Richard D. Smith, P.E.
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Rick is a result oriented professional engineer with extensive experience as a technical manager, system architect, and an individual contributor. Turnkey real-time systems and process automation are specialties, including both hardware and software. Particular strengths include:
- R&D for new process development
- Automatic test and process equipment design and fabrication
- Cryogenic system design & control
- Forensic engineering and failure cause analysis
- Fail-safe control system design
- Ground loop detection and symptom prevention
- Quality systems and processes
- Complete system architecture
- Project and resource management
- Personnel technical training & complex technical presentations for management
- Software experience in C, C++, VB, 8031 assembler, LabVIEW, and Pascal
- Digital hardware, RF transmission network, and some analog design
Professional Experience
1) Motorola, Inc. - Ft. Worth, Texas 1993 - 2003
Cellular Infrastructure Group (1996 - 2003)
Quality Assurance Engineering Manager
Performed full range of responsibilities for validating CDMA base station design verification and reliability.
- Designed, constructed, staffed, and ran the Accelerated Life Test (ALT) lab, the Manufacturing Screening lab, and the Failure Analysis lab.
- Designed the liquid Nitrogen environmental chambers used in Ft. Worth.
- Assisted in the facility design and installation of liquid Nitrogen environmental chambers in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Swindon, UK.
- Developed a new ALT process that cut test time from 36-48 days to 4 days total while simultaneously increasing potential design problem detection by 87%. This reduced testing time by a factor of 12, decreased ALT test cost by 75%, and reduced potential field returns resulting from undetected design issues by millions of dollars per year.
- Developed a new Manufacturing Screening process that does not require an ALT to define the limits. This screening process was responsible for dropping the hardware return rate of one product from 62% to less than 1%.
- Designed, wrote 90% of the code, and helped build the ALT lab automatic systems. This allowed the lab for the first time to run all 6 chambers unattended, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, with only a day shift. The system was fail-safe.
- Conducted internal technical seminars and ALT technique training for engineers and technicians, in Ft. Worth, TX, Arlington Heights, IL, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Swindon, UK.
- Presented technical papers yearly at the IEEE - AST annual meetings.
Advanced Messaging Group (1993 – 1996)
Principal Staff Engineer
Designed, troubleshot, and trained Chinese techs on network systems, hard drive RAID arrays, voice mail systems, and embedded computer systems for paging terminals.
- Designed an intelligent 8-drive SCSI RAID-1 hard drive array for voice mail systems that was used throughout China and has never had a field failure.
- Wrote the BIOS code in 80486 assembler and ANSI-C and was project manager for the outside hardware design of the embedded 80486 computer of the DCF terminal.
- Fully automated the manufacturing testing of the DCF product such that, although there was an internal 40% to 60% failure rate, there were no field or customer failures.
- Broad network design experience for Ethernet, Arcnet, and ISDN. Designed paging network systems for TTM, NTT, WMG, and DCF
- Periodically went to Japan and China to troubleshoot and fix complex “insoluble” system problems, and to train local technicians on installation and trouble shooting techniques.
2) Self-Employed, Consultant - Dallas, TX 1979 - 1992
Provided engineering services, program management, software, and turnkey custom systems to the oilfield industry, food industry, machine tools industry, recycling and scrap yard industries, and semiconductor fabrication industry.
Professional Registrations
Registered Professional Engineer, State of Texas #46696
Patents
Numerous patents producing about $40+ million in gross sales per year
Education
Bachelor of Science Electrical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology – Atlanta, GA
Graduate work (PhD program) – Nuclear Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology – Atlanta, GA
Materials and Metal Joining courses
Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Boston, MA
Several Business Law courses
Richland College – Dallas, TX
Various MU quality, technical, and software courses
Motorola University – Ft. Worth, TX