Introduction
I’ll stretch the term Curriculum Vitae as far as I can and list anything I consider useful work or worthwhile experience that helped shape who I am now. A conventional summary of the history of may day jobs can be found on the resume page.
Yearbook Photographer, Lewis and Clark High School
I don’t remember whether it was a class or an extracurricular activity, or even how I got the job. However, I do remember it was sort of like having a superpower (read more)
Bushnell Comet Halley Exploratory Quest Award
I focused on Halley’s Comet, which was returning toward the Sun on its 75 to 79 year cycle (read more)
United States Navy Submarine Force
I joined the U.S. Navy with hopes of becoming a nuclear propulsion plant operator. Instead I had the good fortune to be part of the training program’s world-famous attrition rate (read more)
SCAD Family Sport Boat
After the success of their sports car prototype the Industrial Design department at Savannah College of Art and Design had an even grander vision: to build a 20′, fully operational sport power boat. I was familiar with power boats and I was fascinated by 3D modeling (read more)
CAD Drafter for InterMarine Savannah
In the SCAD Boat project I worked closely with the naval architect and head of lamination at InterMarine. Later I was given the opportunity to work as an intern for the structural engineer, updating scantling drawings and making shop sketches for changes in fabrication. This was invaluable experience as it introduced me to professional drafting, to working in the shipyard environment, and being laid off (read more)
CAD Drafter and 3D Modeler for Palmer Johnson Yachts
After graduating from SCAD I was hired by the Palmer Johnson service yard in Thunderbolt, GA to make installation drawings for refit work, and to make 3D models and fabrication drawings for parts of a 95′ aluminum motor yacht then under construction (read more)
Designer for Donald L. Blount and Associates
In six years with DLBA I took part in a wide array of projects, from mega-yachts and offshore sportfish boats, to small power boats and (read more)
Designer for Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding
The crash of 2008 caught up with DLBA and led to layoffs in 2010. I used this layoff as an opportunity to take part in the biggest show in town: Newport News Ship Building. I played a minor role in the deactivation of USS Enterprise by designing six temporary ventilation runs to go from the hangar deck to Reactor Compartments 2A and 2B. It was also an exciting chance to see a pivotal location in shipbuilding history (read more)
Structural Designer for Gibbs & Cox
After contracting for a time at NNSB I contracted (for the first time) at Gibbs & Cox. I’ve worked there a total of four times. The first time was a watershed because I had never used ShipConstructor before. But by then I had used Rhino for years, so they started me out in the Hull module, modeling shell plates (read more)
Mechanical Designer for CDI Marine
Worked in the Virgina Beach planning yard office that supported the combatant craft division of NAVSEA Carderock. point of the job was making drawings for repowering 34′ patrol boats by upgrading the engines and replacing the ourdrives with water jets (read more)
Structural Designer for Guido Perla and Associates
Structural 3D Designer for Eastern Shipbuilding Group
Modeled ship’s structure and developed production deliverables for an OSV (read more)
Structural Designer for Marinette Marine
Made structural modifications to LCS class models to support design maturation and weight control changes. I worked for two weeks on site in Marinette, WI, then continued working for Marinette from a desk in Gibbs & Cox’s office in Newport News (read more)
Production Support Designer for Senesco Marine
I modeled the wing tanks and related assemblies on the flaoting drydock shown throughout this website. A floating drydock has two primary regions: the flat, raft-looking box called the pontoon, and the two or more upright boxes atop the pontoon, called the wing tank(s). This drydock is a showpiece and I had a great time modeling it and watching it being built (read more)
Structural Designer for BMT Designers & Planners
ShipConstructor modeling for the re-straking of WMSL class Coast Guard cutters. I loved Rhode Island but it was too far from home. Gibbs & Cox wasn’t on the team than won the USCG OPB contract, so there was no way to go back there right away. I wound up working for a subsidiary of BMT in Alexandria, VA (read more)