VAREX IMAGING

Sr. Research Scientist, Program Manager, Mechanical Engineer, 2002-Present

Varex manufactures 1, 3, 6, 9, and 15 MeV electron accelerator driven x-ray sources in our Las Vegas facility, where I am.  In other facilities we manufacture flat panel detectors, and low energy tubes.  For our accelerator driven sources we have two major markets; Cargo Inspection and Non-Destructive Testing.  I have worked on various x-ray sources, and applications, in both markets, although in the past few years I have been entirely in our high energy non-destructive testing area.  In particular, I work on large solid rocket motor inspection systems.  An example is the solid rocket boosters that were used on the U.S. space shuttle. I have worked with various space and military agencies, in various locations (India, French Guiana, Italy, France, US) to install inspection systems for their rocket and/or missile programs.  The particular machine I work with now is the K15, our 15 MeV klystron powered model.  X-Ray output is 14,000 rads/min@1m at 15 MeV and 4,000 rads/min@1m at 9 MeV – this machine can operate at either energy, selectable in the control software.  The x-ray source is 10,100 lbs, and 9 feet long by 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide.  There are other system components as well, including a cooling unit, power distribution cabinet, modulator, and control console.  Here I talk about the x-ray source.

While at Varex and I have;

Designed new industrial electron accelerator targets using MCNPX, COSMOS/M, and Solidworks.

Customized shielding, focal spot, and CG locations to meet customer requirements.  On the K series machine, the CG is accurate to 1/8 inch, and total weight to 1/2%

Developed and wrote a program for path length shielding calculations directly from the geometry of a structural Finite Element Mesh. Later modified the program to work directly from CAD files.

Been responsible for the machine design that resulted in the most units sold, as well as the design that resulted in the highest profit margin.

Corrected collimation scheme and drawings to improve “edge-of-field” x-ray system performance. X-Ray optics classified as “world class” by customer.

Directed 15 major system installations around the world. Contract value for each was in excess of $2.5M.

LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LAB

Senior Mechanical Engineer, 1998 – 2001

I worked on various accelerator projects.  I made a significant contribution at Los Alamos by successfully integrating Structural and Electro-Magnetic computational codes.  Analytically I took loads and imposed them on a structural model to get nodal displacements and deformations.  These results could then be used to impose that same deformation on the electro-magnetic model.  This is only possible with an exact match in node and mesh structure between the two codes.  This method could be used to calculate frequency shifts and field changes in response to real world loading situations.  Definitely check out my publications section for more info.  When I left the Lab, I was asked to give a seminar on this coupled model method, which I did.  The seminar was recorded for later reference.

Another project I got to work on was a magnet alignment scheme/plan.  I implemented a quadrupole magnet alignment scheme for 21 magnets weighing 100 lbs. each, spaced out over 6 meters of length.  Each magnet was individually calibrated so the magnetic center was located on the geometric center.  The system was accurate enough that correction magnets that were designed into the system were not used..

DELPHI (A DIVISION OF GENERAL MOTORS)

Mechanical Engineer, 2001-2002

This plant was performing research into lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicle applications.  I was not there long but was able to contribute a patent (#6,248,138 B1 dated June 19, 2001), I was primary inventor for an improvement to their electrolyte handling and charging system.