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Senior Design Engineer
Koala furniture
Sydney, Australia
Dec 2020 - Present (3 years 5 months)
Currently working on a design team to deliver world class furniture designs at affordable prices. As the Design Engineer, I am responsible for delivering the following:
• Analyze and assess design concepts
• Prototype and refine concepts and validate engineering ideas
• Work closely with suppliers to design for manufacturing, optomize costs, and select materials that are best suited for the application
• Provide 3D models, drawings, and technical specifications to suppliers for sampling and production
• Help develop the way of working and standard operations for the engineering role to promote efficiency and effectiveness.
• Facilitate workshops with suppliers to provide feedback on product samples and brainstorm solutions to key challenges.
• Most importantly, I work as part of a collaborative team and actively elevate the performance and speed of our projects through the experience and work ethic that I bring to the table.
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Mechanical Design Engineer
IKEA of Sweden
Älmhult, Sweden
Jan 2019 - Dec 2020 (1 year 11 months)
Worked on a project basis as part of several multidisciplinary teams simultaneously. Responsible for taking products from design sketches to mass production. Primary deliverables include:
• Provide inputs to design proposals from engineering and manufacturing outlook
• Facilitate workshops to come up with innovative design solutions
• Analyze mechanical performance of the product through prototype testing and simulations
• Understand and mitigate customer safety risks in the design during development
• Participate in design and development workshops with suppliers on the factory floor
• Optimize design for manufacturing cost through efficient material choices and utilization.
• Utilize shared components and solutions to increase volumes and lower prices
• Integrate smart assembly and knock down solutions to minimize packaging costs and allow for frustration free assembly from the customer.
• Facilitate and optimize the creation of the assembly instructions.
• Create and maintain a technical documentation package that fully defines the product.
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Production Engineer
IKEA Purchasing
Philadelphia, PA
Nov 2015 - Jan 2019 (3 years 2 months)
Worked internationally with suppliers to evaluate business potential and strategic fit between IKEA and their company. Provided technical breakdowns of our products and analyzed manufacturing capabilities of suppliers.
Led the supplier start-up process through numerous technical trainings, production audits, and creating a lasting business partnership with the suppliers. After production start-up I was responsible for:
• Driving supplier development for quality, cost, and manufacturing improvements.
• Securing process control in production and developing the supplier’s quality system.
• Understanding production flow optimization, implement component jigs, visual aids, and equipment to help the supplier work efficiently.
• Deep understanding of chemical and mechanical legal testing requirements
• Handling deviations, making root cause analysis with the supplier, and implementing corrective actions.
• Starting up new articles to keep the business growing.
Like my current role, I worked as part of a multifunctional business unit while managing a large number of projects at the same time.
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Test Engineering Co-op
East Aurora, NY
Jun 2015 - Aug 2015 (2 months)
At Moog, my main duties revolved around testing hydraulic actuators for aircrafts. These actuators are used in flight control systems for rudders, ailerons, spoilers, and more. The test preparation and changeovers required a lot of hands on work with hydraulics and electronics. I have become very familiar with hydraulic systems as a whole from my time on this co-op. Setting up and taking apart the test stands is a large part of my job, however troubleshooting all of the issues that come up when the testing starts is the challenging part. Because no test ever goes smoothly, modifications and alterations to the setup usually need to be made in order to perform the test correctly.
One of my other tasks was to design a thermal enclosure for a test stand from scratch. I made several concept sketches and developed the design with feedback from the engineers. The final design is currently being created and the design concept itself was sent to other Moog plants for further replication.
My experience at Moog has helped me not only become better at troubleshooting problems, but also follow technical procedures, create assemblies from drawings, and work with a variety of engineers. I am currently working under contract at Moog that I was offered following the completion of my co-op.
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Quality Engineering Co-op
Ithaca, NY
Jan 2014 - Aug 2014 (7 months)
During my time at BorgWarner, I worked as a quality engineer, where our department's main task was to eliminate defects and produce the most quality product possible. However, I was able to do much more than inspect components, measure parts, and look at data. I learned about how a big business operates, how to work with a variety of different people, and how to manage numerous tasks at the same time. Some of the projects that I worked on and skills that I learned on my co-op include:
1. Metallurgical measurement basics and knowledge of how to operate hardness and bend test machines.
2. Metrology measurement techniques, knowledge of how to use dozens of gages and measuring machines.
3. Programming of a sorting machine- I was tasked with managing a machine that was used to sort mixed and defective parts before assembly. I learned a lot about troubleshooting, trial and error, and teaching myself how to use the machine with very little assistance.
4. Gage studies- I performed numerous gage studies from start to finish in order to verify the precision of various gages for use on the floor. I used minitab to perform a statistical analysis after I collected the data from different machine operators.
5. Guarding committee- I joined the machine guarding committee at BorgWarner and was involved with brainstorming about new guarding ideas, inspecting current guards, and updating guarding documentation throughout the plant. I learned the names and purposes of many guards as well as how a committee is run in a large business.
6. MSDS chemical compilation- I was put in charge of a task which involved developing a new list of all the chemicals used in the entire plant and making sure they all had an appropriate MSDS sheet in our database. I had to work with a number of people in the plant as well as outside companies in order to collect information.
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Mechanical Engineering Co-op
Clarence, NY
May 2013 - Aug 2013 (3 months)
At Pfannenberg, I gained a variety of experiences in the process of manufacturing industrial air conditioning and cooling units from a small business standpoint. I spent several weeks going through the assembly line and learning how the units are constructed from start to finish. During this time, I assembled circuit boards, brazed pipes, installed insulation, and tested the machines under high voltage. This is only a small number of tasks that I performed in the manufacturing process of the units. I learned about how information is communicated in between engineers and assembly workers, as well as how improvements are made. I was able to carry out many ECN’s in order to fix problems with the assembly directions and miscommunications.
Another project I worked on at Pfannenberg was the mapping out of the entire building and property, by using blueprints as well as physically measuring distances. I created a detailed, to scale map in Microsoft Visio including, offices, machinery, and parking lots. The company was looking to expand the building, and the model in Visio can help them easily plan new ideas. I gained experience in planning, organizing, and carrying out a large project as an individual from this.
Probably the largest project I worked during my co-op involved the development of a new, more efficient assembly line layout. I did research, interviewed employees, and came up with dozens of ideas. I worked with a LEAN certified employee to help me refine the ideas as well as incorporate some of his own to develop a final three ideas. I created these layouts in Visio and prepared a presentation which was shown at a meeting with the head engineers. This project helped me gain experience in optimizing a process through analyzing its pros and cons, and also working with a more experienced employee to guide me. I unfortunately had to return to school before I could see the end result of the project.