Dennis L. Klipp received his BS degree in Mathematics with minors in Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Sciences from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and an MBA from the University of New Haven in West Haven, Connecticut. He has worked as an engineering consultant for the past ten years, specializing in the design of cams and servo driven mechanisms as well as automation machine development. He holds US Patent #6,099,239 for the design of an automated fruit tray dispensing machine for the apple packing industry.

During his long career, he has worked for Commercial Cam (CAMCO), AMCAM and Ferguson Machine Company and has extensive experience in the design of motions, cam design and manufacture and indexing mechanisms. In addition to his cam and machine design responsibilities, he developed cam design and analysis software as well as the programs necessary to interface with the cam cutting and grinding machinery.

His consulting clients have included the Gillette Company, the Chinet Company, Keyes Fibre Corporation, Kimberly-Clark and Tenneco Packaging. Many of his projects have focused on the development of optimized motions for both cam and servo driven systems, resulting in a paradigm shift in production rates. At Chinet, his efforts resulted in the doubling of the productivity of a paper plate molding machine by implementing new cam motions and designing an upgraded drive system. The internal rate of return for the endeavor was in excess of 110 percent.

He has presented both single and multi-company seminars on cam design and motion development. In 1977 and 1981, he was a presenter at cam seminars sponsored by the SME. He is a member of the ASME and recently wrote two book reviews for the Journal of Mechanical Design.

Klipp authored “A Study in Polynomial Motion” published in the January/February 2001 issue of Motion Control Magazine. The article introduced the concepts and techniques for using polynomial curves as motions for servo driven mechanisms. The case study featured a large pick and place mechanism that transported a plurality of products through a horizontal distance of 46 inches and a vertical height of 14 inches in less than two seconds. The total carriage weight was more than 540 pounds. His article won the Nels Tyring Award for the best technical piece during Motion Control’s July, 2000 to June 2001 publishing year.

Staying up to date with the latest engineering tools, Klipp does all design work in solid modeling. Additionally, he continues to compose specialized engineering and quality control software using Visual Basic.