The Sound Answers Team
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Dr. Gabriella Cerrato, President, Co-Founder
Gabriella has a Doctorate in Theoretical Physics from the University of Torino, Italy. She has worked in the noise and vibration control field for 25 years with positions ranging from Acoustic Systems Engineer and Manager at Fiat in Italy (Active Noise and Vibration Group) to Technical Director of the MTS Systems consulting business unit in Detroit. Her areas of expertise are diagnostics of noise and vibration concerns, sound and vibration quality measurement and target setting, testing for correlation of CAE models, and synthesis/prediction of contributions to products’ noise and vibration performance. Gabriella has led the Sound Answers team in several Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 and Phase 2 projects for the Department of Defense. She teaches several seminars and training classes a year and has co-authored papers for various professional conferences and magazines. She is an active member of the SAE NVH committee, and of other professional societies including AIAA, AES, ASA, and INCE. |
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Contact Dr. Gabriella Cerrato
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DJ Pickering, Vice President, Co-Founder
DJ Pickering has a BSME from Michigan Technological University. He has worked at ITT Automotive as a Design and Release Engineer specializing in noise and vibration concerns related to DC motor mechanisms. DJ's main areas of expertise are DC motor mechanisms and the sound engineering process for product design and manufacturing. In addition to his technical background, DJ has over 14 years of selling experience in the NVH market, starting as an Application Engineer at SDRC, and then at MTS as an Application Engineer, Sales Engineer, and most recently North American Sales Manager. DJ has successfully sold NVH software and consulting services to a vast array of Customers, from automotive and aerospace OEM's to consumer product and component manufacturers. He has also sold a variety of consulting projects, from R&D process improvement to large installations of production test systems to troubleshooting and training. |
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Paul Goodes, Co-Founder
Paul has an MBA from Bowling Green State University, MSME from Oakland University and BSME from GMI-Engineering and Management Institute where he focused on Engineering Mechanics and System Dynamics. He worked in the Detroit auto industry for 15 years with positions ranging from Process Engineer at a General Motors transmission manufacturing plant to a Senior NVH Engineer at Ford and a Tier 1 supplier. His main areas of expertise are axle, driveline and suspension NVH. Before Sound Answers, he most recently worked at MTS as Senior NVH Consulting Manager and his technical experience includes rotating machinery, target setting, noise path analysis, sound quality, jury testing, production line testing, modal analysis and correlation. |
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Dr. Ed Green, Principal Staff Engineer
Ed has a Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from Herrick Laboratories, Purdue University. He has worked in the fields of noise, vibration, and ultrasonics for 28 years. His work has included station-class lightning-arrestor seismic certification at Joslyn Mfg., ultrasonic inspection and modeling simulation at Battelle PNL, and numerous noise and vibration projects at Roush Industries where he worked for 17 years. His areas of expertise include sound material evaluation and modeling, sound package optimization, passby noise improvement, intake system design, airborne noise evaluation, modal testing, muffler development, conventional and particle damping development, cepstrum analysis, sound quality analysis, and vibration durability. He is the author or coauthor of 33 technical papers. |
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Todd Freeman, Principal Engineer
Todd has worked in the noise and vibration field for 13 years, and holds a MSME from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a BSME from Grand Valley State University. Todd began his career as a co-op at Paulstra CRC developing powertrain mounts and moved on to Visteon Corporation as an NVH Engineer in the axle/driveline group where he focused on axle noise, driveline balancing, and end-of-line test stand development. As the Lead NVH Engineer for Magna Steyr, Todd was involved with powertrain integration projects that encompassed a wide range of NVH development, including target setting, powertrain mounts, induction and exhaust systems, acoustic package design, and damper development. While at Sound Answers he has continued development into fields of sound quality, jury testing, NVH troubleshooting, modal analysis, and NVH program support for vehicle development programs. |
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Eric C. Frank, Senior Project Engineer / Resource Manager
Eric holds a B.S. in Acoustic Engineering from Purdue University. After receiving his degree, Eric spent five years working as an NVH engineer in the Torque and Traction Technologies division of Dana Corporation. While there, he specialized in the NVH characteristics of driveline components (e.g. axles, driveshafts, transfer cases). From there, Eric joined MTS Systems as a Technical Consultant. He was primarily involved with troubleshooting tests and identification of countermeasures for a variety of different products. Today, he has been with Sound Answers since 2006 and specializes in Troubleshooting, Noise Path Analysis, Road Noise, Modal Analysis, Sound Quality, Jury Analysis, Sound Intensity, and Rotating Machinery. |
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Glenn Pietila, Senior Project Engineer
Glenn has a Bachelors and Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University. And, he is currently a PhD Candidate at the University of Cincinnati where he is working on developing an intelligent systems approach to product sound quality analysis by applying intelligent systems approaches to signal decomposition/metric development, jury analysis, and preference modeling. During his research at Michigan Tech he focused on noise and vibration problem solving, and his research involved the characterization of the dynamic material properties of a composite which included designing and building a high strain rate tensile fixture. His industry experience involves NVH troubleshooting, sound quality analysis, production test systems and training for a variety products and industries, including Automotive, Agricultural, Medical, Consumer Products, and the Department of Defense. In his experience working with the Department of Defense he managed the development and integration of a high output alternator system into a military vehicle and the development of a band-track-over wheels concept vehicle. Glenn has experience in transfer path analysis, signal processing, modal analysis, rotating analysis, acoustics, sound quality, strain gage application and measurements, and human perception and detectability studies. |
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Chris Moon, Senior Project Engineer
Chris has a BSME from The Ohio State University and a MSME from the University of Alabama, with a focus on noise and vibration quantification of gear testing machines. He previously worked for 4 years at Defiance Testing and Engineering mainly performing vehicle and sub-component modal testing, BSR testing, and shaker testing. Before that he worked for 5 years at The Center for Automotive Research at Ohio State mainly performing engine intake and exhaust system flow noise testing, vehicle sound quality studies, and acoustic testing. At Sound Answers since 2007 he has worked on projects for modal analysis, vehicle noise and transfer path analysis, leak detection using ultrasound, NVH troubleshooting, sound intensity/power, and signal processing studies. |
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Giovanni Rinaldi, Project Engineer
Giovanni has a BSME from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a MSME from Oakland University. During his 8 years with American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM), where he started as NVH test engineer and later became NVH test supervisor, he worked on all noise and vibration issues of driveline components (axles, driveshafts, transfer cases). His focus was on troubleshooting and benchmark testing both onsite utilizing 4WD chassis and driveline dynamometers and offsite using portable acquisition systems. He was also responsible for automating test procedures in the NVH lab and for training the engineering staff on NVH fundamentals. Prior to AAM, Giovanni was at General Motors (Milford Proving Ground) where he focused on smooth road shake (tire/wheel non-uniformities) issues. Giovanni has experience in rotating machinery, sound quality, modal analysis, transfer path analysis and production test systems. |
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Valerie Schnabelrauch , Project Engineer
Valerie has a BS and MSME from Kettering University (formerly GMI), where her graduate studies focused on statistical analyses of child restraint systems in rollover events. Her research resulted in a paper for a professional magazine. She also has experience with crash safety testing involving the design of test configurations, data acquisition, and data analysis. Prior to that she performed exhaust system flow acoustic testing and vehicle sound quality studies in support of exhaust system design. |
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Brian Thom, Project Engineer
Brian has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Kettering University (formerly GMI-Engineering and Management Institute). Brian was a co-op student at Valeo in the Climate Control Division, where he worked in the NVH lab with a focus on blower motor and cooling system noise. While at Valeo, he was responsible for test setup and tear down using their acoustic flow test bench, acquisition of acoustic and vibration data, and for data processing, preparation of test reports, and presentation of results to Customer. Most recently, he has been assigned to work on-site at an Automotive OEM in the NV group focusing on hybrid and electric vehicle development. |
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Bret Engels, Project Engineer
Bret has a BSME from the University of Michigan. During his studies he participated in a project sponsored by Toyota to design and implement a mechatronic shift lever actuation device for use in autonomous vehicle R&D. He also held an internship with BMW in Regensburg, Germany, participating in various projects to streamline the efficiency of production and ensure optimal product quality. Bret has experience in data acquisition, analysis, and experimental design in areas including materials testing, electric motor modeling, boiling heat transfer, and spot welding. |
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