Pneumatic Resistance Gym Equipment - J&J Manufacturing Company, 2008
My career began in the small town of Beaumont Texas with J&J Manufacturing. This company manufactured package handling equipment which utilized pneumatic cylinders and pressure regulators to make lifting and maneuvering heavy items with ease. Prior to starting this job J&J patented a technology that used pressure regulators and pneumatic cylinders for dual directional resistance gym equipment. I interviewed knowing that I would be taking on the project of designing a full line of commercial gym equipment singlehandedly, seeing how I was going to be J&J's only engineer within the company. I was a little nervous knowing I wouldn't have much help and equally excited for having the responsibility.
The machines achieved Dual resistance by switching pressure to the opposite side of the cylinder after each stroke was complete. This was initially achieved by pressing a button and later achieved by sensing directional change with a gyro. Touch screens were to be used to adjust force/pressure, and provide entertainment and or instruction during your workout.
I started the project with a blank piece of paper and in six months time I completed the design, detail drawings as well as assisted in the fabrication of six fully functional machines. It was a proud moment in my life to see them all together in one room at the projects end. I only wish I could have taken more pictures.
The machines achieved Dual resistance by switching pressure to the opposite side of the cylinder after each stroke was complete. This was initially achieved by pressing a button and later achieved by sensing directional change with a gyro. Touch screens were to be used to adjust force/pressure, and provide entertainment and or instruction during your workout.
I started the project with a blank piece of paper and in six months time I completed the design, detail drawings as well as assisted in the fabrication of six fully functional machines. It was a proud moment in my life to see them all together in one room at the projects end. I only wish I could have taken more pictures.
Curl / Tricep Extension
Forward Fly / Reverse Fly
Bench Press / Seated Row
Bench press arms in the making.
Initial test setup of the Bench Press / Seated Row machine.
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Military Press / Lat Pull-Down
Abdominal Crunch
Leg Extension / Leg Curl
Military Press / Lat Pull-Down
Military Press / Lat Pull-Down in the making.
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Commercial Juice Dispenser Design - Nestle Professional Vitality, 2011
In 2010 I started a new engineering job with Nestle's coffee and juice division designing innovative beverage dispensers. To get my feet wet, my supervisor initially started me off with small projects. One project was the redesign of an aseptic adapter collar, a plastic part that adapted a small disposable rubber pump to a coffee concentrate BIB (bag in box). At the time, the adapter was being made of acrylic in high volume on a lathe and unnecessarily cutting into the product's profit. All attempts at making this part with the injection molding process were unsuccessful due to undercuts. During the ejection process, critical undercut features of the part were being wiped off, making the part useless. I worked with the molder and in a month we had a polyolefin design that cost less than 10 cents, saving the company over $100k annually.
Shortly after I was given the responsibility of designing of a high volume juice dispenser for our Cruise Ship Juice Division. At the time of this project, Nestle owned 97% of the worlds cruise ship juice business, but we were lacking a dispenser that could keep up with our clients high volume customer demand. During peak hours of breakfast, lunch, and dinner the windjammer cafe is regularly inundated with guests that are both hungry and yurning to grab an ice cold glass of refreshing fruit juice. This all you can eat buffet is responsible for serving more of the cruise ships guests, during every meal of the day, than any other location on the ship. Until you've been on a cruise you won't understand the shear volume of people that arrive in such a short amount of time. To my surprise, these ships relied on outdated methods including Jetspray units to keep hand-mixed juice cool and stirred. This unit was a problem because it relied on multiple overworked people to accurately mix the juice concentrate with water by hand, then pour it into an upper bowl, high above the counter top. This process proved to be inconsistent, time consuming, and dangerous for the crew and equipment.
I first developed a system with my supervisor that eliminated the need of the Jetspray unit, which you will see in the video below. This system utilized a Brix Pump and was powered by water pressure alone. The water pressure drove an intensifier like Brix Pump that automatically pulled proper ratios of concentrate out of a BIB, then mixed with the same water that powered the process just prior to entering your cup.
Shortly after I was given the responsibility of designing of a high volume juice dispenser for our Cruise Ship Juice Division. At the time of this project, Nestle owned 97% of the worlds cruise ship juice business, but we were lacking a dispenser that could keep up with our clients high volume customer demand. During peak hours of breakfast, lunch, and dinner the windjammer cafe is regularly inundated with guests that are both hungry and yurning to grab an ice cold glass of refreshing fruit juice. This all you can eat buffet is responsible for serving more of the cruise ships guests, during every meal of the day, than any other location on the ship. Until you've been on a cruise you won't understand the shear volume of people that arrive in such a short amount of time. To my surprise, these ships relied on outdated methods including Jetspray units to keep hand-mixed juice cool and stirred. This unit was a problem because it relied on multiple overworked people to accurately mix the juice concentrate with water by hand, then pour it into an upper bowl, high above the counter top. This process proved to be inconsistent, time consuming, and dangerous for the crew and equipment.
I first developed a system with my supervisor that eliminated the need of the Jetspray unit, which you will see in the video below. This system utilized a Brix Pump and was powered by water pressure alone. The water pressure drove an intensifier like Brix Pump that automatically pulled proper ratios of concentrate out of a BIB, then mixed with the same water that powered the process just prior to entering your cup.
During further revisions of this system I created a high-flow bar-gun system, and an aesthetic counter-top unit to help increase new customer acquisition. The counter top unit was especially attractive because it displayed the product in upper bowl, but actually dispensed directly from a BIB beneath the counter. A direct to the point approach to high volume dispensing.
To assist with the launch of the new bar-gun system I personally installed 4 units on the Liberty of The Seas and later on the Freedom of the Seas.
One of the proudest moments in my life was achieved after I finished the first install. I completed the job singlehandedly and worked through the final night to finish on time. I was proud for finishing what I started, for finishing on time, and most proud when I saw the joy in the faces of the crew members when they realized that I was helping to make their jobs a little easier. Words don't summarize how good that made me feel.
To assist with the launch of the new bar-gun system I personally installed 4 units on the Liberty of The Seas and later on the Freedom of the Seas.
One of the proudest moments in my life was achieved after I finished the first install. I completed the job singlehandedly and worked through the final night to finish on time. I was proud for finishing what I started, for finishing on time, and most proud when I saw the joy in the faces of the crew members when they realized that I was helping to make their jobs a little easier. Words don't summarize how good that made me feel.
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Water and concentrate juice were mixed within the nozzle of the table-top unit just prior to entering your cup, creating an easy to clean dispensing solution for our cruise ship clients.
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The video below illustrates how the counter top unit is disassembled.
Jack St. Malo Subsea Pipe Repair System - Saipem America 2015
Me and the guys after a summer's day in the yard. I'm one of the guys wearing my hardhat.
During my start at Saipem America (SAI), in 2012, I assisted with completion of SAI's first Pipe Repair System, shown below. The system was designed to quickly repair our client's 20 inch oil and gas pipeline in the event it was damaged while on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
Saipem's 1st Pipe Lift Frame Design - Frame Weight (75,000 lbs), Lift Capacity (80,000 lbs)
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Saipem's 1st Pipe Index Frame Design - Frame Weight (90,000 lbs), Lift Capacity (80,000 lbs)
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When SAI was awarded the Chevron's Jack St. Malo Pipeline Repair System, during completion of the first repair system, I was given the role as Lead Engineer. SAI's second repair system was intended to repair the pipeline in the same manner as SAI's first system except it did so with hydraulic power alone. The major challenges for me during this design project came from Chevron's list of stringent requirements provided in their specification. Some of the mode difficult requirements are listed below.
Below illustrates the two frames SAI first built that gave me the inspiration to be more efficient.
- 150,000 lbs load tested capacity, 88% higher than SAI's first repair system.
- Pipe must be held securely even if all hydraulic lines were severed and or actuators failed to function properly.
- The seabed was softer, requiring 6 mud mats to support the load on the sea floor rather than the 4 used previously.
- The frames had to be significantly lighter than our first repair system, per Chevron's specification.
Below illustrates the two frames SAI first built that gave me the inspiration to be more efficient.
The ROV operated Pipe Repair System consists of 4 large pipe lift frames, two Pipe Index Frames/Equipment (PIE), two Pipe Lift Frames (PLF), and a smaller Jumper Lift Frame (JLF) to lift the center of the repair spool. Each of the four larger frames is capable of lifting the pipeline 8 feet off the seabed and 4 feet to either side. These ROV operated frames are intended to lift and hold the pipeline while ROV's perform the repair.
Chevron Jack St. Malo Pipe Repair System Frame Acronyms
The video below explains the general process of repairing a subsea pipeline. The frames shown in the video were built by Oil States for Chevron, hence the similarity in the system I built for Chevron. One requirement of the system we built for Chevron was system compatibility with the Oil States System.
My goals for the Chevron Repair System were as follows:
In 2012, this project was by far the most challenging design project I had taken on to date, and equally the most rewarding, and I reduced the frame weight by 1/3rd and more impressively, increased the of lifting capacity by 1.9 times. The new frame weight to lift capacity ratio was 3 : 1 compared to 1.1 : 1 of the first system SAI produced, 2.7 times more efficient. I was very pleased with the results, as was Chevron.
- Redesign the frames more efficiently by dispersing the lifting load applied to the mudmats.
- Decrease assembly time and cost by reducing the number of weldments and bolted interfaces.
- Increase safety of assembly and disassembly by designing bolted interfaces within reach, reducing work done at heights.
- Make the assembly process easier, and requiring fewer and less complex crane operations
In 2012, this project was by far the most challenging design project I had taken on to date, and equally the most rewarding, and I reduced the frame weight by 1/3rd and more impressively, increased the of lifting capacity by 1.9 times. The new frame weight to lift capacity ratio was 3 : 1 compared to 1.1 : 1 of the first system SAI produced, 2.7 times more efficient. I was very pleased with the results, as was Chevron.
Chevron Pipe Lift Frame - Frame Weight (50,000 lbs), Lift Capacity (150,000 lbs)
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Chevron Pipe Index Frame - Frame Weight (75,000 lbs), Lift Capacity (150,000 lbs)
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To reduce the weight of the frame and increase its strength, I applied what I learned in Mechanics of Materials. If you double the height of a beam and neglect the strength from the beam's web, you increase the beam's strength by 8 times. Simply put, it isn't required to add more steel to increase strength, you just have to put more distance between the steel members. The upper cross member is a good example of this principal. It looks massive, 36 inches tall and 30 inches wide, yet it is made from 1/2" thick plate. Bicycles in the recent years have gone through the same evolution and are now using larger diameter, thinner wall tubes with the same or higher strength and lower weight. The upper cross member is shown below under full load (150 kip), yet the stress it well within the 85% allowable of 50ksi steel. As it turned out, the highest stresses in the frame and cross member where created during scenarios that didn't result from lifting.
The video below illustrates an FEA (Finite Element Analysis) load test that I performed with SolidWorks Simulation for the Design Report. This simulation shows the stresses and 20 times exaggerated displacements that would occur when twice the gravitational acceleration is applied to the frame during offshore deployment. This was one of many load tests required to verify the frames ability to withstand loads applied during worst case scenarios of deployment and lifting of the pipeline.
After assembly and individual component FAT, my final responsibility was to guarantee the success of the SIT, which was every bit of a success. To date this project challenged me more than any other and I look forward to the next project to top it.
Landing of the 80 ft Jumper onto the PIE frames.
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Dynamic Load Testing of the PIE.
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Below is a video of a side mudmat being lowered. Two 3" bore hydraulic cylinders are all that is needed to do the job. The linkage I designed is an over-center mechanism which locks the mudmat in the lowered position to avoid over loading the hydraulic cylinders during pipe lifting operations.
This is a video of a 200 foot long x 24" diameter repair spool landing onto the two opposing Pipe Index Frames for the System Integration Testing.