James K. Draper
Summary
Mission-oriented Mechatronic Engineer with an active Secret Clearance, offering proven expertise in delivering advanced engineering solutions for the design, integration, and deployment of complex aerospace technologies and facilities within highly regulated environments. Demonstrated ability to manage technical engineering projects effectively while fostering team collaboration and aligning strategic program objectives with precise, bit-level requirements. Committed to driving innovation and operational excellence through a comprehensive understanding of engineering principles and practices. Eager to contribute a robust skill set to enhance organizational success in challenging technical landscapes.
Overview
6
6
years of professional experience
Work History
Controls & Instrumentation Engineer
Ordnance Test and Evaluation Branch
12.2020 - Current
- Provide Controls and Instrumentation Engineering for the Naval Static Motor Firing Test Facilities. Have conducted 50 test events for 8 programs of record as a journeyman instrumentation and controls engineer.
- Setup, configure, and operate multiple data acquisitions systems and signal conditioners such as Pacific Instruments, HBM Genesis, National Instruments, Dynamic Amplifiers, PCB Amplifiers, and Precision Filters signal conditioners.
- Provide Controls and Instrumentation Engineering support to customers and test managers to identify their requirements through technical writing and engaging in person to accomplish their test objectives.
- Provide cost estimates to test managers on labor and consumables related to Controls and Instrumentation.
- Purchase and choose gages from our inventory that meets the specific data the customer wants to collect.
- Extremely knowledgeable and experienced in using strain gages, pressure transducers, loadcells, LVDTs, plunger potentiometers, string potentiometers, thermocouples, heat flux gages, IEPE accelerometers, charge accelerometers, IEPE pressure transducers, flowmeters, solenoid valves, actuators and hydraulic motors.
- Lead engineer for designing, documenting, operating, and maintaining a Thrust Vector Control System.
- Design, document, and build a vector overlimit system that will shut off hydraulics and command signals to a thrust vector control system when a nozzle’s vector exceeds a set range. Accomplished this by programming a microcontroller in C, designing a circuit that utilizes a latching IC and installing the system on a PCB board.
- Responsible for calibrating actuators and LVDTs to LVDT signal conditioners.
- Responsible for calibrating gages to our data acquisition system using manual calibration and voltage substitution.
- Ensure all gages are properly chosen, calibrated, installed, and checked out prior to the test event.
- Manage a team of electrical technicians and engineers to instrument items, set up the facility, and check out the instrumentation and controls hardware.
- Design, implement, test and present on control systems that integrate our facility’s firing system with the items initiation system for multiple programs of record.
- Lead Engineer for designing, documenting and building a centrifuge control system for Non-Destructive Tests.
- Team member for making requirements and designing a test console for a post boost control system.
- Work with calibration labs and government partners to write requirements and statements of work to purchase services to calibrate power supplies, loadcells, pressure transducers, and heat flux gages.
- Evaluate if calibration labs met the requirements stated in the statement of work, then ensure the gages past calibration by performing a linear fit and cross referencing past calibration sheets.
- Extensive experience in data processing using LabVIEW, MATLAB, Python, and Visual Basic.
- Update Python and LabVIEW code to perform data processing to meet current customer needs.
- Design and coordinate the manufacturing of test hardware that interfaces with sensors.
Earthquake Recovery Integrated Product Team – Requirements End-User
04.2021 - Current
- Facilitate the design, fabrication, integration, and testing of $6M worth of controls, data acquisition systems, and post processing software for the Naval hypersonic ground testing facility and the Naval static motor firing test facilities.
- Ensure Statement of Works are followed and understood across government teams, and contractors.
- Lead technical discussions across multiple disciplines to develop robust requirements and specifications.
- Advisor to Requirement Leads and assist in creating requirements for multiple Control and Data acquisition systems.
- Provide functional, performance and interface requirement definitions for facility Control and Data Acquisition systems.
- Facilitate and lead design reviews and technical discussions for multiple testing facilities.
- Author of a calibration process for Loadcells, Pressure Transducers, Strain Gages, Thermocouples, Heat Flux, accelerometers, and LVDTs ensuring traceability of all data produced across facilities.
- Mentoring an interdisciplinary team on the importance of instrumentation practices such as bridge balancing, voltage substitution, manual calibrations and how to validate your instrumentation and data acquisition system.
- Reviewing and providing feedback on functional specifications, engineering drawings, network architecture, concept of operations, prototype acceptance test plans, factory acceptance test plans, and site acceptance testing.
JIRA Administrator
Ordnance Test and Evaluation Branch
04.2021 - Current
- Designed and implemented a scalable inventory management system supporting multiple test facilities, enabling precise tracking and assignment of gages to designated test series.
- Tailored workflows, data fields, dashboards, and reporting tools to effectively convey cost estimates and test readiness metrics to key stakeholders, enhancing transparency and decision-making.
- Wrote automated alert systems for when hardware and sensors go out of calibration.
- Delivered technical support and user training on JIRA, while administering permissions and access controls for branch-wide operations to ensure secure and efficient platform usage.
Instrumentation Engineer
Conventional Test Facility
10.2019 - 12.2020
- Conducted in-depth troubleshooting and root cause analysis of sensors and system failures, documenting findings through comprehensive technical reports.
- Managed controls and instrumentation sensors, ensuring availability and operational readiness across projects.
- Reviewed Electrical drawings to ensure that our inventory could meet customer requirements; strategically assigned gages to appropriate locations and data acquisition channels.
- Collaborated with multidisciplinary contractor teams to install gages accurately, verify channel assignments, and confirm functionality through testing procedures.
- Converted calibration sheets provided by the manufacturer to calculate coefficients from raw data to engineering units.
- Developed and presented standardized data processing workflows to ensure consistent review and delivery of technical information to customers, minimizing errors and enhancing reliability.
- Delivered team wide presentations on technical topics such as programable logic controllers, sensors, and data acquisition systems to provide a broad understanding to the team.
Design / Instrumentation Engineer
Antenna Tracker
07.2019 - 10.2019
- Designed and implemented two antenna trackers that utilize civilian off-the-shelf hardware and software.
- Created and analyzed requirements to generate an analysis of alternatives for the antenna tracker.
- Calculated gearing ratios for two servomotors to achieve desired torque and rotation for a gimbal to move a 5lb payload.
- Designed an antenna mount utilizing SolidWorks and 3D printing.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Mechatronic Engineering
California State University, Chico
05.2019
Skills
- Technical: C, C, Python, LabVIEW, Structured Text, Ladder Logic, MATLAB, PSpice, Altium, Arduino IDE, I2C, Automation Direct PLC, Allan Bradly PLC, Beckhoff PLC, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Office, Technical Writing, Report Writing, Soldering, Oscilloscope, Function Generator, Multimeter, Fiber Optics 1-2-3 Certification from Light Brigade, Hacker 101 and Secure Coding Version 2, Windows Operating System Security, Strain Gages Installation, Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing, General Ham Radio Operator KJ6ELZ, Ordnance Team Member
- Interpersonal: Technical Management, Presenting, Developing and Leveraging Professional Networks, Task Delegation, Team Building, Conflict and Change Management, Partnering and Negotiating
Timeline
Earthquake Recovery Integrated Product Team – Requirements End-User
04.2021 - Current
JIRA Administrator
Ordnance Test and Evaluation Branch
04.2021 - Current
Controls & Instrumentation Engineer
Ordnance Test and Evaluation Branch
12.2020 - Current
Instrumentation Engineer
Conventional Test Facility
10.2019 - 12.2020
Design / Instrumentation Engineer
Antenna Tracker
07.2019 - 10.2019
Bachelor of Science - Mechatronic Engineering
California State University, Chico
Personal Information
Secret Clearance