Quality Engineer Supplier

Christopher J. de Simone

Phoenix, AZ 480-***-****

www.linkedin.com/in/chris-de-simone-a9396b1 **********@***.***

Principal Manufacturing Engineer / Principal Quality Engineer

Lead Manufacturing and Quality engineer in aerospace, defense, and commercial markets. Specialize in manufacturing engineering, product development, and process optimization. Strengths include managing new product introductions, driving continuous improvement, and ensuring quality assurance. Excel in translating complex requirements into actionable strategies, optimizing processes, and delivering cost savings while maintaining high- quality standards and customer satisfaction.

Improved Customer Relationships

Material, Product, Equipment Selection

Complex Problem Definition & Resolution

Profit & Loss (P&L) Management

Personal, Safety, & Control Media Training

New Product, Process Development

Quality & Data-Driven Decisions

Authoring Complex Work Instructions

Work Experience

NORTHROP GRUMMAN INNOVATIONS SYSTEMS, Chandler, AZ

Principal Engineer, Manufacturing 2013 - 2024

Led and supported design, development, manufacturing, and testing of DECOM, FTIU, IMU, SIGI, Common Hardware, and GSE PWA/CCA systems. Provided manufacturing floor support and led manufacturing tool demonstrations and equipment selection. Key contributor to A3 and iCard continuous improvement projects. Subject Matter Expert (SME) and Certified IPC Trainer (CIT) for IPC manufacturing and training. Authored and revised MES master plans to enhance operational efficiency.

Provided internal and external IPC Certification training, providing 900+ certifications saving NGIS $1.8M+.

Completed project that established objective evidence to qualify internal and external PWA and CCA (Subcon manufacturer) cleaning processes per IPC J-STD-001 standards.

Installed Scorpion Hot Air Rework Station, establishing process from stencils and materials procurement to custom heat profile creation to provide expensive QFNs, BGAs, CGAs surface mount area array package re- balling, install, and removal.

Reviewed, selected, and qualified new UV curable conformal coating material that increased throughput by 4X and reduced product curing times from 48 hours to less than 6 minutes.

Authored complex product work instructions from paper to Manufacturing Execution System (MES), which allowed for all product manufacturing and testing to reside within MES for customer hardware acceptance reviews.

Migrated product environmental advanced test procedures and qualification test procedures from paper into MES, ensuring more clear concise repeatable work instructions.

Identified and defined complex material, process, and product problems; used new designs, PDCA process, and root cause corrective actions to mitigate and / or resolve issues.

Utilized Allegro, Cam350, SolidWorks, and MS Teamcenter, completing manual PWB, PWA, CCA, box build, and component drawing reviews.

Facilitated site subcontract manufacturer move and qualification from Tempe, AZ to St. Petersburg, FL, ensuring uninterrupted supply chain of qualified PWA/CCA flight hardware.

JABIL, CIRCUITS, Tempe, AZ

Manufacturing Engineering, Manager 2012 - 2013

Managed Jabil Defense and Aerospace (JDAS), with 8 direct engineers supporting sector. Reviewed customer contracts, drawings, and test requirements to develop a cost-effective manufacturing baseline process.

Led ME Team reviews to create customer requested product PFMEAs and Control Plans, ensuring acceptable product builds per customer and IPC Standards requirements.

Investigated, researched, and resolved customer non-conformance issues using Quality methods such as 5 Why, Cause- and-Effect, and DMAIC.

COMTECH EF DATA, Tempe, AZ

Manufacturing Process Engineer 2010 - 2012

Defined manufacturing and process responsibilities to build commercial, contract, military, ITAR printed circuit board assemblies, and other specialty products. Used lean manufacturing concepts, single piece flow, and developed custom fixtures to help reduce manufacturing costs, waste, and improve quality.

Provided materials selection and labor costs to the sales team, which facilitated quick, accurate customer quotes.

Conducted hands-on equipment and SlimKIC oven profiling, live component material, and packaging research.

Additional Key Accomplishments

Created microlithography process on Aluminum Nitride SMT array package with tighter tolerances, securing 58% reduced cost and 72% reduced cycle time compared to thick film package.

Invented Tungsten thick film co-fired ink and via fill ink system with a coefficient thermal expansion (CTE) match to Aluminum Nitride substrate.

Co-invented exposed pad Power Quad package with a thin insulation film over conductive surface.

Reduced test socket cost by moving product lines from Phoenix, AZ to Suzhou, China.

Acted as Quality Team Lead for the 2010 Census.

Education

Bachelor of Science (BS), Pennsylvania University State, State College, PA

Synthesis and Stability of the Fe3B Phase

Skills

Manufacturing: Box Build Assembly, Cable and Wire Harness Assembly, Circuit Card Assembly, Continuous Development and Improvement, Cycle Time, Design for Manufacturing (DFM). Design for Test (DFX), Design of Experiments (DOE), Drill Press, Lean Manufacturing, Machining, Material Selection, New Product and Process Introduction (NPI), Process Development, Technology Transfer

QMS: Quality Management Systems, 5 Why, APQP, Cause-and-Effect, DMAIC, FMEA, PFMEA, PPAP, Six Sigma, SPC, Internal Control Media

Technical Documentation: Complex Paper and Electronic Manufacturing Instructions with pictures, drawings, jpegs and other linked MES content, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), Safety Data Sheets (SDS)

Technical Skills: Microsoft Excel, One Drive, Paint, PowerPoint, Project, Teams, Visio, Word, Zoom, Allegro, Cadence, Cam350, TipQA, Cost Point, Deltek, Solidworks

Materials: Ceramics, Glass, Metals, Polymers, Plastics and Textiles

Bonding: Adhesives, Solder, High Temperature Brazing, Laminating, Screen Printing, Conformal Coating, Encapsulation

ASME Y14.5: Geometric Dimension and Tolerance Drawing Generation and Approval

Mechanical Testing: Contact and Non-Contact Metrology, Ball Shear, Die Shear, Wire / Lead Pull, Instron

Analytical Testing, Characterization and Qualification:

Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Particle Size Distribution (PSD), Thermalgravimetric Analysis (TGA), Thermomechanical Analysis (TMA), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Surface Area (SA), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Viscosity

Electrical Testing: Full Functionality Testing, Quality and Reliability Testing, Thermal Cycle Testing, Shock and Vibration Testing

Certifications

ASQ CQE

IPC J-STD-001 CIS active to 04/2026

IPC J-STD-001 Space Addendum CIS active to 04/2026

IPC 7711/7721 CSE active to 04/2026

IPC-A-610 CIT

IPC-A-600 CIT IPC/WHMA-A-620 CIT

IPC/WHMA-A-620 Space Addendum CIT IPC-6012 CIT

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