# Travis Spoor > Design and Engineering Leader Location: Palo Alto, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/travisspoor As a hands-on leader with a multi-disciplinary background in engineering, industrial design, and innovation management, I use my knowledge of systems thinking, strategic planning, iterative innovation, and team leadership to create great new products. I'm passionate about using design methodology to grow teams, solve business problems, and discover and translate insights into meaningful, sustainable experiences and outcomes. ## Work Experience ### Principal Engineer @ XII Medical Jan 2021 – Present | California, United States Neuromodulation device startup. ### Design and Engineering Manager @ Ranir Jan 2019 – Jan 2021 | Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States ### Senior Designer and Engineer @ Ranir Jan 2014 – Jan 2019 | Greater Grand Rapids, Michigan Area Hands-on leader and manager of an internal team of engineers and designers, using empathic leadership principles to cultivate team and team-member growth. Cohort member of Perrigo Leadership Development Program, working as part of a leadership team to learn and develop skills to accelerate the development of the organization Successfully launched more than 20 consumer healthcare devices, working from company sites in North America, East Asia, and Europe with responsibility for design input creation, system design, engineering, and development, verification and validation protocols, and manufacturing transfer for mechanical and electrical systems. Directed external development teams. Responsible for opportunity identification, partner selection, customer communication, project scope definition, project budgets, and timelines. Initiated and built a Design Center of Excellence, integrating with company-wide functional teams to develop solutions that better focus on the needs of the user and increase emotional appeal of our products, with the first project gaining a 15% sales-price increase after 10 years of decline. Developed a design-thinking-led development process to transform the business from a fast-follow model to a market leader in self-care products. Taught process and methods through cross-divisional worshops following acquisition. Initiated a sustainable design program and process to improve new product development to improve the triple bottom line. Created and led a Design Thinking curriculum to find innovative, human-centered solutions to problems across the business. ### Product Engineer @ Steelcase Jan 2010 – Jan 2013 Lead engineer within a collaborative cross-functional, multi-cultural team for development and launch of Empath medical recliner, Steelcase’s first in-house developed recliner product that resulted in over $4 million in sales its first year. Used rapid, iterative development process to design, test and launch the 300+ component recliner with Central American production in under 18 months. Created 3D design and engineering documentation for hundreds of components, including plastic injection molding, thermoformed plastics, die castings, routed wood, sheet metal components and weldments, foam, upholstery, adhesives and fasteners. Created and developed a new platform architecture for medical recliners, sharing a base chassis and platform to save over $100 per product (more than $300,000 annually) for current recliners through economy of scale and ease of manufacturing, and allow for more and faster product introductions on future products. Patented single-pedal, dual-sided, central braking mechanism on recliners. Introduced and implemented a craftsmanship review discipline to tally issues and refine prototypes, pre-production and production products. ### Design Engineer @ Stryker Medical Jan 2007 – Jan 2010 Engineered advanced, complex, class II medical devices (hospital beds) in a highly-regulated product development environment. Led component and system prototyping and development of patient support devices that included sheet metal fabrication, injection molding, coatings, upholstery, among other processes. Oversaw testing phases to ensure end-products met technical and user performance criteria. Lead engineer on hospital furniture team, overseeing technical development of product lines including the launch of MGDG hospital suite. Worked closely with industrial design and advanced concept group to prototype and develop new, innovative medical devices based on consumer insights. Developed advanced surface models based on sketches and cooperation with industrial design for next-generation patient stretcher. ### Engineer @ Innotec Jan 2006 – Jan 2007 Division lead for research and development team. Maintained project portfolio. Helped and guided the work of R&D team members and serving the needs of the company's future by being the voice of development on the leadership council. Managed divisional R&D P&L. Led multiple manufacturing cells to deliver new and existing products on-time and at the highest quality. Duties included manufacturing engineering (develop and refine processes), quality engineering (regular quality checks, statistical analysis, PFMEA, continuous improvement, root cause analysis), supply chain (maintaining inventories, scheduling components, fulfilling orders), finance (managing P&L), scheduling, and customer support (account manager for automotive customer). Led division R&D team to develop new products (brainstorms, ideations, DFMEA), processes, and machine designs (create concepts and machines for automated manufacturing) to meet the needs of our automotive customers. Team leader for development and improvement of company-wide monthly continuous improvement tools and reviews. Coached, mentored and evaluated both full-time and intern engineers. ### Praktikant @ Wieland-Werke AG Jan 2002 – Jan 2002 Designed and constructed database and program for automated work ordering and packaging of customer orders. ## Education ### Bachelor of Science in Enginering - BSE in Mechanical Engineering University of Michigan ### Master Certificate in Design and Innovation Managememt Ferris State University ### Industrial Design Kendall College of Art and Design ### Bachelor of Science - BS in German University of Michigan ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/travis-spoor-9375607 - Website: https://www.travisspoor.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/travisspoor JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/travisspoor/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-08