Tim Geiser

I’m an engineer that specializes in designing mechanical systems for mission critical buildings and infrastructure. This page exists so I can share what I find interesting in all things related to engineering and open source software.

Professional Engineer

Licensed Professional Engineer in five US States.

National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying record holder.

Designer

Expert user of Revit, AutoCAD, and Navisworks.

Proficient user of Excel, Python, and Command-line interface in Windows, Mac & Linux.

Experienced

Fifteen years’ experience providing mechanical engineering services.

Education

Bachelor's of Science
Mechanical Engineering
University of Minnesota

Master's of Science
Building Services Engineering
London South Bank University

Services

I design and build mechanical systems for buildings such as data centers, power plants, airports, convention centers, and canals.

Photos

Panama Canal Expansion's Pacific side during construction.

At Joshua Tree National Park.

All cleaned up.

Work Experience

Environmental Systems Design, Chicago
Senior Project Engineer | Mechanical
Designed highly resilient cooling systems for hyperscale data centers for a Fortune 100 client. Solved hundreds of constructability issues raised by the client, contractors, other engineers, architects, and equipment manufacturers.
2021 -
2017
Epstein, Chicago
Project Engineer
Designed central plant cooling and heating systems for a Fortune 100 client and several medium to small businesses. Designed mechanical systems at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center expansion in New York City (for both the new transformer building and truck marshalling ramp).

2017 -
2015
MWH, Chicago
Senior Mechanical Engineer
Designed mechanical and electrical systems for the Panama Canal Third Set of Locks project. Delivered the company’s first project using Revit and Navisworks software.

2015 -
2010
Red Engineering Design, Oxford & London, UK
Mechanical Design Engineer
Designed Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) systems that consume minimal amounts of energy, without sacrificing comfort. Specialized in the deployment AutoCAD MEP, which designs 3D MEP systems.

2009 -
2008
Leo A Daly, Minneapolis
Mechanical Engineer-In-Training
Designed mechanical and plumbing systems in the retail, office, military, and industrial sectors for one of the top ten largest Architecture/Engineering firms in the United States. Focused on the deployment and training of Autodesk's Revit MEP design software.

2007 -
2006

Code

How to Build a Leak Detector with Text Message Notification
This guide demonstrates how to build a leak detector that sends text message notifications. It sends alerts if water from a burst pipe or backed up drain is sensed. The guide is intended for anyone interested in Python 3, Raspberry Pi, Secure Shell (SSH), Shell, crontab, command line, linux, and open source related projects. The text notification service (Twilio) works in the United States. It may or may not work in other countries. Windows was used though Linux and Mac should work too. Read more...

How to Install Jupyter Notebook on Windows
This guide is designed to be the quickest way to get Python, Jupyter Notebook, and several data science related packages up and running on a Windows computer. This free and open software can do some amazing things. No prior experience is required. Read more...

3D Printing

How to Create and Print 3D Objects
These 3D printing examples include: a laptop phone holder, a lock latch for an electrical panel, and a tool for adjusting door latch springs. Parts like these can be quickly designed, built, and delivered to your door by using this method:
1) Create a free account and part at onshape.com .
2) Right click on the "Part" in the lower left corner. Export it as an STL format. Select millimeters as the unit of length.
3) Import the part to the 3D printing service company at: shapeways.com .
Alternatively, check your local library which may have a 3D printer available at an even lower rate. That's how I was able to print the brown latch for just $1. The earlier white and flimsy version cost about $7 on Shapeways.
4) Pick the material of your choice, shipping method, etc.