Brian Menard

Engineering Portfolio(Approved for external use)

Portfolio Outline

• About Me

• Skills and Proficiencies

• NG 2019 Analysis Internship

• NG 2020 Analysis Intern

• NG 2020 RDE Support Intern

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• Prove Lab Endurance car overview

and roles

– Program manager

– Chief Mechanical Engineer

– Chief structural analyst

– Aerodynamicist

• PROVE Lab Solar car overview and

roles

– Manufacturing Lead

– Mechanical Lead

• NG 2018 Static Load Test Internship

About Me

• Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (Graduating December 2020)

– Mechatronics concentration

• Beginning Mechanical Engineering Master’s 4+1 program, aiming to complete by end of Fall 2021

• 3rd year returning Northrop Grumman intern

– 2 summers as Analysis and RDE Support Intern in the Mechanisms & Deployables department in Redondo Beach (Space Park)

– 1 summer as Test Engineering Intern at Innovation Systems in San Diego

• Lead of electric vehicle student organization PROVE Lab, at Cal Poly SLO

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Skills and Proficiencies

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Skills

Computer Aided Design

- Siemens NX

- CATIA

- Fusion 360

- Solidworks

Engineering Analysis

- NX Nastran

- FEMAP

- STAR CCM+

Coding

- MatLab

- Assembly

- Java

- Python (beginner)

Manufacturing

- CNC & manual

machining

- Composite manufacturing

- Assembly integration

Interpersonal

- Leadership

- Teamwork

- Program

management

- Communication

Technical

- Systems engineering

- Composite design

- Mechanical design

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NG 2019 Analysis Internship Responsibilities

• Interned with the Mechanisms and Deployables department as an

analysis intern

• Primary task was to make the finite element model for a heritage space

actuator

• Additionally conducted analysis trade studies, and improved bolted joint

analysis tools

• Also tasked with updating and improving bolted joint analysis MATLAB

script and spreadsheet

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NG 2020 Internship Analysis Responsibilities

• During this internship I supported both the analysis department as an analyst and actuator production as a designer

• After successful 2019 internship, I was given the responsibility of delivering analysis of a time critical space actuator by the end of my internship

– My analysis support on this time sensitive program enabled multiple actuators to be analyzed in parallel instead of in series, improving program scheduling and reducing expenses

– Worked with the analysis team to verify quality and accuracy of my analysis models

• Analysis work required coordination with design and RDE team to harmonize requirements and design updates in a comprehensive analysis package which included Random Vibe, couple loads, bolted joint analysis, stiffness response and reduced model creation

• Conducted trade study on finite element modeling methods

– Created robust modeling method to connect plate elements to solid elements

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NG 2020 Internship RDE Support Responsibilities

• During this internship I supported both the analysis

department as an analyst and actuator production as a

designer

• Supported the production of a space actuator

– Designed a bonding fixture to improve existing cable bonding techniques

– Supported the design, analysis and documentation to proof load test an

actuator tooling bracket

– Through supporting proof load test, freed up other members of the team to

focus on and accelerate other aspects of production & design

– Participated in assembly and testing activities for space Engineering Model

actuator in support of flight qualification activities to meet program’s delivery

schedule

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PROVE Lab Projects: The 1000 mile Endurance Car

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• PROVE Lab is a student run

organization at Cal Poly SLO

• Project Objective: Travel

1000 miles and break the

world record for longest

distance traveled on a single

charge by an electric vehicle

– Program manager

– Chief mechanical engineer

– Chief structural analyst

– Aerodynamicist

– Systems Engineer

– Sponsors & business outreach

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• Managed the day to day operations of every member of my ~50 person team over the course of 3 years

– Gained new appreciation and perspective on management and leadership roles

– Prioritized developing my teams technical and interpersonal skills, as they provide the foundation for the organization’s success

– Worked with my team to ensure that every member received challenging, yet achievable work from day one of joining the team

– Developed a recruitment program to better filter and train new students interested in joining the team. This program enabled the organization to grow by 25 new members and increased annual retention rate to 70%

• Developed and maintained long and short term project timelines

• Managed team’s finances and tracked material inventory to minimize impact and frequency of resource-based schedule delays

– Cultivated connections with industry sponsors to secure financial and material donations

– Completed grants to acquire additional funding support

Endurance Car: Program Manager

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(gif, present to animate)

Endurance Car: Chief Mechanical Engineer

Technical

• Developed an interdisciplinary and systems-based perspective on design though concurrently developing the many systems of the car

• Learned to consider the interplay of my designs on other systems, and the impact of my decisions throughout a parts lifecycle

• Designed the car’s composite body panels to balance the individual panel manufacturing complexity with their integration complexity

• Designed the car’s front and rear suspensions

– Self-taught myself the skills required to design the suspensions through both online research and discussions with professionals

Leadership

• Worked with my team to create conceptual and detailed designs for the entire car based off of system requirements

• Focused on providing challenging work to my team so that they could further develop their technical skills

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Endurance Car: Chief Structural Analyst

Technical :

• Personally performed or reviewed and approved all structural analysis on the car

– Performed initial composite analysis on the vehicle’s aeroshell

– Applied lessons learned from NG internship to improve the organizations finite element practices

– Created MatLab scripts to verify the accuracy of finite element analysis results through hand calculations

Leadership:

• Trained new members in various analysis techniques

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Endurance Car: Aerodynamicist

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• Used STAR CCM+ Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations used to optimize and

predict the aerodynamic performance of the vehicle

• Lead aerodynamics team to reduce aerodynamic drag by 40% and achieved a drag area of

0.23 m2 (CD of 0.119)

• Developed methodical approach to post processing simulation results used throughout

design trade studies

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PROVE Lab Projects: World’s Fastest Solar Car

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• Objective: Break the land speed record

for fastest solar powered car

– Designed to go 65 mph, in testing achieved

51 mph at 70% power

– Looking to break world record next summer

• My roles on the project

– Manufacturing Lead

– Mechanical Lead

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Solar Car: Manufacturing Lead

• Designed and CNC machined 35 foam molds for composite manufacturing as a college freshman

• Gained hands on experience with composite manufacturing and integration, and learned many lessons, limitations and considerations that arise while working with composites

14Chassis bonding and integration

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Solar Car: Mechanical Lead

Technical:

• Designed the rear suspension of the solar car as my first real engineering project as college a freshman

• Learned key mechanical design considerations such as bolt preloads, structural verification, and system packaging and manufacturability constraints.

Leadership:

• Lead redesign of mechanical systems for increased reliability

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NG 2018 Static Load Testing Internship

• Performed static load tests on a variety of composite and aluminum

structures including:

– 12 foot long composite booms for the Jupiter-3 satellite

– Fuel bulkheads for the CRS-2 ISS satellite

– Miscellaneous smaller communication satellites

16 Back to topCRS-2 ISS Resupply SatelliteJupiter-3 Satellite

For more information visit:

- LinkedIn profile

- Personal Website (slightly out of date but still relevant)

- Prove Lab website

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