CONTROLS DESIGN ENGINEER

PRIMARY DUTIES

A controls design engineer’s primary duty is to design electrical, pneumatic, and hydraulic subsystems for pressing, gaging, welding, and assembly machines. The design engineer will be given a specification for a machine and its purpose. Working with other engineering departments (mechanical and software primarily), the controls design engineer will produce a bill of materials and a complete schematic set for the machine.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES - Controls Design

• Evaluate and choose electrical, pneumatic, and hydraulic components as requested by a customer and as appropriate for specific machine designs
• Design electrical panel layouts, typically consisting of many proprietary devices such as PLCs, servo motor drives, circuit breakers, and other common machine components
• Draw schematics for all wiring of these electrical panels, as well as wiring for the integration of panels into the machine’s external devices
• Design fluid power systems (pneumatic and hydraulic) and draw layout and schematic documentation for these systems
• Update all schematics as red-line changes become necessary during the commissioning and debug phases of a machine
• Assist in the commissioning and debug of machines
• Learn new assembly processes (using pre-prepared documentation) and design machine controls to accomplish these processes to the customer’s satisfaction.
• Work closely with other engineers to solve machine design and debug problems (including non-controls hardware related issues).

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS - Controls Design

• Vocational training or Associate’s degree in electrical, hydraulic, or industrial engineering preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in electrical, hydraulic, or industrial engineering a plus.

FIELD EXPERIENCE QUALIFICATIONS - Controls Design

• Proficiency in usage of AutoCAD Electrical
• Mastery of typical Office applications (Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, etc).
• 4+ years designing electrical and fluid power schematics.
• Willingness to learn new design tools and techniques as necessary.
• Strong technical and hands-on debug skills.