INSIDE THE MECHANISMS THAT MOVE THE SHED

My father was a design draftsman from Scotland. Came out of the shipyards in Scotland. He instilled in me as a young man to work with my hands and be analytical. We recently completed a bridge over the Clyde River, pretty close to where my father grew up. That would’ve been something he would’ve really thought was cool.

My name is Brian Hamill. I’m a mechanical engineer with Hardesty & Hanover, and I’m the chief engineer of the Kinetic Systems Group. And I led the design of the mechanization for The Shed. And that includes the bogies, the sleds, and the control system. And also the operable doors.

I love the whole process of taking a project from initial conception to completion. For instance, The Shed, the architect had an idea, you know, let’s make this building move. Our job is to make it happen. Say, oh, is engineering all about having your head down, you know, crunching numbers? Part of it is that, but it’s also fun to be in the meetings with the other stakeholders, and talk about how do I actually make this wheel carry 700,000 pounds and roll down the track to make this 8 million pound building move?

There was quite a few different concepts that came and went, let’s say, before we arrived on the final design. It is a machine in terms of equipment that makes it move. Its bearings, its shafting, its wheels, axles. We typically use ASME. They have a whole set of standards.

I actually had a professor, Dr. [Sam Y.] Zamrik, at Penn State, who was a former president of ASME. And he was actually one of my favorite professors. When I think back of it, I feel fortunate to have been part of the team that did all this. I’ve done some really neat projects, but this was definitely near the top of the list. It was kind of a once-in-a-career, once-in-a-lifetime type of project.