Unique Problem Solving Experience:

A common thread through my career has been solving “pump problems.”  Frequently in a fluid system, a pump is responsible for creating flow (or pressure against some resistance).  If it seems there is no flow or insufficient flow, the pump is almost always the first suspect … and deemed guilty until proven innocent.  Beginning in 1993, I was the Production Engineering Manager responsible for product quality at Micropump.  From that time, I have been regularly tapped to go investigate customer reported “pump problems.”  More often than not, I found the pump to be either operating normally or damaged in some way.  In other words, the cause of the system malfunction was rooted in some other component. But that’s just the beginning and end of the story.  In between was often a complex investigation to understand the system and function of all the components in the fluid path to help find that cause and exonerate the pump. That gave me the unique opportunity to “stick my head into” all kinds of different machinery, both metaphorically and physically!

Having had a deep exposure of so many machines in vastly different industries has led to solving persistent problems for customers, frequently utilizing solutions I have seen in completely different kinds of machine.  Often this first customer exposure has been related to solving a “pump problem,” but after that first experience, I have often been requested to come back and look at other system challenges for my input.  Now, I have the opportunity to utilize that valuable experience to apply focus to helping clients solve their system problems, or to help them design robust fluid systems that are problem free from the start.