Mr. Russell leads the engineering team with a focus on offering high-value equipment that increases productivity. Mr. Russell has been with RDI since November of 1994, he started as a Design Engineer for Grotnes Metalforming Systems. Then became a Project Engineer for Chicago Slitter and was later promoted to Manager of Engineering. Prior to his current position, he was Vice President of Sales for Chicago Slitter. He has been involved in the sales, management, and design of custom equipment for over 25 years.

Notes from our discussions:

• Market research is important before following through with a build idea.

• Ask these questions: What is the problem? What will it accomplish? etc.

• Define a target market and find ways to engage with them

• Create a cost model to see if the product is worth developing

Ms. Rivas is a pharmaceutical company supervisor who graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2020 with a degree in Bioengineering. She has experience with medicine, research, 3D printing, critical thinking, and wearable technology and has completed various engineering projects throughout her undergraduate degree.

Notes from our meetings:

• Sensors can be sensitive, we will need to experiment with threshold and filtering data for activation.

• Focus on one concept and testing instead of overwhelming the product with too many ideas

• Protecting sensitive instruments against impact is important