Rafer J. Chambers
Colorado Springs,CO
Summary
Creative and innovative engineer determined to bring ideas to life through cutting-edge technology and design techniques. Team player with strong problem-solving skills to contribute effectively to projects and teams. Considers unique and unconventional solutions to deliver exceptional results.
Overview
27
27
years of professional experience
Work History
Design Engineer
SRAM, LLC
08.2007 - 05.2023
- Lead designer on many design projects across many different suspension product platforms.
- Telescoping seat post: Designed chassis and internals of remote actuated seat posts. Posts had differing levels of pneumatic and hydraulic systems. Re-designed some concepts for improved manufacturability and more robust function.
- Suspension fork chassis: Designed structures of mountain bike suspension forks to optimize weight, look, and performance to meet specified needs in the market.
- Suspension fork spring: Designed multiple coil and air spring systems. Systems were force balanced designs, operator mechanically operated overall travel length adjustable air spring designs, and standard coil systems with differing systems for different rider needs.
- Suspension fork damper: Designed new dampers to incorporate varying end use requirements from simple light lockouts to performance oriented vehicle control systems.
- Collaborated with other teams on brake products, drivetrain products, electronic integration, and eyelet style suspension products.
- Trained new engineers for varying job roles.
- Created complete product design documentation packages detailing design requirements and technical specifications using CREO and PDMLink.
- Addressed design challenges and evaluated alternative design models to meet project requirements using test results, computer simulations, and calculations.
- Lead many sustaining and quality mini design projects.
- Collaborated with the advanced development team to create innovative new concepts.
- Created test plans and design of experiments to determine new product readiness for production. Created tests to replicate field failures and created testing requirements for proprietary test procedures.
- Lead a cross functional team Kaizen event to improve workshop flow.
- Coordinated with Taiwan design and manufacturing teams through hand written and verbal communication. Traveled to Taiwan and Europe to streamline manufacturing processes and help prevent issues for consumers.
Nuclear Engineer (Shift Test Engineer)
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
01.2004 - 07.2007
- Oversight of maintenance operations on Naval nuclear submarine reactors
- Completed nuclear power school
- Crane design: developed an innovative and economic design of the ring and pinion gear to increase load capacity of an existing crane
Summer Outdoor Guide Intern
Youth for Christ
06.2003 - 08.2003
- Mountain bike guide, River rafting guide, Equipment maintenance, Handyman
Summer Intern
Northstar Woodworks, Inc
05.1996 - 09.2002
- Built custom wood doors and windows.
- Worked on production equipment.
- CNC router apprentice/operator.
- AutoCAD drafter.
- Created cut lists for projects based on architectural drawings.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Engineering With Mechanical
Colorado School of Mines
Golden05.2003
Skills
- Computer: Pro-Engineer (Creo) and Mechanica, PDMLink, Solid Edge, AutoCAD, C, MathCAD, Algor, Matlab, LabVIEW, Microsoft Office, SmartCam, G-code, CNC Ops
- Car Design: design, build, develop, and drive road racing cars since 2008
Timeline
Design Engineer
SRAM, LLC
08.2007 - 05.2023
Nuclear Engineer (Shift Test Engineer)
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
01.2004 - 07.2007
Summer Outdoor Guide Intern
Youth for Christ
06.2003 - 08.2003
Summer Intern
Northstar Woodworks, Inc
05.1996 - 09.2002
Bachelor of Science - Engineering With Mechanical
Colorado School of Mines
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