12 The ELEVATOR CONSTRUCTOR The highlight of Dan’s career before coming to NEIEP was designing electronics and firmware for the music industry. He holds two patents with Numark for specific packages in DJ controller systems and worked on electronic keyboards and drums for Alesis and M-Audio. As a musician himself, this was a dream job for Dan, but it was also very intense, with long hours and demanding deadlines. Dan’s current position with NEIEP puts him at the center of many useful training tools for the classroom, and he has exciting projects in the works. He developed the motor simulator used in the AC Motor Starter Lab, which offers a simulated three-phase signal that is compatible with a soft starter to provide a valuable training tool. Dan is also working on a power supply that will replace the instruments portion of the “tunnel lab” used in the Solid State lab curriculum. The new design combines both a power supply and a function generator, is more affordable to produce and maintain, and is designed to be virtually unbreakable and requires no calibration. The power supply is also much more portable, weighing only 3 lbs., compared to the 75 lbs. of the tunnel lab. Dan is currently developing a microprocessor lab that provides hands-on learning with electronic hardware that simulates real-life field applications. The lab is a functional representation of a four-stop elevator and is comprised of two components: the elevator controller and the elevator simulator. The basic features of the elevator controller will include software-updating capability with USB drive, LCD control interface, CAN bus and RS488 serial bus interfaces, discrete logic interface with opto-coupling, Bluetooth communications, encoder input for position sensing, and LED indicators to show the logic level of discrete control lines. The elevator simulator, in its prototype form, is an animated elevator using LEDs to show vertical movement and door movement. The goal of the microprocessor lab is to create faults and have students observe the effects on a serial communication bus, allowing them to troubleshoot it. In his personal life, Dan enjoys spending time with wife Leslie and his three grown children—sons Corey and Tanner and daughter Meghan, and their extended families. He also has an abiding passion for music. He started playing guitar at age 6 and quickly developed a love for the bass guitar. He played in punk rock bands as a teenager and nowadays enjoys all genres of music, from punk to country and everything in between. Dan believes that music is a language and that musicians can communicate with their instruments in a magical way. Today, he plays in two bands and has the privilege of performing with both of his sons who are also musicians. He considers music to be mathematical and relates it to his work in engineering. Dan is not only a bass player but also, along with son Corey, a sound man for his bands. He takes pride in his role as an equipment geek, understanding the equipment and making sure it’s the right fit. Dan is also an avid cyclist who has logged countless miles on a bike with family, friends, and co-workers. He has a special fondness for bike camping and has taken several memorable trips, including an often-repeated, five-day journey from his home in northwestern Rhode Island to Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. As a consummate tinkerer and DIY enthusiast, he’s currently building a high-tech bike trailer for his camping trips, which is powered by self-built batteries and features a 1000W drive. Dan has taken great care to design the trailer in a way that is safe and functional. The trailer has intelligent speed control while also considering the battery drain and adjusting the wheels accordingly when taking corners. Dan finds the process of designing and building the trailer to be “wicked fun,” and he enjoys the challenge of figuring out all the details involved. We are grateful to have Dan on our development team and are proud of the contributions he continues to make to our projects. He is a true asset to NEIEP and a shining example of the exceptional talent and dedication that drives our success. NEIEP’s Corner continued those of us in today’s construction industry. The public needs to know our industry is not just “dirty work” but rather high-tech work that appeals to those who have a head for technology, project management, and engineering. There is a most certainly a place for women in our trade and the number of female members we initiate grows every year. We have women who serve in elected positions within our local unions and serve on numerous local union committee roles. Our trade is in fact looking for women to join our ranks. We need to let the public know that our local unions are holding recruitment drives for anyone who wants to work hard, learn our challenging trade and be a proud IUEC member, not just those with blood ties to our union. And, we need to let the public know that our trade is not a fall back plan if college doesn’t work out. The education our apprentices receive will put them in a higher paying job faster than most college diplomas will right out of the gate. And, we need to publicize that many of our members do have a college degree, but chose to join the elevator trade for all the benefits and sense of personal accomplishment it offers. There is no better corps of people to promote the IUEC than each and every one of us sitting in the front seat with a great career. Every one of our members should see themselves as part of the IUEC’s PR team. Talk to every young person you know—through schools, clubs, or houses of worship; talk to all of your family members and neighbors; talk to people in other trades or in other jobs who may not be feeling fulfilled in their career; and be a part of growing our union through recruitment. As I said, the iron is hot! Editor’s Corner continued
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