Consumer Products
o Evaluated over 10 pressure cooker designs using FEA simulations and experiments
o Performed analysis of centrifugal juicers to determine the root cause of basket separation during operation
o Analyzed the electrical system in various toaster ovens to understand if certain conditions could cause the devices to turn on without user input
o Assessed bearing failures, acoustic issues, and the performance of capacitive touch user interfaces in various blenders
o Analyzed four different espresso/coffee machine models to improve fluid flow characteristics and identify the root cause of polymer degradation
o Examined multiple heated blanket designs to determine causes of overheating events
o Assessed the likelihood of high strength magnets fracturing due to unintended contact with one another
o Evaluated the performance of various retractable awnings
o Examined failures of furniture (e.g., wooden couches and chairs), shower stools, and glass shower doors
Heavy Equipment
o Quantified and interpreted loading on a forklift's occupant restraint system during a frontal collision
o Investigated tip over events in various scissor lifts and boom lifts to understand the interaction between site conditions, operator commands, and machine dynamics
o Assessed the performance of the braking system on a telehandler-style forklift
o Examined the control system on a boom lift alleged to have stalled/stopped without user input
o Evaluated the performance of a hydraulic trash compactor
o Investigated a large electric shovel and its associated switchgear
o Analyzed the performance of various construction equipment including bulldozers, skid steers, excavators, cold planers, and pavement grinder/grooving machines
Product Development/Evaluation
o Designed a hydraulic system to erect a 5-ton space-fed radar antenna array and maintain pointing accuracy
o Developed a hydraulic system to position antennas in two different ground penetrating radar systems
o Designed an electro-mechanical apparatus for deploying and stowing components for a radio frequency (RF) feed in a space-fed phased array radar system
o Designed a battery adapter with an injection molded enclosure and custom circuitry that allowed soldiers to operate a handheld IED detector from conventional military batteries
o Developed a quadruped robot consisting of custom CNC machined parts, printed circuit board assemblies, and embedded firmware
o Designed a sensor kit for ground robots to enable semi-autonomous operation and support dismounted operations for soldiers
o Designed over 10 electronics enclosures against military requirements covering electromagnetic interferences (EMI), shock and vibration, temperature, and moisture
o Performed design reviews on various downhole tools used in the oil and gas industry to determine their efficacy, safety, and reliability in deep-water applications
o Performed Monte Carlo simulation and live fire experiments to evaluate the operational benefit of measuring an indirect fire projectile (e.g., a M795 155 mm projectile fired from a howitzer) with a passive optical camera to improve the accuracy of follow-on shots
o Evaluated the effectiveness of a small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to support squad level unit operations
o Developed an extreme high voltage IED countermeasure system that demonstrated the ability to pre-detonate IEDs and detect command wires in a wide variety of environmental conditions.
o Managed the development of a rapidly deployable mobile "3D printing" engineering laboratory for the US Army capable of operating in remote environments
o Designed and assembled a 3D printer using open-source hardware and software
o Spent six months traveling throughout southern Afghanistan working as an engineer in the US Army's Rapid Equipping Force (REF) Forward Laboratory developing dozens of technologies for military personnel engaged in active combat operations, which included covert/overt surveillance, tagging/tracking/locating, dismounted power solutions, and counter IED enhancements to route clearance packages
Health Monitoring and Control Systems
o Developed signal processing and health monitoring techniques for journal bearings in an internal combustion engine using onboard sensors
o Developed a custom testing apparatus and signal processing techniques to non-destructively assess the health of heart pumps using vibration measurements
o Performed a patent infringement analysis concerning methods to monitor performance and control hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fleets
o Developed an active control system and evaluated algorithms to non-destructively evaluate damage in a beam
o Tuned a motion controller for a 3D printer using stepper motor drives
o Developed a custom motion controller for a quadruped robot
o Developed a control system for pumping hot and cold fluid into a custom test setup to achieve a desired temperature profile
Plumbing/Fluid Systems
o Analyzed failures in various brass valves associated with water losses
o Analyzed fire hydrants involved in high pressure testing and motor vehicle accidents
o Performed analysis of a direct spring safety valve to understand its performance and potential for failure due to dynamic instability (chattering) in a power plant
o Analyzed the performance of corroded black pipe in residential homes to determine fitness-for-service
o Designed three (3) different hydraulic systems to position various radar antenna arrays, each consisting of pumps, valves, hoses, and actuators
o Analyzed fluid dynamics during a diving incident at a hydroelectric power plant involving differential pressure
o Evaluated the performance of various camlock-style fluid couplings to understand how component wear could contribute to unintentional separation
o Analyzed a failure in a showerhead mixing valve associated with a water loss
Industrial Facilities
o Analyzed winder equipment in an artificial turf facility and its associated control system
o Assessed the performance of a large vertical machining center
o Analyzed the performance of a conveyor belt system that included a belt scale to measure crushed aggregate
o Evaluated the performance of a turret lathe in a machine shop
o Analyzed the performance of a web handling line that manufactured various laminated products consisting of paper, polymer films, foil, and scrim
o Examined the performance of pneumatic adapters for mounting printing plates in high-speed offset printers
Locks
o Assessed the likelihood that a door lock in an apartment building could be defeated by lockpicking techniques
o Investigated a window lock in an apartment building that was alleged to have been defeated
o Analyzed the performance of door locks in a college dormitory
o Evaluated the capability of an electronic deadbolt to secure an apartment unit's door
o Evaluated the performance of a door and door lock during a fire
o Examined controlled access door locks at apartment complexes and hotels
Vibration/Acoustics
o Performed vibration measurements and fatigue life estimation on a residential power meter to determine the likelihood of insulation breakdown and arcing between conductors
o Assessed vibration levels on large (8 foot diameter) fans in a subway system
o Developed a technique to estimate the location and magnitude of a ballistic impact in body armor using acceleration measurements
o Performed Finite Element Analysis (FEA) on an electronics enclosure subjected to random vibration
o Analyzed sources of noise in a blender due to vibration
o Evaluated vibrations in nearby structures during a car race to estimate the likelihood for damage
o Developed signal processing techniques to non-destructively assess the health of heart pumps using vibration measurements
Software
o Performed a source code review for infringement analysis of two patents concerning health monitoring and control systems for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fleets
o Developed signal processing techniques and machine learning-based classifiers for radar data collected by ground penetrating radar systems to detect Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Iraq and Afghanistan
o Wrote embedded software for six (6) different microcontroller platforms and implemented various communication protocols such as SPI, I2C, and UART
o Developed a simulation of a metal turning process in MATLAB, ported the code to FORTRAN 95, and deployed it on a computer cluster
o Wrote embedded firmware for a low power (~20-microwatt average power) Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) module to simulate a medical device application
