Ethan Powell

MECHANICAL ENGINEER

Skills Overview

Ethan is a distinguished Mechanical Engineer with a proven track record of delivering projects across product, process, machinery, and equipment design and development. He leverages his design, project management, technical expertise, and interpersonal skills to drive projects from conceptualisation through to completion. Ethan continuously strives to add value by taking the initiative when faced with challenges and consistently exceeds expectations, making him an asset in any engineering setting.

MECHANICAL DESIGN – Ethan has a strong focus on practical design, leveraging his understanding on fundamental engineering principles and production technologies to create innovative solutions. His innovative skills are evident in his design of the VT180 Trailer Refrigeration Unit (TRU) from the ground up which went through extensive testing (Track tests) and product validation (Dynamic FEAs and shaker testing) whilst remaining within project timelines and budget.
PROJECT ENGINEERING/MANAGEMENT – Ethan’s exceptional communication skills enabled him to effectively liaise and coordinate with all stakeholders across multiple engineering disciplines whilst reporting and presenting design reviews, project progress, milestones, and budgetary updates to project management and steering committees. His experience with project lifecycle management (PLM) enable him to run and manage projects from conception through to serial production.
CAD & DESIGN ENGINEERING TOOLS – Ethan brings extensive experience in using CAD tools to model and create drawings for large large and complex assemblies. Where applicable, he will optimise drawing functions by parametrizing models. Ethan has also used 3D scanning and VXelements to reverse engineer complex parts into editable models.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & PROTOTYPING – Ethan specializes in prototype and product development. He applies first principles to solving problems by separating key objectives into critical and nice-to-have features/ design objectives.

Caliber has experience in the Aerospace industry

Caliber Design has experience in the Biofuel industry

PERSONAL STATEMENT

I am an experienced engineer with a passion for tackling complex challenges in the mining (materials handling), aerospace and automotive industries. I have a strong background in product design, production and sheet metal, and like anything I design to be practical and innovative. I have a passion for R&D, FEA simulation, and optimisation, and find nothing more rewarding than seeing my designs come to life and function in the real world. Problem-solving is at the heart of my engineering passion, and I enjoy every step of the process. Outside of work, I spend time designing and fabricating my own furniture, gymming, going on hikes, learning new skills, and cooking.

Project Experience

VALEO

VT180 Trailer Refrigeration Unit

As the Lead Mechanical Design Engineer and Project Manager at Valeo TBS/TBS, I led the development of the VT180 slim line trailer refrigeration unit (automotive sector) over three years. I was responsible for the unit’s design, component selection, technical documentation, and production setup. I managed a team of multidisciplinary engineers, liaised with suppliers and stakeholders, and reported to Valeo’s PMC and PSC. The project was divided into several steps, including initiation and planning, design and development, testing and validation, and pre-series and pre-production. I led the selection process for the components of the refrigeration unit, conceptualized the design using CAD, oversaw the assembly of prototypes, performed Finite Element Analysis (FEA), and validated the design with a highly accelerated life test (HALT) in collaboration with the University of Pretoria.

AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

Ethan worked at New Zealand’s largest aeronautical company, where he helped design and developed vibration isolators for avionic equipment. His responsibilities included structural reinforcement of avionic mounting brackets, development of tooling and fixture plates for vibration testing, and coordination with suppliers. He also managed the various fairing projects, ensuring that cross-functional teams released deliverables in alignment with timeline objectives and requirements.

PRIMA INDUSTRIAL HOLDINGS

Ball Mill Shell Liner Optimisation

Investigated and analysed the cause of high wear on shell liners and proposed a new lifter design to improve the wear life whilst maintaining the mine’s milling operation efficiencies. I simulated the mine’s existing liner set using DEM software (ANSYS Rocky) to understand the shortcomings of the current design. I then used the mill specifications and operating data from the mine to tweak the liner design and lifter angles until achieving satisfactory performance results.

TRANSFRIG

Freight Transportation Frame

At Transfrig, later acquired by Valeo, I designed a freight transportation frame for rigid refrigeration units to optimise container space and reduce shipping costs. I developed concepts, created CAD models, performed strength calculations, selected materials, and oversaw the manufacturing process.

RESEARCH PROJECT

SPS Optimisation

Optimise the Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) process for various titanium alloy powders. By establishing an objective function that captured the relationship between input process parameters and the resulting density composition, I optimised this by creating a program in Python which used the Grey Wolf Optimisation (GWO) metaheuristic algorithm which mimics the hunting methodology of Grey wolves to automatically search for the optimal input parameters with the goal of maximising the density composition of the SPS process.

GOOD BUGGER AWARD

May 2025

Congratulations to Ethan for taking out the Auckland Good Bugger Award this month. Ethan did a great job getting Oli up and running at a shared secondment and has also made some successful sales incentive referrals recently.