MICHAEL R. KOCHANSKI *** Buckingham Dr. Bartlett, Il. 60103 847-***-**** acvvtm@r.postjobfree.com

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Design/Engineering Management Professional (BFA) with extensive practical experience in hands-on design and management positions. Responsibilities include; projects in new product design from concept through delivery, from both engineering as well as product styling aspects. Work with customer base to design new, or adapt current product to meet new requirements. Experience in a wide variety of materials and processes. CAD and computer literate (AutoCAD, SolidWorks and Inventor). Ability to manage a department, as well as timelines and budgets for projects, work with overseas vendors, compile BOM’s, and assist in process engineering for manufacturing. Over 30 years of experience.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

APPLETON GROUP/EMERSON INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION Project Engineer August 2014 to November 2015

Responsibilities: Take over 2 projects already under way, and guide them through the remainder of the development process. Assure designs meet UL CSA NEC/CEC and IECEx requirements for hazardous locations. Prescribe and guide testing for adherence to requirements these as well as photometric testing. Write bills of material and guide manufacturing through the routing specification for these products Begin 2 other projects to develop a design from marketing specifications submitted as well as meeting required standards.

Accomplishments: Learned the various requirements of hazardous location zone and division locations. Establish a working relationship with the personnel in our Mexican manufacturing facility. Became familiar with the Oracle system of maintaining products within the system. Became familiar with the properties of glass and design for use under high pressure environments

ECLIPSE LIGHTING INC. Schiller Park. Il. Senior Design Engineer February 2013 to August 2014 Responsibilities: In charge of all new product Engineering, including heat testing, compliance with UL/CSA regulations, design for manufacturability. Incorporate newest LED technology into current line items as required. Solve any and all engineering issues as they come to light. Troubleshoot all issues as they present themselves and provide solutions.

Accomplishments: Taking a dysfunctional approach to engineering and working to turn it into a logically operating entity. Taking charge of engineering operations and cleaning up issues of fractionalized input from other departments.

WOODHEAD a division of MOLEX Lincolnshire, Il. Senior Design Engineer March 2008 to February 2013

Responsibilities: Work with product documentation and customer objectives to design a new lighting product to fill a specific client need. Consult with Project and Marketing managers to define the parameters of the project. Evolve a design based on this input through the Microsoft Office Project system. Guide the product and others through the engineering and manufacturing phases of the project.

Accomplishments: Re-engineer a hazardous location light fixture previously in the works, that was originally not a viable design. Moved the project back on track after it had fallen behind schedule. Ultimately received a patent on for the design. Developed a complete line of product accessories that coincided with, or could be adapted to, other product lines. Engineered several new Lighting products based on new LED technology, both AC and DC driven. Developed brand new lighting products, and modified existing product for LED light sources, both AC and DC based. Worked with Boeing Aircraft to re-engineer a current fixture to be a studier, more reliable product for their use in aircraft assembly. Learned several project systems, including SAP, CoCreate 3 dimensional drawing and Model Manager.

AMERICAN FLUORESCENT Waukegan, Il. Project Engineer December 2006 to February 2008

Responsibilities: Take Design, target cost and marketing strategies into consideration to value engineer products for introduction into the Lighting Market. Work with overseas (China) and domestic suppliers to achieve goals. Create specification sheets, instruction sheets and bills of material. Evaluate and approve sample fixtures for manufacture. Involved in current product improvement and cost reduction.

Accomplishments: Design/engineer a new concept for modular residential lighting system. Concept was for a “plug and play” type of system, where fixtures are mounted and installed without the need of an electrician, where fixtures can be “daisy chained” together with an external cord/plug and plugged into a regular power outlet. Learned the basics of Solid works and gained valuable experience using this design tool. Involved in the process of engineering several new indoor and outdoor products for introduction.

NORTH STAR LIGHTING Broadview, Illinois Product Engineer June 2005 to December 2006

Responsibilities: New product design/engineering. Write BOMs/assist purchasing in negotiating price/delivery of parts. Assist in the performance of UL testing. Work with Production to make new and existing product economical to produce.

Accomplishments: Take existing group of cast flood light housings and arrange all electric components to function within UL guidelines for outdoor use. Design all bracketry and components to be cost-effective and functional. Refine and design a group of outdoor IP65 rated tunnel fixtures, entering into a new product line for the company. Carried the project through its lifecycle, ordering and scheduling parts, and overseeing production and shipping of product within a strict schedule. Netted the contractor a $3 million bonus for on-time delivery.

CFM HOME PRODUCTS Morton Grove, Illinois Project Engineer November 2002 to December 2004

Responsibilities: Manage design and engineering of all new products. Improve, upgrade or revise existing models, and enact cost savings. Create, monitor and manage product manuals. Oversee product and package labeling for accuracy in technical content. Product quality management, including: testing/quality controls, troubleshooting, and assessment of QC measures. Produce an overall quality program in written form. Secured specific components domestically for shipment to Korean factories for use in the current products. Manage all agency approvals (UL, CSA). Manage after-sales support program, including: Organize and document inventory service parts program. Organize and present product training for Customer Service groups, as well as offer technical support. Purchase component parts from Korean factories and maintain stock levels of all component parts. Maintain, update and populate nation wide Service Center list and act as technical support as a compliment to Customer Service. Solve problems and approve Service Center repair invoices.

Accomplishments: Introduce a new kerosene heater group that incorporated an integrated, high-impact plastic gas tank that will revolutionize the look of this product line. Totally re-organized both the physical parts inventory and updated/revised the entire parts listing procedure in a spread-sheet format. Rewrote many of the previous users’ manuals, to be a more user friendly and understandable document. Collected competitive product samples to dissect and research new developments.

BLUE RHINO CORPORATION Zion, Illinois Project Engineer August 1999 to November 2002

Responsibilities: As Engineer, coordinate and manage design and engineering of all new products, and constantly improve, upgrade and revise existing models, plus enact cost savings. Create/improve/monitor/manage all product manuals. Monitor product and package labeling for accuracy in technical content. Product quality management, including: ongoing testing/quality controls, product troubleshooting, and assessment of factory QC measures. Produce an overall quality program in written form. Manage all agency approvals (UL, CSA, etcetera). Manage after-sales support program, including: Organize and document inventory service parts program.

Accomplishments: Learned all of the nuances to a new product in a new industry. Became an "expert" in the field of patio heater engineering and design. Granted patents for two completely unique dome designs. One was for more efficient heat distribution, the other for knock-down packaging and assembly. Engineered a full sized patio heater to hit a price point never achieved before. Worked with a Chinese manufacturer to evolve a relationship that produced an ever-increasing quality product, and develop trust and mutual respect where there were limited amounts of both previously.

QUALITY LIGHTING, Division of JJI Franklin Park, Il. Project Engineer April 1998 to July 1999

Responsibilities: Design of new products, UL testing, update and design new options for current products. Create bills of material and options to new and current fixtures. Give Customer Service technical support, plus field customer calls to provide product information. Work with production to troubleshoot any manufacturing problems as they arose.

Accomplishments: Design decorative cast twist-lock housing assembly for an outdoor lighting fixture used by the Chicago Park District, when the original source no longer existed. Designed low cost, high efficiency 1000 watt "shoebox" outdoor fixture to compete with like products from other manufacturers. Designed custom 1000 watt pole top luminaire, combining sand cast aluminum and spun aluminum components. Learned ins/outs of a bill of materials Configurator system, to add new, and revise/correct current BOM's.

ALP LIGHTING AND CEILING PRODUCTS Skokie, Illinois Project Engineer May 1994 to April 1998

Responsibilities: Design new products of various types. Work with fellow Engineers at other locations on individual projects. Act as engineering coordinator between facilities and departments on various projects. Applications engineering concerning product utilization in the field. Customer Service support. Keeper of Engineering documents and procedures (Technical Manual) for update and dispersal. Review and approval of orders placed on hold for non-standard items.

Accomplishments: Designed/engineered die cast using doorframe assembly for fluorescent PL floodlight. Revised/organized Wrap-around Lens" program, updating drawings and coordinating information accumulated over the years into an organized and usable package for Sales/Customer Service. Coordinated the design/engineering of a series of low voltage under cabinet halogen light fixtures for a local customer through a supplier in the Far East. Overcame a communication barrier to secure the desired result.

ALPHA LIGHTING INDUSTRIES Chicago, Illinois Design Engineer April 1991 to May 1994

Responsibilities: Taking Architect's concepts for a broad range of custom lighting, and developing them into viable lighting fixtures. Company specialty was delivering custom products in a short time frame (often 3-6 weeks). Coordinate in-house and outside manufacturing to bring components together for timely and accurate fabrication, assembly and delivery. Basic product testing for adherence to temperature requirements

Accomplishments: Learned to handle the pressures associated with juggling all of the engineering and scheduling details of many short term products at once. Became much more intimately involved in the details of manufacturing and follow-up. Gained a greater awareness of the principals of balancing costs to achieve a higher project profitability. Earned the company a $50,000 bonus for on-time delivery. Engineered and delivered much of the lighting for the new United Center both inside and outside of the building. Built a thermal potentiometer for temperature testing from scratch.

THOMAS INDUSTRIES Louisville, Ky. Director of Design, Quality Manager January 1989 to April 1991

Responsibilities: As Director of Design, managed in house and outside designers. Ultimately responsible for new product design and initial engineering. Met with suppliers to acquire new and innovative products. Interfaced with personnel at three separate manufacturing plants to coordinate development of new products. As Quality Manager, charged with establishing a quality program where none existed previously. Solved problems as they arose in manufacturing and all stages of Product Development.

Accomplishments: Re-engineered items already in the Product Development Cycle to lower tooling costs, and make for a more structurally sound and efficient lighting product. Designed families of lighting fixtures, working with Product Engineering and Process Engineering, plus other manufacturing departments to see these families through all design and engineering stages. Worked with the Marketing Staff to make the Thomas showroom a high profile space to present our lighting products. As Quality Manager, learned the basics of SPC as it relates to quality and the developmental, procedural and manufacturing levels. Assembled the basis for a total divisional procedural and quality manual.

EMCO ENVIRONMENTAL LIGHTING Design Engineer Division of Thomas Industries Milan, Il.

Responsibilities: Produced layout, design, prototyping and testing of new products, followed by detailed UL testing. Construction of bills of materials, linking parts from raw materials through sub-assemblies to the finished product. First piece part inspection, plus fabrication and assembly line trouble shooting. Developed outdoor as well as indoor lighting fixtures.

Accomplishments: Educated in AutoCAD drafting. Create/entered bills of material for entire lines of product. Redesign a new extruded door frame system that was stronger and more reliable than the previous design. Gained a more in-depth knowledge of the manufacturing and engineering processes as they applied to both lighting and manufacturing.

ESCO INTERNATIONAL LIGHTING Chicago, Illinois Design Engineer June 1985 to January 1989

Responsibilities: Design and layout engineering of new light fixtures. Re-engineering of existing lights to reduce cost and promote ease of assembly. Incoming inspection of all incoming components.

Accomplishments: Learned the basics of HID Lighting including product design and temperature management . Became proficient in metal fabrication, casting design. Updated/repaired all BOMs within the Esco system for accuracy down to the last screw and nut. Upgraded overall quality of parts/complete fixtures within the product line.

EDUCATION Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Design University if Illinois at Champaign-Urbana

COMPUTER SKILLS AutoCAD 2012, SolidWorks, Inventor, CoCreate, PowerPoint, AS400, Quark, SAP, Oracle, Model Manager, Microsoft Office Project.

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