Education
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Post Degree - Artificial Intelligence Expert and Knowledge Systems (USC Graduate Courses, Certificate from State of California), and over 5,000 hours in other engineering, computer, digital media, video, website design, and management subjects.
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BS Applied Physics (Electronics) - University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)
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AA Photography - East Los Angeles College. Cum Laude, outstanding student in major, youngest student in graduating class (18 years old).
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Classes Taught - Circuit Design, Hypertext, Photography
Experience
SMPS Technology - Apr 1981 to Present
President and co-owner of SMPS Technology. SMPS Technology currently can best be described as being in the business of providing content to power supply circuit designers via the World-Wide Web through a family of websites.
From 1994 to the present representative clients have included:
- Biosource, Inc. Worcester, MA - 01/2000 to 01/2002
- Performed research and conceptual design of energy management and recovery system for flow-through capacitors used for water purification. Work was sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
- Boeing North American, Anaheim, CA (loan to Downey) - 09/98 to 12/98
- Performed power distribution system trade study for exoatmospheric kill vehicle including approaches for radiation hardening.
- Boeing North American, Anaheim, CA - 2/97 to 5/97
- Performed worst-case circuit analysis, including radiation effects, of power electronics circuits.
- Water Regeneration Systems, Inc. Belmont, CA. - 06/94 to 01/97
- Recommended power supply approach for experimental, demonstration, and production water purification systems for world-wide markets for several scenarios. Made recommendations on need for foreign patents on complex power electronics system. Participated in video tape discussion of power electronics issues for information of investors. Performed design review of existing power supply system with recommendations on how to improve design and strengthen patent position. Performed miscellaneous computer tasks including recommendations for Web site and Intranet development.
- Boeing North American, Downey, CA - 11/96 to 12/96
- Developed detailed load power analysis and energy-balance EXCEL worksheets for a commercial communication satellite spacecraft, interviewing all subsystem leads for details of loads and load duty cycles for each phase of the mission. Besides providing the necessary analysis, reviewed the parametrically-determined sizing of the spacecraft electrical power system including solar arrays and NiH batteries.
- Treasury Services, Inc., Santa Monica, CA - 09/95
- Consulted as hypertext specialist with company principal and staff on approaches for implementing a help-desk system for maintaining software systems for the banking industry.
- Celebrity Shopping Network, Inc, Beverly Hills, CA - 02/95
- As database designer, finished design of ACCESS database used by jewelry buyer to track inventory, costs, and profits for a television shopping network.
- Various - 2/94 to present.
- Website design and webmaster. Activity includes website review, site design, maintenance, graphics, digital photography, mailing lists, analyzing website statistics, keeping current with legal and Internet ethics, writing content, and HTML coding, including validation to XHTML 1.0 Strict with Cascading Style Sheets.
From 1983 through 1994, SMPS Technology was operated within conflict-of-interest guidelines of Rockwell International Corporation with emphasis on maintaining a Power Electronics Knowledge Base used by power electronics consultants and by universities offering graduate degrees in power electronics. Customers included:
- California Institute of Technology
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Duke University
- PowerCon®
- Naval Ocean Systems Center
- Northrop Corporation
- EG&G Almond Instruments
- Simmonds Precision
- Instruments, Inc.
- ej Bloom Associates, Inc.
- Power Innovations
- Mullett Associates, Inc.
During this time we also supported trial lawyers in using knowledge engineering techniques to organize materials.
From 1981 to 1983 SMPS Technology (then known as Foutz Engineering) provided engineering and information services in power electronics, primarily on U. S. Navy programs. Clients included:
- Institute for Defense Analysis/Office of the Secretary of Defense
- Naval Material Command
- Naval Electronics Command
- Naval SEA Command
- David Taylor Naval Ship Research and Development Center
- Naval Underwater Systems Center
- Naval Ocean Systems Center
- Naval Weapons Support Center
- Army Research Office
- National Bureau of Standards
- EG&G Washington Analytical Services
- General Electric Space Systems Division
- Battelle Columbus Laboratories
- ARINC Research Corporation
- Systems and Applied Sciences Corporation
- Rockwell International Corporation
The reputation of the company grew so that only one fifth of the work offered could be accepted. During this time the Chief of Naval Material awarded Mr. Foutz the prestigious Naval Material Command's Reliability, Maintainability, and Quality Assurance award for contributions to fleet readiness. All business-plan goals were met during this period.
Rockwell International Corporation - Mar 1983 to Jan 1994 (Retired)
As Senior Engineering Specialist, served as corporate resource person in power electronics and hypertext.
Developed conceptual designs for power supplies for new business, wrote the power supply section of proposals. When contracts were won, served as lead engineer through preliminary design review, training the lead engineer who finished the design. Selected from 2,000 engineers as Engineer of the Year (1988) for contributions in power electronics. Member of the Corporate Power Conditioning Panel and Corporate contact for Power Electronics grant to the California Institute of Technology. Taught in-house power supply design class. Gave industry-wide seminar on power supply design.
Introduced hypertext-based concurrent engineering concepts to the corporation. Taught hypertext seminars to over 250 employees. Set up hypertext systems used on network servers accessed by 2,500 employees to capture and spread corporate knowledge. Selected from 1,000 engineers as innovator of the month (1993) for contributions in hypertext. Served as team leader on teams concerned with quality circles, total quality management, production problems, computer aided engineering, design engineering, and concurrent engineering. Used hypertext and other knowledge engineering techniques to increase quality and production. Wrote two conference papers on hypertext and one on expert systems. Gave one industry-wide seminar on hypertext.
EG&G Corporation - Sep 1980 to Apr 1981
Served as vice president of engineering for Almond Instrument Company, a custom power supply company with $5 Million a year sales, during its acquisition by EG&G, a Fortune 500 company. Introduced written procedures, formal design reviews, and improved testing methods to eliminate redesign due to engineering errors. Improved competitive posture by strengthening the engineering staff and initiating needed R&D. Introduced use of computers into the company and planned for Computer-Aided Design and Automatic Test Equipment. Introduced improved methods of estimating work and preparing proposals. These efforts both increased the sales price to EG&G, by correcting perceived weakness in the company, and laid the foundation for later successful growth of the company.
Naval Ocean Systems Center - Feb 1972 to Sep 1980
Established power electronics capability at the center and headed the Power Electronics Branch -- recruiting and training all branch members in the discipline. Center became recognized as a Government center-of-excellence in power electronics under this leadership. Served as chairman of a panel that coordinated all government sponsored research and development in power conditioning.
Developed and used knowledge engineering techniques to track the state-of-the-art in all power disciplines and used results to write the Navy's 5-year research and development plans.
Sponsored development at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) of the state-space-averaging methods now used throughout the power supply industry and of topology research leading to the Cuk converter and other previously unknown converters.
Led a team of Navy experts in power electronics investigating fleet problems and recommending solutions. Co-authored a report to the Chief of Naval Material summarizing the results of this team and all other teams on the project. These tasks had a major impact for the next decade on Navy research, development, and procurement policies concerning design for electromagnetic environments.
Performed studies and defended the results for reducing the use of shipboard 400 Hz power. Results are now Navy policy.
Led investigation into techniques on how to design low-noise power supplies for communications equipment very susceptible to noise.
Developed new conceptual design for solid state VLF transmitters in the 300 kW to 3 Megawatt range with full digital wave shaping and control and with the ability to change amplitude and frequency in a single cycle. Failed modules could be detected and replaced while actively transmitting. Feasibility was later demonstrated with a 35 kW breadboard.
Served on the Electromagnetic Compatibility Advisory Board (EMCAB) during development of the Tomahawk Cruise Missile, discovering a serious analysis flaw that led to contractor revamping and upgrading their EMC capability.
In the role as trusted advisor to Navy Program Managers, served as a consultant in power electronics to Navy programs, receiving an award for "Sustained Superior Performance" and many letters of commendation for contributions to these programs.
Rockwell International Corporation - Jun 1959 to Feb 1972
Joined Rockwell International (then the Autonetics Division of North American Aviation) as a Junior Research Engineer during Senior year at UCLA and rose to the position of manager of the analog circuit development unit responsible for all analog and power supply circuits in the division's computer
products.
Highlights include:
- Performed study for the Navy on trends in aircraft electrical power systems for background information to be used in Navy planning for Naval aircraft electrical power systems, including development of 270VDC aircraft power systems and components.
- Consultant and advisor on power supply portion of all new business proposals considered by division.
- Evaluator of the power system portion of vendor proposals for the B1 aircraft avionics systems.
- Performed study and made recommendations for implementing a fail operate, fail operate, fail safe power distribution system for the space platform.
- Responsible engineer for IR&D project for MegaHertz power conversion that demonstrated feasibility of power conversion at this frequency (by two separate regulation methods, zero switching PWM resonant circuits and vector addition of sine waves).
- Performed analysis of the F-111 Mark II avionics digital interface, predicting several problems and suggesting solutions -- before system integration verified problems, which were then corrected by the suggested solutions with minimum system impact.
- Supervisor of circuit development unit responsible for all non-memory non-digital circuits in avionics computers. Included were computers for the F-111 aircraft (D26J-41), CONDOR missile launch pod (D26J-44), and the SRAM launch aircraft (D26J-103). Accomplished special management assignments working with management teams establishing computer aided design policy for Autonetics (resulting in million-dollar savings) and in developing technical-objective-tracking for the DoD required PPBS Planning-Programming-Budgeting-System.
- Developed 28V 3A 20 kHz switching-mode converter power supply for the Minuteman TAPS transmitter with a power output density of nine watts per cubic inches, almost an order of magnitude improvement over previous power supply density for similar requirements. Met all design specifications including severe EMI, radiation hardening, shock and vibration, efficiency (greater than 95% efficient), and reliability.
- Responsible engineer for the Minuteman D37B guidance and control computer power supply study program which defined the state-of-art techniques later used in one of the first integrated-circuit military computers. These techniques included high-speed flat-pack power transistors and diodes (the first silicon power devices that could switch at 20 kHz and higher), high frequency dc-dc converters(100 kHz reduced to 20 kHz for reliability safety margins), high frequency pulse-width-modulated power supplies (20 kHz), metal substrate multilayer circuit boards (removing eight watts per cubic inch in space environment with 40C rise, junction to system heat sink), and radiation circumvention techniques that removed all electrical power from the power distribution system, including decoupling capacitors, in less than a 1 microsecond and restored to specified voltage in a few microseconds upon command. Responsible for developing these concepts from exploratory development through to the production design. The basic power supply configuration was maintained in later Minuteman missiles whereas other components underwent major redesigns. Also developed, but not used, was a complete liquid dielectric cooling system based on phase change. This study verified, for the first time, that such a system could work in zero-gravity, and that the liquid dielectric showed no compatibility problems with the chosen electronic components over a test period lasting eight years.
- Developed power supply circuits for the Army FADAC computer (12 kHz switching regulators using high speed germanium power transistors just becoming available) and Navy MARDAN computers (linear).
- Developed 40 A, Variable 40V to 28V from 28V source 1 kHz buck regulator used to start air-bearing gyros using the only power transistor then generally available, the germanium 2N174.
- Developed the standard family of low voltage power supplies used in virtually all of the Minuteman I silo operational ground equipment.
- One of two undergraduates among 80 professors and graduate students in Autonetics summer hire program. Program included orientation trips and tutorials in all aspects of North American Divisions working on inertial navigation, computers, space vehicles, rocketry, missiles, and radiation hardening. Continued working part-time developing power supplies while I finished my last semester at UCLA.
Professional Activities
- IEEE Power Electronics Society Los Angeles Council Chapter Webmaster
- IEEE 1998 Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC) Webmaster
- IEEE Power Electronics Society Los Angeles Council Chapter Treasurer
- IEEE Power Electronics Society Historian
- IEEE Power Electronics Society Administrative Committee Member-at-Large
- IEEE ASS Electrical Power/Energy Systems Panel
- IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference: Conference Chairman, Vice Chairman, Session Chairman, Program and Steering Committees
- IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference Rap Sessions on Use of Personal Computers and on Computer Aided Circuit Design
- IEEE San Diego Section Executive Committee
- IDA/OD R&M Study Power Supply Technology Working Group
- Navy/Industry Power Supply Ad Hoc Committee
- National Bureau of Standards evaluator of energy related inventions
- Chairman, Interagency Advanced Power Group Power Conditioning Panel
- Interagency Advanced Power Group Systems Working Group
Other
- Honorable discharge, U. S. Air Force, serving four years, Korean tour
- Over fifteen papers and seminars and seven videos
- Presentations on Power Electronics to over 150 Navy contractors
- One patent
- Member Mensa United States
- Life Senior Member Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
- Early Member HTML Writers Guild
Contact Information
Jerrold Foutz
6233 Callaway Place
Alta Loma, CA 91737-6904
(909) 989-0487
jerrold.foutz(replace with at sign)gmail.com
www.smpstech.com