The Let's talk about you do thread

[Clausius2]

The "Let's talk about what you do" thread

Ok, We spend large amounts of time here (unfortunately I do that!), and I know little about every you post usually here. Some of you usually talks about what he does in his work. I am interested in knowing what you do (which might produce an increasing in my respect towards you or the contrary reaction too :rofl: :rofl: ).

I'd understand you don't want to give the exact name of your company, but if you want you are welcome, I am not going to call to your boss (by the way it would increase my phone bill a lot calling from Spain).

I think it is a good idea to introduce ourselves and tell each other what we do. For instance, I have heard to Qgoest, Quark, Faust 9, ChrisW and Fred talk about his works, but I (we) don't really know what they do.

To begin about me, you know I am a senior year student of Mech Eng. in Madrid (Spain). I began too soon to research in theoretics about Fluid Mech. and Combustion under the mentoring of one of the great authorities of this stuff (the second authority behind A.Liñán) in Spain. I only have to defend my undergraduate project in Sept, which goes about the Fluid Dynamics of Weightless Laminar Jets.

What about you? Come'on, don't be shy. I will be glad to hear about you. :!)

 

[Danger]

This would probably be best pursued in GD, partly because you'll get a far broader range of responses than in a subject-specific forum. To start with, though, I'll be your first 'contrary reaction' :tongue: Never finished high-school, cash cheques and make payday-advance loans part-time. I'm here because I love science, and most of the people that I've met here are the type that I enjoy communicating with. It's also an incredible learning experience, and once in a rare while I'm able to help someone who knows even less than me.

 

[brewnog]

I think most regulars know my situation, but I'll tell you anyway! I just graduated in Mechanical Engineering with Design, Materials & Manufacture. I did a summer internship doing some R&D for a forging company who make really big, expensive lumps of metal to put in gas turbines. At uni, my final research project was a rather secretive affair looking at a particular technique, which (amongst other things) has the potential to increase the efficiency of gas turbine and diesel engines, and possibly by 5% or so.

I'm starting an R&D training programme in September working for a rather large manufacturer of big yellow machines. This should take about 2 years, and I'll let you know more about what I'm doing when I get there!

 

[Clausius2]

This would probably be best pursued in GD, partly because you'll get a far broader range of responses than in a subject-specific forum. To start with, though, I'll be your first 'contrary reaction' :tongue: Never finished high-school, cash cheques and make payday-advance loans part-time. I'm here because I love science, and most of the people that I've met here are the type that I enjoy communicating with. It's also an incredible learning experience, and once in a rare while I'm able to help someone who knows even less than me.

Don't worry, you always have my positive reaction thanks to your sense of humor . You are always welcome here.

I think most regulars know my situation, but I'll tell you anyway! I just graduated in Mechanical Engineering with Design, Materials & Manufacture. I did a summer internship doing some R&D for a forging company who make really big, expensive lumps of metal to put in gas turbines. At uni, my final research project was a rather secretive affair looking at a particular technique, which (amongst other things) has the potential to increase the efficiency of gas turbine and diesel engines, and possibly by 5% or so.

I'm starting an R&D training programme in September working for a rather large manufacturer of big yellow machines. This should take about 2 years, and I'll let you know more about what I'm doing when I get there!

What was that technique? Don't be afraid, I am not going to sell the idea. I knew yet what you do, and what you don't do

What about Fred, Qgoest, Faust9, Cliff, Quark...?

I think you're right Danger, it would have more success to plan this in GD rather than here, because engineers are usually so obtuse... :rofl:

 

[quark]

I completed my Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1994 and worked for a chemical company that produced dye intermediates, sulphuric acid and super posphate. After that I have been with pharmaceuticals and have hands on experience with all sorts of formulation (except gels and ointments) and API plant engineering activities.

I like physics very much but I started here with Brain Teasers forum. The other forums I regularly visit are www.eng-tips.com[/url] and [PLAIN]www.s2c2.org (the cleanroom forum). I enjoy learning, sharing knowledge and helping out fellow engineers so that they won't be bothered with the problems that bothered me in the past.

Thanks for asking.

 

[FredGarvin]

OK...I completed my BSME in '96 after 5 years in the Army. I have worked in electro-mechanical testing my entire career which includes my stints as a test technician during college. My senior year project was the evaluation of the addition of a regenerative heat exchanger to a turbine engine in automotive applications.

I won't bore you with my previous stints. My current (and hopefully last job I'll ever have) is designing and implementing test set ups for a gas turbine engine designer/manufacturer. I design test set ups for component level and full up engine tests in R&D as well as for FAA and military certification. I also design support systems that go into the test cells themselves. It is a wonderfully diverse position that let's me work in pretty much every major field of engineering to some extent. Plus I get to get my hands dirty quite often which is nice. I think I get to fall into the category of "jack of all trades, master of none" to some extent.

 

[faust9]

Long time no post---busy busy busy.

I completed my BSME in '94 and then spent half a decade in US Navy. From there I went to work for an electronics firm (go figure). I did test software development and test fixture design/development. The test fixtures were used to automatically test high end network backbone equipment.

I did a short stint at one of the big three auto makers working in an emissions lab---boring.

After that I went to work for a small race team part time. I do intake/exhaust verification but because I have programming and electronics experience my job consists of a little intake/exh verification and a lot of sensor integration and design(amps for strain gages and small control modules as needed with a big emphasis on microcontrollers). Along with the above, I spend a fair amount of time behind a welding mask and in front of various CNC machines.

The rest of my time is spent at school trying to get a masters in EECS which will move me towards that dream job of ECU design.

 

[brewnog]

I like this thread!
Don't get it moved to GD, it'll be ruined within the hour!

What was that technique? Don't be afraid, I am not going to sell the idea. I knew yet what you do, and what you don't do

In short, I was using sound waves to try and eliminate the standing waves on the air core/fuel interface within a pressure-swirl atomiser, and the capilliary waves which appear on the resulting spray cone. This was done in order to reduce the variation in break-up point of the sprayed medium. This could uniformify (my word!) the point at which combustion occurs. There are some other applications of this in the process environment, but I'm not sure that I can go into it.

In any case, it involved taking lots of high-speed (1000fps) video footage of an experimental atomiser in action, and then sitting down and analysing them for rather a long time, which was mind-numbing. I won the IMechE Award for Best Project for it though, so it was worth it!

 

[Danger]

Don't worry, you always have my positive reaction thanks to your sense of humor . You are always welcome here.

Thanks. I try to restrict the sense of humour to GD, but I've been too busy to spend much time there lately. Some of it spills over to the tech forums.

engineers are usually so obtuse... :rofl:

And all of the ones here seem to be male, so I guess we'll never encounter acute one...

I was a bit surprised before about how many members are ex-military, until I got to considering how huge the US military really is. I guess it's proportional to the general population.

 

[Clausius2]

I completed my Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1994 and worked for a chemical company that produced dye intermediates, sulphuric acid and super posphate. After that I have been with pharmaceuticals and have hands on experience with all sorts of formulation (except gels and ointments) and API plant engineering activities.

I like physics very much but I started here with Brain Teasers forum. The other forums I regularly visit are www.eng-tips.com[/url] and [url]www.s2c2.org[/URL] (the cleanroom forum). I enjoy learning, sharing knowledge and helping out fellow engineers so that they won't be bothered with the problems that bothered me in the past.

Thanks for asking.

[/QUOTE]

Great! I never could have thought you work with pharmaceuticals!. So you have your hands dirty on chemics more than in mechanics!.

[quote=Fred]
OK...I completed my BSME in '96 after 5 years in the Army. I have worked in electro-mechanical testing my entire career which includes my stints as a test technician during college. My senior year project was the evaluation of the addition of a regenerative heat exchanger to a turbine engine in automotive applications.

I won't bore you with my previous stints. My current (and hopefully last job I'll ever have) is designing and implementing test set ups for a gas turbine engine designer/manufacturer. I design test set ups for component level and full up engine tests in R&D as well as for FAA and military certification. I also design support systems that go into the test cells themselves. It is a wonderfully diverse position that let's me work in pretty much every major field of engineering to some extent. Plus I get to get my hands dirty quite often which is nice. I think I get to fall into the category of "jack of all trades, master of none" to some extent.
Today 06:17 PM
[/quote]

What do exactly do with those turbines? Are you in front of a testing bench or so on?. Are you seeing how the turbine works in real time?. And what kind of turbines are them (i.e. aviation, energy..). If you are near one of them it must be a kinda interesting job, better than being sat in a chair inside an office planning budgets and administrative stuffs, as engineers usually begin and end to work at here. It would be the kind of job I would like for me.

[quote=Faust]
Long time no post---busy busy busy.

I completed my BSME in '94 and then spent half a decade in US Navy. From there I went to work for an electronics firm (go figure). I did test software development and test fixture design/development. The test fixtures were used to automatically test high end network backbone equipment.

I did a short stint at one of the big three auto makers working in an emissions lab---boring.

After that I went to work for a small race team part time. I do intake/exhaust verification but because I have programming and electronics experience my job consists of a little intake/exh verification and a lot of sensor integration and design(amps for strain gages and small control modules as needed with a big emphasis on microcontrollers). Along with the above, I spend a fair amount of time behind a welding mask and in front of various CNC machines.

The rest of my time is spent at school trying to get a masters in EECS which will move me towards that dream job of ECU design.
[/quote]

What kind of race team do you work at? It is a famous USA team of racing?. It is very surprising to see an engineer behind a welding mask doing something which may have to be done with a lower degree. Therefore you like that stuff.

[quote=Brewnog]
In short, I was using sound waves to try and eliminate the standing waves on the air core/fuel interface within a pressure-swirl atomiser, and the capilliary waves which appear on the resulting spray cone. This was done in order to reduce the variation in break-up point of the sprayed medium. This could uniformify (my word!) the point at which combustion occurs. There are some other applications of this in the process environment, but I'm not sure that I can go into it.

In any case, it involved taking lots of high-speed (1000fps) video footage of an experimental atomiser in action, and then sitting down and analysing them for rather a long time, which was mind-numbing. I won the IMechE Award for Best Project for it though, so it was worth it!
[/quote]

It sounds great, Brewnog!. In fact, I would like to have done your project instead of the mine one!. As I have seen, your task was primarily experimental. If you want I support you with the theoretics and make it gold. :biggrin: . More seriously the field of knowledge of your project likes me very much (combustion, engines, sound waves and so on). By the way I have not understood no word about how the hell works your idea :rofl: .

 

[brewnog]

It sounds great, Brewnog!. In fact, I would like to have done your project instead of the mine one!. As I have seen, your task was primarily experimental. If you want I support you with the theoretics and make it gold. . More seriously the field of knowledge of your project likes me very much (combustion, engines, sound waves and so on). By the way I have not understood no word about how the hell works your idea :rofl: .

I didn't understand much of the underlying theory either, to be honest! I've never been too hot on fluids, but my practical work has always been pretty good, so this project suited me. I've finished uni now anyway, so don't have anything to do with the project any more, but it was almost all experimental. A lot of CFD work had been done in previous years (and in collaboration with a few other European universities), I was just doing some practical sessions to prove that it worked (and it did!).

Coincidentally, I might actually be able to bring some of the knowledge I learned to my new job, since I'm going to be based mainly within the Diesel engine division.


In any case, it's interesting to see what all you other guys are up to.

 

[Q_Goest]

because engineers are usually so obtuse... :rofl:

LOL

Engineering is just a slice of pie, one that makes up the whole. It has 17 years on it, so the crust is rather flakey. Under that crust you'll find dehydrated concepts growing with numbers like 6,011,456 and 6,530,761. Only 4 so far, but others lie waiting.

You'll also find dusty bits of equipment on almost every launch pad in the US inside that old piece of pie. Cryogenics, pneumatics, hydraulics, and funny mechanisms that get yanked off rockets before they fly away. But they're all more than 9 years old. Today there are cryogenic pumps and compressors scattered around the globe that keep my account from blowing away.

A very young girl can be found inside another slice of 11 year old pie. She made her dad play laser tag last weekend, fishing the one before, and sports like kickball almost every night. That's ok, keeps the crust from getting too stale.

Another slice has nothing but http://p216.ezboard.com/bvoodoopoets inside, strange ones built on hidden thoughts and double meanings, but none with the stamp of approval from a reader's wallet yet. Some day though, some day soon, I'm not nuts.

I like this thread!
Don't get it moved to GD, it'll be ruined within the hour!

Agree! It's in the right place. Interesting folks here, you all are good people.

 

[FredGarvin]

What do exactly do with those turbines? Are you in front of a testing bench or so on?. Are you seeing how the turbine works in real time?. And what kind of turbines are them (i.e. aviation, energy..). If you are near one of them it must be a kinda interesting job, better than being sat in a chair inside an office planning budgets and administrative stuffs, as engineers usually begin and end to work at here. It would be the kind of job I would like for me.

My company designs and manufactures gas turbines for civilian and military aviation as well as other military applications. Here's the scenario: My group is approached by either the theoretical guys or the specific engine program team and we are told that they need to test something. Whether it be a single component of the engine or the whole engine. I then get to design a test fixture, set up or whatever is required to do the test needed. Sometimes it's as easy as plopping an engine in a test cell and flipping the switch. 90% of the time it's not.For example, right now I have 4 test programs going right now. Two programs are for individual components, one test is for a pump assembly and the other is a full up engine test to develop a new way of doing something that has not been tried before. I just finished a round of tests for a new compressor, mapping it out so the aero guys could verify the theoretical performance and surge margins.

I design the mechanical end of the testing hardware and systems and make sure it all gets made properly in our shops. I then get the test built with our technicians. Once the test is running I sometimes pass off the details to another engineer. I am way more of a hands on engineer. I usually leave the plant with some kind of dirt or stain on my clothes. I don't see my desk too terribly much. It depends on the day. Paperwork is always needing to be done.

Man am I a chatter box today.