Arc Flash Team

Chris Guffey, PE
Title: Engineering Manager
School: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Degree: BS Electrical Engineering

Duties: Engineering Manager responsible for supervising engineering work associated with Arc Flash analysis including, but not limited to, data collection, construction of the electrical model in the SKM software, short circuit study, coordination study, and final recommendations for reducing arc flash levels as found in the arc flash study. Over 8 years of experience utilizing the SKM software as well as 5 years of arc flash experience.

Six years of industrial power and control design in the consulting industry. Including power distribution network design, equipment layout and sizing, conductor routing, control schematics, drawing preparation, and specifications for a complete bid package.

Industries: Hospital campuses, metal recycling facilities, schools, retail outlets, power generation facilities, industrial manufacturing facilities including retail, steel mills, paper mills, water and waste water facilities, and food processing.

Amanda Jerrell, EE
Title: Engineering Department Assistant Manager, Electrical Engineer
School: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Degree: BSEE Bach. Sci. Electrical Engineering

Duties: I handle all data collected for our arc-flash analysis – from training our field technicians to maintaining and improving our data collection standards, to quoting new projects, to assisting in keeping all of our deliverables up to the latest standards, to managing the technicians and handling their questions, comments, and concerns. I am the technical contact for customer service – if a customer has a technical question, chances are I’ll be the one they talk to. And in my spare time, I still do some arc-flash analysis.

Industries: Since I’ve been here I’ve had a hand in most industries we’ve worked on – food processing, college campuses, aerospace, roofing and asphalt, water treatment facilities, plastics, bedding, paper products, cement, and the list goes on.

David Cho, EE
Title: Electrical Engineer
School: University of Minnesota
Degree: Bachelor of Electrical Engineering

Duties: Perform arc flash analysis on distribution systems to identify electrical safety hazards based on IEEE 1584 and NFPA 70E specifications. Recommend methods to ensure proper coordination of over-current protective devices and resolve device failure due to insufficient interrupt ratings. Develop custom macros to streamline analysis processes while increasing project accuracy. Formulate reporting schemes to improve the effectiveness of after-sales report delivery.

Industries: University campuses, power generation plants, waste water & water treatment plants, tobacco, stone & glass manufacturing, food processing

Brad Wiley, EE
Title: Electrical Engineer
School: Purdue University
Degree: Bachelor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology

Duties: Perform arc flash analysis on distribution systems to identify electrical safety hazards based on IEEE 1584 and NFPA 70E specifications. Recommend methods to ensure proper coordination of over-current protective devices and resolve device failure due to insufficient interrupt ratings. Field work includes data collection, report delivery and field technician training.

Industries: Power Generation Plants, Water Treatment Plants, Food Processing, Paper Mills

Joel Gibson, EE
Title: Electrical Engineer
School: Purdue School of Engineering and Technology, Indianapolis, IN (IUPUI)
Degree: Electrical Engineering

Duties: Constructing a computer model of the electrical distribution system of the facility for analysis. Conduct short circuit studies for the system to determine if the interrupting rating of the system equipment is acceptable versus the calculated values. Construct TCC curves to provide analysis of system coordination. Conduct an arc flash analysis to determine category ratings throughout the electrical system and provide recommendations for lowering these levels.

Industries: Power generation, food processing, paper manufacturing facilities, wineries, theatres, warehouse, and aerospace.

Eric McCall, EE
Title: Electrical Engineer
School: Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis
Degree: Bachelor of Science

Duties include modeling a facility’s electrical system using SKM software and then performing system analyses to determine fault currents throughout the system for use in the arc flash evaluation. Produce system TCC curves to provide recommendations on system coordination. Provide final recommendations on equipment interrupting ratings and recommendations for reducing arc flash category ratings within the system.

Industries: Medical suppliers and corrugation, bedding, glass, and meat packaging plants.

Jo Russell
Title: Arc Flash Project Coordinator

Duties: As the Arc Flash Project Coordinator, I assemble the reports that the engineers have analyzed into a presentable book form and print the hazard labels. I am responsible for scheduling the data collection and delivery phases of the Arc Flash Analysis. I am a liaison between the engineering department and the customers.

Chad Cutliff
Title: Engineering Technician
School: Vincennes University
Degree: Associates Degree in Computer Integrated Manufacturing

Duties: Responsible for data input and the modeling of electrical distribution systems. Also involved in the data collection phase as well as the delivery of reports to clients such as: Caterpillar, Owens-Illinois, and BP Solar.

Field Technicians

Our field technicians round out the Arc Flash Team. The field technician’s duties include travelling to customer facilities to collect data required for the arc flash analysis and again to deliver our final reports. During the data collection phase of a project, our technicians will use safe electrical work practices to determine appropriate PPE to wear while exposing energized electrical equipment. Data collected from the customer’s electrical system will include (but is not limited to) protective device types, sizes, settings, transformer nameplate data, generator and motor ratings, and conductor sizes and lengths. For the final report delivery phase, our technicians will return to the customer’s facility and present the Arc Flash Analysis report. This phase will include a meeting to discuss the findings and recommendations presented within the report. Also, our field technicians will apply arc flash hazard warning labels to all equipment found to be a Category 1 or higher PPE requirement. Field technicians work closely with Engineering and our customers to ensure that the electrical system model built by Engineering is accurate.