Mechanical Engineer, ( Maintenance rolling stock )
Kenya railways corporation
Total years of experience :9 years, 10 Months
Inspection and Maintenance Planning:
Responsible for inspecting and assessing the condition of locomotives, rolling stock, and sometimes other infrastructure components.
Develop maintenance plans and schedules to ensure that all equipment and systems are regularly inspected, tested, and maintained to prevent failures and ensure safe operations.
Offer improvements in maintenance methods.
Review OEM Maintenance Manuals to ensure maintenance practice is being followed.
Prepare lists of required spare parts.
Preventive Maintenance:
Develop and implement preventive maintenance programs based on OEM and in-house reliability data to extend or in some cases reduce maintenance periodicioties to suit the local needs.
Conducting regular inspections, lubrication, adjustment, and replacement of components as necessary to prevent breakdowns and extend the lifespan of railway infrastructure and rolling stock.
Repairs and Troubleshooting:
When issues or faults are identified during inspections or reported by maintenance crews, analyze the problems and develop appropriate repair strategies.
Troubleshoot complex technical issues related to rolling stock, Root Cause Analysis, and implement effective solutions to restore functionality and safety.
FRACAS (Failure Recording and Corrective Action System) approach to reliability
Safety and Compliance:
Ensuring safety and compliance with regulations is a crucial responsibility. Must have a thorough understanding of safety protocols, industry standards, and regulatory requirements.
Implement safety measures and procedures to minimize risks and maintain compliance during maintenance activities.
Team Management:
In some cases, may be responsible for managing teams of technicians and maintenance workers.
Assign tasks, provide technical guidance, and ensure that the maintenance activities are carried out efficiently and safely.
Documentation and Reporting:
Maintaining accurate records is essential for tracking maintenance activities, identifying trends, and complying with regulatory requirements.
Document inspection findings, maintenance activities, repairs, and safety measures taken.
Prepare reports on maintenance performance, equipment reliability, and other relevant metrics.
Equipment and Technology Upgrades:
As new technologies and equipment emerge in the railway industry, evaluate potential benefits, implementing upgrades, and integrating them into existing systems.
Remain updated with advancements in railway maintenance practices and participate in training programs to enhance their knowledge and skills.
Design
As required, prepare design modifications to improve local reliability
Responsible for complete mechanical design of Mechanical components
Assigned to the tasks of selection of Bearings, Heat Exchangers, and Shaft materials for designs.
Assigned with the responsibilities of creating the Dimensional Drawings, Main Assembly Drawing, Part Drawings and the complete Bill of Materials.
Responsible for analyzing the incoming inquiries from the sales department, and preparing accurate General Arrangement and Layout Drawings.
Responsible for designing the base frames for mounting application.
Responsible for tasks of analyzing the components to ensure design criteria and specific requirements.
Helping the service team in troubleshooting and overhauling of engine and locomotive components.
Assigned to the tasks of planning, conducting and providing guidance to staff in areas of mechanical design development.
Assigned with the task of checking the design made by trainees and approving the same.
Assigned with the task of introducing “5S Principles” in design department.
Involved in providing optimum design at minimum cost in order to be competitive in the market.
● Managed locomotive operation according to set schedule.
● Performed inspections and corrected vehicle defects.
● Made adjustments and alignments in locomotive.
● Identified and replaced worn and damaged parts.
● Controlled corrosion and completed winterization procedures.
● Removed, repaired, overhauled, assembled, and disassembled electrical and mechanical parts.
● Conducted test drives and verified vehicle performance.
● Adjusted controls and systems in locomotive.
● Prepared CAD engineering drawings and mechanical frames and components designs.
● Collated all project drawings and modified specifications to fit the designs required by the Engineer.
● Coordinated with the records departments in order to gather data, specifications, and dimensions required.
● Reviewed technical drawings of co-workers and checked all specifications for accuracy.
● Assigned materials in the cad drawings and specified items accordingly to be easily understood by the colleagues.
● Locate causes of trouble in mechanical devices through careful inspection and observation
● Determining the condition, servicing, repairing and overhauling compressors, Turbo blowers, Oil-lube coolers, air brake systems, power units and engines.
● Dismantle and remove defective parts using cranes, hand tools, cranes, and power tools
● Examine defects in locomotive components using measuring tools and gages
● Operate grinders and metalworking tools to build and repair parts
● Perform regular inspection and periodic maintenance on locomotives
● Replace traction motors, couplers, springs, gear cases, and heating equipment as required
● Diagnose faults in diesel engines, trucks, air equipment, and other components
Conducted inspection on diesel equipment and engine to determine condition
Performed diagnostic tests and identify worn and destroyed parts for elimination
Manage deficiencies by repairing, overhauling and adjusting necessary component and controls.
Perform preventive maintenance tasks for heavy duty engines
Responsible for repairing and maintaining hydraulic systems by referring technical guidelines and manuals
Performed the task of diagnosing and replacing defective and malfunctioned parts and components
Responsible for troubleshooting hydraulic systems, updating hydraulic system documentation, and maintaining horse routings
Assigned responsibility of servicing hydraulic motors and cylinders under the guideline of senior mechanic
Handled responsibility of disassembling hydraulic press cutter machine to identify the part that needs repairing
Responsible for maintaining services records and perform test-run of repaired machinery.
Performed services, set up, maintain, adjust, make size change and overhauls.
Maintaining working area and equipment in clean and orderly condition
Repairing and adjusting conveyor systems
Installing belts in machinery, tightening bolts, adjusting tension rolls, straighten parts, aligning rollers and replace defective parts
Performed boiler routine maintenance
Replacing detective valves, filters, steam gauges on a heating system (boiler)
Testing boiler water and balance it with chemicals
Unblocking blocked injecting machine nozzles
Topping up hydraulic oil
Overhauled boilers for inspections
Technical insights about safety and fundamental systems like electrical, hydraulics and power-train of heavy earth-movers equipments
Optimize the performance of mechanical products, machinery, and equipment.