# Clare Zhang > Senior Product Design Engineer Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/clarezhang ## Work Experience ### Senior Product Design Engineer @ Google Jan 2025 – Present | Mountain View, California, United States ### Staff Product Design Engineer @ Mill Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 | San Bruno, CA Led mechanical design and validation for Mill's Food Recycler devices - with focus on architecture, enclosures, and plastic parts/assemblies, from concept to mass production. ### Senior Product Design Engineer @ Mill Jan 2023 – Jan 2024 | San Bruno, California, United States ### Senior Product Design Engineer @ Google Jan 2022 – Jan 2023 | Mountain View, CA 𝗡𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗪𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝟮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗲𝗻 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮): • Owned multiple subsystems from EVT through launch - buttons, light ring, waterproofing, and antenna/RF integration. Drove root cause analysis, corrective actions, and design refinements to ensure manufacturability, reliability, and a confident ramp to mass production. • Defined and validated tactility of waterproof button, aligning UX, ID, and Ops on user interaction standards. Improved consistency, yield, and long-term reliability via mechanical and material design. ### Product Design Engineer @ Google Jan 2018 – Jan 2022 | Mountain View, CA 𝗡𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗺 𝗪𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭): • Drove critical failure analysis, corrective actions, and validation during DVT-to-PVT stage. Coordinated across engineering, quality, factory ops, and supply chain teams to resolve MP blocking issues. 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬): • Designed a multifunctional speaker module, which also served as the main heat sink, electrical ground, and assembly chassis. Optimized design across ID form factor, thermal, audio, and EE/RF/Antenna needs. 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝗩 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬): • Owned full mechanical design of handheld device from concept through prototype builds. Defined interaction points for optimal ID/UX, via quick iterative prototypes and demos. • Responsible for tooling release of all mechanical parts, including highly cosmetic enclosures ### Product Design Engineer @ Nest Labs Jan 2016 – Jan 2018 | Palo Alto, CA 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟴): • Led mechanical design of core user-interaction elements on a concept-phase consumer device (including fabric integration, buttons, and light ring). Collaborated closely with ID/UX teams to convert UX goals into measurable engineering specifications, prototypes, and manufacturable solutions. 𝗡𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 (𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟳): • Refined mechanical design and specs, for high-cosmetic product with many critical-to-function sensor stackups in tight spaces ### Mechanical Engineering Intern @ Formlabs Jan 2016 – Jan 2016 | Somerville, MA Defined and executed test plan to validate new substrate material candidates for SLA 3D printer, improving tank longevity and print quality. ### Product Design Intern @ Nest Labs Jan 2015 – Jan 2015 | Palo Alto, CA Redesigned Nest accessory to use recyclable materials. Drove multiple suppliers in defining design, part/assembly requirements, and cost-saving opportunities. ### Entertainment Engineering Design Intern @ 5 Wits Jan 2015 – Jan 2015 | Norwood, MA Ideated, storyboarded, and mocked up physical interactive activities for an immersive sci-fi attraction ### Mechanical Engineering Intern @ JPL (NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Jan 2014 – Jan 2014 | Pasadena, CA Intern on JPL's Starshade project, which aims to directly image exoplanets via an optical "shade" that can block stray starlight, in the search for life on planets outside our solar system. • Assembled 10-meter diameter deployable ring truss + gravity offset hanging rig • Developed SOP for repeatable machining and assembly of complex carbon fiber truss components. ### Materials Science Undergraduate Research Assistant @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 | Cambridge, MA 𝗠𝗜𝗧 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗰 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗮𝗯 (𝗔𝘂𝗴 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟯 - 𝗙𝗲𝗯 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟰) • Conducted a series of mechanical/materials tests on carbon-fiber components, analyzing results to establish correlations between processing parameters and final physical properties. 𝗠𝗜𝗧 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟯 - 𝗔𝘂𝗴 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟯) • Organized development of an electromechanical rig designed to replicate the characteristic heat pulse generated by solar-thermal fuels. ## Education ### Bachelor of Science (BS) in Mechanical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/claremzhang - Website: http://www.clarezhang.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/clarezhang JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/clarezhang/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-05