Philip McGaw’s Curriculum Vitae

EXPERIENCE

Senior Hardware Test Engineer – ChargePoint. (Theale). 2022 – Present

With electric vehicles (EVs) expected to be nearly 20% of new vehicle sales by 2025 across North America and Europe, electric mobility is becoming a reality. ChargePoint is at the centre of this revolution, powering the world’s leading EV charging network and the most complete set of hardware, software and mobile solutions for every EV charging need.

This is my first pure Electronics position in a long time where I have not had direct interaction with EMC or compliance.

Working as part of the Test Engineering team in the United Kingdom,
Liaising with overseas suppliers and contract manufacturers (CMs) for large-scale production, and online testing of PCBA and Product level.

Lead Electrical Engineer (EMC) – Tata Technologies Ltd. (Warwick). 2021-2022

Working as the Senior Lead EMC Engineer (L2.2 Sr. Team Lead / Sr. Technical Lead) on components with an international engineering team, on a TATA lead contract for an Automotive OEM in Vietnam who are looking to place four BEV carlines on international markets starting with MY22.

The components are a mix of carry-overs from other projects by the same OEM, off the shelf as supplied to other OEMs, or new parts being designed specifically for these carlines.

The majority of the EMC assessment for the components is gap analysis against other standards, to confirm that the component meets the specific requirements for use by the client.

Where the component is not either Carry Over or OTS I am responsible for assessing the requirements of the testing it should undergo.

• Review EMC requirements and act as the client’s representative in supplier negotiations.
• Engineering testing, characterization, and verification of EMC components.
• Fixations of EMC design rules, concerning cabling, separation distances, earthing/grounding, and bonding specifications.
• Hands-on analysing of EMC test results and finding the root cause of EMI issues.
• Develop the EMC Test plans based on the client’s requirements.
• Design load simulators to be used during EMC testing.
• Conduct EMC testing at external labs and analyse test results.
• EMC issue analysis and resolution.
• Assist in EMC design and development for power electronic systems.
• Support the vehicle team with EMC Homologation to all global standards.

Electrical standards used within this TATA contract are VFDSP50000002, VFDSP50000001, VFDSP50000004, CISPR 25 Ed 5, ICNIRP 1998, 2010 and 2020, UNECE Regulations 10, 100 and 661, and GB 8702:2014.

Technical Consultant – Energym, WLF innovations Ltd. (Birmingham). 2021

This is a consultant position with Energym to ensure regulatory compliance of their product for the UK, EU, US and Canadian markets.

Relevant standards include Radio Equipment Directive (incorporating requirements from the EMC Directive, Low Voltage Directive), General Product Safety, Machinery Directive, and ISO 20957 – Stationary training equipment Parts 1 and 10 (Class S and H), as well as the UL counterparts.

I am utilising my experience with the authorship of test plans, technical reports and technical construction files to create the text for user instruction manuals, decals, and paperwork required for compliance.

Automotive Component EMC Engineer – ARRIVAL Ltd. (Banbury). 2020 – 2021

My role was as the Lead Component EMC Engineer, providing subject specialist support for automotive components for EMC, EMF and EMI compliance, and assessment.

• Specifying testing and standards relevant to the component, working with the ARRIVAL product teams to ensure we aim for compliance.
• Reviewing test plans and test reports prepared by internal and external stakeholders.
• Perform review testing at component and whole vehicle integration levels to enable comparison between versions of components.
• Perform Schematic, PCB and PCBA reviews of components to better understand test results and enable the integration of modifications to enable compliance.
• Health and Safety, and Risk Assessment review of facilities and procedures.
• Writing and maintaining test procedures to ensure regulatory compliance with internal and external standards.
• Working as a subject specialist.

Typical EMC and EMF standards used within ARRIVAL are ATDETP0048, ATDETP0049, CISPR 25 Edition 4 (Working towards Edition 5), ICNIRP 1998, 2010 and 2020, UNECE Regulation 10, and GB 8702 2014.

This position required the experience gained while with both CASS and JLR, I have also had the opportunity to pick up new skills.

The project management experience I gained working at JLR has helped me adjust to a more senior position, with more responsibilities.

Project management skills were used in writing the specification, the tendering of the contract and overseeing the construction and setup of a new Conducted Immunity and Emissions facility for testing Battery Electric vehicles, and components, this facility included a 10-meter-long SAC, amplifiers, control PCs and software (ETS Lindgren’s Tile and Vision TRX applications) and Receivers.

Until the new laboratory was operational my responsibilities included interfacing with external test houses and service providers in regard to purchasing services based on test plans produced by either myself or the component team. These documents need to convey enough information to allow someone who has never seen the component before to perform testing whilst ensuring a robust EMC sign-off (at component and vehicle level) and ensuring that radio reception (customer satisfaction) is not compromised.

Other duties included:

• Writing test plans for both full testing and quick evaluation tests.
• Writing test reports for both full testing and quick evaluation tests.
• Working closely with external stakeholders and suppliers.
• Daily maintenance of the test facility and constant improvement of the processes within the test laboratory.
• Ensuring all equipment is calibrated including cables and test equipment.
• Helping clients gain compliance by ensuring the correct standards are used during testing.
• On failure to meet the requirements of EMC, offering advice on cost-effective fixes, ranging from decoupling on the mainboard to correct track and board layout.
• Development of test plans and procedures in line with manufacturing and design requirements.
• Test of complex electronic equipment.
• Evaluation of Technical problems to develop proposals for investigations and corrective actions, including process improvements.

Other parts of my role were:

• Review schematics, PCB layouts, technical datasheets, simulation results and design calculations. Based on this review I am required to provide design recommendations to engineering teams to meet EMC and EMI requirements, and any other improvements I can derive from the data.
• Ensuring the correct design requirements have been met by the component team.
• Provide technical leadership to troubleshoot component and system issues.
• Reviews both schematics and PCBs for EMC best practice
• Perform ECU and PCB level assessments using a variety of test equipment.
• work closely together with component teams developing electronic devices.
• communicating complex technical information to all levels of leadership in a clear and concise manner to aid issue resolution.

Research new measurement techniques and design custom electronic instrumentation and physical parts to facilitate testing and provide more streamlined stakeholder service.

Where there is a risk of issues on the vehicle, I worked with the Vehicle EMC engineer to perform vehicle-level EMC assessments, based on the impact of the issues, either looking for containment or mitigation to meet the requirements of the legal requirements.

While working at Arrival I learned about High power electronics design to support EV system development, this involved working with the Powertrain team and the High Voltage Battery Module team to safely test HaV components and systems.

Automotive Component EMC Engineer – JLR (Gaydon). 2018 – 2020

Working with a team of Engineers and Technical Specialists on several cross vehicle line projects and, technical projects including EMF investigation.

My role as project manager included, clearly and concisely providing subject specialist support for around 60 automotive components for EMC compliance and assessment.

• Specifying testing and standards relevant to the component, working with the JLR component managers to ensure compliance.
• Reviewing test plans and test reports prepared by external stakeholders.
• Perform review testing at component and whole vehicle integration levels to enable comparison between versions of components.
• Perform Schematic, PCB and PCBA review of components to better understand test results and enable integration of modifications to enable compliance.
• Health and Safety, and Risk Assessment review of facilities and procedures.
• Writing and maintaining test procedures to ensure regulatory compliance with internal and external standards
• Working as the subject specialist for a battery integration project being undertaken by another department.
• Author of the tender document for a new two lab EMC facility to replace the current one from the 1980s.

Typical EMC and EMF standards used within JLR are JLR-EMC-CS, CISPR 25 Edition 3, ICNIRP 1998 and 2010, UNECE Regulation 10, and GB 8702 2014.

EMC Test and Compliance Engineer – CASS Industries Ltd. (MCR). 2014 – 2018

My main duties involved managing the testing of clients’ electrical and electronic products for compliance with European Directives and appropriate test standards using RF measurement techniques and electronic test equipment such as Oscilloscopes, and Spectrum Analysers.

Other duties included:

• Writing test reports for both full testing and quick evaluation tests.
• Daily maintenance of the test facility and constant improvement of the processes within the test laboratory.
• Ensuring all equipment was calibrated including cables and test equipment.
• Helping clients gain compliance by ensuring the correct standards are used during testing.
• On failure to meet the requirements of EMC, offering advice on cost-effective fixes, ranging from decoupling on the mainboard to correct track and board layout.
• Developing test plans and procedures in line with manufacturing and design requirements.
• Testing of complex electronic equipment.
• Evaluating Technical problems to develop proposals for investigations and corrective actions, including process improvements.
• Looking after the internal network, desktop computers, and servers (Microsoft Office on Windows 7 and 10).

I also assisted with researching new measurement techniques, and designing custom electronic instrumentation and physical parts to facilitate testing and provide more streamlined customer service.

Typical EMC standards used within the test facility would be EN55032, EN50130-4, and the EN61000 series of standards.

Freelance Geek – Squashed Fly Ltd. 2006 – Present

Website design and hosting for some clients, including pro-bono work for charities. Squashed Fly’s servers are Debian and Ubuntu Linux, managed via SSH, and sites being built using WordPress as a CMS.

Several long and short terms IT contracts covering First, Second and Third Tier support, Dev Ops and Administration roles, for companies and organisations including:

• McCann Erickson.
• Secure Borders & Communities (SERCO).
• UK Borders Agency.
• Allegro Networks.
• FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology).
• Pennant Training Systems Ltd.
• Department for Work and Pension.
• Ministry of Justice.
• Freedom Press.
• BIMM Institute (British and Irish Modern Music Institute).
  Experience:
• Supporting and managing IT estates of more than 500 Windows 7 and Mac OS X users, in high-pressure production environments.
• DBS checked, working within the Official Secrets Act, and International Traffic in Arms Regulations, Holding Security Vetting.
• Munki!, Jamf and Deploy Studio
• Lone and out of hours working.
• The day-to-day running of the IT and Technical resources.
• Ensuring Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are met at all times.
• Deploying bare metal images to Mac and Windows computers.
• Maintenance of Linux servers (LAMP stack and email)
• Hosting and maintaining the security of WordPress installs.

VOLUNTARY POSITIONS

• Looking after the day-to-day running of FreedomPress.org.uk and FreedomNews.org.uk. Freedom Press is the largest anarchist publishing house in the country and the oldest of its kind in the English-speaking world.
• Webmaster for First Swindon Sea Scouts, (FirstSwindon.co.uk)
• Technical support to the Website Manager of Hearing Link (HearingLink.org) on the subject of SEO and Google Analytics.

SOFTWARE

EDUCATION

University of Plymouth 2004–2007

· Certificate of Higher Education in Electrical Engineering