Duncan Clark Email & Phone Number

Springfield, Virginia, United States

Chesapeake, Virginia, United States

As Owner of Initial Concepts, I have learned a tremendous amount and have gained experience that will serve me for the rest of my life. Products that I have either designed myself or helped design include a portable blender which accommodates Yeti and HydroFlask cups, a friction fit face shield mount for hard hats, a one-of-a-kind medical device which functions like an endoscope, drones, hand sanitizer dispensers, and educational engineering toy kits for kids.My CAD system of choice is SolidWorks, of which I own two licenses. My over 10 years of experience shows as I complete most preliminary mechanical designs quite quickly, sometimes finishing in one day. All of my prototypes are developed using FDM 3D printing. I have become quite familiar with tuning printers to optimize for select materials. This also includes designing parts with 3D printing in mind. A part which is injection molded, requiring draft angles for example, may not be optimized for 3D printing. A part which has few overhangs, as to minimize support material and post processing, is an example of a 3D printing specific optimization (for FDM printers). I have also served as a project manager, watching over members who add skills to the team where I am lacking. This was the case for the “endoscope” project as it required skillsets that were beyond my own, primarily in material science and software development.As Owner, I also have many other responsibilities that are outside of the engineering world. This includes logistical tasks like packaging, shipping, labeling, assembly, customer support, website management, marketing, and accounting. I have enjoyed all of my roles as Owner of Initial Concepts and will continue to grow my company so long as I still enjoy the work that I do.

Virginia Beach, Virginia

StarChase is a law enforcement technology company. Its flagship product is a pneumatic GPS launcher which police can fire from the grille of their car onto fleeing vehicles. As Test Technician at StarChase, I served to assist engineering wherever they needed additional resources. The company was rather small, so while we all had job titles, we rarely worked exclusively within its job description. Starting out, I managed inventory, tasked with implementing a system which utilized barcodes to check in/out parts for either engineering or manufacturing. As I grew into the role and continued to excel, I was quickly given more and more responsibility. I would assist with product testing, warranty investigations, and design. My proudest accomplishment while working at StarChase was the development of the electrical system and software for their newest product, a handheld unit which could be shouldered and fire a GPS, like the action of a rifle. Essentially, I used Arduino to materialize our CTO’s vision for the product all the way to a fully functioning prototype. These types of tasks were generally outsourced, but my ability to adapt to the needs of the company saved money and time, making the transition from prototype to finished product that much faster.I learned a lot from StarChase and keep many of the lessons I learned from there with me to this very day.