GPS Engineer

• Hardware design – Versatility
  • Schematics
  • PCB Layout (Multilayer Surface Mount or Through Hole.)
  • Analog / Digital
  • Microprocessors, Memory buses, Power supplies, LCD
    circuits, communications ports, keyboards etc.
  • RF (1.5GHz)
  • Low Power (AA Batteries)
  • Circuit testing
  • Design for high volume manufacturing (ease of assy and test)
  • Design for problematic environmental conditions (High
    humidity, high temperature and high shock and vibration).

   

• GPS Systems
  • Familiar with most GPS chipsets available
  • Embedded systems design
  • GPS Antenna tuning and testing
  • GPS validation testing for accuracy, smooth plot
    trails, sensitivity, TTFF, SBAS (WAAS, EGNOS, etc)
  • Taken numerous seminars and classes on GPS

   

• GPS Validation Testing
  • Developed in house procedure responsible for testing all
    Lowrance GPS products and testing outside GPS engines and chipsets.
  • Virtually ALWAYS found problems with outside GPS
    engine designs and worked with vendor to resolve problems.
  • Wrote software to test GPS products.

• EMC
  • I Started EMC department at Lowrance which reported
    to me until the day I left.  This was an act of necessity.  We
    designed consumer products that operated in high noise environments and near radios that we did not want to jam.  While I was not the EMC
    engineer most of the time, they would report to me and I consulted with
    them to solve problems.
  • Designed all PCBs with an EMC in mind.  (Emissions,
    Susceptibility, and Electrostatic discharge)
  • Pioneered many of our RF shielding techniques

   

• Project Management
  • Project engineer for many projects often my own
    design projects.
  • Use Microsoft Project for Ghant charts and manpower
    loading
  • Interface to other disciplines such as software, mapping
    and mechanical design to optimize design, manufacturing and quality.

•  Management
  • Supervised young team of engineers to excel designing
    to extreme schedules with less people than would be expected.
    
  • Over 25 years experience managing people
  • Used to and likes team environment.  Good at
    pooling the best ideas to get optimum results.

• Public Speaking
  • Hand chosen to give customer service seminars in 5
    countries
  • Given numerous talks to IEEE.
  • Numerous presentations to management
  • Interfaced to customers
  • Interfaced with suppliers
  • Team leader of Engineering group

   

• Think Tank Skills
  • Handpicked a very small team of very young engineers
    and developed a 3V 12channel GPS design that showed operational testing
    prior to Rockwell International having demonstrated one.  Rockwell
    International was the company that designed, built and LAUNCHED the
    early GPS satellites.  We used
    our own software algorithms as NO software was provided by any outside
    source. It was based on the GEC Plessey chipset.

• Innovation – My Firsts at Lowrance
  • Designed first in hull transducer tester
  • Designed first high speed transducer production test
    tank
  • Produced first Loran-C receiver
  • Was hand picked and designed first SMT (surface
    mount) PCB
  • First to use CAD to design PCB
  • Designed first TSOP (Thin small outline Package) PCB
  • Designed first BGA (Ball grid array) PCB
  • Used first 0402 components in production
  • First MP3 player in the industry in GPS with
    Microphone input to make audible waypoints. (Patent issued)
  • Founder of Navigation group
  • Founder of EMC group

Rex received his BSEE from the University of Oklahoma and was a member of the
Institute of Navigation and the National Marine Electronics Association for over 20 years.  He has done
work in the US, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, China, Italy, France, Monaco, and Spain.