About Us

Education: Baccalaureate of Science in Mechanical Engineering; Purdue University

Formal Training Beyond University Level:

• Design of Weldments
• Hydraulics/Pneumatics
• Failure Analysis
• Principles of Machining
• Metallurgy
• Principles of Heat Treatment
• Analysis of Bolted Connections
• OSHA 10-Hour General Industrial/OSHA 10-Hour Construction

Work Experience

Principal - Elbert Field Engineering Solutions (2013 - Present)

Elbert Field Engineering Solutions (EFES) provides professional engineering and project leadership services to multiple industries. These services include high-end technical projects and engineering evaluations, project engineering, and project/construction management for the installation of industrial equipment. Work includes project management for machinery installation to include layout design and project planning. Additionally, EFES offers specialized engineering services for failure analysis, equipment fitness for use evaluation, and component design.

Business Manager - GL&V USA Inc. (2004 - 2013)

Implemented an innovative service model that requires developing and maintaining a relationship with a third-party mechanical service company. Responsibilities include day-to-day coordination with the service partner, not only on projects within his product, but also on projects in other areas of the paper mill. Essential to this is correct and timely coordination with peers at the business management level to ensure that project risk is acceptable and that project type is complementary to the company’s goals. Revenues for field mechanical services have improved by 40% each of the past 6 years.

Manager for a $3 million mill construction project. The project consisted of supplying the correct combination of skilled millwright labor, equipment assessment and evaluation, project scheduling, and field engineering support. Close coordination with the partner service provider enabled the offering to be a risk-free, custom solution for the customer. The project was completed ahead of schedule and on budget.

Assistant Brigade Commander - US Army Reserve (1988 - 2011)

Assistant Brigade Commander: Responsible for all personnel, logistics, training, and maintenance of seven subordinate units consisting of 2500 engineering personnel. Maintenance, supply, and training budgets totaled over $20MM per year. Construction projects exceeded $2MM per year. Promoted to Colonel two years ahead of peers.

Brigade Design Engineer: Selected above more senior officers to lead a design team to Iraq. This team brought modern CAD and innovative modeling software to the battlefield for the first time as a self-contained unit. Design team consisted of engineers, designers, CAD operators, and surveyors; completed over 250 design projects in a 12-month period. Designs included civil and mechanical projects to enhance the protection of US Soldiers, to improve mobility of military and civilian traffic, and to provide high-end engineering feasibility studies not available from other sources.

Civil Engineer: Responsible for project management and project coordination of construction projects for an engineer brigade consisting of 1200 personnel. Acted as senior operations and construction officer for a six-week construction project utilizing over 1600 personnel. Responsibilities included coordination of all design review, logistics, and personnel affairs during the construction period. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel two years ahead of peers.

Battalion Executive Officer: Primary staff officer for a 650-person construction unit. Responsible for a maintenance and supply budget of over $3 million. Provided mentoring to 20 junior officers, enhancing their military and engineering growth. Served as the senior engineering officer in the unit, providing oversight to $2.5 million worth of construction projects.

Mechanical Engineer: Responsible for conducting facility assessments to determine general condition, determine ADA compliance, and determine potential energy conservation opportunities. During tenure, served 6 months in Bosnia as the project manager for all US basecamp improvement projects. Duties included validation of projects per quality of life standards, execution of weekly base camp managers’ meetings, coordination with the defense construction contractor, and determination of project suitability for military engineering units. Executed over 400 projects during this period. Assigned additional duties as an engineer liaison officer to an engineer battalion. As such, brought professional civilian engineering skills not otherwise available to panel bridge design and HVAC evaluation of aviation facilities.

Battalion Operations Officer: Senior officer responsible for all training, operations, and construction of a 700-person combat engineer unit. During assignment to this position, unit completed over $1.5 million worth of construction projects. Additionally, challenged to organize and oversee a major unit transformation from wheeled vehicles to tracked vehicles. This reorganization consisted of specialized vehicle operation training requirements and a complete shift from traditional construction to field-expedient engineering. Selected for this position over more senior officers. Promoted to Major two years ahead of peers.

Engineering Manager - GL&V USA Inc. (1998 - 2004)

Identified and successfully petitioned ASTM International for changing a cast iron material specification. Specification had been unnecessarily modified, the result of which would have been detrimental to continued manufacture within the United States. The project included combining the English and Metric specifications into a single specification along with the correction of previous change. Success with this endeavor led to selection by ASTM International as a voting member of their cast iron materials committee. Published two papers on the evaluation and alteration of large machine components. Voting member of the American Society of Testing and Measurements committee on materials. Edited various standards updating them to combined English and metric nomenclature.

Engineering and Customer Service Manager - GL&V USA Inc. (1994 - 1998)

Developed a combined engineering and customer service team which, prior to my arrival, was relegated to spare parts orders and minor engineering projects. Within six months the team was preparing proposals for large rebuild projects in excess of $500,000 each. Upon gaining such orders developed engineering team not only capable of supporting the product line at our location but also capable of providing contract engineering support to other divisions. Engineering department doubled in size within 18 months and revenues increased by $3MM each year.

Project Engineer - Knorr Brake (1992 - 1994)

Responsible for production line engineering support and product design of railroad freight car pneumatic brake valves and braking systems. Developed troubleshooting procedures for use during valve function testing. Production engineering support for line producing 125 large pneumatic valves per day.

Developed low cost, reliable valve position indicator that replaced a more complex device reducing cost by 300% while improving reliability. Included cyclic testing under ambient, hot, and cold conditions.

Completed product testing of freight train braking systems in the test lab and on installed equipment to determine proper operation. Included use of remote data collection equipment, data analysis, and development of product improvements based on data results.

Design Engineer/Engineering Scheduler - Carthage Machine Company (1988 - 1992)

Managed an integrated machining center project, consisting of an industrial robot and five separate machine tools valued at $3 million. Responsible for the mechanical design of part clamping mechanisms, pneumatic and hydraulic control circuits, programming of machine tools programmable logic controllers, and programming of an industrial robot. Additionally, designed customer acceptance testing and completed field service support for final robot programming adjustments once the equipment was installed.

Executive Officer - US Army (1984 - 1988)

Responsible for all aspects of a 45-person engineering organization to include technical training, design, and construction management. Projects included complicated building restoration projects requiring carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and concrete design and construction. Responsible for all training, logistics, and personnel support of a 120-person engineer organization. Developed the standard training program for all four companies’ cadre to attend the Sapper Leader Course, a month-long intensive school on field-expedient engineering and small unit leadership.

Assistant Battalion Operations Officer: Responsible for planning all training for combat engineer battalion. Developed team drills for light engineers that were published by US Army Engineer School.

Education: Baccalaureate of Science in Mechanical Engineering; Iowa State University

                      Master’s in Business Administration; Clarkson University

Formal Training Beyond University Level:

• US Army Engineer Officer Course
• Post-Baccalaureate Program Focusing on All Aspects of Vertical and Horizontal Construction, Design, and Project Management
• Included Electrical, Piping, Timber, Steel, Bridge, Culvert, Airfield, and Roadway Design
• Industrial Pneumatics - FESTO Two-Day Course
• Maintenance and Troubleshooting of Pneumatic Systems - FESTO Two-Day Course
• OSHA; 10-Hour Industrial Safety
• OSHA; 30-Hour General Industry
• ISNetworld International Paper EHS Specialist Training
• TAPPISAFE Basic Orientation and Miscellaneous Mill-Specific Training

Work Experience

Engineer Platoon Leader/Company Executive Officer - US Army (2013 - 2015)

Engineer platoon leader and company executive officer responsible for 120 Soldiers, 60 engine-powered pieces of construction equipment, and several hundred construction hand tool chests. Additional responsibilities included all training, administrative, and safety requirements for the unit.

Project Manager - Elbert Field Engineering Solutions, PLLC (2015 - Present)

• Supervision of test personnel in support of equipment certification for the State of Minnesota.

• Shift project engineer for the installation of 22 paper machine dryers. Included providing proper oversite for installation of bearings (cylindrical roller and CARB), verification that alignment was within OEM requirements, and conducted gear backlash inspection.

• Project manager for the rebuild of paper machine fabric guides at the customer’s location. Responsibilities included direct supervision of millwrights, verification that parts were suitable for reuse, and final controls adjustment for proper operation of guide and controller system.

• Project manager for the on-site rebuild of pneumatic control panels to include making field connections to new panel components and verification of proper equipment operation after installation of new controls.

• Shift technical project manager for the installation of a new press section. Responsible for direct interaction with plant’s installation contractor providing information on drawing interpretation and progress tracking of equipment installation.

• Technical project manager responsible for the installation of high-pressure lubrication system components. Direct interaction with plant’s installation contractor providing information on drawing interpretation and progress tracking of equipment installation. Responsible for updating project Gantt chart and providing periodic updates to the customer. Responsible for providing technical information to the mechanical contractors in regard to assembly procedures and subcomponent specifications.

• Project manager for the inspection of dryer gears on two machines and the in-place balancing of a dryer.

• Project manager for the installation of 8 dryers. Project required unique rigging (and associated engineering) since the machine room did not have a crane. Resulting design was such that the machine hood did not have to be removed. Project completed one shift early.

• Technical engineer for numerous gear inspections. In one case was able to verify vibration data anomaly using feeler gauges.

• Project manager for machine pressure vessel repair project. Included development of project scope, identification of subcontractors (four total), development of QC plan and GO-NOGO gauges, and project leadership of on-site work. Completed project risk assessment/mitigation plan.

• Company Safety Officer