University of Wisconsin-Stout

Technologist  -  Venturer  -  Creative Problem Solver  -  Additive Manufacturing  -  IoT  -  App Dev  -  VoC  - 

Directly shaped responsible digital transformation through technology-agnostic consulting and direction for clients throughout their organizational transformation.

Focus: Technology and emerging markets

Worked with: Early-stage companies to fortune 100

Projects included: technology scouting, market opportunity sizing, market fit, market application identification & development, customer advocacy, product readiness, project management, product management, design for additive manufacturing (DFAM), and risk analysis.

A Common Anomaly Productions

Management Consultant - Technology and Emerging Markets

• Developed a targeted methodology that leverages the strengths of additive manufacturing to break into vertical markets which offer significant impact to the company revenue and growth.

• Oversaw the technical competence and user satisfaction across key accounts, internal departments, and 33 strategic partners across the US, Canada, and South America; this included building a scalable online portal to merge all content into a unified knowledge management system built on the Microsoft SharePoint architecture.

• Established the infrastructure necessary to facilitate collaboration between multidisciplinary and remote teams in the Americas, Europe, and China by setting up a Microsoft 365 organization with an Azure Active Directory. 

• Initiated and managed projects designed to optimize the product development and go to market process across the organization by identifying, planning, and managing the budget, timeline, dependencies, resources, and deliverables.

• Drove an unprecedented level of consistency and professionalism through project management principles, risk assessment, and numerous analytical/problem solving methodologies.

INTAMSYS

Technical Leader / Application & Product Manager

Focus: Product Management, Product Strategy, and Go-To-Market (GTM)

Business Plan:
• Stakeholders
• Market Opportunity 
• Business Model 
• Metrics and KPIs (Goals)
• Product Specifications
• Warranty Terms
• Development milestones: First Proof of Concept Prototype, Kickstarter Campaign, Engineering and Industrial Design, Beta Testing (Phase 1, Phase 2, Criteria for determination of success), Transition between beta and production, Pre-Production, Kickstarter order Fulfillment, Production, Mid-life Kicker, Generation 2 Product
• Operating Budget 
• Marketing Plan
• Marketing Personas
• Competitive Strategy
• Marketing and Brand Strategy
• Risks

inD Creations LLC

Startup Advisor

• Unlocked new market spaces by bringing to market a new class of elastomeric materials that outperformed the competition with an elongation of 500%, lowered labor costs by 76% on average, lowered part costs by 39% on average, all with an 80% reduction in time to market, and without cannibalizing existing sales. (2018)

• Drove the development of the first equation-based infill; the gyroid is a type of triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) which enables revolutionary high strength and lightweight internal structures for additive manufacturing.

• Recognized with the Stratasys CEO Excellence award for top performance in division as well as performance in the top two percent of global employees for strategic product developments & innovation in 2018.

• Created and managed projects that systematically evaluate potential ideas using design of experiment methodology to develop solutions that address identified trends, industry drivers, and technology gaps across the vertical markets.

• Contributed directly to innovation, incubation, development, and intellectual property including trade secrets, patents, and invention disclosures.

Stratasys

Senior Applications Engineer & Additive Manufacturing Research Engineer - Product Management Org.

• Technical leader of the core team that brought to market the F123 platform with over 1,000 orders in the first six months, the majority of orders going to new customers, and generating $30M of incremental revenue in the first year; making it the most successful printer ever launched by Stratasys. 

• Developed deep market understanding and customer use case experience from over 3000 parts printed provided by 100+ customers ranging from startups to fortune 500 companies. 

• Managed critical path deliverables in the development and go-to-market for nine new materials (including ULTEM 1010, Nylon 12 CF, and TPU 92A) and eight hardware & platform releases (including the F123 and Fortus 450mc).

• Recognized with the Stratasys Spark Award for strategic product developments & innovation in 2017.

• Managed the development of a global library of over 750 customer use cases and application examples. 

• Drove cross-discipline technology innovation by identifying, planning, leading, and managing design and development programs to create, evaluate, and implement new concepts, improve products, or processes that had significant impact on the company revenue and competitive market position.

Corporate Applications & Pre-sales Engineer (Global)

• Boosted customer acceptance of Fortus 450mc printers which is now regarded as the benchmark for industrial performance with over 1800 worldwide installations.

• Authored numerous pieces of product, sales, marketing, and technical literature.

• Led strategic projects to improve and maintain end user satisfaction including critical accounts, supporting and enabling resellers and strategic partners, and working internally across numerous departments and disciplines. 

• Created and managed projects that systematically evaluate potential ideas using design of experiment methodology to develop solutions that address identified trends, industry drivers, and technology gaps across the vertical markets.

• Represented the organization to prospects as a technical expert and presented at events across the world.

Associate Corporate Applications & Presales Engineer (Global)

• Worked with application management to define concepts that showcase FDM and PolyJet technology capabilities.

• Developed story lines, estimate production costs, outline project ROI, and obtained forecasts from internal customers.

• Managed the FDM/PJ part production, procurement of complimentary components, and integration of assembled structures.

Corporate Applications Engineer (Global)

• Supervised a team of three lab technicians including their day-to-day activities, scheduling, operations, and maintenance of the 3D printers across campus.

• Designed experiments to determine fundamental operating parameters in the Selective Laser Melting process.

• Operate & maintain functionality of Stratasys Vantage X and Fortus on campus.

Selective Laser Melting Research Engineer and Additive Manufacturing Lab Technician

Full cycle product development: business case, ideation, design, testing, manufacturing, scaling, and more!

Product Management Consultant

• Designed optimized and/or new solutions based on customer requirements derived from listening to the needs of the customer. 

• Recognized with the Computers All-Star Award for the highest basket and service attachment rate for sales in the department as well as world class service.

• Trained new employees and managers on effective selling strategies for products and services within the department.

• Collaborated with a diverse team of employees.

Ben Nickolay