Professor William Koffke, P.E.

Biographical Sketch

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, 1971, Drexel University
Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering, 1973, Drexel University


PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

August 1985 to present, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Villanova University, Villanova, PA

Teaches the freshman engineering courses, ENGINEERING DESIGN GRAPHICS and
ENGINEERING ANALYSIS. Also taught continuing education classes on Computer Aided Drafting(CAD). Each of the freshman courses meet in two one hour lectures and three three-hour lab sessions per week. The ENGINEERING DESIGN GRAPHICS course covers descriptive
geometry, presentation graphics, manual and computer drafting, and the engineering design
process. This course also requires student to participate in a group conceptual design project which requires a written proposal, progress report and final report and a group final oral presentation. The ENGINEERING ANALYSIS course includes ANSI C programming, numerical methods, and engineer solution methods using applications software such as spreadsheets and equation solvers.

Faculty advisor to Team Solar Cat, Villanova's entry for Sunrayce and the Solar Electric
Commuter car.

October 1984 to August 1985, MANUFACTURING ENGINEER IN GRINDING
SKF Specialty Bearing Division, Philadelphia, PA

Responsible for developing procedures for the grinding operation of a work group type
production area. These procedures were in the area of process specifications; tool, gage and spare parts inventory and control; and preventive maintenance scheduling. Also created a computer data base for the information needed to operate the work group based on these procedures.

Was also responsible for converting current grinding theory into a computer program to establish
grinding machine speeds and feeds. In conjunction with this program, collected and compared data from current grinding operation.

I was also responsible for daily operations. This included obtaining tooling, gauging and process documents; assisting maintenance mechanics with diagnosing machine problems and making machine design changes.

October 1982 to October 1984, INSTRUCTOR IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
TECHNOLOGY

COORDINATOR OF THE COMPUTER CENTER - Oct. '83 to
Oct. '84 Pennsylvania Institute of Technology, Media, PA

Responsible for teaching Physics Mechanics, Statics, Dynamics, Fluid Mechanics,
Thermodynamics, Computer Literacy, and Computer Programming in the Basic and FORTRAN IV languages.

As Coordinator, supervised two technicians, who were responsible for maintenance and
operation of the computer and electronic lab equipment. One technician also taught Computer Literacy and Basic Electronics.

Also coordinated for the institutions with a licensed professional engineer on the Institutional
Conservation Program(ICP). The ICP was a federally funded program administered by the PA Governor's Energy Council. Its purpose was to implement energy conservation measures in schools and hospitals.

July 1978 to February 1982, MILL PROJECT ENGINEER
Uniform Tubes Inc., Collegeville PA

Responsibilities were in plant mechanical and electromechanical projects. This included
estimating the cost of the proposed project, and when it was approved for construction, developing its design, and overseeing its construction.

The mechanical projects included pump and piping systems for degreasing solvents, pickling
acids and cooling water, exhaust systems for acid and solvent fumes, structural modifications, small crane and hoist systems, and machine design. In conjunction with the machine design projects, I sized electric and hydraulic motor drives, electric power circuits ,and
electric, pneumatic and hydraulic control equipment.

The electromechanical projects included photo-optic sensor system installation, programmable
controller installation, design of operator stations, the design of relay ladder control circuits, and a study of robotics
applications.

Was also responsible for maintaining the computer based preventative maintenance system and
adding new equipment to the system, and for maintaining the standard tooling drawing manual. Member of the suggestion committee.

February 1975 to July 1978, ASSISTANT PLANT ENGINEER
Reilly Whiteman Inc., Conshohocken, PA

Reporting to the Plant Engineer, was the supervisor of an eight man maintenance crew, planned their work assignments, and ordered maintenance supplies. I was also responsible for several project in structural design, mechanical drives, insulation tracing heat loss, and bearing selection. Evaluated computer control system for possible application to plant production equipment. Assisted in programming the HP 9830 desk top computer, which was purchased for business applications. Supervisor the company's fire brigade.

April 1974 to February 1975
General Electric Co., Valley Forge Space Center, Valley Forge PA

ENGINEER IN THERMODYNAMICS, Nov. 1975 to Feb. 1975
Responsible for developing and analyzing thermal models of the ablation and temperature profiles of reentry vehicles. This analysis was accomplished by using programs on the Honeywell 6000 and GE 635 computers.

ENGINEER IN THERMOPHYSICS, April 1974 to Nov. 1975
Responsible for developing thermal resistance network models of spacecraft components, and determining the on-orbit temperature of these components using various computer programs.

January 1973 to April 1974, ASSOCIATE ENGINEER Hittman Associates, Inc. Colombia, MD

Responsible for researching sub-parts of a project and then writing that section of the final report. As part of one project, collectioned and computerized environmental data. On another responsible for
calibration, installation, and check-out of instruments used on two projects. Also as part of  projects was frequent contact with the client agencies, various manufacturers, and lobby groups.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION AND LICENSES

American Society of Mechanical Engineers
American Society for Engineering Education
Pennsylvania EIT Certificate, August 20, 1971
Pennsylvania Professional Engineering March 23, 1984

RESEARCH GRANTS AND CONTRACTS

1990-92 Co-Principal Investigator on a Pennsylvania Energy Office funded project to design and build a solar charged, electric commuter car.

1993-94 Co-Principal Investigator on a Pennsylvania Energy Office funded project to design and build a hybrid - electric vehicle.

1993 - 1995 Ben Franklin Center of Exellence(at Villanova) on Alternative Fuel Vehicle Researcher.

Copyright 1999 Villanova University Department of Mechanical Engineering

Last updated 12/12/99 CHM