Summary of Qualifications

Broad experience in a variety of disciplines spanning marketing, user interface design, and product design. Passionate about optimizing the user experience. Known for creating compelling graphics and organizing information effectively. Recognized for ability to ask critical questions, learn quickly, and think independently. Not afraid to go against the grain when "the grain" is wrong.

Computer Skills

Proficient in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Solidworks, Macromedia Dreamweaver, MS Office Applications, and HTML (with CSS); Skilled in MS Visio, Visual Basic .NET, and C/C++; Working knowledge of PHP, SQL, and JavaScript.

Languages

Fluent in English, working knowledge of German

Work Experience

November 2005-Present: R&D Mechanical Engineer

Guidant/Boston Scientific, St. Paul, MN
Create and evaluate product requirements for medical devices; Develop and write test protocols and reports to evaluate the mechanical performance of medical devices; Create and improve data entry forms such that potential for user error is minimized; Initiated effort to implement a test article inventory system to manage, control, and archive test articles; Designed novel mechanical fixtures using Solidworks.

June 2004-November 2005: Intern, Mechanical Engineering

Logic Product Development, Minneapolis, MN
Improved manufacturing assembly instructions using graphics and text designed to improve ease-of-use; Brainstormed ideas and developed concepts to be used in new consumer products; Created and modeled product components in Solidworks; Sourced components from overseas.

September 2003-July 2005: Research Assistant for Dr. Will Durfee, Human/Machine Design Lab

University of Minnesota--Twin Cities
Designed Visual Basic-based software and graphical user interface for vehicle data acquisition software to clinically evaluate cognitively-impaired individuals; Constructed interactive on-screen instructions to teach users how to operate a driving simulator; Enhanced driving simulator scenarios to create challenging driving situations to evoke differences in performance between cognitively-impaired and non-impaired individuals.

May 2002-September 2003: Product Catalog Specialist, Marketing

Horton Inc., Roseville, MN
Helped design and implement a vastly-improved web user interface to simplify user interaction with Horton’s online product catalog; Manipulated engineering drawings to create vector graphic files of product designs; Collaborated with a consulting company to establish an efficient, reliable system of entering product information into a database while maintaining data integrity.

Education

BSME, May 2003, University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN; 3.89 GPA.
MSME, January 2006, University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN; 3.96 GPA.

Awards

Member of undergraduate Dean’s List 10 times.
BSME awarded with High Distinction.
Guidant Fellowship, Fall 2003.

Relevant Courses

User Interface Design
Psychology of Human-Machine Interaction
Foundations of Human Factors
Human Factors and Design
Human-Centered Design
Human Factors and Design
Human Factors and Work Analysis
New Product Design and Business Development
Designing Smart Products

References

Avaialable upon request.