Experience

C6 Forest to Farm Biochar

• United States
• Renewables & Environment
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Director Of Engineering

  • Apr 2022 - Present

• Member Board Of Directors

  • Jul 2021 - Jan 2023



Synapse Product Development

• United States
• Engineering Services
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Principal Systems Engineer

  • Mar 2020 - Apr 2022

• Director of Mechanical Engineering

  • Feb 2014 - Mar 2020

  As the Director of Mechanical Engineering at Synapse, I’m responsible for ensuring that the ME team is following solid engineering and consulting practices, assigning engineers to projects, growing the team, and working with my engineering and program management director counterparts to improve client and employee satisfaction. I often meet with prospective or existing clients to help frame their projects and formulate the right development strategies, and am typically on the escalation path for existing projects. A significant highlight of my job is when I bring my team together for our weekly department gathering or extra-curricular activities. It is a group of rockstars, and I am constantly learning from them.I have also led or contributed to a variety of initiatives related to how we execute projects, the most significant of which has been our development of flexible systems engineering principles and tools that help our teams truly understand our clients' needs and requirements, identify key risks, and formulate winning development strategies to use our clients' resources effectively and gracefully manage the change that's inevitable in the course of product development. Show less

• Director of Engineering

  • Dec 2013 - Feb 2014

  As Director of Engineering at Synapse, I was responsible for building my business unit's engineering team, in terms of growth of our current engineers and team hiring and expansion. I worked with the business unit's program leads to build each project's team with the mechanical, electrical, and firmware engineers that best fit the project needs. I also worked with Synapse's Principal Engineers to drive best practice creation as it related to the needs of my business unit, and I reinforced best practices with discipline program leads to help ensure project teams were following them. I was also involved in process development within the business unit, with the goal of helping the company run more efficiently and allowing our engineers to concentrate on solving our clients' product development challenges. Show less

• Mechanical Engineer

  • May 2013 - Nov 2013

• Mechanical Engineering Program Lead

  • Feb 2012 - Apr 2013

  As a ME program lead at Synapse, I was responsible for resourcing projects within my program, developing the scope of new projects and continuing project phases within my program, developing mechanical engineering best practices, and ensuring that the quality of the deliverables produced by the mechanical engineers in my program were up to the standard expected by Synapse and our clients.I also continued to contribute to projects as a mechanical engineer, which allowed me to maintain my engineering analysis and design skills while developing best practices that were based on reality to balance good engineering practice, customer-facing engineering considerations, and the realities of fast-paced product development. Show less

• Mechanical Engineer

  • Jan 2012 - Feb 2012

  I joined Synapse as a full-time mechanical engineer, and continued my work as a technical lead on a consumer electronics product. My roles included mechanical analysis and design, mechanical design issues and risk tracking, working with my team to develop detailed workflows, interfacing with the customer to understand product requirements, and interfacing with suppliers for custom components.I also took on some internal projects at Synapse, contributing to planning and organization our the company's new lab and ME shop spaces. Show less

• Contract Mechanical Engineer

  • Oct 2010 - Dec 2011

  As a contractor at Synapse this time around, I contributed on multiple projects as a mechanical engineer involved in ME design, analysis, and test activities. I also contributed as a project manager, leading two cross-discipline teams to deliver high-quality product demonstration projects.



Washington Trails Association

• United States
• Environmental Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Crew Leader

  • Feb 2009 - Sep 2011

  As a crew leader on Volunteer Vacations for WTA, was responsible for keeping volunteers safe, happy, and well-fed on the trail and in camp during week-long trail maintenance trips. I had the great pleasure of working with those volunteers and land managers to complete fun, complex projects outdoors. As a crew leader on Volunteer Vacations for WTA, was responsible for keeping volunteers safe, happy, and well-fed on the trail and in camp during week-long trail maintenance trips. I had the great pleasure of working with those volunteers and land managers to complete fun, complex projects outdoors.



Synapse Product Development

• United States
• Engineering Services
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Mechanical Engineering Contractor

  • Oct 2009 - May 2010

  As a mechanical engineering contractor at Synapse, I was responsible for mechanical design, analysis, and testing for a medical device development project. As a mechanical engineering contractor at Synapse, I was responsible for mechanical design, analysis, and testing for a medical device development project.



Slipstream Design

• Manufacturing

• Mechanical Engineer

  • Oct 2006 - Dec 2008

  At Slipstream Design, I was part of a small team of industrial designers and mechanical engineers, all of whom were significant mentors in my early career. I was involved in the entire product development process from early concept development through NPI support. I contributed to ideation, analysis, mechanical design, design for manufacturing, manufacturing drawings, NPI support, and product testing. Expertise I built at Slipstream included: - Engineering consulting - Project scoping and planning - Industrial design collaboration - Product architecture development - Complex surfacing (SolidWorks and Pro/E Wildfire) - Structural FEA - Design for manufacturing - Sheet metal design (forming) - Plastics design (injection molding, pressure forming) - Fluid system design and component selection - Chemical & material compatibility research and testing - Supplier selection and collaboration Show less



Bigbelly

• United States
• Renewable Energy Semiconductor Manufacturing
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Mechanical Designer

  • Apr 2003 - May 2006

  As one of two mechanical designers at Seahorse Power Company (the entity that became BigBelly Solar), I worked on very early versions of the company's first product, a solar-powered garbage compaction system called the BigBelly. It turned out to be an early success story of the Internet of Things movement, because it senses how full it is and provides a feedback loop for garbage pickup organizations to optimize their truck routes, which results in real value given the generally low fuel efficiency of garbage vehicles. The side-effect is that fossil fuel emissions of the garbage pickup process are reduced. Show less



Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

• United States
• Higher Education
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Machine Shop Assistant

  • 2003 - May 2006

  My role as the machine shop assistant at Olin College ranged from sweeping floors to designing parts to fabrication and welding. I was especially involved in updating equipment and space to be more usable for the college. For example, I designed and built a splashguard for the shop's waterjet cutter, and helped expand the welding area and add storage/organization in that space. My role as the machine shop assistant at Olin College ranged from sweeping floors to designing parts to fabrication and welding. I was especially involved in updating equipment and space to be more usable for the college. For example, I designed and built a splashguard for the shop's waterjet cutter, and helped expand the welding area and add storage/organization in that space.