarding. These positions included Design Engineer, Project Engineer, Senior Project Engineer, Application Engineer, and Engineering Manager. Also served as Quality Manager for a couple years while holding the Engineering Manager position.DESIGN ENGINEERMet with customers to determine need. Developed a concept with a team and modeled it in CAD. Presented concept to the customer. Worked with customers to refine the design.PROJECT MANAGER / SENIOR PROJECT MANAGERStart to finish product responsibility. Responsible for product and process design, build, test, and troubleshooting. Led launch teams and worked on launch teams; also worked with suppliers. Teams included engineering, manufacturing, quality, planning, and purchasing. This work included new product lines with new customers. Continually worked to improve products and processes.APPLICATION ENGINEERWorked directly with customers to tailor product to their specific needs.ENGINEERING MANAGERWas asked to take on this responsibility due to company need and natural leadership ability; accepted position reluctantly due to lack of formal training in management. Recruited personnel; restructured department to best fit talents of the individuals; aided each person in growing their skills; held regular department meetings; carried out performance reviews. Enjoyed this position, but resigned from it to return to full time engineering work when the president of the company offered me the opportunity. He recognized that it would be easier for him to hire an engineering manager with my skills than an engineer with my skills.

Hybrid corn is made by mating a male breed with a female breed. The fields are planted with 2 rows of male corn for every 6 rows of female corn. The tassels of the female stocks have to be removed so that they do not self pollinate. Hybrid companies hired students and teachers to work for a few weeks out of the summer to remove the tassels by hand.I was on a walking crew that started just after the corn grew out of the ground. There were no tassels to remove at that time, our job was to remove any unwanted stalks. That could be stalks that grew from seed that was dropped in the previous harvest or ones that obviously were not like the others.When detasseling, we typically went through a field three times. The expectation was 90% clean the first pass, 99% the second, and 99.9% the final. If any rows were not at 99.9% we walked them again.This was tedious work in all kinds of weather. We might get rained on in the morning. Mud would stick to our boots and they would get really heavy. Then the sun might come out and the humidity would go to 100%. Some days we baked and some days we almost blew away. It was hard work, but we stuck together and got the job done. It was definitely the relationships we built that pulled us through the hard times.After a couple years of working on a crew, I applied for a job as an inspector. There were only about 3 or 4 weeks of field work, and so they had us work at the factory for 3 weeks before the season and 3 weeks after. While in the field, we worked 7 days a week and as many hours as it took. I remember working 98 hours one week.My second year as an inspector, my manager gave me twice as many acres as the other inspectors. They had someone quit at the last minute, so he just gave those acres to me. He said he knew I could handle it. That was tough duty, but he was right. I did do it. I put in the hours it took.Hard work just makes you stronger.

I started this job at age 14. It was about a mile from our house and I had to manage to get there without driving myself. I caught a ride, biked, walked, or skateboarded there.I started at $2 per hour and about 10 hours per week. It was a good job for the shy kid I was. Waiting on customers forced me out of my shell. It also gave me something to do other than procrastinate my homework.On weeknights, I ran the store myself and cleaned up afterwards. Some nights were really slow and I was able to get a lot of homework done. On weekends, I worked with others. That is when we made the most karmel popcorn. It was a challenge to make because there was no timer to tell me when it was done. I had to pay attention to the color, the smoke, and the smell. I still cook by smell.I met a good cross section of people working at the mall. That was good for me too. I learned that people are people. It doesn't matter what they look like or how they talk.I received every possible pay raise and finally made minimum wage after working there four years. I didn't make a lot of money, but I made more than I would have if I had sat at home watching TV.