Areas of Specialization

Finite element analysis, computer programming (Visual Basic, Fortran, Pascal, BASIC, Windows/Windows95 software, etc), accident reconstruction, automotive repair, mechanical testing, and computer based data acquisition.

Background and Professional Experience

Berkeley Engineering and Research, Inc.
~ August 1993 - Present ~
Position Description: Engineer, responsibilities include design and failure analysis, engineering research, Finite Element Analysis, Accident Reconstruction, and Mechanical Testing. Failure analysis work has varied from structural analysis of power plant equipment to analysis of aircraft engine components to thermomechanical analysis of cracked wall heater heat exchangers. Research work has included detailed studies of the creep behavior of longitudinally welded pipes at high temperature, design of structural supports for a cryogenic superconducting MRI machine, and frequency analysis of silicon wafer fabrication components. Finite element analysis experience has ranged from simple two dimensional linear elastic analysis of pressure vessels to complex three dimensional nonlinear analysis of an engine connecting rod.

Lecturer, Mechanical Engineering Department, U.C. Berkeley
~ August 1996 - December 1996 ~
Position Description: Lecturer teaching the fundamentals of mechanical behavior of materials, course ME-102A. Responsibilities include preparing and giving lectures, homework, exams, and helping students both on a group basis and one-on-one. Course material includes elastic and plastic deformation of materials (metals, polymers, composites, and ceramics), fatigue and fracture of materials, and creep and visco-elastic behavior.

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Mechanical Engineering Department, U.C. Berkeley
~ August 95 - May 96, August 97 - December 97, January 99 - Present ~
Position Description: Teaching Assistant for Mechanical Engineering, Fracture, Material Behavior, and Polymer courses ME-223, ME-224, and ME-225/MSE 212. Responsibilities include assisting students either on a one-on-one basis or in small groups, and preparing and leading discussion sections. Course material includes design and failure analysis, behavior of materials, fatigue and fracture theory, and structure/property relationships for polymers.

Graduate Research Assistant, Mechanical Engineering Department, U.C. Berkeley
~ July 1994 - Present ~
Position Description: Research assistant for Prof. Lisa Pruitt, performing experimental fatigue testing of engineering polymers, primarily polycarbonate and ultra-high-molecular-weight-polyethylene. This research has included detailed studies of the fatigue behavior of engineering polymers under various fatigue stress loadings and component geometries.

Professional Affiliations

Registered Mechanical Engineer, State of California

Education

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from U.C. Berkeley

M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from U.C. Berkeley

B.S. in Engineering Physics and B.A. in Astrophysics from U.C. Berkeley

Publications

L. Pruitt and D. Rondinone, "The Effect of Specimen Thickness and Stress Ratio on the Fatigue Behavior of Polycarbonate", Polymer Engineering and Science, Mid-May 1996, Vol. 36, No. 9, pp1300-1305.

Contributing Author for API 579, Recommended Practice for Fitness-For-Service, Section 8: Assessment of Gouges, Scores, and Grooves, and Section 10: Assessment of Weld Misalignment, Out-of-Roundness, Bulges, and Dents.