Belcan Engineering Group

Belcan / Caterpillar

2007-2013

My Belcan office worked primarily with Caterpillar. As such, I wrote applications for ECMs (electronic control modules) for the equipment. The applications were sometimes written in Simulink using autocoding techniques and sometimes written in C. Often, I had to modify existing code to add or change functionality.

I have also created wire harnesses, modified electrical panel designs, and supported software testing in Caterpillar’s labs. Of the more interesting support is the work I did to refine an existing NI (National Instruments) automated test bench. My team and I converted a command line test software to a GUI based software and implemented a logging system that records, interprets, and color codes test results, saving hours per iteration in a very iterative test process and making regression testing far less costly.

Skills: quick learner; C; Matlab; Simulink; customer presentations for proposals, progress, and completion

I also led a team of 4-8 people to support two other DOD (department of defense) contracting companies in obsolescence mitigation. Obsolescence mitigation is what must be done when an electronic circuit contains at least one component that is no longer manufactured. A method of producing that circuit board must be found, whether the method calls for a lifetime buy of the obsolete part or a new replacement part and maybe even some circuit redesign.

Skills: understanding of components, systems, obsolescence and its issues, RoHS, and manufacturing principles; customer communication; parts research; thorough understanding of datasheets; leadership/team lead

On one project, I attended a customer meeting to determine the customer’s needs for a small wireless communication system that would act as a remote control for very large earth moving equipment. After determining the customer’s needs, I created the project proposal and led a small team that designed and created the device. While leading the project, I chose the line of microcontrollers to be used and the features to be implemented. I also designed the PCBs (printed circuit boards) which turned out perfect on the first build.

Skills: EAGLE schematic capture, EAGLE PCB layout, EAGLE custom part creation, digital hardware design, software design, division of labor and project management, determining customer needs, project risk assessment

Some of my other projects included: advising on CAN (controller-area network) logging and interpretation, MDF (measured data file) data logger library in C, embedded systems troubleshooting with existing Atmel AVR assembly code