By now I'm knocking on the over the hill door and though
age doesn't bother me in the least, the experience and knowledge that I
have gained over the years in mechanical, cabinet, furniture, millwork, and
residential design make me realize everyday how fortunate I am to have so
many different talents.
While I certainly love building cabinets, furniture, and
other wood products, my priority is in the design of consumer products for without great designs, a great product could never be built!
Regardless of what you are designing whether its a piece of
furniture, a new appliance, a new medical device, or a new enclosure,
there is always more than one way to design something. The emphasis here
on my design site is to show my designs in the hope that I will inspire
you to go off and create your own unique designs. In the design world,
more often times than not, the more people involved in taking an idea and
creating a design (s), the better. Two or more heads are most definitely
better than one!
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My expertise lies in Four main areas of consumer products and management
Computer Aided Design (2D, 3D, Solids, & Parametrics) - AutoCAD, CADDS,
Inventor, and Pro Engineer. While there are certainly other great CAD
software packages available, I specialize in the above. I have been using
AutoCAD since version 9 and currently am running 2000. I have four years
experience using Pro E, and two years experience using Inventor.
Mechanical Design and Engineering - Anything to do with metals and
plastics
Residential Design - Custom upscale homes
Wood Products Design and Building - Cabinetry, Furniture, and Millwork.
Management - It is my belief that to expect employees to give their best
each and every day, that I too, must give my best to those employees
regarding any issues that they have whether those issues directly relate
to their employment or their personal lives. Empathizing with employees is
key!
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In my world, my ideas, my designs are driven by many
factors. They are driven first and foremost by my intense drive to design
the best products possible whether those products are mass-produced or
handcrafted unique pieces of furniture!
My designs are also driven by my love of computers and
computer aided design software both of which has enabled me to design many
new products!
My designs are driven by my love of woodworking, the
history, the craftsmanship, and the tools used to build flawlessly
executed works of furniture!
My designs are driven by those who say it can't be done
because it's never been done before!
My residential designs are all dedicated to my mom who had
a vision that I might someday have a means to present my residential
design talents to the public, despite her having visions of new
residential design ideas and never having the capability or the support of
others to realize her dream!
My mechanical designs are simply a result of turning a
thought or idea from within me or from someone else and carrying that
thought or idea into a feasible design!
My wood designs are in the form of furniture and cabinetry.
Most are for the high end discriminating buyer, for those people who
demand and can afford to pay for unique cabinet and furniture designs!
It pleases me greatly to know that when I leave this world,
I have contributed greatly by designing new residential plans, mechanical
products, furniture and cabinetry that has made people's lives easier!
I have made this website totally free. It costs you nothing
to look, to review, or to study up on any of the topics on this website.
For those of you interested in any of my design skills or woodworking
knowledge or experience building unique pieces of furniture or one of a
kind inlay cabinets, please send me an email.
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Almost every year, someone or
some group comes along with a new term for product design engineering.
Lately, we have been introduced to Design for Assembly, Design For
Manufacture and now Six Sigma. While I certainly am not going to minimize
the effects that these "new" procedures can have on any design, the fact
is that good design engineering skills come from only one thing . . . . .
. experience. The experience of knowing when to do something and why we do
it. These "new" engineering procedures aren't really new. Actually, any
good design must be proven regardless of how we got to that design. What
these procedures help to do is to take "ordinary" design engineers and lay
out a very detailed process that allows them to get from a design concept
to a successful manufacture of a product in the most efficient way and
most economical way possible. Okay? Enough about that!
Whenever I am presented with
a new design challenge, the first thing I do is sketch several possible
designs, some are strictly from a cost standpoint, some are from a
manufacturing standpoint, some are from a tooling standpoint, some are
from a utility standpoint, and still others are from a esthetics
standpoint. In this way, I am able to take all five issues to ask, and
combine them into an effective final design. Remember though that any
viable consumer product must first be a safe product.
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We all know that any company
worth it's weight will promote a team employee environment but what
exactly is team building and why do they want you to be a member? The
definition of a team is a group of people. When companies say that they have
a team environment, it really means that the company expects everyone to
get along. Where teams differ from successful design teams is in their
respect for one another. I learned a long time ago that when I respected
someone regardless of their title, that those persons would first be very
grateful and secondly that they would do whatever I asked of them . . . .
gladly!
For anyone who has ever
watched a NASCAR race, you know all too well the difference between a team
and a successful team. Just because you bring a group of people together
and tell them to all just get along does not make for or guarantee you a
successful team. The difference is in the respect and admiration that
successful team members have for each other.
If one is to be successful
and admired as a manager who leads people to successful product launches,
then managers must lead by example, we must listen with empathy to
our employees just as we listen with empathy to our customers, we must
always praise employees publicly and always correct in private, and we
must always do these things while staying committed and true to the
company by which we are given these opportunities . . our employer!
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A promise is a promise in my world. Without someone's word,
what do we have if we are conditioned to believe that promises are lame,
that they aren't worth the words used to formulate them? My integrity, my
word, is everything, for without it I cease to exist.
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It is my desire, my quest, to keep this site updated. If you would like for
me to feature something specific, contact me and if I am able, I will.
As far as content goes, anything and everything that
pertains to design products will be posted here. Especially wood related
items like cabinets and furniture.
At some point I will make all of my cad drawings, models,
and solids profiles available here as I believe in sharing my files with
all of you. All of my CAD files whether they are 2d, 3d wire frame, or
solids are all modeled in full scale entities. It just makes sense that if
you are going to design something, anything, you may as well do it right.
The benefits of modeling in full scale come from being able to fit or test
fit any one item with one or more additional items.
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For anyone involved with clients it is crucial that you be
completely committed to your clients at all times for without them, we
would not have the opportunity to design great cabinets, furniture, or any
product. I have found in the past that clients tend to demand anonymity so
don't be surprised when they tell you that. It just seems to be the nature
of truly custom design services. For those people that are discriminating
buyers, I have and always will honor any commitment (including total
privacy) that I make to anyone whether that person is an individual, a
business, or an employer. You will see that I have omitted any use of
client personal information on this site. Once you've created a design for
someone and you have stated that you will not sell that design to anyone
else, you need to honor that commitment. Never, release a client's name or
other information without your client's express permission (preferably in
writing).
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If a potential employer
contacts you and solicits you for a particular position, if you don't do
anything else, then by gosh, be honest. There are enough bogus resumes
floating around on the Internet where the author hasn't just embellished
the truth a bit, they have out and out lied. Personally, I am outraged by
this behavior. Part of the reason for creating this site in the first
place was to give potential employers the opportunity to see not only what
I have already done, but what my potential is.
The fact is that most resumes
never get into the hands of an engineering manager. While you and I both
know that the majority of engineering ads are written by Human Resources
folks that have absolutely no idea what a CAD system is or the difference
between a mechanical engineer and a process engineer is, the fact is that
H.R. folks write ads. Its up to us as engineering professionals to write
effective cover letters that will get past the H.R. department and into
the hands of a hiring engineering manager.
On any given day, even in a
weak economy, there are thousands of engineering positions open. Openings
with huge corporations or openings with small mom and pop engineering
firms. Don't be fooled by those that would have you believe that
engineering jobs are scarce. I've been at this for 20 years and I have
never experienced a slowdown in the demand for great product design
people.
In all cases, you have the
responsibility to be committed to and loyal to your employer and to your
employer's customers!
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For those of you who are interested in my talent, I would
urge you to contact me and discuss your needs with me.
I am extremely dependable, a dedicated worker, designer,
and manager. I have great client skills. I know what questions to ask and
when to ask them. I read customers and employees well and always talk to
them on their level. I
have the ability to present technical issues as they relate to product design
and manufacturing to
those without that knowledge in a way in which most anyone can understand.
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My
warmest thanks and undying gratitude go out to angelfire.com for hosting
this site and allowing me to present my designs to the public without ever
having to charge a fee to visitors or individuals wishing to incorporate
my designs into their individual lifestyles!
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