In this role, I work closely with leads in various disciplines including project and product management, electrical engineering, industrial design, user experience, manufacturing, and many others to deliver speakers and wearable products to the market. Specifically, I am responsible for the mechanical development of these products from the exploration / vision alignment phase through production. I accomplish this with a team of junior to senior level mechanical engineers that are focused on the individual parts and critical sub-assemblies within the larger system. I work closely with project management to determine a mechanical schedule that works within the larger program schedule, ensuring adequate time for design, prototyping, and test, based on the unique requirements of that product. I estimate the workload to justify to senior management the size of engineering team required and distribute work to the team with a specific focus on personal development and interests of the individual team members. We use set-based design with rapid prototyping of individual parts and assemblies to identify plan of record and back up designs to mitigate risk. Our global suppliers and contract manufacturers are engaged with early to provide input into the design to optimize for manufacturing and assembly. We travel to be on-site with the CM, working directly with the operators and engineers to evaluate the design in detail. We maintain consistent communication with the CM to ensure success at every stage of development, as we ramp into production. Below is a link to my latest product, Bose Frames Tenor and Soprano!

In this role, I have been heavily involved in continuous improvement projects and product development programs. Below are some examples of my work:Lead Mechanical Engineer Product Variants – Soundlink Mini II Limited EditionThe Soundlink Mini II Limited Edition is a color variation to the original Soundlink Mini II. As the lead for the project, I was responsible for coordinating all cosmetic part changes with our supply base, communicating these changes to the validation group and establishing a validation plan, and maintaining the mechanical schedule to meet production deadlines. As part of this, I had frequent discussions with industrial design and marketing to ensure their design intent was met, while meeting the schedule. If you're interested in checking out the product, please click the link below.NPI Development - Wave Soundtouch System IV and Soundlink Wireless AdapterIn this role, I was pulled in to support the development teams in the prototype phase. I assumed ownership of several components and updated the designs as necessary. Designs were validated through extensive prototyping. I supported all prototype and production builds in the manufacturing plant. While in the plant, I worked extensively with the fixture designers to ensure the fixture produced design intent. I also trained the line leaders and line operators as necessary to ensure they understood the criticality of the components and what to look for in terms of cosmetic defects.Continuous Improvement ProjectsIn this role, I drive multiple cost reduction efforts in parallel to achieve roughly 1 million dollar cost savings annually. This is generally accomplished by working with sourcing alternate suppliers, qualifying new tooling, and validating in the manufacturing plants. I'm also frequently involved in troubleshooting field failures to ensure products maintain the highest quality. The challenge with these failures is to develop a robust solution in a very short period of time.

As a global supplier engineer, I engaged with the injection molding and hardware supply base as early in the design phase as possible. My focus was to understand the design and work with our suppliers to implement the necessary controls to mitigate risks and ensure great supplier quality. This was accomplished through establishing launch assurance plans, performing process control audits at the supplier's facility, and leading Run Rates in the prototype phase.When nearing production, I would work with our suppliers on the Production Part Approval Process (PPAP), to ensure all documentation, including First Article Inspection data and capability studies, were complete. In the event that a supplier defect made it into our manufacturing plant, I would drive 8D problem solving. Working with a cross-functional team at Bose, we would help to contain the problem, identify root cause, and implement corrective actions.