David Salazar

Atlanta

Summary

Senior NPI/Product Development Engineer with 6+ years of experience launching multi-SKU IoT hardware from EVT through production ramp. Lead cross-functional execution across ME, EE, FW, Operations, Supply Chain, and Contract Manufacturing to ensure readiness, quality, and cost targets. Delivered 8 enterprise product launches and re-architected Arena PLM change governance, reducing ECO cycle time by 75% (12 to 3 days), cutting revision-related manufacturing escapes, and improving release throughput. Supported ~80k units/year at scale.

Overview

years of professional experience

Work History

Senior NPI Engineer

Cognosos

01.2024 - Current

Led NPI execution and change control for an 8+ SKU IoT portfolio, coordinating weekly alignment across ME, EE, FW, Operations, Supply Chain, and contract manufacturers to meet delivery goals.
Managed DVT to PVT and production launches. Reduced component lead times by 28% and sustained 98% on-time delivery while scaling to ~80k units/year.
Re-architected Arena PLM governance (taxonomy, routing, SLAs, validation gates), cutting ECO cycle time by 75% (12 to 3 days), enabling parallel execution, and eliminating bundling delays.
Built a hardware/firmware validation matrix with board, unit, and CM signoffs. Reduced re-test cycles by 30% and approval lead times by 35% through clear ownership and exit criteria.
Integrated CAD revision control with PLM workflows (numbering, drawing, release rules), cutting revision-mismatch escapes by 60% and accelerating CM release readiness.
Closed pilot build blockers (fixtures, assembly constraints, supplier variability), preventing 2 line-stops and safeguarding launch schedule.

Manufacturing Engineer II

Steel King

01.2022 - 01.2024

Led cross-functional Kaizen initiatives across multiple plants, redesigning material flow, containers, and digital inventory systems; cut part identification time 95% (8 min to 25 sec) and improved pick accuracy ~20%.
Sourced and commissioned new production equipment ($1.5M capex), including requirements, vendor selection, installation, and operator training; improved throughput 15% and reduced changeover time 10%.

Manufacturing Engineer

Transcendent Audio

01.2020 - 01.2022

Applied FEA-driven design optimization to electromechanical motor systems, increasing efficiency by 65% and informing production-ready design decisions.
Led development of a high-performance electromechanical system, improving output uniformity by 66% while balancing performance targets with manufacturability constraints.

Education

B.S. - Mechanical Engineering

Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA

Skills

Product & NPI Leadership: EVT, DVT, PVT, production ramp, build readiness, cross-functional delivery, CM/supplier readiness, cost/quality/schedule ownership, pilot builds
Engineering & Manufacturing: DFM, DFMEA/PFMEA, assembly and test development, manufacturing readiness, fixture/process constraint resolution, variability reduction

Systems & Change Management: Arena PLM, ECO/ECR governance, revision control, documentation release, ERP change control, configuration management
Tools & Platforms: SolidWorks, Inventor, Arena PLM, ERP

Websites

linkedin.com/in/david-salazar33

Timeline