Expert Details
Furniture Quality Expert
ID: 735788
Michigan, USA
I have been a part of the furniture industry for most of my adult life. To be specific, I have focused my energy on the testing of furniture. My ongoing goal is to work with industry professionals, testing organizations, and other interested parties in order to make furniture safer and make the furniture testing standards that we use as repeatable as possible. I feel that I have a great deal of experience, and a great deal to offer. My journey in this industry is far from over, so I hope to help as much as possible.
Influencer/Expert
Areas of expertise:
Business Skills
Test Lab Business Sales and Marketing Strategy
Small Business Administration Test Standard Development Ergonomics Development
Legal Cases – Furniture Related Expert
Customer Service
Engineering Skills Mechanical Design Electrical Design Pneumatic Design
PLC programming – Statement/Basic, Flowchart, Ladder
HMI Design/Programming
Motion Control Integration and Programming
Strain Gage Technology
Written and Verbal Communication
Engineering Product Familiarity
Testpoint – Data Acquisition control software
Think&Do – PC control
Vishay Micro-Measurements – Strain Gages and Instrumentation Wonderware – Human Machine Interface, and Data Acquisition Indusoft – Human Machine Interface, and Data Acquisition
Data Translation – Data Acquisition boards/USB devices
CTC – Industrial Controllers
AutomationDirect – PLC’s, AC drives, Touchscreens
AGV - Touchscreens
Emerson-Control Techniques – Servo drives Baldor – Servo drives/Motion controllers Turck – Sensors
Omega – Load cells
Festo – Pneumatics
Warner – Ball Screws, Linear bearings
Gates – Belt drives
Specialty:
Design furniture test standards Design furniture testing machines Designing labs for companies Making labs more efficient
Work with industry representatives on ergonomics of furniture
Education
| Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year: 2000 | Degree: Bachelor of Science, Magna Cum Laude | Subject: Manufacturing Systems Engineering Technology | Institution: Silver Lake College |
Work History
| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years: 2016 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: President, Principal | Department: President, sole owner and employee |
Responsibilities:Perform expert witness duties for various cases, test equipment design, test lab evaluation and training.Over 23 years experience in testing, codes, and standards for the furniture industry. Broad scope engineering experience in electrical, mechanical, manufacturing, etc. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2014 to 2016 | Employer: Underwriters Laboratories (UL) | Title: UL Furniture Division Leader - North America | Department: Furniture |
Responsibilities:Overall responsibility for North American furniture testing operations and business development.Manager of Furniture Test Machine Operations. Furniture Division Business Development Manager; Resident BIFMA Testing Expert. Laboratory Equipment Planner in Babiate, Italy and Nansha China. Training consultants. Holland location Administrative Manager. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2007 to 2014 | Employer: Advanced Furniture Testing | Title: President | Department: Management |
Responsibilities:Responsible for the overall business and laboratory management of a state of the art A2LA accredited furniture testing facility. Design responsibilities consist of mechanical and electrical design as well as programming of all internal equipment and product offerings. Duties also include planning and overall responsibility for test machine and materials budgets, and BIFMA representation. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2004 to 2008 | Employer: Herman Miller | Title: Test Engineer | Department: Quality/Design and Development |
Responsibilities:Responsible for the project management, design, and implementation of many new test machines during my tenure at Herman Miller. Design responsibilities consist of mechanical and electrical design as well as programming. Duties also include planning and overall responsibility for the annual test equipment budget, space planning for a test lab renewal project, and implementing a specification plan for all fixtures and future equipment in the Herman Miller test lab. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 1994 to 2003 | Employer: Krueger International | Title: Test Analyst/Test Engineer | Department: Design and Development |
Responsibilities:Test Engineer, 1998 through 2004Test Analyst, 1994 through 1998 Designed testing criteria for products that do not fit into the scope of existing national standards. Many of these have been adopted as ANSI/BIFMA standards. Represented Krueger International at ANSI backed national testing standard revision conferences. Performed complete design, development, construction, project management, documentation, and training of staff on all new automated test machines and updates for existing machines for the past seven years. Performed testing of office furniture to national and international standards including: ANSI/BIFMA, ISO9000, ASTM, UL, and CGSB. Prepared and documented product testing records enabling final design approval for manufacturing. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 1988 to 1994 | Employer: United States Navy | Title: Fire Controllman 2nd Class | Department: Surface Fleet |
Responsibilities:Fire Control Technician/Mk86 Data Group Supervisor: Responsible for the mission critical maintenance of computer, radar, analog systems, operating consoles, and digital processing equipment. |
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Career Accomplishments
| Associations / Societies |
|---|
| Business Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) Furniture Performance Consulting, Member and Representative Advanced Furniture Testing (a UL Company), Representative Advanced Furniture Testing, Member and Representative Krueger International (KI), Representative |
| Publications and Patents Summary |
|---|
| Patents: Test Device For Seating Structure, United States Publications: 2 Media Placements: Advanced Furniture Testing: 5 Public Appearances: 2 |
Additional Experience
| Expert Witness Experience |
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| Expert Witness Engagements: 6 |
| Other Relevant Experience |
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| AFT volunteer work for BIFMA (was working on a study of the repeatability of ergonomic etc. Round robin study Chair Measurement Devices. BIFMA chose Advanced Furniture Testing as the neutral location and sponsor for the study. AFT did two different sets of measurements. The first round of study took place during 2011. During the second round of measurements, there were Domestic and International participation from about 20 different companies. 2011-2013 BIFMA CMD vs ISO CMD Study: ISO CMD Available for Study and Evaluation. Members of the BIFMA Seating, Ergonomics, and International Subcommittees were actively engaged with the International Standards Organization (ISO) in developing the ISO Chair Measuring Device (CMD) for purposes of global measurement consistency. The subcommittees recognize several improvements as compared to the current BIFMA CMD. In addition to global recognition, the ISO CMD has improved measurement capabilities for lumbar support, more representative weight distribution in the seat, and other improvements in measurement capabilities. BIFMA sought volunteers to participate in a round robin study of the new CMD. Volunteers measured per the protocol of ISO/TR 24496 Office Furniture – Office Chairs – Methods for the determination of dimensions. Volunteers asked to measure a control chair in addition to their own chair using both the ISO and BIFMA CMDs. Chairs submitted for the round robin study available for others to measure and data will be shared as appropriate. The study took place at Advanced Furniture Testing in Holland, MI during the months of February through June of 2012. Additionally, the ISO CMD was available to BIFMA members that are not participants in the study at our location. Further Studies for BIFMA: Impact force generated by using different bag media. Two studies were performed by Advanced Furniture Testing during 2008-2009. The goal of our study was to understand how the Seating Durability (Impact) signature varied when using different materials in the weight bag. |