Christopher Westra Email & Phone Number

San Mateo, California, US

Currently managing the design, prototyping, DFM and vendor network to bring Avegant's newest augmented reality light engine to production.

San Mateo, California, US

• Managerial:
• Successfully launched Avegant's first product, Glyph, while building the mechanical team.
• Implemented and enforced document releasing process in Arena (PLM) to control engineering drawings and other critical documentation for 1000’s of parts, reference data files, and specification documents.
• Aligned key ME team inputs/outputs with EE, ID and Ops teams and facilitate cooperation to resolve conflicts in a timely manner.
• Created and implemented ME design process to balance speed and flexibility vs risk to cost and schedules including design reviews, D&R procedures, and engineering diligence requirements.
• Developed ME team standard part templates, drawing templates, and notes in SolidWorks to save up to 4hrs per week per engineer during design phases.

San Mateo, California, US

• Succeeded in delivering Avegant’s first product, Glyph, to market in a fast paced, sometimes chaotic development environment with minimum oversight in 16 months.
• Developed Mechanical architecture of the Glyph headset, a wearable personal entertainment system with ground breaking video and audio quality.
• Concepted designs for 80% of over 135 custom components and 5 mechanisms in the product and guided the ME Team in the detail engineering of the mechanical aspects of the assembly.
• Generated IP for opto-mechanical portion of patent pending collapsing illumination system currently in production.
• Strategically hired 10 ME Team Members with core competencies that fill existing knowledge gaps.
• Managed on site and off site contractors to supplement team resources as needed to keep project on schedule.

• As the only mechanical engineer, I was responsible for most things related to products and manufacturing. A short term assignment to help the founder move manufacturing operations from Texas to Michigan and revamp the.
• Responsible for all product design, development, testing, quotes, sourcing, production and quality control activities.
• Reduced cost of goods by over 15% per year by redesigning components for improved manufacturing efficiency and throughput along with re-sourcing over priced components.
• Hired and managed machine shop and assembly operator staff.
• Created and implemented a MRP system to track inventory and costs from purchasing through shipping.
• Documented product assembly processes to improve consistency and create training materials.

• Helping entrepreneurs and small businesses bring great ideas from concept to production in my spare time.
• See Dynamic Perception, above.

Canton, Michigan, US

• Developed vehicle Instrument Clusters and LCD back lighting for driver information systems.
• Led the development of two vehicle instrument clusters to be installed in over 5 million General Motors passenger vehicles through model year 2021.
• Provided concept design and component cost models to purchasing in support of quotation efforts to win new business valued at over $20MM per year.
• Performed FEA analyses and implemented design changes to ensure instrument cluster designs passed internal validation testing and meet rigorous motor vehicle OEM standards.
• Assisted optics specialist with development of LCD display backlight systems which achieve over 85% uniformity, a 20% improvement over the previous generation product.

• Designed and developed portable, handheld, and weapon mounted white light and laser aiming devices for commercial and law enforcement customers.
• Succeeded as lead engineer on seven programs and as support engineer for seven more by developing concepts into production ready products while meeting commercial and military specifications.
• Designed, developed, and launched the industry first AA battery powered weapon mounted tactical light, the WL1-AA, within a BOM cost that permits domestic manufacturing.
• Self-taught Photopia ray-trace software in order to develop the company’s first line of TIR (Total Internal Reflection) flashlight lenses, resulting in $250k savings over outsourcing.
• Invented a patent pending quick release weapon light attachment system which eliminates the root cause of most common warranty return issue associated with previous products, “poor fit.”
• Identified and addressed root causes of quality failures on the commercial laser aiming devices assembly line, reducing the effective scrap rate by 75% in the first three months.

Plymouth, MI, US

• Designed and developed instrument panels, glove boxes, and interior trim for passenger vehicles.
• Created new glove box down stop design for 2010 Lincoln MKT that eliminates 2 components, and an assembly operation, saving $75k per year.
• Utilized CAE to optimize glove box and instrument panel (IP) designs during early development to prevent expensive mold modifications.
• Actively sought out training for head impact zone development and Teamcenter software resulting in meeting timing requirements for product launch.
• Created static deflection and dynamic impact models during early development of IP’s, consoles, and doors resulting in reduced test failures and warranty claims.
• Developed new Ford side impact bolster technology using crash simulation. The resulting product maintains excellent safety ratings and saves approximately $1 million per year.

Van Buren Township, MI, US

• Maintained and improved current production instrument panel and center console designs.
• Proposed and implemented permanent, cost effective solutions to problems with the F150 IP and console resulting in 43% fewer IP warranty claims and 34% fewer console warranty claims over two years.
• Implemented changes to the current production IP and console in order to reduce cost or complexity for savings of $373k per year.