Sean Kienle

sean@seankienle.com
506 Stone Creek Ranch Rd, Mc Gregor, TX 76657
www.linkedin.com/in/seankienle
(210) 823-4191

 SENIOR MECHANICAL ENGINEER – MECHANICAL ENGINEER
Motivated engineer with MS in Mechanical Engineering and 12+ years of relevant mechanical engineering experience

  • Experienced in leading projects through concept development, design, prototyping, testing, documentation, and delivery. Emphasis on automation, pneumatics, fluidics, and electromechanical systems.

  • Advanced engineering analysis and design skills. Knowledgeable about rapid prototyping techniques and designing parts for CNC, 3D printing, laser cutting, injection molding, and sheet metal.

  • Thorough understanding of GD&T and DFM/A.

  • Positive and professional communicator with experience serving internal and external customers. Excellent leadership, collaboration, presentation, and teaching skills.

  • Earned reputation as an intelligent, focused, industrious engineer with ability to learn quickly and willingness to contribute to collaborative design, knowledge-sharing, problem-solving initiatives and projects.

Experience

Pattern bioscience – Pioneering biotechnology company focused on advanced solutions for pathogen detection, identification, & antibiotic susceptibility testing.

Staff Mechanical Engineer, 2023-Present
Designed a diagnostic instrument for performing antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST). Technical lead on all aspects of instrument design and tooling. Worked directly with external vendors and manufacturing partners. Managed CAD data and BOM. Mentored junior engineers. Project highlights include:

  • Successfully guided project from the engineering verification phase to external evaluation

  • Designed and implemented a novel locking mechanism for the pressure chamber that reduced seal failures by 90%

  • Designed and built assembly tools and fixtures that saved 16 man-hours of assembly time per instrument

INFLAMMATIX – Molecular diagnostic startup leveraging machine learning to develop point-of-care tests for acute infections and critical illness.

Senior Mechanical Engineer, 2020-2023
Designed diagnostic instrument and custom micro-fluidic cartridge to test for sepsis. Technical lead overseeing instrument design from ideation thru design verification. Liaison to external manufacturing partner. Phase highlights include:

  • Breadboard: Designed and built 4 breadboard instruments for cartridge development. All components were individually configurable with 17 linear actuators, 2 lead screw clamps, 2 TECs, diaphragm pump, pressure regulator, 14 valves, optical assembly, and capacitive sensors. Two systems were installed in Los Gatos, CA and two were installed in Melbourne, Australia.

  • Prototype: Designed and built 5 prototype instruments. Devised a worm-drive camshaft that eliminated 10 linear actuators, redesigned electronics and optimized cable-routing which reduced assembly time by 85%. Improved system layout reduced the overall system volume by 60%.

  • Engineering Verification: Designed/Built 10 EV instruments. Fully documented design and initiated transfer to external manufacturing partner. Developed custom assembly fixtures and in-process tests that have saved $100,000 in man hours.

  • Design Verification: Oversaw delivery of first 15 DV instruments. Documented DV test fixtures including IQOQ and protocols.

XIMEDICA DX (Formerly Accel Biotech) – Biomedical instrument design and consulting company specializing in product development, prototyping and automation for the in vitro diagnostics and medical device markets.

Senior Mechanical Engineer, 2014-2020
Design and develop laboratory instruments and act as technical lead on individual and team projects. Oversee every aspect of product lifecycle.  Project highlights include:

  • Akoya Biosciences PhenoCycler System: Designed and developed fluidic control instrument that integrates with fluorescent microscopes to perform PhenoCycler Assay and image collection. PhenoCycler (formerly CODEX) System was listed in 2019 Top Ten Innovations by The Scientist Magazine.

    • Design incorporates fluid handling, robotics and motion control, and bulk reagent storage and monitoring.

    • Emphasis on DFM and branding. Successfully transferred design to manufacturing.

  • Real-Time PCR System: Performed Root Cause Analysis and redesign of failed PCR instrument. Final instrument can perform qPCR in less than 20 minutes.

    • Redesigned optical system to increase signal 300% for all six channels.

    • Achieved positional repeatability of less than .006mm for the optical stage without impacting time to results.

  • Microneedle Production Equipment: Individually designed several instruments and essential components for manufacturing transdermal drug delivery patches. Customer is currently manufacturing 100M patches annually.

    • Designed two iterations of process development equipment with adjustable dispense rate, feed rate, CO2 flowrate, vacuum pressure, and wipe head force.

    • Redesigned wipe head for filling microneedle molds. Reduced the dead volume by 78% and eliminated bubble formation. Redesign saves $8.5MM in wasted drug annually.

  • MDRO Detection System: Performed detailed design work to improve performance heading into clinical trials.

    • Designed tools for assembling prototype disposable cartridges which increased daily throughput by 400%.

    • Performed DOE to maximize robot speed and acceleration without impacting accuracy.

    • Technology was acquired by Roche for $169M.

  • Microscope Camera: Lead team of 3 engineers to design microscope camera with 40x magnification, autofocus, XY stage, and thermoelectric cooling. Achieved uniform heating and .001mm planarity across microscope slide. Project budget $1.4M.

    • Lead project from initial concept to delivery of 5 prototype systems in 8 months.

    • Designed and assembled 10 Engineering Verification systems in 6 months.

  • Liquid Handling Robot: Performed system layout and cable routing on large-scale, pipetting robot. Project budget of $1.2M.

    • Designed drop-in subassemblies which allowed modules to be built and tested outside of the main system.

    • Reduced cable installation time and saved $138,000 in man hours.

    • On time delivery allowed customer to secure second round funding.

  • Pathogen Detection System: Lead team of 2 engineers on redesign of microfluidic dispensing system for complex, multi-reagent assay.

    • Lead project from concept to delivery in 3 months.

    • Eliminated unnecessary components and saved $3500 per instrument.

  • Pressurized Incubation Chamber:  Redesigned door mechanism and optimized component placement.

    • Greatly improved door seal reliability and reduced assembly time by 50%. 

    • Delivered 10 instruments for Engineering Verification.

JOBY AVIATION – An aerospace startup designing electric, unmanned aerial vehicles

Mechanical Design Engineer, 2013-2014
Contracted to design and develop a large-scale fixture to support an airfoil and load cells during aerodynamic tests.  Created parameter driven models using SolidWorks 2013.

D3 TECHNOLOGIES – subsidiary of LMI AEROSPACE providing engineering design consulting to LMI as well as Aerospace / Commercial Aviation Companies including Boeing, Gulfstream, and Lockheed Martin

Mechanical Design Engineer, 2012-2013
Promoted following successful completion of a Level I aerospace design project for Gulfstream under the supervision of a Design Lead and Senior Design Engineer. Reported to Director of Southwest Operations

  • Created CAD models and mechanical drawings of composite test panels for UTC Aerostructures R&D department

  • Managed level I tool design project for upgrade of Boeing 737 tail rudder in compliance with AS9100

  • Created models, drawings, and supporting documentation for the rudder fixture using CATIA V5; consulted with senior engineers in geometric dimensioning and tolerancing

  • Contributed to design meetings and provided status updates to Project Managers

CAD/CAM/CAE Systems Engineer, 2011-2012
Provided IT support for 4 major engineering programs (CATIA, ENOVIA DMU Navigator, Solidworks, Teamcenter) to assist designers, stress analysts, quality engineers, estimators, and material planners. Reported to Engineering Applications Manager.

  • Conducted analysis of various engineering processes and made recommendations to implement CAD modeling processes that saved company the equivalent of 8 FTEs and $250,000 in licensing and maintenance

  • Contributed to team-based evaluation of CNC equipment utilization and part creation processes. Developed CATIA tool catalog to streamline tool selection for specific milling operations

  • Planned and facilitated 7 live and teleconference training sessions on ENOVIA DMU Navigator for classes of 6 to 10 engineers. Conducted presentations on aerospace industry trends and utilization of social media for internal collaboration

  • Developed standard process documentation on obtaining internal IT services, as well as process documentation for obtaining/installing customized CATIA updates from Boeing

  • Authored, edited, and updated user manuals to support engineering software applications

PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER BALANCE LAB  - HVAC test & balance company

Project Manager, 2008-2010
Managed detailed testing of new installations of commercial HVAC systems in large facilities (e.g., 258 room high-rise hotel, 200+ room outpatient health care facility). Measured air flow and made damper adjustments to ensure compliance to engineering and NEBB specifications. Reviewed blueprints, created project schedules and reports, and supervised a team of 8 mechanical engineers.

Education

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO - Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering - 2011
Focused on Solid Mechanics, Finite Element Method, Fluid Dynamics, Thermodynamics

TRINITY UNIVERSITY - Bachelors of Science, Engineering Science - 2008 Focused on Mechanical Engineering. Completed several Engineering Design projects, including load-bearing wooden truss design and analysis, catapult performance for various scenarios, mechanical design and Pro/E modeling for a robotic design project. Completed a videogrammetry research project, contributing to papers published at the International Modal Analysis Conference and in The Journal of Experimental Mechanics.