RPM's Startup Resources

Our Startup Team

We believe our people, their capabilities, and their dedication to this venture, will always be our most valuable resource. Creativity, excellence, and productivity, along with mentoring, open and objective discussion and constructive criticism, mutual assistance, and team spirit, will be fostered by example and by encouraging RPM stock ownership for all employees.

Most of our startup team members have extensive power electronics, control systems, magnetics, and other hi-tech product development experience.  All are confident of meeting all goals we set forth in our development, production, and marketing schedule.  After RPM startup, individual starting dates will vary, depending on completion dates of  their on-going projects. Tasks may need to be shared, if any become a critical-path item.

The extraordinary interdisciplinary capabilities of our startup team is reflected by their accomplishments, described in our comprehensive business plan.  A team summary, their professional activities, and planned contributions to this venture, is briefly listed below:

• Dick Fradella, B.S.E.E. Cal, M.S.E.E. Caltech – founder, inventor, patent owner, and venture coordinator, will direct the team in years 1-3, with product development for manufacturing as first priority;
• Steve Lewis, Ph.D. physics Univ. Maryland – president Far West Sensor, will direct development at FWS;
• Jay Philippbar – owner Philippbar R&D, will develop and test electronics, magnetics, electromechanical subsystems;
• Jim Savarino, M.S. physics Purdue –  will develop, test, and integrate subsystems at FWS;
• Craig Otis, M.S. physics N. Illinois Univ. – will develop & integrate subsystems at FWS;
• Gene Diloreto, Ph.D. E.E. Caltech – will serve as systems consultant;
• Mark Connaughton, B.S.M.E. MIT -- rotational dynamics, vibration, stress, materials, aero, and vacuum design;
• Joseph Lagaipa, M.S.C.S. -- digital electronics, computer, data networking consultant;
• John Cambianica, A.I.A., B.S.C.E.  Cal Poly  –  will design installations, make architectural proposals;
• Rey Rivera, B.A. Bus.Ad.  Cal State Univ. – will manage overall marketing and sales;
• Terry Scott, B.S.E.E. Cal State Long Beach -- will manage industrial marketing/sales;

A few photos of  RPM's startup team are shown below.  More will be added as they become available.

Dick Fradella, MSEE, RPM's founder, in the sunroom of  his San Juan Capistrano home. He has decades of experience developing advanced power electronics, magnetics, feedback loop, gyro, and motion control systems.

He developed stall warning systems for jetliners, seismic instruments, meteorological data systems, sensor electronics for the solar wind spectrometer on the moon, radiation measurement instruments, numerous power supplies and motion controllers, a stable gyro platform for spin-stabilized rockets, the first electromechanical thrust vector control for rockets, etc.

Dick holds 2 ultra-efficient regenerative motor patents, and is preparing several more patent applications for flywheel battery technology that he developed.

He also co-developed the first phased-array ultrasound transducer scanner for medical  diagnostic instruments; and is co-developing an arc-lamp flashlight with variable beam width and voice communication capability.

Engineering and science has always been his best hobby.  His other hobbies include caring for plants, fish, birds, frogs, lizards, and a Pomeranian, who share his home.  Tweety (a yellow canary) can be seen singing on his perch.
 
 

Jim Savarino, MS Physics, is shown during a trip to China. He is an accomplished physicist, composer, musician, and recording artist.

Jim developed the first power measurement method for ultrasound medical diagnostic instruments, and continues to accomplish engineering magic for some of the best companies in the world.
 
 
 
 

Jay Philippbar demonstrating a new lift he installed in his workshop. He has been devoted to all kinds of  leading-edge technologies since he was a child, from plasma audio speakers, to lasers, to arc-lamps, and all sorts of electronics.

Jay is a can-do guy, who you want working with you on any revolutionary new product development.

He founded Philippbar R&D,  and co-founded Directed Energy (a laser developer and producer).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Joseph LaGaipa, MSCS, in his office.  He is a world-class computer scientist.  Joe is Executive Director of  Information Technology,  and is an active consultant on computing and data networking for universities, financial institutions, government, and internet companies.

Previously Joe developed Power Plant Simulators for Utility customers and Communication Monitoring devices for the Department of Defense.  He has provided valuable advice,  help,  support, and encouragement to RPM,  since this venture was first conceived.  His hobbies include home improvement,  classic cars,  his farm,  and computers.  Joe will be a valuable asset to RPM's advisory and consulting team members.  He brings us a customer's perspective,  for the crucial UPS needs of  intranet/internet servers and routers,  mainframes, and telecom equipment.
 

Mark Connaughton, BSME,  is a registered Professional Engineer in California.  He provides consulting services,  mainly in mechanical engineering disciplines,  for various Southern California aerospace and high-tech companies.

Mark's specialties include rotational dynamics,  bearings,  vibration and stress analysis,  fluid dynamics,  and vacuum technology.  He has provided much valuable input to our flywheel development.   And he will apply his formidable skills to further develop,  test,  and oversee manufacturing startup of  RPM's proprietary flywheel battery  --  which will be the only available power storage and management system  that is:  truly safe,  ultra-reliable with no maintenance over its essentially unlimited service life,  runs continuously with nearly zero power losses,  takes minimal valuable building space,  is cost-competitive,  and is totally non-polluting.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Terry (B.S.E.E. Long Beach State and industrial sales/marketing manager for major firms over the past 20 years) and Lynn (customer relations for a major electronics component distributor)  Scott are long-time friends that Dick feels very blessed to know.

Terry and Dick have been friends for about 40 years.   They were also members of a small team who developed a weather data system for the US Atomic Energy Commission.   Terry will manage industrial marketing and sales,  mainly to customers needing UPS for critical manufacturing processes.

Besides her career,  and caring for Terry,  Lynn supports causes to protect and improve life for all God's critters,  including scene-stealers like Timmy.
 
 
 
 

Rey Rivera, B.S.Bus.Ad. Cal State Sacramento, is president of  MRV Marketing, LLC,  a national dairy and ice cream program aggregator,  which he founded several years ago.  Rey will be RPM's general marketing manager.  He is also one of  Dick's best friends.

Dick first met Rey, who lived only a few houses away,  when he walked to Dick's house to invite him to a neighborhood party at the Rivera's.   As they talked, Dick was adding distilled water to the lead-acid batteries he uses with his brushless regenerative motor.   Rey was intrigued by this motor,  which regenerates power even on reversing.   He has generously contributed marketing and business advice,  ever since,  for this invention and for RPM's planned UPS and  power storage systems.

Rey clearly loves good technology,  and how it can improve life for everyone on this planet,  as much as he loves the challenges he meets and personal relationships he develops,  managing his marketing business.
 
 
 

Timmy (Dick's Pomeranian). We don't know if  he digs hi-tech. But he likes to be there when we work,  is chief  greeter to Dick's home, and is always a great listener.
 

Office, Lab, Shop -- Facilities and Equipment

Far West Sensor and Philippbar R&D will commit all necessary personnel and resources to this venture. Development contracts with each will be finalized upon RPM startup. In addition, we have longstanding working relationships with local production machine shops, and are able to call upon a group of experienced consultants to aid with specialized problems or to help during peak work periods.

Far West Sensor Corporation, Garden Grove, California:
Facility:
Over 2000 square feet of office, manufacturing, and storage space.
Equipment:
Electronic -- 1 GSample/sec digitizing oscilloscope, DVMs (including 7 digit), logic analyzer, lock-in amplifier, signal generators, power supplies.
Optical -- LED and laser light sources, lenses, and other components, fiberoptic components, fiberoptic connector kits for ST and SMA connectors, integrating sphere for camera characterization.
Real-Time Computer System -- VMEbus single board computer, time capture boards (by FWS), GPS receiver, C cross-compiler for software development.
Shock Tube Facility -- 3 inch inside diameter, 2 foot long driver, 12 feet runout including test section with optical ports, nominally used up to 1000 psi in driver - about Mach 2 shock wave, optical triggering of diaphragm rupture.
CAD Work Station -- 486 computer, AutoCAD, PADS Logic and PowerPCB, Viewlogic, Lattice FPGA software, HP Draftpro plotter.
Video Work Station -- Pulniz monochrome industrial video cameras, Epix video frame grabber card, custom and commercial image processing software, C++ development environment.
Automated Laboratory System -- IEEE 488 interface card and software, 96 channel digital input/output card, stepper motor controller, motorized rotary stage.
Mechanical Fabrication -- Milling machine with tooling, band saw, drill press, sander, hand power tools.

Philippbar R&D, San Clemente, California
Facility:
About 2000 square feet of office, electronic system development lab, experimental machine shop space.
Equipment:
Electronic -- Oscilloscopes, Spectrum Analyzer, analog and digital multimeters, signal generators, power supplies, wide assortment of electronic components for breadboard/PCB construction and test.
Optical -- complete sensor, laser and arc-lamp system development eqpmt.
Computers -- several systems, including dual Pentium II 450, with 512 MBytes of 100 MHz SDRAM, video card w/ 96 MBytes RAM for real-time 3D image rotation while displaying 1600x1200 pixels w/ 24-bit color  (can draw 3.3 million shaded polygons/sec), dual 9.1GB SCSI HDDs, 21" monitor. Runs ProEngineer, PADS Logic and PowerPCB, SolidWorks 98+ and PhotoWorks, PSpice, FEA, etc.  All computers are networked and have dual-conversion UPS.
Environmental test eqpmt. -- vacuum chamber, metered air flow, emi measurement.
Experimental Machine Shop -- Lathe with tooling, drill press, hand power tools, 5-ton lift, etc.

Prototypes, Patents, Research & Development, Custom Software

Motor/generator & Controller Electronics:
Several prototypes built and tested for various motion control applications.  RPM's proprietary technology is protected by US Patents 4085355 and 4520300.  RPM's flywheel battery technology is further protected by a patent pending entitled "Minimal-loss Flywheel Battery and Related Elements" for all components of our integral high-speed flywheel and motor/generator, all with nearly zero idling losses.  New features include: Axial-field levitation, with non-cyclic magnetic-field-return rotor iron; normally passive radial electromagnets that control radial position during possible vibration or earthquake; stator windings that block and buck eddy currents; rolling contact backup bearing control; inherent rotor balancing; and safety shutdown algorythms.  Completed extensive preliminary design assessments and patent searches. All related patents cataloged.  Relevant differences identified.  Power and efficiency data obtained from tests and computed with custom software.

Bearing system:
Patent pending has independent claims for magnetic bearings with nearly zero idling losses, and rolling contact backup bearings.  Unique features include:  Magnetic bearings with no cyclic magnetic variation;  automatic axial positioning for zero steady-state axial stabilizing servo power;  integrated m/g rotor and rolling contact backup bearings that will be far easier to manufacture;  and automatic rotation axis shift to accommodate possible rotor unbalance.  Completed extensive patent searches.  All related patents cataloged.  Relevant differences identified.  Lift and centering forces tabulated vs. relative position, for several preliminary designs, using finite element analysis (boundary element method).  Tilt from earth rotation and stabilization analysis completed with custom software.

Flywheel Rim:
Suppliers identified and consulted. Weight vs. energy vs. material, failure modes and effects, for several configurations, computed with custom software.  Will finalize strategic partnership with rim supplier when startup is completed.

On-site solar and wind power generation:
Power and yield for various hardware, environmental conditions, and preliminary designs, computed with custom software.