Customer: Ohmsett National Oil Spill Response & Research Renewable Energy Test Facility Industry: Marine
OK to Make Waves: Understanding Wave energy and Oil Spill Management made easier with a new test platform
A national renewable energy test site was looking to upgrade its facility. The site is the largest outdoor saltwater wave/tow facility in North America. Sigma Design Company was awarded the engineering design contract to design and manage the construction of the new test platform. Advanced engineering analysis expertise was needed for this job. The design challenges were to develop a larger test structure that was safer and easier to use. Quicker operational setups that reduced the overall weight, and increased operational test load capacity were the goals of this project. Sigma analyzed, designed and managed every part of the new testing system using 3D design software, FEA structural analysis methods and years of solid mechanical engineering competencies to make this project a success.
Sigma developed the system and provided construction and installation management.
A Gentle Reminder.
Anyone with a gas stove has probably had the scary experience of realizing that they have left the stove burner on. Unlike today’s refrigerators that call you back to the room when you have left the door ajar, most gas burners provide no indication that they are still on. A simple mistake could lead to a deadly fire in your home.
Matthew Porraro came to Sigma Design with a solution to prevent kitchen fires. Porraro invented a plastic disc that attaches to each knob on the stove, which illuminates when the burner is on. Sigma Design took his initial design and prototype and improved it, integrating a light circuit and an audible alarm. BurnerAlert™ is the only reminder and timer product on the market that will retrofit on gas and electric stoves.
This is just one example of the projects that come to the Sigma Design team. Like BurnerAlert™, let us take your smart idea and turn it into a viable product!
Services Performed:
Concept layouts, LED light design, sound and light sequence simulation, detail design, firmware programming, digital electronics, product development, testing & prototypes.
Customer: ACME Hoist, NY Industry: Marine and Shipbuilding
Travelling Boat Hoists Enable Better Boat Yard Management
Sigma Design was approached by Acme Hoist to help them extend their product line of large boat hoists. Acme Hoist is a family run business and had been manufacturing boat hoists on Long Island for over 50 years. Improving the steering profiles to allow tight radius cornering and other operator/user features provided better handling in the tight space of a busy boat yard. Creating a new 50 Ton and 75 Ton hoist enabled Acme to better compete with the larger global competitors.
Services Performed:
Concept layouts, structural load analysis and simulation, detail system design, welding fabrication and manufacturing shop drawings.
Customer: Spiral Water Technologies, Inc. Industry: Advanced Filtration and Non-Hazardous Wastewater Treatment
Sigma designs turnkey high solids filtration system for Spiral Water
The HSWR System is a turnkey high solids filtration system that can receive high solids loaded process water with TSS greater than 15,000 ppm. Depending on the process, the HSWR using a Spiral Water 20 micron automatic filter significantly reduces the TSS and BOD 50%-75%. The system is controlled and monitored by a single control panel with an enhanced user interface HMI. The HSWR System utilizes a combination of high solids separation equipment matched with standard T-1000 filters from Spiral Water Technologies (also developed by SIGMA for Spiral Water). The Spiral Water filters high solids application enables end-users to obtain TSS solids removal below 75um.
Services Performed:
Concept development, water purification system design, testing protocol, controls, sensors, electronics, complete fabrication including all controls, PLC/HMI, pipe and filter vessel welding, machining, validation and testing.
Customer: Maritime Solutions, Inc. and The Maritime Administration Industry: Marine Environmental
Development and Testing of Early Shipboard Ballast Water Treatment Systems
Working with the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Sciences, Sigma developed a new, and now patented centrifugal separator and ultraviolet disinfection system. The separator removes invasive aquatic species from ships’ ballast water, therefore preventing the introduction of destructive organisms into US waters. The system was developed and manufactured in NJ and installed aboard the M/V CAPE MAY at South Locust Point Marine Terminal in Baltimore, MD.
Services Performed:
Product development services, concepts, FEA analysis, CFD flow simulation, fabrication design, electronics design, PLC programming, pilot & test.
Successful companies often find themselves at a crossroads when undertaking a large, new project. Whether increasing capacity, developing a new product or system, or modernizing existing equipment, an organization can find itself in a bind when trying to find bandwidth with internal engineering and manufacturing capabilities. A choice must be made that can alter the course of the project significantly before it even begins, find an outside manufacturing partner, or bring on additional resources. The right answer is rarely obvious.
Adding design engineering resources can be a double-edged sword. Generally, a younger engineer will be cheaper but could take weeks or months to get fully up to speed and may require supervision to start that could disrupt other employees. A more experienced engineer should get up to speed considerably quicker, however will be more expensive to employ and is not as readily available in the job market as a younger engineer would typically be. In either case, the cost of employment obviously goes far beyond salary once benefits, hardware and office costs, and payroll taxes are added. The total cost of employment to a company is often 2-3 times the actual salary paid to the employee.
Finding a design, development and manufacturing partner alleviates many of the issues of bringing on new staff for a project. For one, as soon as a project is kicked off, a proven firm such as Sigma Design can get immediately to work. The only costs paid are hours spent on the project, whether it be design and drafting, engineering analysis, or review by senior engineers. One of the biggest advantages however is the ability for an established design firm to work autonomously. All that is required from the customer is attendance and communication at periodic design reviews and update meetings to make sure the development is meeting expectations. When a program is designed with specific phases and deliverables you can simply “turn on” or turn off” the team expenses depending on your needs.
What happens when the design phase is done, or it is time to transition into the manufacturing phase? If the engineering was kept in house, is there enough incoming work to support the additional resources that were hired? Typically, where design programs require under 1000 workhours it is more cost effective to partner with an outsourced firm rather than hiring. Also, today when you cannot find the experienced candidates what choice do we have? Wait or postpone the program or move forward knowing the earlier you launch the more beneficial it is to your firm.
Additionally, are there adequate manufacturing resources in house to support the next phase of the design / build project. Or are there additional hires needed to be made to support this phase? With a design/build partner like Sigma Design, the same engineers that develop the design will be the same engineers overseeing its manufacture. The logistical efficiency of an engineer selecting vendors for commercial part of an assembly during design, ordering the parts for the build, and then overseeing the entire production process cannot be easily quantified for this comparison. However, the advantages of keeping a project in the same building, from design kickoff all the way through factory acceptance testing and shipping are massive. This typically makes the entire process much more economical than trying to tackle a large project on your own.
Is your company considering a large design build, and unsure if you have the resources in house to complete the project? Give Sigma Design a call today! Over 1000 completed projects to date. On time – On budget!
Customer: Ohmsett National Oil Spill Response & Research Renewable Energy Test Facility<
Industry: Marine
Understanding Wave energy and Oil Spill Management made easier with a new test platform
A national renewable energy test site was looking to upgrade its facility. The site is the largest outdoor saltwater wave/tow facility in North America. Sigma Design Company was awarded the engineering design contract to design and manage the construction of the new test platform. Advanced engineering analysis expertise was needed for this job. The design challenges were to develop a larger test structure that was safer and easier to use. Quicker operational setups that reduced the overall weight, and increased operational test load capacity were the goals of this project. Sigma analyzed, designed and managed every part of the new testing system using 3D design software, FEA structural analysis methods and years of solid mechanical engineering competencies to make this project a success.
Sigma developed the system and provided construction and installation management.
Customer: Global Fortune 100 Medical Device Manufacturer Industry: Health and Life Sciences
Sigma Design Selected to Develop New Concept in Wound Care Device Manufacturing
When a global medical device manufacturer needed help with advanced engineering and design, they reached out to Sigma Design. The 3-year program started within the realm of an R&D investigative program. Concepts trials and tests were performed to help validate the process and develop a manufacturable solution.
From start to finish Team Sigma worked with the R&D and company manufacturing teams from around the world to fine tune the solution for each location.
In the end, the program was a big success, and these workstations are being installed at medical device manufacturing sites worldwide.
Services Performed: Concept development, advanced engineering simulation and analysis, concept testing, detail design, material selection, ergonomics, safety, automation & controls, sensors, electronics, welding, machining and fabrication, pilot validation and testing. Followed by a large manufacturing order for production systems.
Customer: GCK Technology Industry: Clean Energy – Tidal Hydropower
Sigma Design Support Clean Energy Development
Hydropower is a clean energy source, but it requires huge, expensive dams that flood vast areas, displacing people and disrupting the environment. The Gorlov helical turbine taps alternative sources of water power without the widespread environmental harm of large dams. Gorlov’s design consists of blades twisted into the shape of a helix , the shape of a DNA molecule. The turbine’s blades rotate at twice the velocity of the water current flow, and capture’s more of the water’s energy than a conventional turbine. After Gorlov developed the helical design concept, GCK engineers needed to take laboratory and prototype data and turn it into a real working machine. They wanted to determine loads on the blades , shaft and bearings so they could optimize the design, reduce manufacturing costs, and ensure reliable operation.
Services Performed: System development, computational fluid analysis and simulation, bearing load analysis, design for manufacturability, input on testing protocol, supported field testing.
Customer: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Industry: Clean Energy
A modular platform developed for Hydroelectric Turbine Maintenance
Sigma Design solved a very unique problem for the clean energy industry. We developed and manufactured a modular, 26 foot diameter maintenance platform for Hydroelectric Power facilities to service the underside of vertical power turbines. This presented a unique challenge, as all of the pieces of the platform had to be passed through a 24” x 30” manway. Sigma designed a platform that could be broken down into much smaller sections, taken into the turbine area, and assembled by a small crew. This required Sigma to complete detailed assembly instructions, and also assemble and load test it in-house.
Services Performed: Structural analysis and design, large structure fabrication, load testing, work instruction drafting, assembly, test and analysis.
