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Vlad B.

Product Design Engineer | Solidworks & CFD Expert | Mass Production

Naples, United States

Global rank:

16,010 / 141,579

Skill pts: 5

3D Modeling 3D Printing Additive Manufacturing Concept Development Manufacturing

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About

CAD-obsessed product design engineer with 15+ years in CAD, SolidWorks and CFD analysis.

- 60+ products taken to market launch
- 100,000+ units sold worldwide for my own companies
- 500,000+ units shipped for contracted work
- Nova Hotend: funded on Kickstarter, pushed 3D printing speed limits from 60mm/s to 400mm/s+, sold 20,000+ units worldwide with $0 ad spend

I specialize in high-stakes product design where physics meets aesthetics - from CFD thermal optimization to DFM for mass production. I turn concepts, drawings or 3D scans into production-ready CAD and take products from idea to mass manufacturing.

Entrepreneur mindset: focused strictly on fast, flawless delivery - not padding hours or timesheets.

Experience

Founder | Senior Product Engineer Vlad Labs (Marine & Custom Hardware) · Self-employed Apr 2023 – Aug 2024 1 yrs 4 mos Naples, FL, United States Started with a personal purchase and a realization of how poorly many OEM components were designed - couldn't resist re-engineering the parts to actually work. What began as a personal mission to fix my own jet ski grew into a 12,000-member community and a line of custom upgrades.

Key work: replaced weak plastic OEM components with custom-designed titanium parts (improved geometry and longevity); developed ergonomic 3D-printed controls and custom laser-cut mats to fix factory design flaws; created a digital blueprint for retrofitting high-fidelity audio into the marine environment; used direct feedback from 12k users to identify and solve common hardware failures across the PWC industry.

Handed operations to a partner after establishing the community, to focus on new engineering challenges.
Founder & Lead Product Engineer 3D Passion (Nova Hotend) · Self-employed May 2019 – Aug 2024 5 yrs 3 mos Naples, FL, United States Designed and engineered the Nova Hotend, a 3D printer hotend that pushed industry speed standards from 60mm/s to 400mm/s+. Managed the full product lifecycle through 3 major iterations.

Key achievements: sold 20,000+ units worldwide with $0 advertising budget - engineering excellence drove the growth; achieved 400mm/s+ speeds with perfect reliability, and improved TPU (a difficult material) speeds to 200mm/s; established and managed mass production lines and global sourcing; adapted the technology for several industrial 3D printer brands (B2B integration); developed premium aftermarket components focused on performance and high-end aesthetics.

Specialized in high-stakes product design where physics meets aesthetics - from CFD thermal optimization to DFM for mass production.

Education

Independent research & professional self education Master of Industrial Design, Industrial Engineering 2014 – 2033 (expected)

Other experience

Kickstarter Campaign - NOVA Hotend Launched and successfully funded a $40,000 Kickstarter campaign for the NOVA Hotend - a consumer 3D printer hotend that pushed printing speeds from 60mm/s to 400mm/s+ and went on to sell 20,000+ units worldwide. Ran the full campaign end to end: product engineering and DFM, prototype validation, campaign presentation and renders, backer communication, and the transition from a funded campaign into mass production and global fulfillment.