William Stebler Email & Phone Number

Canton, Ma, Us

Burlington, Massachusetts, Us

Developed and optimized the automation system for production machines used in the first phase of Alloy's Stack Forging process, which is a significant departure from traditional additive manufacturing methodologies, resulting in aluminum parts with excellent material properties, extremely low porosity, and complex internal geometries.- Redesigned the control system hardware for the second generation of this equipment, leveraging SolidWorks Electrical for schematic design and working with an outside vendor to produce the control panels and final machine wiring.- Developed software for all machine operations: linear motor gantry motion, precision laser control, safety system, robotic pick and place, etc.- Established a simple API to encapsulate core machine functionality, allowing an upper-level Python application to manage part files and orchestrate machine operations.

Devens, Massachusetts, Us

Lead the technical development of control systems for proprietary industrial scale laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing equipment.- Guided and mentored a team of control systems engineers in the design, build, and commissioning of equipment in a fast-paced environment with an ever-changing list of requirements.- Participated in the development of Vulcan's first factory-scale LPBF machine, based on a B&R Automation platform and "mapp" technology. Responsible for the high-speed laser control subsystem, safety systems, inter-system communications, HMI development, and top-level automation sequences.- Designed C#/.NET based software capable of receiving part files and distributing the necessary layer-based data to the machine PLC and laser control systems.- Wrote the technical specification for a dedicated FPGA-based controller capable of consuming our part data and controlling multiple lasers with precise microsecond level timing. Managed contract engineers to complete the design/build. The resulting system successfully enabled the Vulcan LPBF process to scale to meet production requirements.- Worked alongside a SQL database expert to design a custom data collection system which periodically pulled process data from the machines using OPC-UA.- Led the ground-up hardware redesign of the control system for Vulcan's second and third generation LPBF machines which were installed in the first Vulcan Forms factory in Devans, MA

Responsible for steering the overall technical direction of automation solutions in support of 1366 Tech's novel Direct Wafer manufacturing process. This process produced Silicon wafers for PV applications one at a time (as opposed to diamond-wire cut ingots) in order to reduce waste and improve cell efficiency through significantly tighter control of key characteristics.- Led a team of controls engineers, an electrical technician, a desktop software developer, and a database architect in the creation of a robust design for our 4th generation Direct Wafer manufacturing platform.- Responsible for the control system hardware design. The team leveraged Solidworks Electrical Schematic to create the machine electrical and pneumatic schematics which were used by a contactor in South Korea to build the equipment with little assistance and minimal rework.- Focused on B&R PLC and .NET C#/WPF HMI software development to create a robust control system with extensive capabilities that provided the operator with exceptional visibility into the process.- Successfully built and commissioned 10 Direct Wafer machines in a 250MW Direct Wafer technology demonstration plant for Hanwha QCells in Malaysia.

Managed the team responsible for all aspects of automation and controls related to in-house and contract designed equipment.- Led the development and ongoing refinement of control systems for the third generation Direct Wafer manufacturing platform and related equipment, focusing on increased wafer yield, lower equipment cost, and improved manufacturability and robustness.- Collaborated extensively with the mechanical design team, process team, and machine technicians.- Developed the base architecture for a custom Direct Wafer process data collection system which was later expanded by the team to support all processes including production orders and WIP tracking.- Doubled the size of the Controls/Automation group in preparation for scaling.

Responsible for the architecture, design, and implementation of machine control systems and software supporting a novel approach for creating an etched honeycomb-patterned silicon wafer surface texture aimed at reducing reflectivity and increasing cell efficiency.- Developed numerous machine control systems based on Mitsubishi and B&R automation platforms featuring multi-axis coordinated motion, network distributed I/O, safety PLC, PID control, and platform-native Microsoft.NET-based C# HMI and SQL server data collection systems.- Developed the control system for the world’s first Direct Wafer demonstration machine capable of producing industry-standard PV wafers.- Initiated a CE training program and developed CE-certified machines and documentation packages for European customers.

Cincinnati, Ohio, Us

Focused on the design of vision/quality inspection and HMI systems used on manufacturing equipment in Gillette production facilities worldwide.- Introduced Microsoft .NET/C# and OPC as a replacement for existing commercially licensed tag-based SCADA/HMI applications. This approach was quickly accepted as the standard for all new equipment.- Developed vision inspection systems for the Venus women's razor cartridge assembly machines, interfacing to CompactLogix PLCs via RSLinx as an OPC server, Kepware OPC, and custom .NET software.- Developed a modular commercial-grade HMI interface to RVSI Acuity (later Microscan) vision systems for the Gillette Fusion men's razor cartridge assembly machines. The system enabled synchronous results delivery from 14 individual razor cartridge inspections distributed over multiple industrial PCs operating at a rate of 10 parts per second; features included inspection algorithm version control and auditing, on/off-line program editing, SPC charting of process measurements, data collection, ad-hock filter-based reject capture, and multi-client remote inspection viewing at operator HMI stations.- Developed a factory-wide distributed machine security architecture that used USB key fobs to grant multi-level user access to equipment functions, eliminating the need for passwords.- Redesigned and enhanced an obsolete high-speed blade edge defect detection/reject system used across all Gillette blade steel sharpening machines.- Participated in specification writing and SAT/FAT acceptance testing for packaging machines built by external vendors around the globe.- Administered factory IT functions in support of the special needs of manufacturing equipment. Coordinated cybersecurity efforts across 10 manufacturing plants in the Blades & Razors global business unit.

Ch-8200 Schaffhausen, Ch

Responsible for all phases of the design/build of custom control systems for precision high-speed connector assembly equipment used across AMP factories.- Designed multiple high-speed multi-axis servo applications using Microsoft C and DeltaTau PMAC controllers running on a commercial real-time operating system kernel.- Developed and deployed AMP's first Visual Basic (VB3.1) HMI that used a custom communication protocol to interface with an RTOS-based machine control system running on a separate PC, replacing HMIs that used custom graphics on amber touch screens. Expanded this to support Allen Bradley data highway for SLC-500 PLC based equipment.- Prototyped a custom function-block interface between an Allen-Bradley PC-based 'soft' PLC and a DeltaTau PMAC motion controller.

Pittsburgh, Pa, Us

Supported control systems across 13 production lines which converted PPG plate glass into tempered back and side windows for a variety of GM cars. Technology ranging from discrete relay logic to Modicon PLCs and FANUC robotics.

M.S., Computer Engineering

B.S., Electrical Engineering