# Coby BenPorat > Designing products to help humankind (and kind humans) improve our climate, health, and interaction with the world around us. Location: Oakland, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/cobybenporat Mission-driven Mechanical Engineer with two decades of engineering and leadership experience, specializing in electro-mechanical hardware architecture from prototype to production. I have expertise in sheet metal, machined, and plastic injection molded part design. My record of driving product development in fast-paced environments while collaborating with cross-functional stakeholders speaks for itself, but I'm happy to chat and learn about your superpowers too! Skills/Experience: * Technical Leadership & Mentorship * Product Definition & Architecture * System & Component Design: Injection Molding, Sheetmetal, Casting, Machining, and more * CAD: Solidworks, Creo (Pro-Engineer), 2D Drawings, Tolerance Analysis/GD&T * R&D / Prototyping / Manufacturing (DFM & DFA) * Engineering Analysis (FEA, Stress, Thermal, etc) * Electronics and Sensor Integration * Component & Material Sourcing * Waterproofing - IP & NEMA * Optics and Camera Integration * Troubleshooting / Root Cause Determination * Risk Mitigation / DFMEA * Testing & Validation / Design of Experiments * Product Scaling & Vendor Management (CM/ODM/JDM) ## Work Experience ### Staff Mechanical Engineer @ Form Energy Jan 2025 – Present Designing and building the next generation of utility-scale, advanced battery systems to support renewable energy and long-duration emergency backup power. ### Climatebase Fellow (Cohort 7) @ Climatebase Jan 2025 – Jan 2025 ### Lead Mechanical Engineer @ Dovetail Product Development Jan 2024 – Jan 2024 | San Francisco Bay Area • Architected a mobile 42kW battery system in four months; led two full-time engineers, one cable routing engineer, and one FEA analyst in design of structural frame & automotive trailer weldments, battery pack configuration, thermal cooling system integration, electrical & cabling, exterior panels & sealing • Produced four concept prototypes in one month of a novel VR headset fit system mechanism for a Fortune 100 client • Led mechanism design of a pill sorting & dispensing device; produced functional prototypes to secure venture funding in two months • Executed against DFA/UI constraints while holding low-cost injection molding DFM requirements for a biotech instrumentation slide cassette; designed and produced mechanism prototypes in one month ### Staff Mechanical Product Design Engineer @ Gridware Jan 2022 – Jan 2023 | Walnut Creek, California, United States • Eliminated 99% of water ingress failures while leading mechanical design (DFM/DFA), prototyping, and production of Gridscope, an IOT, solar-powered wildfire detection & electrical grid monitoring device • Managed test lab; waterproof/IP testing, experiment design (DOEs), thermal chamber testing for temperature and humidity extremes • Designed and built a PBCA test fixture with over 60 test points • Technical lead for two mechanical engineers ### Lead Mechanical Engineer @ PAX Jan 2021 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco, California, United States • Led heating chamber technology development for 30W vaporizer products; designed & built 3x prototype concepts in 6 months, with UL & human safety requirements • Cut concept development time by 50% via CFD/thermal simulation • Hired & mentored; technical lead for three engineers; managed one direct report • Reported results and recommendations to the Hardware VP & CEO ### Senior Mechanical Engineer @ PAX Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | San Francisco, California, United States ### Mechanical Engineering Consultant @ Unknown Jan 2011 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area Freelance Consulting & Contract work in the field of mechanical design, specializing in Consumer Electronics product development. Experience bringing mid/high-volume products to market under aggressive schedules and design constraints, partnering with Industrial Designers and both overseas & domestic manufacturers. ### Senior Mechanical Engineer @ Bolt Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco Bay Area On-staff engineering and strategy support for Bolt's (venture capital) investment portfolio of connected hardware startups. Multi-faceted role helping our startups succeed: mechanical design, mentorship, product definition, prototyping, manufacturing, testing, hiring & networking. Drove products to market or the next stages of funding under fast-paced schedules and pre-seed budget constraints while minimizing risk. Also supported Bolt's investment team in evaluating potential investments from an engineering lens. ### Lead/Senior Mechanical Engineer @ Intel Corporation Jan 2014 – Jan 2017 | San Francisco Led a small team of mechanical engineers as part of a larger cross-functional team that developed small consumer devices in the wearable and health-tracking sector. ### Senior Mechanical Engineer @ BASIS, an Intel Company (acquired March 2014) Jan 2011 – Jan 2014 Mechanical design/engineering, R&D, troubleshooting, testing, and validation of wearable consumer devices in the self-tracking health sector. Extensive overseas vendor management and manufacturing support in bringing Basis B1 and Basis Peak devices to market. ### Senior Mechanical Engineer @ Cisco Jan 2010 – Jan 2011 Product architecture, design, and engineering as part of Cisco Consumer Products division. Supporting systems integration of handheld products including Flip Video Cameras. ### Mechanical Engineer @ MOTO Development Group Jan 2007 – Jan 2010 Consultancy in consumer electronics design with expertise in Electrical, Mechanical, and Software Engineering as well as User Experience. [acquired by Cisco] ### Mechanical Design Engineer @ Oceanic Worldwide Jan 2006 – Jan 2007 Design and Engineering of SCUBA equipment ### Jr. Mechanical Design Engineer @ Advanced Design Concepts Jan 2004 – Jan 2006 Consulting and contract work in the field of mechanical design and engine subsystems, including on-site design support for clients such as Briggs & Stratton. ## Education ### Clayton High School ### BS in Mechanical Engineering University of Wisconsin-Madison ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/cobybp --- Source: https://flows.cv/cobybenporat JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/cobybenporat/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-05