Dave Hultman:

Dave is the shop foreman for the Electrical Engineering/Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics departmental shop at the University of Minnesota.

"I graduated from Dunwoody Industrial Institute in 1981 with a degree in Machine Tool, Die and Mold Making. After graduation I spent a year and a half working at a place building studio cameras and photographic equipment. In 1983 I began working for the University of Minnesota designing and building research equipment. I have over 20 years CNC milling experience, and have been working 3D surfaces for almost as long. I have built a large scale (4' X 8' X 2') CNC router based on a custom aluminum extrusion for milling large prototypes, patterns and molds. I have also had classes in gas, arc, MIG, and TIG welding. In addition to machining, I have spent much time designing and building experimental research setups. I have the ability to come up with "quick and dirty experiments" to test an idea with a very small initial investment. This is done by scrounging parts and supplies from Menards, Toys R Us, or the scrap yard to come up with something that works, once we have something that works, we can take it to the next level and build a first class setup.

Some of the projects I have designed and built:

  • a supersonic shock tube
  • water channel
  • force balance for water channel
  • various 3D airfoil, airplane and hydrofoil models
  • foam transport channels
  • oil and water pipelines
  • a device for testing the shear strength of rock
  • an interfacial tensiometer for measuring fluid surface tension
  • a biaxial shear testing machine for sand
  • a 24 foot tall moving camera tower for monitoring experiments in an earthquake lab
  • a three-wheeled commuter car
  • a three-wheeled human power vehicle for an outreach program at an Indian Reservation
  • a mock MRI machine for working with children to overcome their fears
  • high vacuum systems and sample transport systems
  • a human powered water vehicle"