CSU ERC Work

Background

Colorado State’s Engineering Research Center houses labs and equipment at an off campus location for large research and graduate work. My role was a mix of general shop work and maintenance, as well as design and machining for professors and their research projects.

Unfortunately, I did not document much of the work that was done for this role

Machining and Fabrication

Manual and CNC machining was a regular part of work, following engineering drawings to complete parts

The 5 parts on top were made to match the one on the bottom

I made brackets for the hydrology and hydraulics labs, which needed to withstand immense force during testing

Similarly, brackets and installation was done in the structures lab, where crush tests were conducted on I-beams

I conducted weld prep and operations for fencing components

New Shop Components

Repaired jaws for mill vice

Quick project to remove important shop documents from floor (doors added later but not pictured)

I designed and completed a project to add a vacuum line to the woodworking table, utilizing PVC piping to fully route the table

There were many more projects that involved adding upgrades to the shop, but I did not document much of the work that was done

Tear Downs and Machinery Operation

Disassembling this 20 foot Monarch lathe was a multiweek process. It had to be fully drained and cleaned before blowtorching to mitigate risk

I regularly worked forklift operation, including this telehandler, for reorganizing the shop or swapping out machines

Machine and Shop Upkeep

When machines in our shop broke, I often was put on the task of replacing them. This includes finding a 50 year old replacement part for our swiss drill press

I regularly trammed and cleaned our mills, and installed DRO readout systems on older models

I was comfortable getting dirty and doing the nastier tasks around the shop, which included our HVAC systems