Sample Work - Steve Skinner Presentations Website

On this page you will find some samples of my presentation material.

Bramah Press Patent Illustration - 1795

Although the French philosopher Blaise Pascal had formulated the Hydrostatic Law in the 17th century, it was left to a Yorkshireman to create the first practical hydraulic machine. Aided by his foreman Henry Maudslay, Joseph Bramah not only developed the world’s first hydraulic press using the principle of force multiplication but also envisaged the use of hydraulics as a power transmission medium. For many years after his death, just about all hydraulic machines, whoever they were built by and whatever they were used for were known as ‘Bramah Presses’.

My personal involvement with hydraulics goes back a good few years but not quite this far. Nevertheless, the story of the development of hydraulic fluid power is a fascinating one to people interested in industrial history, not just from the point of view of the technology itself but also the myriad of applications for which it has been used. For details of my book on the subject please click on the 'History of Hydraulics' tab above.

Static book illustration drawn in PowerPoint

1915 White Truck with Waterbury Hydrostatic Transmission

In the early years of the 20th century, Harvey Williams and Reynold Janney developed a variable displacement axial piston pump which they combined with a fixed displacement motor to form a hydrostatic transmission. The use of oil, rather than water as the hydraulic fluid allowed them to produce an extremely compact unit capable of transmitting large amounts of power. From the outset it was designed with the idea of using it for vehicle drives but unfortunately it proved commercially unviable in this application.

It did find a use however in naval applications and was used on the battleship USS Virginia for elevating its 12 inch guns. Subsequently, the axial piston pump has become one of the most commonly used of all hydraulic components and has been used for many years in the drive trains of off-road vehicles. More recently, axial piston pumps and motors have been used in hybrid on-road vehicle applications also, the application for which they were originally designed.

Static book illustration drawn in Powerpoint

Bent Axis Piston Pump

Bent axis piston pumps and motors are one of those designs that never look as though they will work very well, but they do. Patented by Hans Thoma in the 1930s they have been developed to operate at high pressures and speeds and in some applications offer advantages over their more numerous cousins the axial piston design. They are of course very closely related to bent axis piston motors, in fact they are virtually identical to the untrained eye, which means that one illustration can be used for both components !

Static slide illustration drawn in PowerPoint

Animated slide illustration drawn in PowerPoint

Geroler Motor and Brake (Courtesy of Eaton Corporation)

Trying to explain the operation of a gerotor motor without the help of a diagram is almost impossible. Fortunately with the help of PowerPoint's animation capabilities it becomes almost self explanatory. The difficult part then becomes the explanation of why the brake disc rotates at six times the speed of the shaft. Again, PowerPoint's animation comes to the rescue.

Interactive Troubleshooting Exercises (Courtesy Eaton Corporation)

Interactive animated troubleshooting exercise created in PowerPoint

Using PowerPoint's hyperlink and animation capabilities it is possible to construct interactive troubleshooting exercises such as the hydraulic system shown here. Starting with a machine fault participants can work through a logical process using 'virtual instruments' to locate the source of the problem. It's no substitute of course for practical, hands-on experience with real life equipment but it's a lot cheaper.

PID Control Systems (Courtesy Eaton Corporation)

The functions of Proportional, Integral and Derivative control systems are not easy concepts to understand without a classical education in mathematics or control theory. However, with the aid of some simple analogies it is possible to gain sufficient understanding to be able to make a reasonable stab at tuning such systems.

The concept of the 'PID Seesaw' together with simple graphical simulation software was developed to help engineers grasp the practical effects of each element of the control system.

Animated PowerPoint presentation and simulation software on PID control systems

Pump Control Simulation

Spreadsheets don't simply have to be rows and columns of numbers. Combined with a graphical representation of the subject matter an Excel spreadsheet can be used for simulating systems and set ups, and for selecting the most appropriate components for an application.

The example shown here can be used to compare the performance of simple fixed displacement pump systems through to variable, load-sensing arrangements. It can also be used for training on system commissioning either as a lead-in to the use of real hardware or in situations where actual hardware is not available.

Excel spreadsheet simulating the performance and set-up of four different pump arrangements

The Profit Machine

(Courtesy Eaton Corporation)

Sales people sometimes forget that when they shave a little bit off the price to get the order, the money comes from the same pot that helps to pay their bonuses.

De-mystifying the jargon and relating financial principles to familiar concepts is the key to understanding the complex world of corporate finance.

Animated PowerPoint presentation on basic finance principles and the relationships between price and profit