JOHN POLAK

MECHANICAL ENGINEER

Scroll down for my Engineering Education, Experience, and Knowledge.

Click on link to see my CAD and FEA experience and skills.  John Polak CAD FEA                          

John Polak is a highly experienced mechanical engineer with over 20 years experience.  All this experience is hands on, thus an impressive knowledge base in many engineering applications..  I have an aggressive product and company goal philosophy.  I put egos aside, willing and easily able to work with others to accomplish these goals.

Feel free to ask for resume.  E-mail request to polakmade@aol.com.  Resumes will be supplied to company principals and genuine recruiters only.  Must have company name and job description.

NOTE: 

I am at a crossroads in my career.  I am currently training in the welding and machining trades to broaden my skills.  I am open to career paths in engineering or the machining and welding trades, or in both.  Whichever career path I take, I will continue in that path.  I can be utilized as an engineer that can weld, as a welder that can support engineering, or as a hybrid of the trades.  Take advantage of this unique situation.

Summer 2010 classes are Monday and Wednesday evenings and Saturday 8am-2pm.  Starting in the fall 2010, I will be adding Tuesday and Thursday evening classes.  I am available for part time or full time work daytime or any other time that does not interfere with training.  I am open to contract, temporary, or full time work.

Education (college credit courses)

• Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering: University of Maryland College Park 1983

• 15 semester hours graduate work, acoustical engineering: Catholic University of America

• Course (3 semester hr), complex numbers: George Washington University

• Course (3 semester hr), gas turbine design: George Washington University

Experience Categories:

Structural Engineering: Over 10 years

• Vehicle chassis, large and small ship structures, machinery frames and foundations.  I am experienced with steel and aluminum trusses, plate over beam construction, forged, machined, and cast structures, standard beams.

• Foundation for large generator on ship's deck

• Foundation for swivel base crane on ship's deck

• Installation of 5000 gallon fuel tank in MATSS floating launch platform

• Modification of MATSS ship structure

• Analysis and report to upgrade MLP launch platform aircraft elevator (aluminum structure)

• Analysis of excavator and asphalt paver chassis

• Numerous machinery foundations on surface ships and submarines

• Analysis on numerous vehicle metal parts such as steering components, bearing housings, attachments, power drive components, hydraulic cylinders and piston rods, outriggers, excavator boom parts and buckets. track and wheel supports

• Heavy duty weightlifting equipment including powerlifting competition squat racks and bench presses.  All design and builds are ground up, I do not copy other's equipment and then stick my label on it.  Classical and computer design and analysis.

Marine Engineering; Over 15 years

• US Navy and commercial surface ships and US Navy Submarines.  Destroyers, Sealift, Roll On/Roll Off, Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs), Large high speed remote operated vessel,  SSN and SSBN submarines, Research submarines

• Shipboard machinery arrangements, installation of marine machinery and piping

• Highly experienced with shipboard piping systems including: Safety systems and hull valves, Hydraulic control systems for steering, diving, weapons control, valve operation, Bilge, Ballast, Seawater, and Freshwater systems, Lubricating oil, Fuel oil, Hotel services such as potable water and sewage

• Design and installation of shipboard HVAC systems

• Development of shipboard piping schematics, installation drawings, and operations manuals

• Analysis of hull structure including frame work and hull plating.  Experience with modification of structure and structural analysis to install internal and deck mounted machinery, aircraft elevators, and tanks

• I also have experience with the analysis of ship motions and stability

• Machinery and piping noise and vibration generation and transmission

Hydraulic and Pneumatic Control, Fluid Systems; 15 years

• 10 years life cycle manager for US Navy submarine hydraulic control systems.  Review and comment on builder drawings, make recommendations, resolve system problems, develop maintenance procedures, research new technologies such as accumulator materials.   Conduct and analyze noise testing on quiet components

• 2 years development of hydraulic and pneumatic power units, valves, and piping for Landis Gardner CNC grinding equipment.  Develop automated grease lubrication systems

• Assist in design and problem solving with hydraulic control systems on Gradall excavators and Vogele asphalt pavers.

• Develop hydraulic power unit and control for high speed remote operated marine vessel

• Develop general fluid systems for marine applications (fuel, lubrication, salt and fresh water, sewage, drainage) for a variety of marine vessels

• Proficient in all aspects of fluid flow engineering including pipe flow, pump and actuator selection and efficiencies, flow and pressure control valves, solenoid valves, servo valves, heat analysis, cooler calculations, accumulator calculations

Project Management; Over 15 years

• Outfitting of machinery, piping, HVAC, and human services for towed US Army and Navy missile test platforms.  Platforms include MATSS and MLP.  Originate ideas, developed concepts, lay out machinery and piping, layout ship structure modifications, conduct classical and FEA structural calculations, upgrade aircraft elevator

Mobile Launch Platform (MLP), converted from the LPH-10, being towed to deployment.  MATSS is a smaller towed platform converted from a WWII drydock section, now used as a sensor platform.  Both platforms are used for ballistic missile intercept testing.

• Development of air dropped soil samplers

• Development of hydraulic control system for large remote operated vessel

• Reverse Engineering of Onan diesel engine for use in Hercules tank recovery vehicles

• Development of hydraulic power units for Landis Gardner CNC grinding machines

Landis Model 3L CNC cam grinder

• Numerous projects for the installation and improvement of machinery on marine vessels and heavy construction equipment

Sustaining Engineering, Continuous Product Improvement, Life Cycle Engineering; Over 12 years

• 10 years experience life cycle management for hydraulic control systems, Navy nuclear submarines.  Includes providing technical input to vendor and shipyard changes, resolving operation issues, improving maintenance, reviewing new construction drawings

• Product improvement for Vogele asphalt pavers.  Improvement of drive (wheel and track) systems, material handling, hydraulics, cooling, lights, hoppers, screeds, asphalt lay down quality, accessories and options.  Resolve field issues

Vogele 10 ft track drive paver model 2219T

Reports/Technical Writing

• Authored Navy report on the use of Sound Intensity for noise measurement

• Authored Navy report on the analysis and required upgrades for the MLP (Mobile Launch Platform) to increase load rating for the aircraft elevator from 50,000 lbs to 70,000 pounds

• Provide all text, format, and illustrations to assist US Army to develop ship systems operations manual for the Mobile Launch Platform.

Engineering Disciplines extensively applied in my career

• Mechanics of Materials (stress/strain, displacement, deformation, fracture, fatigue, corrosion, combined loadings)

• Metallurgy (grain structures, heat treatment, effects from hot and cold work, castings, test methods, steel, aluminum, copper alloys)

• Statics (linear and rotational, trusses, pressure vessels, columns, beams, weldments. tanks, friction)

• Dynamics (ship's motions, mass acceleration and deceleration, impact, rotational)

• Heat Transfer (tube and fin coolers, heat from hydraulic systems and machinery, building heating and cooling loads, radiation, convection, conduction, insulating materials)

• Fluid Flow (in pipes and around objects, laminar and turbulent, Reynolds Number, liquid and gas).  Currently in ASME training for refresher on fluid mechanics and hydraulics.

• Welding (methods, electrode selection, bead design, AWS codes, allowable loads, inspection).   180 hours weld training in MIG, fluxcore, stick, brazing.   Completed ESAB course in weld technology.

• Acoustical Engineering (fluidborne, airborne, vibration, sound pressure, sound intensity, test setup and equipment, test equipment programming, nodal vibration analysis, data evaluation, source elimination)

Some books from my library

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