Jacob Merrill

Electrical Controls Engineer

Machine controls from schematic to startup. 8+ years designing, building, programming, and commissioning industrial equipment on Allen-Bradley, Siemens, and Beckhoff platforms.

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8+
Years in automation
6
Countries commissioned
3
PLC platforms
EPLAN
Electrical design
Electrical design
EPLAN Electric P8, Pro Panel 3D, and AutoCAD Electrical. UL/CE panel design, 480 VAC to 24 VDC, NFPA 79.
PLC and safety
Studio 5000 and GuardLogix. TIA Portal, S7-1500F, PROFIsafe. Beckhoff TwinCAT.
Drives and motion
Kinetix servo, PowerFlex, SINAMICS G120. Dancer tension control and web guiding.
Commissioning
FATs and SATs in China, Sweden, Germany, Vietnam, Mexico, and Canada.
Work gallery

Control panels

Compact GuardLogix control panel with Yaskawa drives before installation
Compact GuardLogix panel with Yaskawa drives, designed in EPLAN and built
Finished cabinet with ControlLogix, Keyence controllers, four Kinetix 5700 servo drives and two PowerFlex 755 drives
ControlLogix, Kinetix 5700, PowerFlex 755
Control section with Compact GuardLogix 5380, safety relay and 24 VDC power supply
GuardLogix 5380 control section
Numbered field terminal strip with labeled wires
Field terminals, every wire numbered
Drive section with Yaskawa GA500 and GA800 drives
Yaskawa GA500 and GA800 drive section
Large panel mid-build with ControlLogix rack and Keyence controllers
ControlLogix and Keyence, mid-build
Cabinet with seven labeled drives and a commissioning checklist
Seven-drive cabinet during commissioning
Panel with Kinetix 5500 servo drives and PowerFlex 4M drives
Kinetix 5500 servos and PowerFlex 4M drives
Cabinet with Compact GuardLogix, PowerFlex 755 and 525 drives
Compact GuardLogix, PowerFlex 755 and 525
Panel with MicroLogix 1400, Keyence controller and PowerFlex 525
MicroLogix 1400, Keyence, PowerFlex 525
Back of an operator pushbutton station with every wire labeled
Operator station wiring
Cabinet with SCR heater power controllers, contactors, PowerFlex 525 and remote access gateway
Heater control cabinet: SCR power controllers, PowerFlex 525
Micro800 and Yaskawa V1000 panel installed in a machine base
Micro800 and Yaskawa V1000, installed in the machine base
Start to finish

Controls retrofit

New controls for an existing winding machine, from blank backplate to installed panel.

Backplate with layout lines and DIN rail positions marked and drilled
01 Layout marked and drilled
Components and wire duct dry-fit on the backplate
02 Components dry-fit
Finished retrofit panel installed in the machine enclosure
03 Wired and installed

Machine wiring

Field cabling routed, supported, and labeled inside the machine frame.

Motor and sensor cables routed and tied down inside a machine base
Motor and sensor cabling in the machine base
Pneumatic solenoid valves with labeled cables mounted inside a machine frame
Solenoid valve cabling inside the frame
Design

Electrical and HMI design

Schematics and enclosure layouts in EPLAN and AutoCAD Electrical before anything is built, and operator screens designed for the people running the machine.

EPLAN Pro Panel 3D model of a control enclosure
EPLAN Pro Panel 3D model, with layouts and wire lists generated from the model
Siemens WinCC operator screen
Siemens WinCC line screen, TIA Portal
HMI main screen for a wire take-up line
Take-up line main screen: recipes, traverse homing, flange limits
Machines and motion

Winding and wire handling

Winding head on a large coil winder with a wire position display
Coil winder commissioned on site in China
Kinetix servo motor mounted on a winding machine axis
Kinetix servo axis
Dancer column with linear position transducer
Dancer column with linear position feedback
Machine section with a multimeter attached during commissioning
Electrical checkout during commissioning
AMCI integrated stepper motor driving a traverse axis on a winding machine
Integrated stepper on a traverse axis, EtherNet/IP
Experience

Career

2026 to present
Sr. Manufacturing Controls Dev Engineer, Tesla Giga Texas
TwinCAT motion programming, commissioning, and production support on high-speed battery cell winders.
2024 to 2026
Electrical Engineer, Broomfield
Full controls scope on custom winding machines: EPLAN design, PLC and HMI software, drive commissioning, safety systems, and FATs and SATs in six countries.
2023 to 2024
Electro Mechanical Engineer, 6K Inc.
Automation for plasma powder processing systems, PLC-controlled clean-in-place, and company electrical standards.
2019 to 2022
Controls Technician, Broomfield
Panel wiring, drive programming, and on-site commissioning of winding machines.
2018 to 2019
Electromechanical Technician, Segue Manufacturing Services
Built and wired precision motion and control cabinets to customer drawings.
Precision motion cabinet with three Aerotech amplifiers
Segue: precision motion cabinet, built to customer drawings
Four servo drives wired with labeled cables
Segue: servo drive section, built to customer drawings
Jacob Merrill standing beside a Tesla Optimus robot display Jacob Merrill wiring a machine control panel
About

Contact

Electrical controls engineer based in Pflugerville, Texas. Career built from panel building through electrical design, PLC programming, and international commissioning of winding and wire-handling machinery.

jakemerrill@comcast.net LinkedIn
Customer names, serial numbers, and process details are omitted from all photos.