Experienced Mechanical Engineer with a solid background in design, calculation, detailing, and manufacturing processes. Capable of developing original solutions anticipating the design consequences and completing projects to specifications in the first attempt. Possess project management and team management skills, enabling successful interaction with customers, suppliers, and co-workers.
SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES
Mechanical design:
long experience in the design, from cradle to grave, of a variety of machineries and mechanical devices, and in specific:
• Complete design of CNC tool machines, including CNC spindle units, rotary tables, chucks and part-holding equipments, pneumatic and hydraulic systems, chip conveyor systems, automatic loading systems with robots, bedplates, welded metal structures and protection guards;
• Design of special machines and material handling equipments.
• Design of large capacity overhead cranes.
As part of the design process developed experience in:
• Design and sizing of motor driven and hydraulic servo systems.
• Design of pneumatic and hydraulic systems.
• Selection of appropriate market available components.
• Selection of machined parts materials and heat treatments.
• Design of safety equipment in compliance with the European Machine Directive 2006/42/EC.
• GD&T according with ISO and ASME Y14.5-2009 standards; DFMA.
• Solid understanding of form fit & function and tolerance stack up analysis theory (practice with tools as TolAnalyst/Solidworks and MitCalc).
• Material procurement experience.
• Technical documentation and end user manual writing according with European Machine Directive 2006/42/EC.
Anticipating technical problems:
main experience in the design of special machineries, by their nature prototypes. Been able to make a solid design at the first attempt on several projects, successfully meeting the design requirements. Among the projects, at least 30 tool machines and 10 overhead cranes.
Machine elements calculation:
developed several complex excel calculation spreadsheets that helped myself and my colleagues in selecting and properly sizing the most critical components of the machineries.
Design and calculations of large metal welded structures:
designed girder type bridge overhead cranes based on international standard calculation guidelines.
FEA analysis:
validated several welded structures and mechanical assemblies using Solidworks Simulation.
Team management skills:
in Danieli Centro Cranes managed an increasing team that finally was made of eight people, most of which not experienced in the field and in need of mentoring.
Ability to work with limited or no supervision, efficiently multi-tasking and reprioritizing:
in particular during the time as self-employed I had the chance of developing the ability of being self-reliant and of dealing with strict deadlines. Later on I have been able to successfully apply these skills organizing the job of the design departments I have been in charge. In Danieli Centro Cranes our Design Department had one of the highest productivity of the corporate group.
Ability of effectively support the sales managers:
often met with prospect customers of different countries to present our company and the solution we propose for their technical problem, receiving very positive feedbacks on the presentations and the solidity of our technical approach, eventually receiving purchasing orders.
Software
• Solidworks 2014; Autodesk AutoCAD with Mechanical 6.
• Solidworks simulation, FEA and motion analysis package.
• Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
• Microsoft Access small databases development.
• Visual Basic for Application, particularly in Solidworks, Excel and Access environment.
• AS400.
EXPERIENCE
SPADA TRANSFER TECHNOLOGY, Castegnato, Italy (transfer machines production company) 06/2012 – present
Machinery design
Design of tool machines, including welded machine beds, spindle units, rotary tables, chucks and part handling equipments, pneumatic and hydraulic systems, chip removal and treatment systems, safety guards. All tool machines are customized implementing the “engineer-to-order” manufacturing philosophy. Current job consists of the following activities and responsibilities:
• Create, from the specific needs of the customer, a sound design based on the assigned budget and on the required productivity and accuracy of the machine.
• Ensure the Sales Department receives appropriate technical support such as reviewing of contract specification and customer guidelines, rough drafts of the machine design for budget definition, presentations for final customers and active partaking in the meetings prior to the purchase of the machine.
• Create newly designed machines minimizing costs while maintaining appropriate quality and performances and, for such purpose, try to maximize the technological carry-over using previously produced and tested sub-assemblies and, where not possible, create new devices and assemblies.
• Apply engineering calculations to properly select and size commercial and manufactured components. Create Excel spreadsheets available to other designers for prompt validation of their own component selections.
• Create assembly drawings with bill of materials and detail drawings of the manufactured parts.
• Create assembling and testing instructions for the workshop.
• Develop a machining cycle by selecting the appropriate working tools and working parameters.
• Work directly with the Industrialization and Purchasing Department to optimize the final design following strict DFMA guidelines.
• Material procurement and supplier evaluation in collaboration with the Purchasing Department.
• Support the Electronics and Software Department engineers in the development of the on-board electronics, the electrical equipment, and the customized software based on ISO CNC language.
• Provide project management for the whole production process, ensuring that all departments receive prompt and precise information, and address issues that arise during the production process with quick and cost effective responses.
• Serve as a reliable reference for the Sales Department and the customer during all the steps of the production process.
• Supervise machine final tests with customer technicians.
• Write end user manuals.
Design Department organization
As the company transitions from a very small to a medium sized company, the Design Department has to conform its working guidelines to provide technical documentation suitable for appropriately serving all its departments.
In light of previous similar experiences I have been put in charge of implementing the following:
• Formalize job order work-flow.
• Create an accessible but solid document storage policy.
• Design a new part coding.
• Write guidelines for Solidworks use enabling the maximum re-usability of sub-assemblies and the automatic creation of complete bills of material.
• Create Solidworks macro programs in VBA to automatically connect Solidworks BOM creation to the existing corporate ERP software.
• Create Solidworks productivity tools in VBA language.
• Review the guidelines for end user manual writing in light of European Machine Directive 2006/42/EC requirements.
DANIELI CENTRO CRANES, division in Virle Treponti, Italy (steelwork cranes production company) 10/2009 – 06/2012
Mechanical Engineer and Design Department Manager
Design of steelwork cranes, typically of several of different sizes (between 10 and 250 tons load capacity) and purpose for each work order, designed to serve the steelwork plant constructed for international customers by the main group division, Danieli.
The job consisted of the following activities:
• Review the customer contract specifications.
• Review the Danieli guidelines and the overall steelwork layout to define a comprehensive project of all the cranes necessary for the plant.
• Review the crane design and construction standards specific for the country of destination of the products.
• Define with the steelwork project managers as well as with managers of Purchasing, Production and Logistics departments the production timeline of the work order.
• Allocate and reschedule the necessary resources in the Design Department, assign tasks and define timelines for the 8 engineers and designers of the team.
• Execute the calculation of the steel structures in accordance with the standards established by the contract and develop suitable excel spreadsheets for the purpose.
• Write technical calculation reports for customers.
• Execute sizing calculations for the commercial components of the cranes.
• Assist the designers and draftsmen during the design of the crane following DFMA guidelines in order to minimize the production time and costs, as well as transportation costs.
• Given the high scalability of the designs, develop software productivity tools with VBA for Solidworks and Excel.
Design Department organization
The company started as Tonoli Impianti and has been later acquired by Danieli. Before the acquisition the company needed to scale up from a small family owned organization to a corporate one.
In a similar way as described for Spada Transfer Technology, I was responsible for implementing the guidelines and procedures of a quality oriented company, with specific reference to the technical documentation produced by the Design Department.
Professional Engineer 09/2004 – 10/2009
Design of tool machines, special machines, and handling equipments. All the designed products were “engineer-to-order“ manufactured. The job mainly consisted of what was previously mentioned under "Machinery design" in the Spada Transfer Technology section, plus the following:
• Supply the customer with a complete cost study, containing detailed estimates of the machine parts, generated from a personal network of sales agents (for commercial parts) and workshops (for machined parts).
Examples of specific projects completed:
• Two station linear transfer machine for the tapping of curved pipes.
• Four station rotary transfer machine for the drawing of small pipes.
• Two CNC interpolated axis rotary chuck for transfer machines, driven by torque motors and CNC controlled through inline mounted encoders.
• Special transfer machine lathe unit with internal mechanism for two spindles head commutation.
• Gas valves orientation and loading equipment for an existing rotary table assembly machine.
• Assembly machine for washing machine tanks.
BTB TRANSFER, Brescia, Italy (Transfer machines production company) 09/1997 – 08/2004
Mechanical Engineer and Project Manager
Same as job performed for Spada Transfer Technology, section "Machinery design".
CAVAGNA GROUP, Brescia, Italy (Gas valves and equipment) 09/1995 – 08/1997
Vice Production and Logistic Department Head
Production and logistic management included:
• Develop work load schedules for the internal workshop manufacturing units and for the external suppliers in a strict just-in-time environment.
• Solicit internal manufacturing centers and external suppliers.
• Coordinate the Sales Department, the Quality Assurance Department and the warehouse to assure on-time deliveries.
• Maintain high quality standards by working in an ISO9000 quality certified environment, and write the Quality Procedures for the pertinent department.
ITALIAN ARMY, 7th Regiment Transmissions 08/1994 – 08/1995
Served as a corporal in the army working in the Vehicles Department, participating in military exercise on the field and as an occasional trainer of recruits.
EDUCATION
• 1993 Mechanical Engineering Degree (5 years, specialization in Industrial Automation)
Università degli Studi di Brescia, Brescia, Italy
• 1994 Examination and registered as licensed professional (Professional Engineer)
REFERENCES
References provided upon request.