Product Development and Consulting

Leading global technical project teams, focused on hardware development.

HARMAN Professional Solutions is a leading manufacturer of professional audio, lighting, video, and control systems. Broad responsibilities beyond my title, including recruiting, product cost optimization, and multiple capital projects. Budget authority to $4M.• Led a multinational team of 60 technical personnel in Shenzhen, China and Bangalore, India.• Led test, validation, and regulatory compliance for all Harman Professional products.• Approved shipping release for all Harman Professional products, with full stop-ship authority.• Technical leader and global liaison in Shenzhen for all Harman Professional audio projects.• Worked directly with 3rd-party contract manufacturers in China for NPI, including vendor selection.• Drove and taught design-to-cost methodologies to ensure that new products met cost targets.• Hired 100+ technical personnel in less than 2 years.• Drove specification, cost negotiation, and vendor selection for $2.8M worth of lab test equipment.• Drove specifications, cost negotiations, site selection, new construction, and equipment purchase for a new $3M test lab in Shenzhen, including an Anechoic Chamber and a commercial-quality EMC Chamber.• Key contributor to TEC Award-winning audio speakers and headphones, including sonic approval.• Provided expert-level feedback to Operations for product, manufacturing, test, and sustaining activities.• Member of the executive team responsible for transitioning global product development to Shenzhen. • Led Global Shenzhen team that served as proof-of-concept for a massive 2017 product development reorganization, which added hundreds of development jobs to Shenzhen.

TP-LINK is the World's No. 1 provider of WLAN products, available in over 120 countries to tens of millions of customers. I drove the Acoustics Business Unit, which was created to deliver world-class wireless acoustics products to a global market.• Managed speaker development: Drove tech teams, resolved issues at factory, and prioritized bugs.• Voiced loudspeaker using the class D amplifier’s built-in DSP.• Specified speaker functions, test requirements, and third-party cloud streaming requirements.• Worked with QUALCOMM development team to implement AllPlay Wi-Fi into the LINK speaker.

MUSIC Group is one of the world’s largest parent companies for premier pro audio and high-tech music product brands, including Behringer, Midas, Klark Teknik, and Turbosound. I reported directly to the Founder/CEO. Based in Zhongshan, China, I was responsible for driving all China-based products through a large multi-national product development group. Disciplines included electrical, mechanical, DSP, WiFi, software, compliance, configuration, sustaining, and project management.Responsibilities and Achievements:• Increased the number of released products by 40% in 2013, and another 25% in 2014.• Completely streamlined development workflows to reduce product time-to-market and improve product lifecycle management. • Assigned and managed resources for a very large number of concurrent projects.• Ensured that all products were delivered on-time and met product cost, margin, and development cost goals.• Partnered with Manufacturing/Operations, Supply Chain, Sales, Customer Support, Information Services, and Marketing to drive business process improvements.• Standardized development processes and software tools across all global R&D groups.• Walked the factory floor to identify and solve process and component problems.• As R&D Kaizen leader, reduced resolution time for field problems by up to 75%.• Integrated R&D, product roadmaps, technology, and development processes for two acquired companies.• Negotiated with vendors to achieve continuous cost reductions.

I led a team of 20+ worldwide staff members, focusing on hardware development, ensuring product quality, and production test.

Line 6 is a technology-driven music company. We design, transform, and distribute audio and consumer equipment for studio, performing, and hobbyist musicians. I led a 60-person technical team that included DSP, software, embedded, hardware, and mechanical engineering disciplines. I directly managed multiple worldwide engineering development groups. • Direct the development of all Line 6 products, including key research initiatives and creation of intellectual property.• Ensure that all products are delivered on-time, meet product cost and margin goals, and under the development budget.• Oversee the multi-million budget for the world-wide development team.• Author of Line 6’s Business Plan for Engineering. This includes a cascade of Engineering’s objectives, strategies, and specific plans for the current year. This plan directly supports the corporate plan, and ripples downward throughout the entire Engineering organization – from department heads through individual performance objectives. • Key contributor to the company’s 3-year product and technical roadmap.• Identify opportunities for platform-based product families to reduce development cost and time-to-market, and increase revenue and profits.• Key contributor to the company’s Quarterly Product Rollup. Responsible for setting ship dates, projecting and assigning resources for up to 30 concurrent projects, and advising Product Marketing of optimal development strategy.• Manage the career aspects of the Engineering team, including recruiting, succession planning, career goals, and retention activities.

360 Systems designs, manufactures, and distributes audio and video products for the radio and television broadcast industries. The company brand stands for bullet-proof products, designed for mission-critical, on-air broadcast applications. Flagship products include Instant Replay™, Digi-Cart™, ImageServer™ (became MAXX-24), which are found in nearly every television and radio broadcast studio, plus major stadiums, arenas, and attraction parks.• Co-developed (along with the company Founder) the ImageServer™, an innovative on-air video server that set new standards for low-cost, high-performance television broadcast applications. Selling for $10K and using a blend of off-the-shelf technology and custom circuit and mechanical design, this product competed successfully against products costing over $100K.

Alesis Studio Electronics designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes innovative musical electronic equipment for professional and home recording studios. Revenues up to $90M/yr. Led a technical staff of up to 45 with an operating budget of $5M. Responsibilities included defining, prioritizing, scheduling, and staffing new projects, recruiting, integrating technology developed in-house into new products, and identifying new markets and opportunities. As a member of the Executive Team, responsible for setting corporate goals and priorities.Accomplishments: • Streamlined product development by creating dedicated project teams, improving product specifications, establishing realistic (yet aggressive) schedules, and eliminating projects with low return-on-investment potential. • Reduced typical product cycles from 24+ months down to 9-12 months. Reduced the approved-product list from 17 to 8 concurrent projects, while increasing the total dollars generated by new products by 30%. • Established design practices (including peer reviews and sanity checks), resulting in fewer design revisions. • Created and implemented team-building activities, including a mentorship program for new hires and 'Lunch Notes,' a lunch-time lecture series covering wide-ranging topics, featuring internal and guest speakers. • Recruited over 30 engineers - wrote ads, attended career fairs at major universities, performed initial phone interviews, and led the interview process. • Conceived and designed the 3630 Compressor, the most successful dynamics processor ever made.