
Creative Mechanical Design Engineer (photo by Jan Hanson janhansonphoto.com)
San Francisco Bay Area

Creative Mechanical Design Engineer (photo by Jan Hanson janhansonphoto.com)
San Francisco Bay Area
I'm seeking a new position **in the greater San Francisco Bay Area**
Mechanical Engineer
Creative and enthusiastic engineer with MSME in Design from Stanford University and over 10 years of experience in analysis and design/release.
I worked on the GM EV1 for two years. See http://www.evchargernews.com/CD-A/gm_ev1_web_site/
Successful jumping into new industries, materials, and processes
Experience learning new 3D CAD and CAE packages
Experience with steel sheet metal, aluminum sheet metal, glass and plastic injection molded parts
Extensive experience working in teams and with vendors on complex parts and assemblies
Experience working with designers on detail design.
Experience with creative thinking and brainstorming.
Highly motivated engineer who is equally comfortable discussing issues with vendors or clients, with sleeves rolled up in the prototype shop, brainstorming solutions with a team, or working alone on a complex 3D design or analysis problem. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, honed in a rigorous undergraduate program of reading and discussing the classics.
Recently completed SolidWorks and Pro/Engineer certificates.
3D thinking, brainstorming, idea generation, SolidWorks, Pro/Engineer, FEA, CAE, CAD, finite element analysis, computer aided engineering, computer aided design, product design, mechanical engineering, engineering software, software QA, programming, unix, C++, FORTRAN, unix shell scripts
(Partnership; Automotive industry)
2009 — Present (less than a year)
-- Consultant on overall vehicle body issues, including but not limited to materials, GD&T, costs, design, integration
-- Consultant on design process, including CAD software and change management
(Internet industry)
2000 — 2009 (9 years )
-- List and describe web sites appropriately and fairly
-- Work within and improve upon a complex existing taxonomy of sites
-- Communicate well with other editors in related areas
-- Was promoted to “editall/catmv” editor (an editor that can edit in any part of the directory) in April 2002
(Privately Held; Research industry)
2004 — 2007 (3 years )
- Built, debugged, ran, and evaluated all variations required for FEA models of Liquid Natural Gas tank (Geometrically complex corner model).
- Made design change suggestions.
- All requirements met on time.
- Performed Linear/nonlinear finite element analysis of large structural systems (bridges, tunnels, pressure vessels and tanks.
- Acted as expert on meshing/pre-pressing. Invented methods to improve efficiency division model building.
- Wrote custom bash/Perl scripts. Performed 1st level Adina Customer Support.
(Privately Held; Information Technology and Services industry)
2000 — 2002 (2 years )
- Wrote large set of automated tests/test scripts for HyperMesh (Pre-processing Software for FEA method Analysis)
- Wrote cross platform shell script suites for multiple Unix/PC platforms.
- Designed/built set of user based test to simulate usage patters of typical user.
- Acted as subject expert. Traced Software issues related to Dyna3D.
- Attended Software QA Professional meetings.
(Public Company; VC; Automotive industry)
1999 — 2000 (1 year )
-- Acted as beta tester for several versions of FEA pre-processing software. Got bugs of concern to us prioritized, resulting in smoother day-to-day project work.
-- Performed crash and safety analysis and NVH analysis using Hypermesh, Dyna3D, and Nastran
-- Covered seating and head restraint analyses
-- Proactively suggested design change recommendations to improve performance while also optimizing mass and cost
-- Correlated FEM models to test results, and reported on and explained results
(Automotive industry)
1998 — 1999 (1 year )
-- Acted as beta tester for several versions of FEA pre-processing software. Got bugs of concern to us prioritized, resulting in smoother day-to-day project work.
-- Performed crash and safety analysis and NVH analysis using Hypermesh, Dyna3D, and Nastran
-- Covered seating and head restraint analyses
-- Proactively suggested design change recommendations to improve performance while also optimizing mass and cost
-- Correlated FEM models to test results, and reported on and explained results
(Privately Held; Automotive industry)
1996 — 1997 (1 year )
-- Gave presentations to keep other engineers informed on complex and ever changing automotive crash issues. Fewer expensive design changes were needed later because all involved parties understood requirements.
-- Performed crash and safety analysis and NVH analysis using Hypermesh, Dyna3D, and Nastran
-- Covered frontal crash and knee bolster analyses
-- Proactively suggested design change recommendations to improve performance while also optimizing mass and cost
-- Correlated FEM models to test results, and reported on and explained results
-- Spent 6 months in the Energy Management group running various small scale FMVSS tests
(Public Company; GM; Automotive industry)
1993 — 1996 (3 years )
-- Invented new structural part to stiffen a joint in the Chevy Malibu and improve side impact performance. Negotiated on trade-offs with manufacturing to allow unusual weld procedures.
-- Developed two new component FEA models as a way to simulate effects of structural changes on crash performance more quickly than with a full car model. Team was able to study more structural changes and evaluate their effect on side impact more quickly.
-- Performed crash and safety analysis using SMUG and Dyna3D
-- Covered side impact and rear impact analyses
-- Proactively suggested design change recommendations to improve performance while also optimizing mass and cost
-- Correlated FEM models to test results, and reported on and explained results
(Public Company; GM; Automotive industry)
1991 — 1993 (2 years )
-- Worked on GM EV1 (electric car)
- Managed design of windshield, encapsulated rear window, composite injection molded jack, wrench and associated parts.
- Managed project, vendor interaction, and delivery dates for fixed glass and jack sub-systems.
none , CAD , 2008 — 2009
Pro/Engineer and SolidWorks courses to refresh my CAD skills.
Beginning SolidWorks
Intermediate SolidWorks
Advanced SolidWorks
SolidWorks Surfacing
Beginning Pro/Engineer
Intermediate Pro/Engineer
Advanced Pro/Engineer
Pro/Engineer SheetMetal
Pro/Engineer Surfacing
MS , Mechanical Engineering , 1987 — 1989
none , mechanical engineering
Undergraduate engineering courses to prepare for graduate school
Favorite undergrad engineering course -- Machine Design using Shigley text
Concentration -- "the dry side" of ME -- structures, machine design, free body diagrams, product design, etc.
none , mechanical engineering
Undergraduate engineering courses to prepare for graduate school
BA , Liberal Arts
St. John's offers a broad basic education including laboratory sciences, mathematics, languages, music, literature, and philosophy. All subjects are studied by reading the original writers and discussing them. St. John's taught me to take an active, questioning role in learning and to communicate well. I am proficient at explaining clearly and asking questions to get to the root of an issue.
SWE (Society of Women Engineers), Women in Science and Engineering Network, Ann Arbor Software Quality Professionals, Various conferences and workshops