Tyler Kiefer

Skills

Leadership

Project Management

Programming Languages:

• Python
• C
• HTML
• CSS
• Javascript
• Mocha

Kinematic Design

Systems Design

Lithium Battery Module & Enclosure Design

Design for Machinability & Manufacturing

Belt Drive Design

CAD Modeling

ASME Y14.5 GD&T

Part Design:

• Sheet Metal
• Machined
• Weldment
• Casting
• Molded Plastic

Computer Software

• Solidworks
• Creo (Pro/E)
• OnShape
• Altair
• MasterCAM
• Linux
• Docker
• Windows & MS Office

Education

Active member of SAE Aerospace Design club. Competed with universities across the country and world to design and build an RC plane to lift and successfully land with the most amount of payload weight.

• Regularly finished top 10 out of ~45 universities, including a 1st place finish.
• Designed, analyzed, and constructed large scale unmanned aircraft.
• Hand-built carbon fiber fuselage and composite wing strut.

Certifications

Engineering Experience

• Consulted for multiple clients on wide range of projects from lithium battery systems to heavy agricultural machinery.
• Managed project timelines and set goals to ensure milestone dates were met.
• Utilized hybrid approach of Waterfall and Agile project management.
• Created Kanban workflow to monitor task progress.
• Led team of engineers across multiple consecutive projects and coordinated effort to complete projects successfully.
• Designed manufacturing plan for new Lithium battery module, as well as made improvements to module design.
• Wrote Python code to simulate articulation of boom arms and suspension height on autonomous agricultural sprayer machine.
• Designed 2nd revision of Lithium battery inverter enclosure to reduce cost and improve sealing.

• Led mechanical design of 24 kWh Lithium battery system for commercial vehicle.
• Successfully packaged modules, electrical chassis, and inverters into small space allowance and routed HV and signal wiring.
• Achieved manufacturing friendly design that met IP (ingress protection) rating goal.
• Improved C code for BMS of solar storage lithium battery solution.
• Designed new 4 kWh 16s2p prismatic Lithium battery module with goal of reducing weight and module cost.
• Conducted FEA to confirm calculated stresses for EOL cell expansion reaction at module end caps and tension members.
• Successfully built prototypes and testing setup. Progressed design into production runs.
• Collaborated on design of 10,000 V / 2,880 kWh Lithium battery mobile power trailer for off-grid oil well duty.
• Led mechanical design of module mounting to cooling plate.
• Calculated cooling requirements for chilled fluid cooling system and designed cooling plates to meet requirements.
• Conducted full FEA of static, modal, and dynamic load cases of module racks.
• Provided insight to reduce cost on module rack by allowing for simpler parts with greater tolerance allowance.
• Designed and conducted FEA of articulating lifting structure to move 5000 lb Lithium battery system.
• Created novel method for handling and installing battery modules.
• Agile focused project management; led projects through concept, prototype, testing, and production phases. Achieved excellent on-time deliverable rate to customers.
• Collaborated to diagnose and solve laser welding issues on battery cell tabs.
• Utilized FLIR imaging to verify cell tab to bus bar weld quality during NHR high current module test.
• Diagnosed and resolved high-pot test issues due to manufacturer defects from cell supplier.
• Improved effectiveness and safety of laser weld mask for pouch cell module. Achieved increased consistency of welds across module.
• Organized UN 38.3 standard testing plan and collaborated with testing house:
• Designed vibration test mounting components to test Lithium battery system to standard vibration specifications.
• Routinely modeled and created GD&T drawings; checked and released peer drawings.
• Designed, machined, and built weld mask prototype for cylindrical cell UPS Lithium battery pack.
• Created FMEA and led team review of analysis to determine failure risk factors of lithium battery module and enclosures.

• Consulted by John Deere on ground-up designs for combine harvesters, cotton harvesters, and large tractors. Accountable for full design of critical systems and functional areas.
• Responsible for design from ground-up concept, through prototype builds, testing, and into production.
• Utilized FEA to optimize material weight and stress paths and improve mechanical properties.
• Managed teams of 8+ modelers to efficiently bring projects from concept to CAD models and GD&T drawings.
• Taught internal class on drive belt implementation.
• Commended for my contributions to DJH Engineering winning the prestigious John Deere Supplier of the Year Award four times during my tenure.
• Worked on multiple machine projects:
• S430/S440 Combine Harvester
• Developed a belt drive system containing twelve belts to drive all functional components of the combine.
• Implemented finite element analysis to remove material from low-stress locations achieving weight reduction.
• Performed kinematic analysis of the feeder house to determine ideal hydraulic lift cylinder locations and requirements.
• Designed crop separator rotor system to isolate seed and grain from crop efficiently.
• Created grain tank fill auger and unload auger systems.
• Performed kinematic analysis to size the hydraulic cylinder as required to extend/retract the unload auger.
• X9 Twin Rotor Combine Harvester
• Generated position sensor transfer functions for all three moving structures of the feeder house.
• Selected to be on urgent task force to improve cooling package debris mitigation and engine cooling as performance issues were found late in testing.
• 9R Tractor
• Worked with engine team to design cooling package and layout of hose routing to radiators.
• Designed aesthetic rotational molded plastic air intake stack.

• Machined, assembled, and tested high-tech, 140 cell, 30 kW, fuel cell stacks.
• Routinely designed, created drawings, and machined parts with quick turn-around times.
• Modeled and created GD&T drawings of parts and complex assemblies using Pro/Engineer.
• Machined designed parts on manual vertical mill and lathe.
• Collaborated on proposals for U.S. DoD and DoT contracts.
• Researched and designed mechanical components for government and privately contracted projects.
• Designed microflow sensor chamber for a DoD project.
• Designed and built test equipment for GPS aware FLIR locating system for a DoD project.
• Spec’d and implemented winch system to tether GPS transceiver to aerostat at 500' AMSL.
• Programmed and operated Bridgeport CNC mill.

Related Hobbies

I enjoy designing parts and assemblies at home, as well. I regularly design and create custom parts and assemblies on my home 3D printer.

Over the past 18 years have been installing, configuring, and operating many home servers.

• Running Proxmox home server running multiple virtualized operating systems.
• Home Assistant open source smart home platform integrating dozens of household devices as well as custom programmed automations.
• Integrated Frigate NVR utilizing AI driven vehicle and person detection to trigger smart phone notifications.
• Debian VM running Samba file server, multiple Docker containers including Rustdesk, Plex, Syncthing and others.