| Engineering Support |
| I gladly help fellow-engineers take measurements, make modifications, do redesign; implementation, testing, etc. I'm good at scrounging stuff up too. |
| I'm a tool fanatic. I'm used to synthesizing what's needed from what's lying around. Tools can be key. I carry a good selection. |
| I'm like a historian, an anthropologist, a psychologist, and an archeologist; all in an engineer. I like keeping abreast of various competing methods. I like getting down to the device physics and human behavioral tendencies. You can tell what plagued an engineer by inspecting a system. I always look for craters, oversized, and frequently replaced devices. Often these reveal idiosyncracies unique to the particular archetecture. You've got to know the snags intrinsic to your system. Then you can sidestep them. At the end of an audit, we implement and test needed modifications; do general cleanup and preventive maintainence; leaving your system clean and stable. |
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| I love chassis stripping. My mom started me doing it when I was five years old. I naturally categorize and store the components. But best of all I witness and retain design philosophies, along with key raw materials. My last big chassis stripping festival turned a good bit of gold for surplus-store-owner Bruce Gray. Five people braved scortching heat, run ragged rendering 1/6 of an acre of high teck gear to rubble. My grandmother hosted it. Semi-trucks, forklifts, and air tools made for short work. Bruce's California house was wall-to-wall pallets, most of it military surplus. We deleted that blemish and replentished our stockrooms, all in one fell swoop. |
| I always do a failure analysis, even when the carcass is ugly. Understanding precursors for failure helps me avoid repeating calamities. Eyewitness testimony is also key. I try to get a sense of what people saw and felt, leading up to a fatefull moment. Failure analysis may be used to suggest preventive measures. |
| Failure Analysis |
| Design Reviews |
| I don't use P-spice modeling. But my mind works fine, perhaps better when it comes to considering known breakdown modes. I've had to use countless obscure devices in my designs. I've gotten them all going myself. I know what works. I'll say so if I'm uneasy about something in your design. |
| System Shakedowns |
| Turning on big systems can be dangerous work. Culprit mechanisms pull all kinds of gags, some of them life threatening. When preparing for a shakedown, people will be asked to yell the word "noise" before making loud noises. The roping-off of areas and locking-out of breakers (with tags) will be practiced when panels and chassis skins are removed. All attention will be directed to a system when it is being activated. Those present will be advised of known failure-modes, and how they manifest. Personell safety protection equipment will be used as appropriate. I have been CPR certified in the past. Chaotic big-system interactions confront the beleagured with the ultimate high-noise environment. I've been lucky in that I've been able to discern subtlties, advance and test competing hypothesis, and to develop fixes using what's at hand; despite sometimes horrendous environmental interference. |
| Chassis stripping festivals |
| System audits |
| Tools |
| Support |
| Material resources |
| I've got an uncanny knack for knowing where to find things. I'm always exploring around, taking mental note of material resource abundance. If you want something, you can have it. Just ask. |
| I enjoy travel. People have what they need. Somebody just needs to get in there and kick some butt. Would I go? I'd be honored. No big system has stumped me yet. I hunger for juicy challenges. |