Experience

Energy Recovery, Inc.

• United States
• Industrial Machinery Manufacturing
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Senior R&D Engineer (Mechanical/Turbomachinery)

  • Feb 2020 - Present

• R&D Engineer (Mechanical/Turbomachinery)

  • May 2017 - Jan 2020

  A member of the experiment and fluid system group within the research and development (R&D) team (consisting of 15 engineers), focusing on the design and development of turbomachines.• Lead the development of the pressure exchanger (PX)’s secondary-flow modeling using Simulink/Simscape to predict internal leakages and bearing’s stiffness. Design and conduct the experiment to validate the predictions. • Led a team of 2-4 engineers to develop new products, including, high-pressure (1,800psig) centrifugal pumps and PXs, and new testing facility for industrial-waste-water business. Delivered the 4 new products within 2.5 years and generated a 20% extra annual revenue for the company• Designed/built a test loop and a Labview-based data-acquisition/control system for axial-piston-pump development for desalination applications. Led the testing campaign and designed a Python-based framework to collect, analyze, and report the test results. Successfully completed the first phase of the project (design & R&D testing) 3 months ahead of an 18-month plan, and deployed the prototype to a field testing• Worked on the mechanical and system design for the development of hydraulic turbochargers. Designed a LabView-based data acquisition/control system to perform a factory acceptance test. Led the implementation of a health monitoring system and the rotordynamic analysis of the turbochargers. Resolved the bearing rubbed issue with a newly-designed bearing. Successfully delivered a $10-million order of 2,000HP hydraulic turbochargers, a newly developed technology for acid gas recovery process to Saudi Aramco. Coauthor with Saudi Aramco to present the design and commissioning experience at the 2021 International Pump and Turbo Symposium Show less



Turbomachinery Laboratory at Texas A&M

• United States
• Higher Education
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Research Associate

  • Jun 2020 - Apr 2022

  Worked with Dr. Luis San Andres' group to develop a framework to advance Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis of annular pressure seals with multiphase flows. • Performed CFD with the Eulerian multiphase model to study the static and dynamic force coefficients of the test seal. Validated predictions again test data and the in-house numerical model • Presented the findings at 2021 Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE) 's Annual Meeting & Exhibition, and at the 2023 Turbomachinery Technical Conference & Exposition (Turbo Expo) in Boston, USA Show less



Texas A&M University

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Graduate Research Assistant

  • Sep 2015 - May 2017

  Granted a $100,000 funding for a 2-year graduate program from Texas A&M Turbomachinery Research Consortium (TRC), an organization of over 35 major turbomachinery manufacturers and end-user firms in the world. Supervised by Dr. Dara Childs, the director of the Turbomachinery Laboratory (TL), to work on a 1-million-dollar-set-up-cost test rig, the very first in the world, built to study 2-phase-flow effects on rotordynamic performance of turbomachines. • Designed/built testing fixtures and setup. Maintained/upgraded the Labview-based data acquisition system. Led troubleshooting for the test rig's issues regarding hardware and system design. Successfully mitigated the test rig's structural instability to expand the rig's testing capacity from pure-liquid condition to 14%-gas-volume-fraction condition • Investigated rotordynamic performance of annular seals under two-phase flow conditions for subsea turbomachinery applications. Published more than 7 peer-reviewed papers at prestigious conference proceedings and journals based on the research data collected during the 2 years at TL • Prepared technical reports and presented findings to TRC members. The results were evaluated and recognized by top Fortune-500 turbomachinery manufacturers to support future technology (subsea turbomachinery) Show less



ExxonMobil

• Oil and Gas
• 700 & Above Employee

• Machinery Engineer (Rotating Equipment/Turbomachinery)

  • Aug 2012 - Aug 2015

  Assimilated with the Machinery Engineering Specialist team in ExxonMobil Singapore Refinery to support fuel, lube, and marine operations. Main roles involved improving machine design, troubleshooting and analyzing turbomachinery problems, guiding maintenance and operations teams to maintain equipment reliability, participating in design review and selection of turbo-machines for new projects. Major turbomachines, including, multistage centrifugal compressors, scroll/reciprocating piston compressors, steam turbines, etc., are from Mitsubishi (MHI), Hitachi, Kobelco, GE, and Elliott. Key contributions include: • Ensured quality control for the 2015 Pulau Ayer Chawan Refinery Turnaround. Led the preparation of job packs and overhauls for highly critical turbomachines for a team of 200 people, including engineers, technicians, and contractors. Successfully completed the turnaround 3 weeks ahead of a 4-month plan with a flawless start-up and no safety concern • Led the overhaul and upgrade of 56-MW Mitsubishi extraction steam turbine and 3-stage process gas compressor in the 2013 Singapore Olefin Plant Turnaround. With the upgrades, extended the turnaround cycle from 5 years to 8 years, saving $10-million maintenance cost for every 10 years • Led the investigation to identify the design efficiency on Propane Unit Rotary filters. The implementation of new design extended overhaul cycle from 3.5 to 5 years, generating $1-million maintenance cost savings for every 10 years • Developed and implemented a Reliability Centered Machine strategy for very critical compressors in Singapore Refinery. Reduced the plant downtime by 10% and the annual machinery maintenance cost by 30% Show less



Nanyang Technological University Singapore

• Singapore
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Nanyang President Research Scholar

  • Jul 2011 - Jun 2012

  Awarded "Nanyang President Research Scholar" title to conduct research under the Undergraduate Research Experience on Campus (URECA) program. Worked with Dr. Song-Huat Yeo and Dr. I-Ming Chen on the research topic "Investigation of Arm Posture Mapping using Vibrotactile Feedback" for a stroke therapy application funded by Singapore Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR) and Hungary National Development Agency. • Designed an integrated system of Inertial-Measurement-Unit-based wearable sets with haptic (vibrotactile) feedback using a Qt-based platform (C++) to map arm postures. Published the findings in 3 peer-reviewed papers at prestigious international conference proceedings and journals • Out of over 100 applicants, awarded a travel grant by URECA program to present findings at the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Biomedical Robotics & BioRobotics (BioRob 2012) in Italy where the paper was among the top 4 nominees for the Best Paper Award Show less



Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology

• Singapore
• Research
• 200 - 300 Employee

• Undergraduate Research Assistant

  • May 2010 - Jul 2011

  Selected among 35 applicants, who were in the top 5% of the cohort, to participate in a joint research program between SimTech and NTU under the URECA program. Worked with Dr. Song-Huat Yeo (NTU) and Dr. Guilin Yang (SimTech) on the research topic "Position Control of a Cable-Driven Dexterous Robotic Arm" for rescuing and aerospace applications, funded by SimTech. • Designed and optimized a position control of a 2-module flexible backbone prototype. Awarded a travel grant by URECA program to present findings at the 2011 IEEE Conf. on Sustainable Utilization & Development in Engineering and Technology in Malaysia • Achieved the most outstanding research award among 100 research projects in the SimTech-NTU joint research program Show less



Motorola Mobility (a Lenovo Company)

• United States
• Computers and Electronics Manufacturing
• 700 & Above Employee

• Software Developer Intern

  • Jan 2011 - Jun 2011

  Among 4 Motorola-scholarship recipients to participate in a Motorola internship program. Joined the Information Technology Division to support the Global Material team • Designed a software system using Perl script for analyzing material shortage. The system was implemented broadly in Motorola Asia Pacific Region, shortening the processing time from 1 week to 1 hour and eliminating human involvement and errors • Awarded by the Global Material team for successful completion of the 3 projects in 3 months, saved a systematic cost of $50,000 per month for the department Show less