My work with Giant began in 2009. Madone 5 Series was the first launch in the engagement. I coordinated with internal and external teams on starting production and worked with the manufacturer’s design and process engineers on composite development and manufacturing.
The relationship continued beyond the initial program. My work combined hands-on engineering, technical training, troubleshooting and production decisions.
I guided the engineering work in writing. The subjects included composite design, test interpretation and the direction of development with the manufacturer.
I worked alongside the engineers developing the frames. I trained design engineers to develop laminates and manufacturing/process engineers to produce and troubleshoot them, bringing my own material and laminate-design experience into the work.
I traveled to Taiwan to work through problems with the local team. This took the engineering beyond the design review to the actual part, process and results.
I set priorities through discussions with the manufacturer. Material, laminate and process choices had to account for product requirements, final weight and price targets. My experience informed which direction had the strongest chance of working.
My involvement included approving test standards and results, quality-control checks and the technical go/no-go decision for production.
Madone 5 Series was the first launch, followed by continued engineering, training and troubleshooting with Giant’s manufacturing organization for Trek products.