P dV Consulting's Company Information

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• History
• Vision & Purpose
• Company Structure
• Additional Information

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A Brief History

--Photo-- P dV Consulting’s principal consultant and owner, Corwin Snyder, started early on his automotive career by restoring a 1969 Chevelle, rebuilding the engine in the process. His college experience added to the quest for engine & automotive activities by providing a mechanical engineering background while taking electives in automotive, internal combustion engine, and turbomachinery classes. While at Texas A&M University, he participated in a mechanical design class that chose designing an SAE Formula car as its project. This design project would go on to become the basis for Texas A&M’s first entry into the SAE Formula car challenge. To pay for college, he worked at automotive repair shops, starting as a tire changer, and progressing to a fully commissioned mechanic. His senior year at A&M, he worked for the Texas A&M Research Foundation as an undergraduate research assistant on a NASA Lewis Research Center project that tested alternate fuels in an automotive engine. He performed maintenance, calibration, and testing functions on the engine installed on a dynamometer in the mechanical engineering power laboratory.

Mr. Snyder began his post-college career at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, working on the large, military gas turbine engines that power fighter aircraft. There he gained his first hands-on experience with the Brayton cycle engine and its use in aircraft. As a project engineer, he was responsible for testing new engine hardware which was to be put into production. His next assignment was with Link Flight Simulation, building engine software models for the engines he had worked on at P&W. He was also fortunate to model many other types of engines, including several helicopter turboshafts. While at Link, he was able to contribute substantially to the improvement of the engine models, using a thermodynamic and first-law energy balance approach that substantially improved the fidelity of the models.

--Photo-- It was during this time that Mr. Snyder built two cars: a 1979 Camaro with a turbocharged 400 cid small block for the street, and a dragster race car to compete in the NHRA Super Comp drag racing class. The dragster's class runs a 8.90 second elapsed time at approximately 140 mph. The approach taken with the dragster was to use a small block Chevy that was built with as many stock parts as possible to keep costs low. To make the approximately 450 horsepower required to run the elapsed time, a twin-turbocharger system was installed on the engine. With the right compression ratio, the engine could run premium pump gas and still make the required power. The adjustable wastegates on the turbo system allowed boost to be set so the power produced would run the index. During non-NHRA bracket race events, the boost could be increased, and methanol substituted for gasoline, to run much quicker brackets.

--Photo-- Mr. Snyder’s engine research and development era entered a new phase with his work at Southwest Research Institute, where he returned to testing engines in the test cell as he had done in college. His experience grew and broadened as he worked on alternative fuels, engine electronic control systems, performance and emissions development, durability testing, and fuels testing. As a side benefit, experience was gained with engine test cell data acquisition and control software and hardware, test cell hardware setup, test cell instrumentation, and cylinder pressure acquisition and analysis. As a necessity for conducting engine test programs in a contract research and development environment, Mr. Snyder learned to manage small projects as well as large programs. The contract business model demanded expertise in project planning for bids and proposals, and proposal writing and presenting to prospective clients. After contract award, his role as project engineer was vital, tracking scope, cost, and schedule, and keeping the client informed by writing status and final reports. His role as engineering manager was also critical, managing not only the project, but the personnel involved in the project.

It had been a desire of Mr. Snyder to be an independent consultant for quite a while. He had provided services on the side and after hours, but not on a full-time basis. Fortunately, an opportunity presented itself whereby P dV Consulting could go from an idea in the mind to a full-time service to clients. Interestingly enough, the first large, full-time contract was not engine-related, but rather stretched the imagination on a Government project where process modeling of the acquisition system was required. Using the discipline learned as a software programmer, along with program management experience, and further combined with previous Government project experience allowed P dV to successfully provide the client with solutions. Since then, P dV has provided technical services, including engine testing and data acquisition and control, to multiple clients.

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Vision & Purpose

--Photo-- P dV exists to fulfill a need among clients for mechanical and technical services, especially engine testing, data acquisition, engine test cell setup and instrumentation, vehicle testing, process control, and project or program management. P dV will use its experience and background as a foundation on which to build services and systems to meet your technical needs.

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Company Structure

--Photo-- P dV is currently set up as a sole proprietorship providing consulting services on a contractual basis as required. P dV has experience in the bidding and proposal process, and can prepare such to meet your needs using one of the following contractual methods:
• Cost plus Fixed Fee
• Fixed Price
• Time & Materials

The client can consider P dV as an extension of their technical staff, but with the flexibility of using the staff only as required. P dV can work in your facility, along side existing staff, and provide training and education as needed.


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Additional Information

--Photo-- Additional information on P dV is forthcoming. Check back to get information on P dV's involvement in professional societies and community involvement.

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