Life Lessons for Systems Engineers
Systems engineers work at the apex of the product development system and are, therefore, extremely valuable to any product development company. This presentation offers multiple suggestions for personal and career development, as well as thoughts on the corporate leadership. These ideas are a distillation of 45 years of experience in industry.
Bio: David Heller earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Cornell University in 1981, followed by an MBA from Harvard University in 1986. He began his career at General Motors’ Rochester Products Division, where from 1981 to 1984 he served as a test engineer responsible for daily operations and capital improvements of the Vehicle Exhaust Emissions Test Lab. In this role, he designed and executed durability tests for exhaust emissions products and supervised the engineering prototype machine shop. In 1986, he joined Chrysler Corporation as a Power Train Operations Manager, taking on manufacturing engineering and assembly line supervision roles at the Trenton, Michigan Engine Plant and the Indianapolis, Indiana Foundry.
Since 1987, Heller has served as CEO of Heller Industries Inc., a company founded in 1960 and recognized as a leading manufacturer of soldering and curing machines for the electronic assembly, cell phone assembly, and semiconductor packaging industries, with operations in New Jersey, Suwon, Shanghai, and Ahmedabad. Under his leadership, the company successfully introduced solder reflow ovens while stabilizing operations and expanding distribution in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He implemented Lean manufacturing practices in the mid-1990s, significantly increasing market share during the 1999-2000 industry boom, and led the company’s transition from domestic to global manufacturing from the late 1990s through the mid-2000s. In subsequent years, he drove substantial growth in the semiconductor packaging sector, spearheaded internal process improvements to meet the demands of major customers and guided the development of advanced technologies including fluxless soldering, vacuum and pressure soldering systems, and automated material handling solutions. Currently, the company is developing systems for hybrid copper bond annealing. In addition to his executive role, Heller serves as an advisor to technology, materials, and medical companies.