Phil's CV |
PDF version |
84
Hartington
Grove
CB1 7UB
+44 1223 248555
email:
career@philipsmith.com
I am an engineering graduate with over 30 years’ experience of working in Technical Consultancy and Manufacturing companies. At my current employer, I am a project manager leading the development of large inkjet printers, which are sold worldwide. Previously I have worked in a variety of market sectors, mostly to supply custom designed automated equipment, but also to analyse existing or new equipment. I have worked in many countries in Europe, USA, and Africa.
Innovative and imaginative
Well respected as a mechanical engineer
Able to comprehend data quickly and assess what is important
Good theoretical background in a wide variety of engineering disciplines
Able to communicate well at
all levels within an organisation
Understanding of all aspects of automated machinery design: mechanical; electronics; PLC software; sensors; actuators
Can very quickly recognise errors or illogical argument
Good formal writing and presentation skills
An effective team leader and
project manager
Able to identify and use appropriate level of quality.
Technical manager of a project to design and supply a
set of automated equipment for screening of chemicals for agrochemical
use. The equipment consisted of several separate machines using the same
sample magazines and containers, connected on a PLC network.
Leader of a project to design and build an engineering
model of novel process equipment for freeze drying pharmaceuticals. During
tests this equipment achieved drying times of one tenth of the
conventional method. A patent was granted for aspects of this project.
Mechanical team leader on a project to design and
install breath operated inhaler production test equipment in the USA. The
inhalers are 100% tested after assembly to ensure operation within
specification. This equipment was FDA validated and the client bought
additional equipment after the initial set to increase production rates.
Technical manager of several large projects (over
£2million) to supply custom equipment to pharmaceutical companies. These
are based around the company’s standard processing modules, often with
significant custom development, and completely new functional units. I
have been instrumental in several new developments, and the layout of the
systems’ architecture.
Dates |
School or College |
Main Subjects and Results |
Sept 72-
|
|
‘O’ levels, including: Maths; English; Chemistry; Biology; Physics; Further Maths (all at grade A); French; Music. |
Sept 77-
|
Brockenhurst 6th form College, Hampshire |
‘A’ and ‘S’ Levels: Maths (A); Further Maths (A,1); Higher Maths (A); Physics (A,1); Chemistry (A) |
Oct 80-
|
|
BA in engineering (2:1) 1st and 2nd years: theory in a wide range of engineering disciplines including: mechanics; structures; electronics; thermodynamics; computing. Final year: papers in mechanical; electronic; nuclear engineering. |
2004 to present: Inca
Digital Printers Ltd www.incadigital.com
Inca
designs
and builds industrial ink-jet printers, sold worldwide. At Inca, I am a
project manager within the New Product Development group. The job of “project
manager”
at Inca is mainly about being chief designer and system architect of the
product being designed, in addition to controlling the project timescale,
resources etc.
Initially
I investigated a new ink for use in one of the printers. My knowledge
gained by the experimental use and in-depth study of the printer was
used to develop the printer further, including a print mode that was 40%
faster than the previous ones.
I was then given the responsibility to lead the design
of Inca’s next generation printer. This printer, the Onset S20, has since
become Inca’s leading product, and has sold over 200 in its various
generations. A significant innovation was to break away from Inca’s
traditional thinking of aligning the printheads during production. Instead
the printheads are aligned on the finished printer by printing and
analysing test patterns to determine the required position. This allowed
much better alignment than the previous method of aligning in the factory,
resulting in better print quality. The printer could also be installed in
under half the time of the previous one as it used a telescopic motion for
the print head gantry. This meant that all the high precision parts could
be shipped in a single piece and therefore maintain alignment. These and
other innovations kept the cost down, and resulted in a very successful
product, that after some updates is still Inca’s biggest selling printer
today, 8 years later.
I also developed a semi-automated substrate
loader/unloader. This has sold over 100 units. Again a novel motion system
resulted in a product that can be shipped in one piece whilst being able
to load and unload the 5m2 sheets of substrate.
Between printer design projects, I led a project to
update the user interface of Inca’s printers. This uses Microsoft WPF
technology and required me to learn C# and XAML. The concept and overall
design is now used on all of Inca’s current products.
The latest generation of the Onset printer now has 14 colour channels enabling it to reach speeds of over 1000m2/hour (200 sheets per hour). This is about 8 times faster than the original S20 printer, but retains virtually the same footprint. I led this project to upgrade the printer, whilst keeping as much of the design the same as possible, to help with product change-over, and familiarity within Inca.
1997
to 2004: The Automation Partnership
Initially at TAP, my role was as project manager and
lead engineer of projects to design, build and supply high value
(typically a few million pounds) automated equipment systems supplied into
pharmaceutical companies’ research departments. This required definition
of the specification with the client, leading the design and build teams,
and ensuring successful installation on site. One project of this type was
installed in Cincinnati. Early in this project I frequently flew to visit
the client for a few days at a time, to agree the specification, project
timescales and costs.
Because of a company reorganisation, I then changed role to technical manager, concentrating on the technical and design leadership side of the projects. Finally I worked in the Technology group, which works on the research and development of new ideas for future machines, i.e. before a system concept is sold to a client. An example of this was to design and build a technology demonstrator to pick and place miniature test tubes at 5 per second. This position also included reviewing of other projects, producing initial concepts for new projects and quotations, as well as introducing new technologies and techniques into TAP.
1989 – 1997 PA Consulting Group (Global Technology Group) www.paconsulting.com
I worked at PA in the Flexible Automation, Manufacturing Engineering and Healthcare groups. My eight years at PA covered a very wide range of projects in a wide range of industries. The scope of these projects ranged from purely technical consultancy, with a report or presentation at the end, up to projects to develop and supply equipment. The larger projects were usually in phases, starting with initial feasibility, progressing through experimentation with test rigs or prototypes, and concluding with delivery of equipment. Examples of larger projects include the supply of production equipment to automatically test breath-operated-inhalers, delivered into the USA; and developing a high-speed novel freeze-drying process for pharmaceuticals. This latter project progressed through to making a demonstration test rig, but unfortunately not to production equipment. As well as the project manager on both these projects, I was the chief engineer, responsible for the architecture of the systems, through to control of the detail designs. Projects where the deliverable was a report included: assessing bids for the channel tunnel (Eurostar) ticket machines; checking the safety of a navy fire fighting training unit. I was also often invited to attend brainstorms, as my innovative and creative mind was well respected at PA.
1983 – 1989 Cambridge Consultants Limited www.cambridgeconsultants.com
Whilst a consultant at CCL I worked mainly on projects
to design, build and supply machinery. This work involved all aspects of
automated machinery design: mechanical design; software modelling and
design; and machine control using PLCs. Clients were from many market
sectors, eg sausage skin manufacturers; the Joint European Torus; silicon
wafer manufacturers; agrochemical research establishment. In addition to
the engineering aspects of these projects, specifying the scope of the
project, client management, and project control were also very important.
1979-1980 (gap year) Sir
Robert
McAlpine
I worked on a building site erecting a multi-storey
office block in Swindon. I worked with the site engineers, my tasks
included setting gridlines and levels defining the position of the
building, producing samples of the concrete for testing, checking steel
reinforcing and laying out ground works.
Marital Status: |
Married |
|
|
|
Date of Birth: |
27 January 1961 |
|
|
|
Nationality: |
British |
|
|
|
I am currently designing and building an autonomous
sailing boat to sail to Australia. I have developed the navigation and
communication electronics, using an Arduino controller, GPS module, 3-axis
compass, and an Iridium satellite communication module. As well as
programming in C and C++, I have learnt about I2C communication to connect
together all the electronic parts. The rig of the boat is also novel as I
am hoping to have the sail self-setting, to avoid the need for a wind
direction sensor (as I think this will be fragile and not survive the
journey). This system has included a ball bearing I have 3D printed with
my home FDM printer. In addition, I have been learning about weather
patterns, ocean currents, shipping lanes, the location of small islands in
the middle of oceans, how to display maps on websites, etc. see www.philsboat.info
for more details.
I also enjoy keeping the garden under control.
Hobbies that I used to do include: playing hockey;
glass blowing and model helicopter flying.
Patents
have
been granted on ideas arising from several of the projects I have worked
on. I am named as inventor on the following:
Print
table: WO
2014140521 A1
Droplet
size
in inkjet printing: WO
2008090361 A1
Test
tube for storing fluid: EP
1477226 A1
Apparatus
for
sealing tubes: US
20050063874 A1
Freeze-drying
process
and apparatus: WO
1996029556 A1