• Address: Boulder, CO 80301 (map)
• Date Posted: 11/02/09

RICK L. SHEFFER

(303) 449-8057
3250 O’Neal Circle #L-23, Boulder, CO., 80301
sdoogood@earthlink.net


STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS

I am an accomplished Electro-mechanical Technician with proven success in assembly and repair of circuit boards, complex solar physics research instrumentation, weather radar systems, and many types of high-precision electronic and electro-mechanical products and equipment. My talent lies in identifying ways to improve a product through careful analysis of preparation, organization, and assembly techniques. In addition, I am a conscientious employee who can train others in an industrial environment.
You can depend on my strong technical abilities, commitment to excellence, and broad-based experience to greatly contribute to your operational efficiency.
Career Objective:
A position that provides an opportunity to use acquired job-related skills and knowledge, and
receive further training in electronics technology.
Experience:
Oct., 2004 - Aug.,2008: Colorado Electronic Product Design Inc., Boulder, CO.
Engineering Assembler/Technician
Manual assembly, soldering, and rework of prototype surface mount PC bds. including hand desoldering and replacement of ultra-fine pitch surface mount active devices, and passive components as small as 0402 size. Complex rework and modifications to boards, cables, wiring harnesses, etc., from schematics, sketches, and verbal instructions. Build cables terminated with various types of connectors including Mil.-Spec. circular connectors, rectangular connectors, crimp-pin connectors, coaxial connectors, etc. Fabrication and mechanical assembly of chassis, enclosures, and panels with a drill press and hand tools. Order parts and tools, run errands, and maintain electronic lab supplies and parts inventory for 12 engineers.
July, 2003 - Oct., 2004
unemployed
Oct., 2001 - July, 2003: Boulder Amplifiers Inc., Boulder, CO.


Electro-mechanical Assembler

Hand loading and soldering of through-hole and surface mount PC bd. assemblies. Wiring of XLR- type
audio connectors and cable assemblies. Final mechanical and electro-mechanical assembly of phono
preamp and power supplies.
Jan., 2000 - Oct., 2001: High Precision Devices Inc., Boulder, CO.
Electro-mechanical Assembler/Technician
High-level, precision electronic and electro-mechanical assembly of prototype and production scientific research instruments. Devices built included DC-Voltage-Standard cryoprobes; high-speed, multi-line cryoprobes; miniature IR lasers; motorized air-sampling valve actuators; prototype high-speed microprocessor test bed; and Sun Emulators. Duties also included work documentation, process troubleshooting, and machine tool operation as assigned. Conceived and executed hardware inventory organization system.
Sept., 1998 - May, 1999: Concept 2000 Inc. LLC., Boulder, CO.


Assembler/Technician

Hand soldering of PC boards, final mechanical assembly and testing of all units in line of personal health care products. Responsible for troubleshooting, repair and test of defective units returned from customers. Complete redesign of PC board installed in product marketed as a kit.
Mar., 1997 - Aug., 1998: Radiometrics Corp., Boulder, CO.
Electro-mechanical Assembler/Technician
Complete mechanical, and electronic assembly of single and dual-band microwave radiometers.
Electrical and electronic assembly responsibilities included, but were not limited to, wire harnessing, point-to-point wiring, PC bd. assembly, and instrument power supply assembly and wiring. Mechanical assembly involved installation and removal of rivets and self-clinching (PEM brand) fasteners; hole locating, drilling, tapping, countersinking, and counterboring.
Built power and data cables terminated with MS circular connectors and standard DE-9
data connectors. Load tested assembled linear and switching power supplies.

Apr., 1994 - Oct., 1996: Radian International Electronics Division LLC., Boulder, CO.


Electro-mechanical Assembler/Technician

Complete assembly, wiring and modifications (per customer requirements) of Lower Atmosphere Profiler radar system components including the Interface unit, Receiver/Modulator unit, Profiler Monitor unit, and Final Amplifier unit. Designed and fabricated RG-402 semi-rigid coax cable assemblies terminated with male and female SMA, BNC, and type N connectors. Built flexible RF cable assemblies with RG-8
RG-213, RG-223, and RG-316 type coax cables. Built prototype 449 MHz and 482 MHz Coaxial/Collinear (COCO) antenna elements and baluns. Used network analyzer to test 400 MHz COCOs. Assisted in heavy outdoor assembly and setup of antenna and clutter fence. Built simple assembly and test fixtures. Set up and tested power supplies. Provided technical assistance to assemblers. Reviewed and revised engineering documentation.
June, 1987 - Aug., 1993: High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric
Research, Boulder, CO.
Electro-mechanical Tech I, Instrumentation Group Division
Solar-Stellar Spectrophotometer Project: Assembly of shielded, multi-pair instrumentation cables and coax cables with standard BNC connectors. Complete mechanical assembly and wiring of two CCD cooling system temperature control units. Assisted with complete cabling and mechanical assembly and modification of instrument control computer rack. Complete wiring of custom-made CCD camera heads and calibration-source power supply sub rack. Participated in week-long field installation of instrument at Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ.
Large Earth-based Solar Telescope Project: One-person task under direction of remotely located Project Engineer. Involved design, fabrication, wiring, and mechanical assembly of telescope tower electrical junction box and associated external cable set. J-box portion of project included self-initiated consultation and interaction with mechanical engineer, electricians, and higher-level technicians within and outside of Instrumentation Group. LEST project experience included machining of custom circular connector back shell extensions for trunk cables as well as a multi-cable strain relief/support device installed within J-box. Assembly of external cable set required use of innovative materials and techniques to assure reliability in extremely harsh mountaintop environment. Photos of completed J-box wiring available upon request.
Mauna Loa Solar Observatory Refurbishment Project: Long-term remake of many cables, the connections of which had deteriorated due to inadequate or non-existent strain relief and decade-long exposure to sunlight at high elevation. Devised strain relief parts which involved machining and modification of parts from surplus connectors and integrating those parts with the replacement connectors. Photos available upon request.
Advanced Stokes Polarimeter Project: Experience on this project included all of the aforementioned plus first extensive exposure to microscope hand soldering of surface mount devices. Devised reliably repeatable techniques which greatly expedited process of hand soldering closely spaced, J-leaded surface mount video RAM chips without the use of special equipment, tools, or outside facilities.
Education:
1. Associate’s of Applied Science; Aviation Maintenance Technology; University of Illinois
1.
Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic Certification ,University of Illinois Institute of Aviation, 1974.
2.
In addition, my education includes study in the areas of Electronic DC Circuits, Meteorology, Weather Forecasting, Atmospheric Research and Severe Weather Phenomena.
Computer Literacy:
Proficient in Windows XP Home OS; MS Outlook; Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer Browsers.
Literate in MS Word and Excel. Have done numerous hardware and software installations and
upgrades.