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E1200-lg1

E1200-lg1

E1200-lg1

The E1200 ethernet switch from Force10 Networks.  Lots of fun challenges in this one, especially on the thermal side (bottom to top airflow with front intake, rear exhaust).

Antenna Mount

Antenna Mount

Antenna Mount

An innovative antenna mounting solution for Trimble Navigation, using advanced thermoplastics to reduce cost and increase reliability.  30% glass filled PPS!  Very impressive material to work with.

Integrated computer/display/GPS/satellite transceiver

Integrated computer/display/GPS/satellite transceiver

Integrated computer/display/GPS/satellite transceiver

The Trimble Navigation Galaxy Sentinel, a GPS system with built in satellite transceiver, single board computer, and LCD display, for maritime applications.  The use of the sheetmetal midplane really simplified construction, and an internal fan helped even out interior temperatures (also decreased the thermal resistance going into the die cast aluminum enclosure).

GPS integrated with cell phone for vehicle tracking

GPS integrated with cell phone for vehicle tracking

GPS integrated with cell phone for vehicle tracking

The Trimble Navigation Crosscheck, a combination GPS/cellular telephone for vehicle tracking applications.  This was back in the days of AMPS cell technology, and it used a ton of power!  That made it a fun thermal design challenge, as well as a fun EMI/RFI challenge requiring localized shielding on the PCB.

Radar Detector Mounting Solution

Radar Detector Mounting Solution

Radar Detector Mounting Solution

This aluminum sheetmetal mounting radar detector bracket was designed to fit the Lotus Elise and Exige sports cars, without requiring any permanent modifications to the vehicle, while also relocating the interior lamp for improved illumination. It was designed for low volume, high quality manufacturing.  I produced two batches of parts, enough to recover prototyping costs and turn a small profit.

Semi-rigid cable routing

Semi-rigid cable routing design

Semi-rigid cable routing design

A project that required precisely routed semi-rigid cables (designed in Pro/Engineer with Pro/Piping) on a circuit board.  Since then, I’ve found the 3D sketch feature of SolidWorks to be much easier to work with, allowing both rigid controls (straight lines, fixed radii) and freeform designs like splines.

Storage shed

Storage shed

Storage shed

When it came time to build a new storage shed, naturally it had to be designed in Pro/Engineer first!

Wishing well

Wishing well

Wishing well

My wife wanted a small wishing well as part of our wedding. Not finding any suitable ones for sale, I set off to build one, after first designing it in Pro/Engineer.

CM-1

CM-1

CM-1

A midplane-layout switch for Transmedia, a small startup later acquired by Cisco.

2U server

2U server

2U server

A highly configurable 2U server for Iron Systems.  This one was a lot of fun, as the goal was maximum configurability and density in a soft-tooled chassis.