VASILIOS BRACHOS

371 Aiken Ave. Unit 14
Lowell, Mass 01850
tel: (978) 658-2231
email: brachosv@star.net

OBJECTIVE:

To obtain a challenging position as a Design and Development Engineer that will utilize my engineering and management skills, with a particular interest in composite materials analysis, fabrication and processing.

EDUCATION:

1993 - Present
Doctor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering (GPA: 3.80)
University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA

Thesis: "Analysis of edge loaded sandwich panels - Energy absorption characteristics".

Dealing with the experimental and analytical investigation of the energy absorption capability of composite sandwich panels in the crushing mode, and developing an FEA model to be used as a design tool for using composite materials in energy absorption applications.

Degree includes minor study in management with courses in Finance, JIT, TQM & TQM, Marketing, Manufacturing management, Business Integration and Reengineering.

1989 - 1990
M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, (GPA: 3.75)
University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA

Thesis: "The Feasibility of Using Hook and Loop Fastening Systems with Advanced Composites".

Dealing with the experimental and analytical investigation of the compatibility of Velcro Hook and Loop systems with Graphite/Epoxy laminates. The purpose is to utilize the Velcro fastening system's ease of disassembly in structural composites applications.

Relevant Courses:

Engineering:

• Solid Mechanics I & II , Fracture Mechanics
• Finite Element Analysis, Structural Applications of Composite Materials
• Transport Phenomena, Mechanical Behavior of Materials
• Polymeric Materials, Partial Differential Equations I & II
• Robotics, Fiber structure and mechanics
• Management:
• Financial Decision Making
• Manufacturing Management
• Structure & Dynamics of Enterprise
• Market and Customer Values
• Global Business Strategy.

1986 - 1988

B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, (GPA: 3.73 magna cum laude)
University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA

Capstone: Design of an energy independent house, using a combination of photovoltaic arrays, wind generators and batteries.

1984 - 1986
Associates of Science in Engineering Technology (GPA: 3.75)
North Shore Community College, Beverly, MA

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:

Platforms: Vax/Vms, Unix, MS-DOS, Win95, WindowsNT.

Internet Applications: HTML programming.

DAS/PLCs: Hewlett-Packard Analyzer, MetraByte Systems, Validyne, Omega CN2011.

Finite Element : FEAP, COSMOS, NISA, ALGOR/SUPERSAP, ABAQUS, DYNA-3D.

Languages : Fortran, C, Clipper.

CAD : Cadkey, Autocad, SDRC-IDEAS.

Math Tools : MathCAD, Matlab, Mathematica, Lotus 123, QuatroPro, Excel.

Laboratory Skills: QIA (Quantitative Image Analysis), Universal Testing Machine, Inverted Torsional Pendulum, Braiding, CNC, Arc and Ultrasonic Welding.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Structural Engineer, Advanced Composite Vehicle Desing, Solectria Corp., Wilmington, MA. (1996-present)

• Design of crash nose for the Sunrise Electric Vehicle which passed a 30 mph frontal impact test.

• Design optimization of all composite monocoque body for the Sunrise Electric Vehicle.

• Design for Manufacture with SCRIMP for the Sunrise Electric Vehicle.

• Design of production molds for the Sunrise Electric Vehicle, for SCRIMP of all major body components.

• Design and optimization of side impact capabilities for the Sunrise Electric Vehicle using DYNA-3D modeling.

• Design and optimization of all body laminate schedules.

• Oversaw at TPI Composites Inc., the Proof of Concept production of the first four SCRIMPED Sunrise Electric Vehicle bodies.

• Co-managed a NIST program for high volume production of composite materials in the form of a car. The partners in that program included companies like TPI Composites, Design Evolution 4, Lightbody Inc., Pepin Assoc., Advanced Products Development, American GFM, IBIS Assoc., and Black Emerald Group.

- Optimization of body configuration for high volume production.

- Investigated all candidate processing technologies and through an evaluation matrix selected the optimum combination of SCRIMP, RTM, Poltrusion, SRIM and RIM as well as Braiding and automated preforming for the appropriate configuration of the car body.

- Designed and developed RTM and thermoplastic forming tools for production trials in the NIST program.

- Developed factory lay-out plans and car assembly flowcharts for optimum production of the Sunrise Electric Vehicle.

• Involved in fund raising for Sunrise Electric Vehicle program. Secured $20M Greek government funding for setting up a production facility in Greece for the Sunrise Electric Vehicle.

Research Associate, Advanced Composite Materials Laboratory, UMass Lowell, MA. (1989-1996)

• Crash Energy Management for Sunrise Electric Vehicle, ARPA and Solectria Corp., MA.

- evaluation of geometric parameters for different composite sections using FEA and experimental (specific energy absorption) methods to meet Federal crash regulations.

- simulation of the car's nose crash using ALGOR and DYNA-3D.

- analysis of nose component joining techniques.

- composite materials selection.

• Design of a micro hook for use with non-woven materials for Velcro Group Corp.

• Load analysis and design of an ultra light carbon & boron fiber golf club for Textron Corp.

• Investigated the stress relaxation behavior for several of Emerson & Cumming Composite Materials Inc.'s Syntactic foams.

• Finite element modeling and analysis of underwater tank head for Fiberglass Fabricators, Inc., Smithfield, RI.

• Investigated the feasibility of using Velcro fasteners in the Composite Materials area for Velcro Group Corp.

• Testing and analysis of rubber springs to be used in a composite Upper Body Exercise Machine for DAKA International Co.

• Investigated property changes of radiated Kevlar/Epoxy composites with and without fiber plasma treatment for PDA, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Applied Software Engineer, First Hellenic Army, Larisa, Greece. (1991-1992)

• Worked on the development of software packages aimed to help in the testing and maintenance of military owned and operated machines.

Teaching Experience - Department of Mechanical Engineering, UMass Lowell, MA. (1989- 1996)· Mechanics of Materials

Courses:

• • Mechanics of Materials
• • Materials Science
• • Applied Strength of Materials
• • Mechanical Engineering Lab
• • Statics
• • Dynamics

Environments : ABAQUS, LS-DYNA3D, Algor, Cosmos, NISA, FEAP, SDRC-IDEAS, Hypermesh; C, Fortran, Clipper; Unix, VMS, Dos, Win95; Autocad, Cadkey, DBASE IV; Hewlett-Packard Analyzers, Metrabyte Validyne and National Instuments Data Acquisition Systems, Freelance, Lotus 123, Quattro Pro, and various Word Processing and Graphics Packages; Plastics Processing, Composite Materials Processing, Testing, Quantitative Image Analysis; FMS, SPC, DFM, DFQ, DOE(Taguchi), JIT, Reliability Analysis, Tolerance Analysis, Concurrent Engineering, Mechatronics, ISO9000.

PUBLICATIONS :

• Brachos, V. " The Feasibility of Using Hook and Loop Fastening Systems with Advanced Composites", M.S. Thesis, University of Lowell, Lowell, MA, December,1990.
• Brachos, V. and Douglas, C. D. "Energy Absorption Characteristics for Hybrid Composite Structures", 27th International SAMPE Technical Conference at Albuquerque, N.M.,1995.
• Brachos, V., Neogi D. and Douglas, C. D. "Analysis of Edge Loaded Sandwich Panels-Energy Absorption Characteristics", 41st International SAMPE Symposium and Exhibition at Anaheim CA,1996.
• Brachos, V., Neogi D. and Douglas, C. D. "Composite Cored Trapezoidal Sections-Designed for Enhanced Energy Absorption", 41st International SAMPE Symposium and Exhibition at Anaheim CA,1996.
• PAPERS UNDER PREPARATION :
• Brachos, V. and Sherwood, J.A. " A Model for Prediction of the Energy Absorption of Edge Loaded Sandwich Panels", to be submitted to The Journal of Composite Materials.

AFFILIATIONS :

ASME Student Member.

SAMPE Student Member.

Member of Tau Beta Pi - Engineering Honor Society.

U. Mass.-Lowell GSA PDA award committee member.

Vice-President of the U.Mass-Lowell Graduate Students for Advanced Composites Materials Club.

HONORS:

Physics and Math award, N.S.C.C., Beverly, Massachusetts, 1986.

LANGUAGE SKILLS:

Native speaker of the Greek language; five years of French at the French Academy.

ACTIVITIES:

University of Lowell Club Volleyball Team.(1989-1990)

Manager and player of intramural soccer and volleyball teams.

Hobbies - Athletics, gardening.

REFERENCES: Available upon request.

© 1998, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UMass Lowell
Last Modified: 12 Apr 2002

© 2000-04., Department of Mechanical Engineering, UMASS Lowell
Last Modified: 12 Apr 2002