# Asher Williamson > Manufacturing Engineer @ Zipline | Ex-Tesla Design Manager Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/asherwilliamson Currently creating a logistics system that serves all people equally at Zipline. Specifically I am responsible for ramping up the manufacturing of our platform 1 drone that delivers blood throughout Africa for life saving operations in remote areas. When I was at Tesla, our team redefined the boundaries of manufacturing, fostering a culture of innovation that contributes to our mission of accelerating the world's transition to sustainable energy. With a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Dayton, I spearhead design management, ensuring that our engineering processes are efficient and align with aggressive construction and infrastructure development goals. I've successfully managed design reviews and construction packages, coordinated project schedules, and driven cost-saving initiatives that have significantly impacted our production capabilities. Our collective efforts have resulted in streamlined workflows and enhanced safety, underpinning Tesla's reputation as a leader in manufacturing excellence. ## Work Experience ### Manufacturing Engineer @ Zipline Jan 2025 – Present | South San Francisco, California, United States ### Design Manager @ Tesla Jan 2021 – Jan 2025 | San Francisco Bay Area • Maintain engineering team design process workflow • Organize and manage design reviews, construction design packages and deliverables to support all aspects of construction; including scope of work, kick-off, MDR, 30%, 60%, 90% • Define strategies for design and engineering deliverables including construction and permit packages • Own the full design and engineering efforts for construction and infrastructure development from concept to delivery to meet our aggressive goals • Manage permitting and construction documents including transmittals and RFI’s • Manage customer request • Own project funding request process • Coordinate project schedule with Project Controls team based on Procurement and Construction requirements for the overall schedule success of the project • Fundamentally understand stakeholders requirements and translate them into project deliverables. • Distill, document and manage scope effectively to support highly dynamic environment. • Manage all aspects of technical planning, scope development, change management, programming, design, and engineering services during construction • Identify resource requirements and highlight gaps across various stages for all projects • Build and maintain strong relationships with the various cross-functional teams to ensure overall program alignment • Understand different project delivery methods including design bid build, integrated project development, and fast track projects • Understand lean construction principles and fully integrated design using BIM • Implement innovative engineering and design methodologies to support very aggressive program and construction schedules • Infrastructure development is a problem of complexity, objective thinking, and social interactions. Prove an ability to solve subjective problems with objective fundamentals • Influence various teams without direct reporting structure ### Design Manager Intern @ Tesla Jan 2021 – Jan 2021 | San Francisco Bay Area Designing & building infrastructure, at record speed, is key to enabling us to scale worldwide. ### Mechanical Engineering and Layout Design Intern @ Tesla Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | Sparks, Nevada • Led project eliminating headcount cost of $1.1 million annually due to layout design and capacity optimization. • Managed & designed new combined remanufacturing area. Improved labor efficiency using AutoCad for design and OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency). Requesting construction labor and technical support through JIRA system. • Saved $129,000 in material cost annually for adhesive in assembly line by reducing $356 per liter to $14 per liter measured by developing cost matrix and risk analysis of lineside pumps. • Ensured safety and assessed risk management line side following OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) requirements using PO (Purchase Orders) and utilized Aconex CRQF for new safety materials. • Created a Gigafactory wide program for labor transfers. Pushed for labor accuracy and savings with Kronos time clocks presented in Tableau with SQL queries aimed at KPI (key performance indecators) dashboards. • Project managed deconstruction of line and relocation of new line approved by PCA (Process Change Request) • Filmed, photographed, and edited recruitment event video for Tesla Recruiting Team. ### Resident Assistant and Neighborhood Fellow @ Housing and Residence Life University of Dayton Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | Dayton, Ohio Area • Lead monthly community building meetings and problem-solve issues for 35 residents • Maintain an understanding of protocol and advocate for Code of Conduct. • Provide counseling and support to students with academic, personal, social, and financial concerns ### Facility Operations at RecPlex @ University of Dayton Jan 2017 – Jan 2019 | Dayton, Ohio Area • Operate front desk for a 125,470-sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility • Created a team-based welcoming environment for 1000+ daily users • Part of the membership sales team that generated $8,750 in sales • Provided risk management and recommended safety improvements ### Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing Efficiency Intern @ ZSI-Foster Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | Canton, Michigan • Analyzed injection molding process and designed improvements expected to save $55,000 in first year and $75,000 annually thereafter • Implemented new labeling process including barcoding for all incoming vendor items • Presented improvement recommendations to Senior business executives including CEO and Product Managers ## Education ### Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering University of Dayton ### Mechanical Engineering in Mechanical Engineering Maynooth University ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/asherwilliamson --- Source: https://flows.cv/asherwilliamson JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/asherwilliamson/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13