Résumé

William J. Betz

3807   24th Ave.

Sacramento, California 95820

Cell Phone: 916.599.8862

E-mail:  WildZBill@Gmail.com

S E N I O R   T E C H N I C I A N /  E N G I N E E R

with experience and skills in –

 MANUFACTURING / ELECTRONIC DESIGN / SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT / TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

Team Management / Process Development / Reverse Engineering / Test Equipment Design / System Testing

  Failure Analysis / Calibration / Part Identification / Training / Documentation / Innovative Solutions

 Carpentry / Plumbing / HVAC / Electrical / Roofing / Landscaping

F O R M A L   E D U C A T I O N

HVAC certification from CET

Navy school certifications:

  • Basic electronics, class “P”, San Diego, CA,  11/24/75 to 12/23/75
  • Electronics Tech, class “A”, Great Lakes, IL, 1/12/76 to 3/19/76
  • Electronics Tech, class “A” Phase 1 – Phase 2, Great Lakes, IL, 3/22/76 to 5/7/76
  • Electronics Tech, class “A” Phase 3 RADAR, Great Lakes, IL, 5/17/76 to 6/11/76
  • NAVAL Nuclear Power School, Mare Island, Vallejo, CA, 8/16/76 to 2/4/77

NRI home correspondence school on microcomputers and digital circuitry. Graduated with honors

 

I N T E R E S T S :   S E L F – S T U D Y

Mind Enhancement Techniques  / Pro-social Psychology / Astrophysics / Programming / Electronics Design

History / Anthropology / Archaeology / Sociology / Strategy

P R O F E S S I O N A L    E X P E R I E N C E

EMCO High Voltage Inc., Sutter Creek, CA; Feb. 2010-present

Supervisor of the test department, testing and burning in a variety of modules that output up to 30,000 volts. Manage up to 5 people at a time, train, test, troubleshoot, analyse, report, build test jigs and simple test gear.

Pavement Marking Technologies, Inc.;  Sacramento, California; 2006-2008

Technical Consultant to Pavement Marking Technologies, Inc., a privately held, early-stage engineering company that manufactures robotic pavement marking systems for the Highway Construction and Maintenance Market.  PMTI’s computerized system, RoadWriter™, sprays words and legends on pavement.  Core customer segments include municipal, state and federal government agencies and private contractors.

        Technical Consultant/Investor 

  • Reverse Engineered entire system, to create missing documentation. This included tracing many wires and analyzing hand wired electronic boards. Also studied software system as original programmer is no longer an employee.
  • Created new documentation: Drew schematics of wiring and PCB’s, created an 8 digit part numbering system for all parts, and created an extensive Bill of Materials. Took photos of all parts, and later created a video of system in operation. Photos were integrated into the Bill of Materials.
  • Upgraded system by removing some unneeded control systems, adding larger and faster motors, rerouting wiring, and integrating a new paint system. Also added a pushbutton interface to simplify operation.
  • Assumed responsibility for software system used to control the paint head in 4 dimensions. Redesigned some of it.
  • Offered ideas and drawings for future improvement of product, which may be implemented later in the manufacturing cycle.
  • My documentation was used by a team of engineers to redesign and rebuild product.

Business investment search; Sacramento, California; 2005-2006

Searched for a business investment that would provide a good return and employment. Examined hundreds of available businesses and thoroughly analyzed several in depth, studying customer base, contracts, competition, available training and potential for growth. This included analyzing the finances, interviewing owners and customers, and researching the marketplace.

  • Invested in PMTI, a technical manufacturing startup. It has huge potential and was a good match for my skills and experience. Became a minority stockholder and technical consultant.

Vacuum Process Engineering Inc.; Sacramento, California; 2004 – 2005

A world leader in vacuum welding, a process that is still considered as much an art as a science. In a vacuum, metals are brought evenly to a specific temperature for a very specific length of time to allow for a bonding process to occur. In some cases there is also a specific pressure applied, in other cases specific gasses are introduced.

  • Learned to operate vacuum furnaces for brazing, diffusing, and clean firing metal products.
  • Assembly of metal components for brazing, application of metal alloy pastes, spot welding.
  • Forklift certification.
  • Managed a crew of 12 employees that performed similar duties for 4 months.

Material Solutions Inc., Clearlake, California; 1999 – 2003

Served as Final Test Technician for a turnkey contract manufacturer. Mounting of electronic components on Printed Circuit Boards by hand and by machine. Wave soldering, hand soldering, and surface mount. Testing of boards and systems. The products ranged from remote sensing and control, to a vision recognition device.

  • Final test and calibration of over 25 different PCBs, and complete systems.
  • Board inspection before and after wave soldering, and other QC duties.
  • Reworked faulty PCB’s, and trained others to do it when available.
  • Uncovered design flaws in products, and assisted the customer in upgrading them.
  • Responsible for the programming of the surface mount pick-and-place machine (MyData 12), occasionally assisted in running it, and training new operators.

Betzware, Lower Lake, California;  1997 – 1999

Created a technical consulting company to create websites for small retail businesses, found that local businesses were not interested at that time. Evolved into electronic consulting contract with a laser company, SDL Inc.

SDL Inc., as contractor; 1997 – 1998

SDL Inc., is a diode laser company in San Jose.  I was contracted as a consultant for them to design test equipment for one of their laser systems.

  •  Designed two testers, one for a power supply PCB, and the other for a complex controller board.
  • For the power supply, there were simple controls and high current loads.
  • For the controller board, included a computer and analog circuitry to simulate laser operation.
  • Tester used an embedded computer from Z-world. Included an LCD and keypad.
  • Wrote a complex program in ‘C’ for the embedded computer for operation and troubleshooting.
  • Provided schematics, software source code, Bills of Material, and instructions for operation.
  • Trained technicians to use testers.

Indigo Medical Inc., Palo Alto, California; 1993 – 1997

Manufacturing Engineer for a team that created a medical laser company for prostate treatment.  Johnson and Johnson acquired Indigo in August 1996 for $100 million. The system was a very compact unit able to fit inside a large suitcase, and delivered 20 watts of power through a specially designed fiber optic probe.

  • Transfer of technology from consulting firm (Bridge Design).
  • Building, testing, documenting, and shipping first laser systems.
  • Setting up first production areas, buying meters, Oscilloscopes, power meters.
  • Designing and building test equipment to test functionality of components:
  • Controller box- a box that replaced all of the functions of the computer board with switches, LED’s, and test points for system testing.
  • System Cycler- A small micro-controller which would be connected to a laser system and cycle the system through all of its operative states for six hours. It did this by simulating keystrokes on the user interface.
  • Distributed system- an entire system laid out flat for easy testing of boards. Included a box to simulate the signals normally returned by an operating laser.
  • Shutter tester- Taught an intern from Germany how to program a micro-controller then instructed him on how to build a tester for the shutter. It was specifically measuring the bounce time of a mechanical shutter.
  • Fiber Scanner- re-design and fine tuning of a system that moved a diffused fiber optic through a sensor array. Use of stepper motors, National Instruments Card, LabView software, MS-DOS computer.
  • Documentation: Created and maintained hundreds of documents for the building, testing, labeling, and shipping of the laser system and delivery fiber. Created method sheets for assembly, using simple wording and illustrated digital pictures. Documented all test fixtures with drawings, procedures, validations, Bill of Materials, schematics, and software if needed.
  • Transfer and training- Transferred all knowledge to assemblers and technicians as they were hired. Assisted other professionals as they took over some tasks and expanded upon them.

Sunrise Technologies Inc., Fremont CA 1991 – 1993

Served as a laser technician for this manufacturer of medical YAG lasers used for dentistry and eye surgery.

  • Alignment, test and repair of YAG lasers
  • Designed a shutter tester
  • Redesigned their shutter.
  • Solved design problems in the HV switching power supply, and the laser pulse detection circuitry.
  • Transferred new technology from engineering department to production area.

Lexel Laser Inc., Fremont CA 1987 – 1991

Served as a laser technician for this manufacturer of scientific ion lasers.

  • Test and QA of laser power supplies (both switching and linear), and all related PC boards for ion lasers.
  • Designed and built many test fixtures
  • Worked with engineering to correct any power supply design errors.
  • Created procedures and theory of operations documentation.
  • Managed the telephone system.
  • Designed control circuitry that went into some of the products.
  • Worked with R&D on the creation of a tightly tuned laser system and was named on the patent application.
  • Calibration of Lexel power meters

U.S. NAVY, 08/27/1975 – 01/14/1980

Electronic Technician, RADAR, E5

  • Maintenance, repair and calibration of RADAR systems of the U.S.S.  Wichita

VOLUNTEER WORK

Sacramento Open Shop – Chairman of a non-profit organization attempting to open a local hackerspace, a shared work space with various tools and equipment for creating products of various types.

 

R E F E R E N C E S

Available upon request.