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Innovation Lead at Whirlpool Corporation
Paula Lobaccaro
St. Joseph, MI
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About
I am currently working as an Innovation Lead in the Advanced Development + Innovation group within Whirlpool Corporation. We work to bring new-to-market products to the world that don't necessarily fit within the core categories of Whirlpool Corp.
I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering as well as Product Design and Innovation from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and graduated in May 2013.
My goal is to work my way towards the front end of the product development process, staying close to the product along the way. I enjoy working in the consumer goods industry and intend on continuing my career in the industry. I have a strong interest in freehand sketching, graphic design and typography, and look to use that in my career wherever possible. -
Education
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Bachelor of Science (BS) Design Innovation & Society, Mechanical EngineeringRensselaer Polytechnic Institute2009 - 2013Proficient in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft Office; Knowledge of Siemens NX, MIT's Scratch, Solidworks;
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Experience
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Innovation Lead/Consumer AdvocateWhirlpool CorporationBenton Harbor, MIFeb 2018 - Present (6 years 9 months)● Understand the full context of the consumer experience to translate the voice of consumer into technical specifications
● Own research strategy and execution of the consumer learning plan to close consumer & marketplace knowledge gaps
● Embed a culture of innovation within the mission team via a collection of curated tools, best practices, and processes -
Technical Lead, Senior Engineer, WLabsBenton Harbor, MISep 2015 - Jan 2018 (2 years 4 months)Project lead for cross functional project team to deliver the new-to-the-world ZeraTM Food Recycler
Built and executed an all inclusive project tracker to manage schedule, risk and safety standards compliance
Managed relationship with China supplier to manufacture and deliver the full product to market
Launched 827% funded test market on Indiegogo including development of content and on-call customer service support
Achieved buy-in from senior leadership on a plan to improve WLabs project lifecycles from 4 years to 18 months -
Aesthetics Project Engineer, Top Load Laundry ConsolesSaint Joseph, MIMar 2015 - Aug 2015 (5 months)Led team of CAD designers to deliver premium washer and dryer UI assembly
Drove design decisions across subsystems by utilizing Concept Selection Matrices to evaluate tradeoffs
Directed daily vendor interactions for both prototype and production injection molded parts
Certified Black Belt in Whirlpool Corporation’s Operational Excellence (Six Sigma) course -
Aesthetics Engineer, Top Load Laundry ConsolesSt. Joseph, MIJul 2013 - Feb 2015 (1 year 7 months)Executed design of components to deliver aesthetic brand language for Whirlpool, Maytag and Kenmore
Developed and executed workflow for a graphics refresh for over 50 laundry product variants
Utilized Lean principles to create initiatives for waste reduction and process improvements in product delivery processes -
Design Engineer InternBurlington, VTJun 2012 - Aug 2012 (2 months)Modeled new parts and redesigned existing binding components in SolidWorks, using advanced surfacing and solid modeling techniques, to address user concerns and to improve product functionality
Hand-fabricated prototypes for proof-of-concept and modifications for professional team riders -
Project Engineer Co-OpPawtucket, RIJan 2011 - Jul 2011 (6 months)Collaborated with designers and engineers on the Play-Doh, Playskool and Nerf multidisciplinary teams to introduce exciting new products into the existing brand lines
Acted as liaison between Hasbro US based product team and Hasbro Far East Manufacturing to identify, evaluate and implement cost reduction opportunities, and debug manufacturing and design issues without impacting production schedules or deliverables
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Elsewhere on the Web
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On Coroflot@lobacp, member since 2013
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