Profession - Senior Mechanical Engineer - Mark Case, P.E.
Design anything that moves... Take advantage of best (maybe the latest) technology. Listen to the people that know... the operator and the maintenance person.

Experience & Education   

bulletProject Engineer - Genie Industries, a division of Terex (Aerial Work Platforms)
Designed hydraulic and electric drive systems,  computer controlled electro-hydraulic systems and vehicle wiring systems.

bulletDesign and Project Engineer - Goldendale Aluminum 12 years.
Focus in project management, machine design (including numerous electro-hydraulic, PLC controlled machines.)
Performed troubleshooting on large, complex machinery.

bulletDesigner/Liaison Engineer Freightliner Corporation
Performed cab structural design for military truck vehicle project(2,600 units). Followed truck through production line made
modifications to design while in manufacture, communicated design changes necessary for manufacturing process
capability to designers for all aspects of vehicle.  Corrected design of cab and related components.

bulletBachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) - Washington State University, 1988

bulletRegistered Professional Engineer (P.E.)  -  State of Washington

bulletPrivate Pilots license

Key Skills

Mechanical Design Have designed numerous machines and systems ranging from material handling to piping systems, to emissions control systems, hydraulic presses, and numerous other purpose built machines for performing various tasks in the hot, dirty, rough and tumble world of an aluminum smelter.

Solid Modeling AutoCAD Mechanical Desktop, Autodesk Inventor and Solidworks.  I have used CAD in all phases of mechanical and electrical design for 15 years.   Have been using solid modeling for ten years. Currently 90% of all of my new designs are solid models.

PLC Programming Have applied PLCs of numerous types of mobile equipment (a very demanding environment for PLCs).  Proficient in Allen Bradley SLC 500 and PLC 5(with RsLogix).  Applied OPTO22 hardware for control of environmental systems- utilized cascaded PID loops.  Mobile PLCs were Automation Direct(Koyo/PLCDirect) with PID loops and wireless Ethernet connection for remote control of stationary equipment and for display of information from central company database to vehicle mounted touchscreen.

Hydraulic Design  Designed and specified numerous industrial and mobile hydraulic systems.  Well versed in proportional hydraulic valve technology and integration with electric remote proportional joysticks and PLC controllers.

Educator  Developed a curriculum for and taught beginning through advanced courses in Computer Aided Design with AutoCAD at Yakima Valley Community College and Columbia Gorge Community College.

Ventilation Design

Support of Employee Involvement

Project Management

Sample Projects

Lansberry Tractor Control System - 
Designed and oversaw installation of and programmed “Fly by Wire” PLC control system for revolutionary single track tractor/crawler in thirteen(13) days.  Previously a team of  comprised of the controller hardware vendor and their recommended software integrators were unable to provide functional control system during fifteen(15) month design, installation, and troubleshooting period.  PLC control solution development costs were 1/30th of the previous attempt. http://lansberrytractor.com 

Click to Enlarge Mvc-542f.jpg (70263 bytes)          Click here for more details

Precision Ore Feeder 
Feed Screw is controlled by a PLC monitoring an encoder built into the hydraulic drive motor to achieve precise doses.  The spreader attachment forms a dam of dispensed material, against which, the screw pushes- - this results in a dustless operation.


Ore Deck Trimmer 
Designed a machine to automatically trim(sweep) Soderburg Aluminum Reduction Cells. The operator performs this hot, dirty work  from the cab of a hydrostatic, air conditioned Linde Baker vehicle. The unit is equipped with proportional electric hydraulic PID feedback control system which monitors brush motor torque and automatically adjusts the height of the brush head to maintain consistent brushing action and to improve brush life.  See a Drawing and Brochure (pdf)

DECKTRIMMER ATTACHMENT(in relation to production cell)
Alumina Fluoride Delivery Vehicle
Utilized standard Baumann side-loading forklift cab, frame and powertrain.  Designed and mounted bulk material hopper and precision screw feeding system.  Factory hydraulics were removed and replaced with Danfoss electric proportional hydraulic system.  PLC controller receives dose weight by polling the company production database via wireless Ethernet connection. A digital rotary encoder monitors screw feeder shaft position and speed to ensure precise fluoride dose.  Stationary production cells are remotely controlled, also via wireless Ethernet.
 
Custom Tapping Vehicle
Designing a new self-contained tapping vehicle with on board air compressor and Diesel engine. Existing units are battery powered and must be tethered to air hoses. New tapping vehicle will be equipped to draw metal directly into a transfer crucible, thereby eliminating an existing pour operation.  Eliminating "the pour" cuts gaseous fluoride emission dramatically, eliminates unsafe and floor damaging, molten metal spills. Not pouring reduces metal reoxidation thereby contributing to project payback..
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Diesel Powered Mobile Crustbreaker - See Brochure & Envelop DWG. (pdf) 
-or- Click here to view hydraulic crustbreaker video 
(If video doesn't play, download  Windows Media Player from Microsoft.
Download Windows Media Player
Current section air crust breakers are tethered to a plant air line resulting in limited range, and dependence on varying plant air pressure. This inability to move around the plant requires numerous spares to distributed throughout the cell production lines. The new unit is mounted to a standard Linde Baker fork truck frame. A   new hydraulic system installed in place of the factory setup which uses regenerative cylinder extension and accumulator energy storage(during upstroke.)    The stored energy is then employed to afford greater breaking power while maintaining the fast cycle time of the air powered units. Controls are integrated into a single joystick.
 
Spading Machine Overhaul and Hydraulic Upgrade
Removed outdated, unresponsive hydraulic pilot, joystick controlled hydraulic control system and replaced with modern, proportional electric piloted, load sensing hydraulic system.  The new system is a nine function hydraulic stack with internal load sense shuttle network.  It's proportional flow control spools provide finer control while eliminating about forty hoses and six discrete valves.  The system allows adjustable load sense pressures for each direction of each hydraulic function.   The flexibility of electric control signals will allow the elimination of one of the three existing joysticks.   Two ergonomic, multifunctional joysticks can perform the same function with much less operator fatigue.
 
Install New Hydraulic System and Automate Crucible Cleaning Machine.
Remove leak prone hydraulic system mounted internally to machine frame. Existing system was controlled via mechanically stroked hydrostatic pump circuit and mechanical proportional hydraulic valve. The system was replaced with PLC controlled electro-hydraulic system with hydraulic linear positioner system with MTS linear transducer, Rexroth proportional control valve, and electrically stroked Denison 85 GPM closed loop pump. Machine can now run manually via electric proportional joystick control or under automatic cycle. Under automatic control the PLC controller monitors machine vibration and hydrostatic pump drive motor current. If either parameter is above threshold level, the positioner cylinder slows down the cutting head advance rate to preserve the carbide tipped cutter teeth.
 
150 Ton Press
This press is not large as presses go, until you consider that it has a 10' deep throat to allow straightening  of 16' X 29' cathode bottom shells and anode side casings that the previous 100 ton press could not touch.  The unit employs a dual pump(hi-lo speed) circuit which automatically unloads the high volume pump when high  pressure is required.  The work pieces are so large that a remote control pendant is used so that operator is able to see the operation, while operating the controls.