About

When the Test Has to Be Right

I started KC Service & Consulting in 2025, after running vibration and shock testing at Sandia National Laboratories.

I bring the operational expertise that manufacturers and design firms cannot provide, built on a career spent running demanding vibration test programs rather than reading about them.

Kevin Cross

I hold an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University. At Sandia National Laboratories I ran vibration and shock testing at its remote hazardous test facilities, qualifying complete nuclear weapon systems as well as their components. I have extensive experience bringing major vibration and shock test systems into service, from procurement and installation through commissioning and operator handoff. My test work spans Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) and Six Degree of Freedom (6-DOF) methodology, structural dynamics, modal and environmental testing, and mass properties.

Today labs bring me in for test planning, setups and new systems, and I service, start up and repair electrodynamic shaker systems as a factory-authorized Unholtz-Dickie service engineer. Knowing where these systems and facilities go wrong is what I bring to every engagement.

Areas of Expertise

Electrodynamic Shaker SystemsMIMO & 6-DOFStructural DynamicsModal AnalysisEnvironmental & Qualification TestMass PropertiesHazardous & Remote OperationsInstall & CommissioningLarge-System Project Management
Kevin Cross placing accelerometers on an instrumented test article before a shaker table test
Preparing an instrumented test article for shaker table testing at Sandia National Laboratories. Photo: Sandia National Laboratories, used with permission.
Kevin Cross

Kevin Cross

KC Service & Consulting Albuquerque, NM 505-349-3645 Kevin@kcscsolutions.com LinkedIn Profile Download CV / Resume
Featured Work

MIMO & 6-DOF, recognized at the national level

My work advancing Multi-Input Multi-Output and 6-DOF vibration test methodology was featured in Sandia National Laboratories public news releases. The remarks below are my own, as published by Sandia, on why these methods matter.

"Using multiple input, multiple output testing is a much more realistic representation of what those units experience in flight and out in the field."

Kevin Cross, quoted in Sandia National Laboratories news release (2024)

"The big selling point is that we can significantly reduce the amount of test time required. We're getting a much better, more realistic dataset, and doing it considerably faster."

Kevin Cross, quoted in Sandia National Laboratories news release (2024)

"We by far lead the way here on multiple input, multiple output testing."

Kevin Cross, quoted in Sandia National Laboratories news release (2015)

Quotes are from publicly available Sandia National Laboratories news releases and are reproduced here with attribution. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. Reference to Sandia reflects past work and does not imply current affiliation or endorsement.

Credentials & Background

Credentials, publications, and recognition

Education & Authorization

  • MS Mechanical Engineering, Clarkson University (2007)
  • Unholtz-Dickie factory-authorized service
  • 20+ years across shaker systems, amplifiers, slip tables, and controls
  • Author and presenter, IMAC, SEM, and the Aerospace Testing Seminar

Federal Registration

  • SAM.gov registered small business (Active, All Awards)
  • UEI P2Z8BV2PGX82 · CAGE 21A89
  • NAICS 541330, 541380, 541715, 811310
  • Capability statement on the Government & Teaming page

Selected Publications

  • Developments on Combined Thermal-Vibration MIMO Testing (2025)
  • MIMO Vibration Test Design for the BARC Challenge Problem (2023)
  • Additional papers in structural dynamics presented at IMAC and SEM

In Print

"Vibration Nation," Stewardship Science 2025, by Wudan Yan: an interview on Sandia's Vibration Lab, its six-degree-of-freedom shaker, and qualifying hardware against the environments it will actually see. "We test all the real-world environments that any particular system could be exposed to." Read the issue (PDF).

My Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) and 6-DOF vibration test methodology work has also been featured in publicly available Sandia National Laboratories news releases (2015 and 2024), quoted above. Reference to Sandia reflects past work and does not imply current affiliation or endorsement.

The same experience is taught directly: see vibration test training, a self-paced online course and a dedicated week at your lab.