I am a Product Solutions Engineer with strong Mechanical and Electrical Engineering experience and education. I have designed integrated systems for on-vehicle and on-dyno use, designed and built ground up prototypes and modified production Continuously Variable Transmissions, designed low pressure high reaction speed hydraulic shifting systems for cutting edge EV transmissions, and designed and built working class leading torque dense axial flux pancake motors for vehicle use.
My skills are broad in the areas primarily of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, particularly Rotating Machines, Electric Machines, EV/PHEV or Vehicle systems and sub-systems, as well as Linear and Non-linear Stress, Thermodynamic, and Electromagnetic analysis. Due to my broad education, skills, and background, I typically arrive at more direct multidisciplinary solutions that are missed or unknown to specialists. I've designed and had manufactured (successfully) the largest PEEK thermoplastic parts in the world, by a factor of at least 5 by mass.
In my early career I worked primarily with powertrain dynos and vehicle integration at Efficient Drivetrains Inc, upfitting Class 1, 3, 5, and 8 vehicles and powertrains for EV/PHEV prototyping. Designs followed from concept discussion through to construction and testing of the prototypes. Most of these prototypes are still in use for demonstration and testing today without faults in my contibutions. These included low and high voltage power distribution, signal distribution (including CAN networks), component selection and validation, as well as primary powertrain component selection, validation, and implementation. My work was pivotal to their compact drivetrain solution using previously unknown axial flux pancake motor products, despite initial internal resistance to the consideration of these products.
Continuing with EDI, I developed modified production and ground up custom Pulley-Type CVTs for use in Class 3-8 vehicles and heavy-duty remote field stationary applications. Work varied from design of the entire rotating system, casing, hydraulic system and routing, control algorithms and implementation/tuning of the control system, to selection of passive/analog and/or digital high speed servo-pump components and systems for advanced control of these transmissions. Work was performed under Dr. Bram Bonsen, a leading expert in the field of hydraulic and mechanical shift and slip control of CVTs and traction drives, as well as EV/PHEV and battery systems.
Upon leaving EDI I took work under project based contracts with Wrightspeed Inc. Initially performing critical CAD and Drafting work on Turbine components, I transitioned to working on the entire shift system for their next generation EV transmission. The system was slow and high pressure with expensive components, and a low pressure system with lower cost and faster reacting components was desired. The requirements for the project were not stable during the contract, but a system design and concept was proposed with mathematic and CAD basis, component selection and multiple supplier quotes. I brought up that the design could not meet all the requirements within budget and the contract was not continued. After the contract close, Wrightspeed did build the system based on my design and it performed according to my analysis, which was slower than they desired (as predicted) and was not implemented in production.
Later I formed a startup with Dr. Bonsen to pioneer advanced, Permanent Magnet free and torque dense electric machines/motors. The particular focus was on Switched Reluctance and Doubly-Fed Synchronous Machines. Work was halted when Dr. Bonsen returned to the Netherlands for personal reasons and investors lost confidence due to the loss of a Founder. At this point I took up a small part co-founder role with electric motor startup Highlands Power Inc.
Under Highlands Power Inc as the Chief Engineer, I developed from a base concept to a manufacturable prototype a cutting edge, torque and power dense Axial Flux pancake motor (S-ONE Prototype). As the technical last say on the entire project, I found and managed vendors and suppliers, overseas contract and partner resources, as well as the direct product design. The primary designer on the product, a working prototype was built in Germany by a contract partner, under our daily oversight.
What is unique about the S-ONE? The motor is manufactured with substantial use of high performance composite thermoplastics as metal replacement. The motors, despite tooling costs, were under the budgetary costs of metal prototypes with superior volumetric and weight performance metrics, reduced magnetic losses, and tighter precision out-of-mold without the need for extensive secondary operations. I managed and performed the design and supplier interaction process from material selection to inspection of the molded components, then on to final assembly procedure, testing, and validation.
ANSYS
