Andrew Sussman

MECHANICAL ENGINEER

Skills Overview

Andrew is a mechanical engineer with a background in innovative product development roles. He relishes opportunities to solve problems alongside multi-disciplinary teams, with a strong track record of implementation and delivery. He has the flair to ideate, practicality to iterate, and technical aptitude to optimise concepts through to solutions. His output is recognised on design registrations, patents, released product and industry awards. Andrew’s delivery in both R&D and project engineering demonstrates breadth and adaptability. His consideration of the detail, system and life cycle strives to champion user needs whilst treading lightly on our environment.

• CONSUMER PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT – Andrew is experienced traversing the entire design process; from research, specification and initial ideation through to final design, tooling and pre-production. Structuring and approaching each phase demands distillation of large, ambiguous challenges into discrete and approachable steps.
• PROTOTYPING, TESTING & ITERATION – Andrew is competent and effective in a workshop environment. He is proficient using a broad spectrum of tools to make prototypes for visual mock-up, user/field testing or controlled testing to failure. He is comfortable working with metal, wood, composites and plastics. Andrew is experienced designing tests to assess against standards, validate simulation/analysis, and ultimately maximise learnings.
• CAD & FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS – Andrew has extensively used both Solidworks and Onshape across entire project cycles. His passion for efficient and considered modelling practices make the best use of parametric capability; future proofing models for adjustability, handover and easy collaboration.
• DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURE & ASSEMBLY – Multiple mass-produced products prove Andrew’s consideration of manufacture and assembly throughout the design process. He is comfortable considering tooling methodology, seeking and integrating advice from production staff, mitigating potential quality issues, and being humbled watching someone attempt to assemble his prototype. Considering ‘how it gets made’ should inform approach early, not be rushed in the end stages.
• PROJECT ENGINEERING – In his experience as a project engineer, Andrew planned, executed and reported on a range of projects in the marine operations and infrastructure space. He demonstrated competence in managing timelines, resources and complex international stakeholder relationships. He has experience liaising with council and consenting, addressing Iwi and public engagement, and management of subcontractors. He is comfortable managing worksites with multiple teams, ensuring smooth operational delivery.
• TECHNICAL REPORTING – Andrew is an effective written communicator. He has produced many reports for internal and external stakeholders. He tailors detail and language to the intended reader; whether it be a concise learnings summary, milestone progress report or final client deliverable. Ideas are only as good as the way they are presented.

Project Experience