Robert Wertanen

Experience

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  United States Air Force

  Apr 1984 - Mar 1988

  Sergeant in Air Traffic Control Radar Technician Specialist

  • Maintained, repaired and trained others on all radar equipment and test equipment.• Troubleshot and repaired down to component level all electronic radar equipment.• Honorably discharged after four years of service.

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  I.S.I. Robotics

  Jun 1988 - Sept 1989

  Robotics Technician

  •Installed, programmed and trained personnel on I.S.I. robotics equipment.• Responsible for the repair of electrical, mechanical and programming problems.• Worked unsupervised an average of 70 + hours per week with extensive travel.

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  Ford Motor Company - Glass Division R&D

  May 1992 - Aug 1992

  Summer Intern

  • Developed a method of quantizing the cleanability of glass coatings.• Tested quality of various glass coatings.• Designed and developed a test stand for different glass samples.

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  United Technologies Automotive

  Jan 1994 - Apr 1994

  Student CO-OP

  • Designed wire harnesses for United Technologies Customers. • Assisted electrical engineers in design, cost reduction and problem solving.• Served as liaison between United Technologies and their clients.

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  Hickok Electronics

  Sept 1994 - Jan 1997

  Software / Quality Engineer for Ford Diagnostic Service Planning

  • Maintained computer hardware, software, LAN and peripheral devices for group.• Tested Ford specific production software.• Developed and maintained Quality Metrics for Ford Software Department.

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  Ajilon

  Feb 1997 - Mar 1997

  LAN Systems and Workstation support

  • Incorporated new LAN system while maintaining existing system.

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  TAC Automotive Group

  Mar 1997 - Jul 2000

  Product Engineer for Grand Cherokee at Jeep & Truck Engineering

  Contract to Daimlerchrylser Corporation, Product Engineer for Grand Cherokee at Jeep & Truck Engineering• Responsible for releasing headlamp and dash, door, and liftgate wiring harnesses as well as horn, underhood lamp, alarm siren, ignition switch, fuses, circuit breakers and relay components.• Responsible for vehicle system electrical power and grounding, and electromechanical suspension systems.• Coordinated and maintained Vehicle System Schematic publications in Powerview, Saber and Lcable.• Introduced cost effective quiet relay that improved corporate wide customer satisfaction.• Prevented Daimlerchrysler assembly plant shutdown during supplier emergency. Show less

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  Ford Motor Company

  Jul 2000 - Jul 2008

  Chassis Product Development and Plant PVT Engineer - Brakes

  JUL 2006 – Present: Kansas City Assembly Plant F-150 Chassis Engineer• Ensure quality design of vehicle brake components in regards to vehicle assembly and function.• Support new model prototype plant builds.Jun 2004 – July 2006: Ford 6-sigma Blackbelt• Ford Certified 6-Sigma Blackbelt within Brakes saving over $500,000 last year.Jul 2000 – Jun 2004: Lincoln/Mercury Chassis Product Design Engineer• Responsible for the design and release of new electric park brake and adjustable pedals.• Design and release responsibilities for 2003 Lincoln LS brake actuation and vacuum lines.• Developed specifications and first draft of Design Guide for Ford brake pedals.• Co-authored US patent (pending) on design of new ABS wheel speed sensor diagnostic tool. Show less

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  Hallmark Cards

  Jan 2008 - Jul 2015

  HALLMARK CARDS, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri 2008-2015Senior Product Development Engineer (2008-Present)Lead engineer in innovating, designing, de-risking, and implementing new product into Commercialization. Research and Development Engineer (February 2015 – July 2015)Lead engineer in developing new capabilities applicable to Hallmark’s needs while also determining and creating concepts to demonstrate breath of use.Team leader in conducting investigative research of new capabilities deemed vital for Hallmark. Lead engineer within Gifts and Greetings in innovating, designing, de-risking, and releasing new product into Commercialization. Product Development Engineer for Gift teams (March 2013 – February 2015)Lead gift, novelty, and toy engineer Imagineer for every day gifting product (July 2012 – March 2013)Innovation leader Greeting’s Product Development Engineer (2008 – 2012)Lead engineer in developing and introducing new capabilities within greeting cards including paper mechanics, material, electronics, and processes.• Lead in identifying capabilities used for highly prioritized product which went on to be the top selling gift product that year. • Self-initiated in identifying and charting capabilities used within Hallmark and a means in identifying capabilities to expand into new products as a streamlined tool for Hallmark teams.• Lead engineer within Greetings for innovation and implementation of new electronics. Including programming and introducing new microcontroller based speech synthesizers and mixed signal audio System on Chip (SoCs) utilizing proprietary Integrated Development Environment (IDE) software.• Lead engineer in cost reduction efforts that reduced Greeting’s cost by over $6 million annually. • Chosen as one of four innovative thinking engineers within Design Engineering (DE) group to ideate and develop new product with MIT for 2012.• Liaison with suppliers and partners within Hong Kong, and mainland China.. Show less

  • Senior Product Development Engineer and Platform Imagineer

    Oct 2008 - Jul 2015

  • senior engineer - Product Development, R&D

    Jan 2008 - Jan 2015
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  General Motors

  Aug 2015 - now

  SENIOR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER

  GENERAL MOTORS, WARREN, MICHIGAN 2015 – PRESENTSENIOR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER Senior Design and Release Engineer for the corporate common electronic module controlling the Adaptive Forward Lighting (AFL) (September 2018 – Present)• Release electronic module hardware, software and calibration files• Generate technical solutions for current, new, and major programs• Provide technical leadership for advanced technology development• Communicates, coordinates, and consults with engineering departments , manufacturing, suppliers, and customersSenior Design and Release Engineer - Lead engineer for the A2SL program in releasing wire harnesses for the Instrument Panel (IP), Center Console, and Headliner. (August 2015 – September 2018)• Package and address issues while the program is in a virtual math stage of development. This included participating within multiple CITs to ensure cooperation from other SMTs in ensuring good communication as a team. This helped to ensure a seamless and solid design of the vehicle harnesses. • Release of virtual design into IVER release which included U and P release of harnesses, communication of needed design changes to supplier and active participation at Preproduction Operations (PPO) facility.• Address assembly issue via PRTS, bring in early changes under BMBs and BSDs, Release part changes under Part work order for build milestones over multiple build MYs. • Took lead of vehicle heater cord harness with creative insight to address packaging constraints to create a new design that has never been attempted before by GM or any other known OEM. Show less