Edwards Vacuum
Position: Field Service Engineer
Dates: Feb. 2012 – Mar. 2016
Edwards Vacuum is a manufacturer of vacuum pump and abatement equipment utilized in a broad range of industries. As a Field Service Engineer I worked solely at an Intel Corp. semiconductor manufacturing facility. During my time with Edwards at Intel my primary responsibilities included installing equipment, supervising an equipment installation team, performing preventative and corrective maintenance, as well as training Intel and Edwards employees on usage and maintenance of the equipment.
The vacuum pumps and abatement units I worked on were electro-mechanical systems. The abatement units were particularly complex, with these systems including natural gas, nitrogen, and oxygen gas trains, water trains for “scrubbing” acidic particulate from the air, an array of electronic controlled valves, a PLC to control / monitor the system, etc.. Abatement units were only needed for certain manufacturing processes, however, the vacuum pumps were used at many points in the greater manufacturing process. At one point I recall there being ~100 abatement units and >2000 vacuum pumps in operation at the facility I was at.
Working in a semiconductor manufacturing environment was an incredible learning experience. Given how fast computer technology advances, a semiconductor manufacturing facility is in a constant state of change. The facility I was at manufactured 3-4 product lines at any given time, and was consistently reconfiguring their operations to phase out the oldest process and upgrade systems to the newest process. It was certainly a complex manufacturing environment, ever changing and always something to learn.
Responsibilities
- Coordinate system installs
- Work with tradespeople, production personnel, tool owners, Life Safety Systems (LSS) team, etc. as needed to complete the different stages of an install.
- Physically install systems
- Carry out needed mechanical assembly to build systems
- Commission systems for production use
- Completing any final assembly needed
- Configure system and run tests to ensure proper functioning
- Connect system to remote monitoring system
- Handoff of system to production
- Perform preventative and corrective maintenance on systems
- Assess needed maintenance
- Acquire and utilize necessary safety equipment, as needed (e.g., lockout / tagout, respirator, safety tape, acid gown / gloves, etc.)
- Work with appropriate stakeholders (e.g., tool owner to idle production, LSS, etc.) to prepare for maintenance activities
- Carry out troubleshooting / needed maintenance
- Provide training to Edwards and client personnel
Skills / Tools
- Hand tools
- Power tools
- Safety equipment
- Fall protection
- Respirators
- Acid protection
- General construction safety (e.g., hardhat, steel-toe boots, etc.)
- Electrical / Mechanical troubleshooting
- Mechanical diagrams
- Electrical diagrams
- Problem solving
- Analytical reasoning
- PLCs
- Manufacturing systems
- Manufacturing support services
- Time management
- Multitasking
- Customer support
- Leadership
- Microsoft Office
- Word
- Excel
- Outlook
- PowerPoint
- Access
- Visual Basic