# Christopher Cien > Lead Product Design Engineer Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/christophercien I'm a lead product design engineer working at the intersection of mechanical engineering and industrial design. Recognized as a creative and entrepreneurial problem solver capable of seeing how small decisions impact the big picture. Versatile, dynamic, and energized by talented teammates. Expertise: - Product Development - CAD Modeling - Design for Manufacturing - Industrial Design - 3d-printing - Prototyping - Parametric Modeling - UL Compliance ## Work Experience ### Lead Product Design Engineer @ Gantri Jan 2024 – Present As Lead Product Design Engineer, I work with Industrial Designers to conceive, develop, and produce innovative consumer lighting. Additionally, I lead new product architecture development, manage UL compliance, and create design guidance and assets for our external designers. - Launched 17 new lighting products with independent designers and brands, expanding the portfolio. - Led new pendant, sconce, and surface mount lighting architectures, enabling entry into commercial and residential markets. - Engineered a patent-pending mounting system, simplifying pendant installation to under 5 minutes. Identified market opportunities and built a product roadmap based on requirements, capabilities, and resources. - Re-engineered products to improve manufacturability, quality, and profitability. - Leveraged 3d-printing specific design techniques to increase manufacturing yield and lighting output while decreasing COGS and material consumption. - Secured UL listing for hardwired products and implemented a 3D-printed UL-approved safety label. - Designed hardware and tooling solutions that streamlined assembly, production, and quality control processes. - Designed components for various manufacturing processes, including 3D printing, sheet metal, machining, and stamping. - Performed tolerance analysis and created GD&T drawings for sourced components. - Collaborated with internal procurement partner to source custom components from Chinese suppliers- . ### Senior Product Design Engineer @ Gantri Jan 2022 – Jan 2024 | San Leandro, California, United States ### Product Development Engineer @ Architectural Lighting Works (ALW) Jan 2017 – Jan 2021 | Oakland, California As a product development engineer at ALW, I design and develop commercial architectural lighting fixtures. Our LED lighting fixtures have won multiple industry innovation awards and are central to the product offering at ALW. - Generate product needs and requirements based on customer feedback, market research, and sales analysis - Create concepts for evaluation by new product committee to define product roadmap - Drive and manage company expansion into architectural acoustic products - Collaborate with optics engineers, electrical engineers, and manufacturing team to refine project scope and determine capabilities - Develop SolidWorks models of components for manufacture in sheet metal, aluminum extrusion, casting, welding, and machining. - Build and test prototypes with 3d-printers, laser cutters, and standard shop tools - Work with engineering team at our Mexico factory and domestic and international suppliers to optimize designs for manufacturing and assembly - Create 2D technical drawings (using GD&T and tolerance analysis) and engineering bill of materials for production - Write instructions and create illustrations, renderings, and exploded views for clear and concise installation guides. - Test products for performance and compliance of agency standards, performance, and safety requirements - Work with marketing team to produce sales samples, tradeshow displays, renderings and technical imagery ### Design Lead and Co-Founder @ Freeform Industries Jan 2014 – Jan 2017 | Emeryville, CA Founded Free for Mind, a company that develops custom gift shop products using 3D-printing, laser-cutting, photochemical machining, and lost-wax casting. Using SolidWorks, I designed over 100 products that were sold in over 80 locations (including the Smithsonian, International Spy Museum, and the 9/11 Memorial). I collaborated with clients to conceptualize and refine products to meet their retail needs. Using Adobe software, I created marketing materials, packaging, and display units. ### Contract Design Engineer @ Reuben Margolin Jan 2014 – Jan 2017 | Emeryville, CA Worked with Reuben to create SolidWorks models of his complex, kinetic architectural installations. I drew and designed parts and assemblies to visualize designs, determine fabrication processes, and produce drawings for manufacture. ### Contract Designer @ Bling Brothers & Co. Jan 2015 – Jan 2016 Helped Bling Brothers design concepts and prototypes for their customizable championship rings. Using SolidWorks, I created highly-detailed designs that can be economically made in 3D-printed metals. I outlined manufacturing and assembly processes to simplify production. ### Contract Designer @ Cytoflow Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 | San Luis Obispo, California Developed optical and fluid systems for Cytoflow’s cytometer, a laser-based medical research device used to analyze cell samples. I used Alibre, SolidWorks, and Rhino to design internal optical components and fluid paths, a high-resolution, 3D-printed component support structure, and a patented, sheet-metal enclosure. ### Design Engineer @ Swag Optics Jan 2012 – Jan 2014 | Berkeley, CA Founded eyewear brand to create flexible, rugged, and versatile sunglasses. I used SolidWorks surfacing tools to develop concept ideas and create molds. From my models, we built 3D-printed molds to produce functional, urethane sunglass prototypes. ### Contract Machinist @ Otherlab Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 | San Francisco, CA I worked as a contract machinist making precision parts for their inflatable robotics project. ### Contract Designer @ Solve-It! Store / Pad Grip Jan 2012 – Jan 2013 | San Luis Obispo, California Used SolidWorks sheet-metal tools to design universal tablet mounts for point-of-purchase retail applications. I collaborated with sheet-metal manufacturers to create products that are viably produced and sold in the United States. (company now operates as Mob Armour) ## Education ### Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Mechanical Engineering California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo ### High School Helix Charter High School ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/cpcien - Website: http://www.christophercien.com - Website: http://freeformind.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/christophercien JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/christophercien/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-05