Bradford Levy

Supported the hydraulics and fuel injection application, worked with customers during evaluation of our software, tracedk the development of new features and customer feedback. Developed a tool to automate 3D CFD on hydraulic valves and import the results into our 1D CFD code. Developed a 3D tank model that leveraged multi-body simulation to track the liquid-gas interface.

Lead the design and development of a new low-cost engine brake system saving Cummins $12.6M annually and bringing a previously cost-prohibitive safety technology to the heavy duty truck market in China. Used analysis tools to collect feedback from customers and determine product engineering requirements. Was responsible for dynamic analysis of hydro-mechanical systems and mentoring of three engineers supporting the project. Developed and implemented the instrumentation and testing plans to validate the system’s behavior and analysis results. The novel design resulted in numerous patent applications some of which have been granted while others are still in process.

Supported the design of the engine valvetrain and camshaft. Lead the design of several composite parts ranging in length from 20cm to 1m. Incorporated feedback from manufacturing, purchasing, and marketing to ensure that the components were easy to assemble, minimized cost while meeting quality standards, and aesthetically appealing. Received the Chairman’s Quality Award for my role in developing the Value Package Profile of our engine.

Worked with our industry sponsor to increase the fatigue life of their bicycle fork by a factor of 3 and reduce the design’s weight. The fork is now in production and the project received first place in the ME department as well as an award for best Major Qualifying Project from the American Society of Materials. Utilized CAD and FEA tools to carry out static, dynamic, and fatigue life analyses. Incorporated experimentally determined material properties for the heat affect zones created during welding, thus increasing the accuracy of the models. Validated the models through testing on a custom designed and fabricated fatigue testing machine. Programmed a microcontroller to run the controls and data-logging for the testing. Used the validated model to optimize the bicycle fork’s geometry and then validated the purposed solution.