Alex B.

Experience

• Sustainment Engineer Anduril Industries · Full-time Nov 2024 – Present 1 yrs 3 mos Irvine, CA, United States Fleet Health & Lifecycle Management
  Operational Readiness: Monitor and analyze field performance data to identify trends in component failures or system degradations across global deployments.
  Obsolescence Management: Proactively identify and resolve "End-of-Life" (EOL) component issues, sourcing and qualifying alternative mechanical and electronic parts to prevent fleet downtime.
  Configuration Control: Manage engineering changes (ECN/ECR) for fielded assets, ensuring that upgrades and retrofits are documented and compatible with existing hardware versions.
  2. Failure Analysis & Continuous Improvement
  Root Cause Corrective Action (RCCA): Lead deep-dive technical investigations into mechanical failures. You utilize your design background to determine if a failure was caused by environmental stress, manufacturing defects, or operational misuse.
  Feedback Loop to Design: Collaborate with R&D and Design Engineering teams to "design for sustainment," ensuring that the next generation of products is easier to service, more modular, and more durable based on real-world field data.
  3. Technical Documentation & Support
  Maintenance Procedures: Author and validate high-fidelity technical manuals and work instructions for field technicians, ensuring complex mechanical repairs can be performed accurately in remote locations.
  Specialized Tooling Design: Use CAD (SolidWorks/NX) to design custom support equipment, transport cases, or field-repair jigs that simplify the maintenance of autonomous systems.
  4. Supply Chain & Logistics Integration
  Spares Optimization: Define the "Critical Spares List" based on failure rate modeling, ensuring that the right parts are in the right place at the right time.
  Supplier Quality Liaising: Work with vendors to resolve manufacturing quality issues that appear after parts have been in the field, ensuring that sustainment-grade parts meet the same rigorous standards as production units.
• Design Release Engineer Rivian · Full-time Jul 2021 – Nov 2024 3 yrs 4 mos Irvine, CA, United States Design & Engineering Development
  A-Surface Feasibility: Collaborate with the Rivian Design Studio to provide feedback on "A-surfaces," ensuring artistic visions for the center console can be realistically achieved through injection molding without compromising the vehicle's theme.
  Detailed CAD Design: Utilize CATIA V6 / 3DExperience to develop complex 3D parametric models for console sub-assemblies, including main housings, trim appliques, and functional storage components.
  Mechanical Integration: Manage packaging studies to ensure the center console clears surrounding systems (seats, floor pans, wiring harnesses) and respects all "sweep zones" for moving parts like armrests or cup holders.
  2. Manufacturing & Tooling Focus
  Injection Molding Optimization: Apply "First Principles" to design parts with proper draft angles, wall thicknesses, and rib structures to prevent sink marks, warping, or knit lines in high-visibility Class-A surfaces.
  Tooling Oversight: Lead Design for Manufacturability (DFM) reviews with suppliers to optimize tooling complexity, managing 2-shot molding, overmolding, or textured finishes specific to Rivian’s premium interior.
  3. Project & Supplier Management
  End-to-End Ownership: Lead the design and release process through the Enovia PLM system, managing the Engineering Bill of Materials (BOM), part numbers, and engineering change notices (ECN).
  Supplier Technical Liaison: Act as the main point of contact for interior suppliers, managing development timelines, cost targets, and weight requirements to ensure on-time delivery for vehicle milestones.
  4. Validation & Quality
  DVP&R and DFMEA: Develop and execute Design Verification Plans and Reports (DVP&R) and Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA) to ensure the console meets safety, NVH (noise, vibration, harshness), and durability standards.
  Fit & Finish Mastery: Define attachment methods (clips, fasteners, sonic welding) and set GD&T requirements to achieve world-class gaps and flushness for the interior cockpit.
  Launch Support: Provide on-site engineering support during prototype builds (Mule, VP, PPAP) and production ramp-up, performing root cause analysis on any assembly or quality issues.
• Machines Design Engineer LC Drives · Full-time May 2020 – Jun 2020 1 mos Potsdam, NY, United States Design of Manual Brazing Tool May 2020 – Current
  • Increased tool efficiency by about 10% by reducing both thermal and electrical resistance with a more compact design
  • Improved ergonomics for the operator with a weight reduction of about one kilogram and the addition of a stable handle
  • Developed a water cooled cable assembly procedure which resulted in a reduction in assembly time of about six hours
  • Created functional drawings with geometric dimensioning and tolerancing to convey tolerances of brazing tool components
  Design of Manufacturable Motor Windings
  • Utilized parametric modelling to produce comprehensive and configurable windings to be used by quality control
  • Proposed manufacturing process improvements with the support of geometric discoveries during the winding design process
• Turbocharger Design and Development Engineer GE Transportation, A Wabtec Company · Internship Jun 2019 – Aug 2019 2 mos Erie, PA, United States Turbocharger Corrosion Failure Analysis
  • Evaluated failure reports suggesting the presence of chloride corrosion on compressor wheels to present potential solutions
  • Researched coating options to prevent future corrosion areas of concern despite extreme environmental and space constraints
  • Implemented a digital tool to easily track future corrosion sites and failures to evaluate effectiveness of the coating solution
  Upgrade Field Test Equipment
  • Engineered an updated design for a pneumatic seal tester to increase robustness and reduce tester overall footprint
  • Conducted a cost analysis to ensure the proposed upgrades were under budget constraint allowing rapid implementation
• Manufacturing Design Engineer Tesla Motors · Internship Jan 2019 – May 2019 4 mos Sparks, NV, United States Process Improvement
  • Implemented design alterations to a production cell to prevent damage to battery modules saving ~$1,400 per week
  • Supplied data to propose a more efficient liquid module insulation deposit path to be implemented at Gigafactory 3 in China
  • Reduced complexity of battery module carriers by combining separate unique datums into two simplified rails
  • Initiated a rework process through the design of an injection molded datum to be attached to incorrectly constructed modules
  Production Cell and EOA Tool Design
  • Designed adequate guarding for a fully automated test cell despite extreme cost, time, and area constraints
  • Unified the end of arm tooling design on multiple six axis robots to grab and flip battery modules throughout the factory
• Manufacturing Design Engineer Apple Inc · Internship Jan 2018 – Aug 2018 7 mos Cupertino, CA, United States •Collaborated with Apple teams and global suppliers to establish schedules for manufacturing investigations
  • Compiled research to coherently enlighten colleagues on the complex aspects of additive manufacturing difficulties
  • Acquired an understanding of manufacturing details for developing products to aid in determining the best path to closure
  Analysis of Additive Manufacturing Methods
  • Formulated designs of experiments to understand the cosmetic and structural challenges posed by additive manufacturing
  • Worked with Global Supply Managers to create cost comparison diagrams for additive and subtractive manufacturing
  • Processed parts through sandblasting and anodizing to understand cosmetic impacts of additive manufacturing techniques

Other experience