My Professional Life
After graduating from college, I immediately went to work with the
H.B. Zachry Company, a power plant construction and
design firm in Indiantown, Florida. I worked as a piping mechanical engineer at the Martin Combined Cycle project for The
Florida Power and Light Co. and Bechtel Corporation. I aided in the construction of an 800 MW combined cycle power plant,
provided solutions to low and high pressure system piping and hanger
field problems, performed takeoffs, prepared estimates for claims,
drafted pipe routing drawings, and designed spool connections for
steam blow. I was involved with this project from December of 1992 until December of 1993.
When the Indiantown project
was complete, I was transferred to Orlando, Florida, to the Stanton H. Curtis Energy Center, Unit 2
project with H.B. Zachry, Orlando Utilities Commission, and Black and Veatch. I was appointed as a structural engineer this time. In this project I assisted in construction of a 450 MW universal boiler power plant.
I facilitated construction of an electrostatic precipitator and flue gas
desulfurization system. I monitored progress, supervised construction,
evaluated subcontract bids, provided solutions to field, design, fabrication
and erection problems, prepared estimates for out of scope work, and
designed lift beams and structural frames to increase productivity. I was involved with this
project from January of 1994 to February of 1996. For a brief period of 2 months, I was involved in a project for the Tampa Electric Utility
Company as a mechanical engineer and estimator. I had to prepare emergency estimates for a construction claim proposal. In this project, I facilitated
construction of a 400 MW combined cycle unit for a coal-gassifier plant. I worked at the Tampa project
through the end of March of 1996.
From 1996 through the middle of 2000, I worked for FARO Technologies, as International Distributor Manager
, headquartered in Orlando, Florida. I was responsible for sales of portable coordinate
measuring machines, primarily through distribution. As an applications
engineer for this region, I was also responsible for the development of product solutions as well as training for people with measurement problems in manufacturing, primarily in the automotive industry.
I had a chance to travel to all six continents in this position before
changing jobs. This is where I learned about CAD, CAM, and CNC machines,
and most manufacturing processes. I was fortunate to go to many important
companies such as Ford, Chrysler, GM, Toyota, Caterpillar, John Deere, Lockheed
Martin, and others. In many cases I acted as a consultant to them and
solved many of their assembly problems.
In
June of 2000 I began working for Metronom North America, as the company's Sales
and Marketing Director in the United States. In this capacity I was in charge
for the startup of this company and for the initial
operations of Metronom in north america, as well as International Distribution of our
products. The company manufactured the tetronom,
a sophisticated gauge for verifying the quality of measurements of coordinate
measuring machines, primarily in the automotive industry. Additionally, we
were involved with providing coordinate measuring services to the automotive
industry, using laser trackers, coherent laser radar, portable CMM's, and
tactile online photogrammetry techniques. The latest job I had to do
involved reverse engineering a row 4 turbine blade and provide a solid model of
the component, as well as characterizing the geometry of a combustor transition
piece for Calpine, a famous company in the Power Industry. I was involved
with this company through the end of 2000.
Starting at the beginning of 2001, and for a very brief period of a few months,
I worked with Honeywell, for their Home and Buildings Control Division, as a Service Account Specialist. In this role, I provided
solutions to local customers in the building automation industry. Demonstrated a suite of front-end software, programmable logic controllers,
sensors, and devices, for the total integration of systems such as HVAC (chillers, cooling towers, and intelligent buildings), Fire, Security,
Card Access Control, and closed circuit TV systems. Prepared bid estimates, sized and selected control solutions for new and existing customer
installations. This sales position would be pretty short lived, since very soon I would receive a fantastic job offer to return to the engineering
field in the Power Industry, which is where my engineering career started.
In May of 2001 I joined Siemens Westinghouse Power Corp., as
a Project Engineer for their Econopac Combustion Turbines Group. In this position, I am responsible for overseeing complete delivery of a power plant to a customer,
managing projects with values well over $20M. At Siemens, this project engineering management position brings me in contact with both marketing, engineering,
and all aspects of the project from the time the contract is signed, through the time the power plant is finally in commercial operation. Daily,
we manage deliverables, project performance, supplier capabilities, identify problems, apply corrective actions, and coordinate materials. The outlook is fantastic,
and it seems that I finally returned to continue the career that I started in Power.