David J.

McLaughlin
Local Address
119 South Burrowes St.
Apt. 303, Burrowes Corner
State College, PA 16801
mclaughlin.david.j@gmail.com Permanent Address
112 Penn Woods Court
Irwin, PA 15642
Cell: (814) 574-2524 724-744-3511

EDUCATION:
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
• Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with a Minor in Physics, expected August
2010
• Physics GPA: 3.97/4.00
• Electrical Engineering GPA: 3.68/4.00
• Cumulative GPA: 3.74/4.00

EXPERIENCE
Undergraduate Physics Research Assistant through Teas Scholarship Program
Penn State Physics Department, Summer 2009
• Designed and built a rack-mounted, band-pass filter for equipment Dr. Kozhevnikov uses
to gather information about neuron activity in birds
• Dr. Kozhevnikov has a detector that uses dielectric spectroscopy and contactless
conductivity detection for bioanalysis of substances in submicroliter capillaries
• Allowed the detector to operate at higher frequencies by designing and milling
microstrips that matched the detector to the test equipment. Valuable information used
to characterize the substance exists at these higher frequencies
• Designed, modeled, and implemented different electrode geometries, and varied the
electrode materials, in order to minimize parasitic capacitance between the electrodes and
the substance in the capillary, thus improving detector sensitivity.
• Used Matlab and spectrum analyzer to test all such detector setups across various
frequencies

Instrument Scientist for High Energy Monitoring Instrument (HEMI)

Penn State Electrical Engineering Department, Fall 2008
• Designed a light-tight test box for the HEMI Photomultiplier tube
• Selected radiation sources that tested the high low and middle ranges of the HEMI energy
spectra for calibration

Controls Engineering Intern

Elliot Turbo-Machinery® Ebara Group, Summer 2008
• Elliott’s Controls department is tasked with ensuring that Elliott’s compressor equipment
operates safely and efficiency with minimal cost and human intervention
• Reviewed and edited touch screen displays for Elliot Controls Systems with Wonderware
Human Machine Interface (HMI) software
• Conducted a trade study on suitable HMI computer screens and Panel PCs for installation
in processing plants
• Reviewed, edited, and updated control documents such as Piping and Instrumentation,
Cause & Effect, and Logic Diagrams and Control Narratives
• Programmed Macros in Excel 2003 with Visual Basic for Applications in order to
streamline transfer of information from an Access database to Excel documents
Power-Lead for High Altitude Student Platform (HASP)
Penn State Electrical Engineering Department, Spring-Summer 2008
• Designed power boards for a student-built Gamma Ray Burst detection instrument. The
instrument was tested on a near-space, high-altitude balloon (HASP) in order to prove
flight worthiness to NASA
• Boards conditioned HASP’s bus power for use with the instrument and its electronics
• Determined that the WP06R series DCDC Converters were the most appropriate voltage
step-down converters through trade analysis
• Implemented filter designs, trace-width modulation, and EMI shielding in the power
boards to eliminate noise and interference on the supply lines.
• Worked with the Mechanical team to determine board dimensions, stand-off hole
placements, EMI shield placement, and fit power boards into the structure
• Placed components, routed nets, and otherwise physically implemented board design with
OrCad circuit board design software
• Prepared board layout for construction by PCB manufacturer

Co-Lead for Guidance, Navigation, and Control Subsystem for NittanySat -Satellite
Penn State Electrical Engineering Department, Spring 2007
• Identified the type of sensors needed for attitude determination based on a thorough trade
analysis
• Developed preliminary design for sensor that used triangulation to find the angle with
respect to the sun, based on a Position Sensitive Diode (PSD)
• Designed a housing and aperture assembly for the PSD in Solidworks
• Worked with the Structures team to see if we could mount the sun sensor design on each
of NittanySat’s six panels

Annual CanSat Competition (organized by AAS and AIAA)

Amarillo, Texas, Spring 2007-Summer 2007
• Dealt with the accelerometer chip, which was used by the CanSat to identify the different
stages of launch and deployment
• Identified the accelerometer chip
• Drew the accelerometer board schematic in OrCad Capture
• Designed the accelerometer board in OrCad Layout
• Milled circuit board using T-Tech prototyping mill and software
• Soldered accelerometer chip, microprocessor, and connectors onto board
• Programmed microprocessor (in C) to record g-forces and send the information to the
Command and Data Handling board when requested
COMPETENCIES

• OrCad circuit design and layout software

• Quick Circuit 5000 Prototyping System for prototyping circuit boards
• Matlab
• Solidworks
• Linux(Ubuntu)

AWARDS AND HONORS

• Boeing National Merit Scholarship
• Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship
• Charles. W. Finkl Scholarship
• Charles McWilliam Scholarship
• Eta Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Honors Society