# Nicci Cazares

> Mechanical Design Engineer at PCH International

Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/nicci

## Work Experience
### Mechanical Design Engineer @ PCH International
Jan 2017 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area

### Product Design Intern @ PCH International
Jan 2016 – Jan 2016 | San Francisco Bay Area
• Supported projects for and collaborated directly with high profile clients in a variety of industries - medical, consumer electronics, beauty - through multiple phases - design, develop, manufacture
• Followed an iterative design process - design, build, test - to solve user experience and product performance issues
• Designed, fabricated, and debugged prototypes, retrofit parts, and fixtures to test and evaluate designs, including 3D printed, vacuum formed, laser cut, and foam casted parts
• Conducted in depth DOE of material characterization over varying time, speed, and chemistry conditions

### Product Design Intern @ Apple
Jan 2015 – Jan 2015 | Cupertino
• Supported validation and FA of next generation materials considered for use across different Apple product lines
• Designed and implemented new test fixtures and test methods to evaluate novel materials and material processes
• Coordinated efforts across internal team and external vendors to generate mechanical prototypes
• Presented and communicated quantitative and qualitative information to a wide audience including senior managers

### MIT International Science and Technology Initiative Intern @ Samsung Electronics - Design for x Group
Jan 2014 – Jan 2014
• Identified the most effective design factors for electronics thermal management of the curved TV based on CFD simulations
• Completed structural experiments regarding crack formation in the curved TV display and analyzed resulting data
• Paired CAE and optimization software to automatically find optimal frame dimensions under given constraints

### Airframe Structures Design Winter Extern @ Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation
Jan 2014 – Jan 2014 | Manassas, VA
Located and defined parameters of a new composite manufacturing method using Out-of-Autoclave (OOA) materials with Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) machines in order to form the baseline for a future trade study on the manufacture of composite structures in aircraft. Advances in OOA processes hold promise for improving performance and lowering costs for composite structures. 

Gained hands-on experience laying down and bagging wet layup and prepreg parts.

### MIT International Science and Technology Initiative Intern @ Canon, Inc. - Prototyping Design Technology Dept.
Jan 2013 – Jan 2013
• Designed a mechanical mount for manufacturability, usability, and durability in industrial conditions under size, weight, and budget constraints
• Modeled, drafted, and simulated the mount using FEM in NX software
• Generated BOM before ordering parts and constructing mount
• Communicated engineering concepts to non-engineers and non-English speakers

### MIT Undergraduate Researcher in Mechanical Engineering @ MIT Ideation Lab
Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 | Cambridge, MA
• Analyzed the development of early stage consumer products for transforming an idea into a marketable product
• Executed and evaluated brainstorming and design critique; sketching and prototyping; and user testing processes
• Investigated manufacturing, marketing, and patenting procedures


## Education
### Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) in Mechanical Engineering - Product Design
University of California, Berkeley

### Bachelor of Science (BS) in Mechanical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/niccicazares

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Source: https://flows.cv/nicci
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/nicci/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-04-13