About Me
Thanks for stopping in! My name is Eric, and I am a Computer Engineer with a wide variety of interests and experiences. The following personal space will evolve into a place to document my projects both automotive and electronic in nature. As well as touching on a few of my hobbies such as cycling, and my involvement on the Prairie Dog Central vintage railway.
Portfolio
Working in the Automotive Industry with Holley Performance Products for nearly four years, has led me to hone my skills in embedded firmware design, and C# WPF software development. Experience in test engineering and oversight of manufacturing processes, I am familiar with the product life cycle from inception through maintenance. Familiar maintaining legacy codebases, debugging existing works, and contributing new development. Being a member of a small team, I'm familiar working in a fast-paced environment to meet deadlines. I am passionate about finding new ways to solve problems, and I am not afraid to ask questions.
Interested in learning more? Request a copy of my Resume here!
Automotive Projects
2003 Chevrolet Silverado (AKA Big Red)
When I purchased this truck it was what one might call, “reliable.” Well, that’s a relative term. The truck was purchased from Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) with a salvageable title, after a powerline had fallen across the windshield of the truck. Subsequently frying all of the electronics in the truck, including the ECM. At the time of purchase from MPI, the truck was supposed to be picked up by a tow truck because it did not run. The dude in the yard decided to try starting it anyway, and low and behold it started and drove! From this point on, the electronics started coming back to life, for the most part.
The truck is a 4x4, 8’ long box, with a 5.3L and a 4L60E (unfortunately). Working for one of the biggest names in fuel injection, Holley EFI, naturally, I decided to toss “reliability” to the wind. Disclaimer: after rewiring the engine and trans in the spring of 2017, I still have yet to have a real problem with reliability! Asides from a few dead batteries, due to a pre-existing unidentified power drain. In April of 2017, I wired up the fuel injectors, ignition coils, drive-by-wire (DBW) throttle body (TB), wideband oxygen sensor, and transmission, to a Holley Dominator. Holley makes this a very simple process, with lots of plug-and-play wire harnessing. Some modifications required (pedal, and DBW TB)! Essentially, this allowed me full tuning control over the engine and transmission.
Driver facing, I removed the factory gauge cluster, and I installed a Holley EFI 7” Dash as seen in the above photograph. A fully customizable touchscreen display, was the icing on the cake to this fuel injection install. Jumping forward a few years, removing the Dominator and the 7”, the truck is now home to a Terminator X Max and a Holley EFI 6.86” Pro Dash, along with a Terminator X 3.5” Handheld touchscreen controller that comes with select Terminator X kits as previously mentioned. The coolness factor in all of this, being that I was responsible for the firmware development for the 3.5” touchscreen, so I could eat my own dog food for about 6 months prior to product release. Being an alpha tester for each of these products, ECU, handheld, and the 6.86” months prior to any of their releases, taught me the importance of testing.
1941 Chevrolet
My father pulled this car out of a field in 1977, at the time a home to a family of mice. In 2018, we installed Holley Sniper EFI fuel injection, and took it South on our annual trip to the Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, KY.
More to come!
1955 Pontiac
Once my great grandfathers car, this three-on-the-tree grocery getter turns a lot of heads with two tone paint and wide whitewall tires. Most recently, I’ve done repair on the floor of the car, including undercoating below and above, including a new interior.
More to come!
Cycling
Love getting out on the bike, great way to grab scenic views and get the heart pumping. Currently exploring the road and gravel scenes, with a touch of cyclocross. The cycling highlight of this summer would be riding the Kettle Mettle Full Fondo Plus! On the historic Kettle Valley Railway, this ride starts in Penticton and finishes in Kelowna. Riding through the Okanogan Valley, Chute Lake, and Myra Canyon, the 140km, 1800m elevation gain made it a challenging, but breathtaking ride!
Trains
If you know me at all, you know I love trains. Starting with Prairie Dog Central Railway (PDCR) in January 2017, I've volunteered on the railway in a variety of capacities. Drawn in by the steam engine, I started with maintenance on our locomotive working on whatever was required.
Apart from maintenance, during the operating seasons I have acted in the capacity of a Porter, and a Trainman. As a Porter, responsible for one of our five coaches, you are responsible for speaking with the passengers and answering any questions they may have. As a Trainman, you fulfill all of duties on the ground, throwing switches, putting the train together, taking it apart, and telling the Engineer where to drive.
