Brijesh Pandya is a Mechanical Design Engineer with over 20 years of experience in design and quality engineering, working across multi-disciplinary teams in high-reliability environments. He has 21 inventions applied and three approved patents since 2021, specializing in off-road vehicle accessories and systems. His expertise spans Value Analysis and Value Engineering (VAVE), product design and development, cross-functional team leadership, and global supply chain management.
Brijesh discusses with us his journey from early career challenges to becoming an innovation leader, his approach to balancing technology with human creativity, and how customer feedback drives his design philosophy in the competitive automotive and powersports market.
What has your journey been like from your early career challenges in India to becoming a Design Engineer with 21 inventions applied and three approved patents in the automotive and powersports industry? How has your experience across multiple industries—from engineering consulting to agricultural equipment to off-road vehicles—shaped your approach to mechanical design and innovation?
My journey from facing early career challenges in India to becoming a Design Engineer with 21 inventions and three approved patents has been both challenging and rewarding. The biggest challenge I faced in India was the lack of creative freedom—not getting the opportunity to explore or think outside the box. This limited my innovation potential but also made me eager to explore more, teaching me the importance of resilience and adaptability.
My experiences across various industries, including engineering consulting, agricultural equipment, and off-road vehicles, have significantly shaped my approach to mechanical design. My exploratory journey started when we worked on a Value Analysis and Value Engineering project for a luxury sedan teardown. This experience gave me insight into how different and efficient you can design various components and subsystems, honing my ability to identify cost-saving opportunities and implement effective engineering solutions.
Working in the powersports industry elevated my understanding of different design principles, customer needs, and how components need to be designed for vehicles driven to their extreme capabilities. This cross-industry experience has fostered a culture of innovation in my thinking and the projects I initiate, meeting the evolving demands of the automotive and powersports sectors.
With 21 inventions applied and 3 approved patents since 2021, what drives your approach to innovation in mechanical design? How do you identify opportunities for patentable solutions in a competitive market?
My approach to innovation in mechanical design is driven by rider-driven innovation and continuous thought processes on how a particular assembly or part can help the end-user. This user-centric perspective helps me identify gaps and opportunities for improvement.
To pinpoint patentable solutions in a competitive market, I take a bottom-to-top approach where I check customer needs, see what solutions are available in the market, identify pain points for the end-user, and come up with better and more effective solutions. There are also instances where emerging technologies inspire us to provide something cutting-edge while remaining user-friendly.
Sometimes it’s simply about designing something and experiencing that “Eureka” moment we all know. We also have a dedicated Patent Application team to whom we submit our innovations. They handle all the legal aspects, research similar designs in the market, and determine if our submitted innovations are patentable.
You pioneered VAVE (Value Analysis and Value Engineering) practices with significant cost reduction results. How do you apply VAVE principles to balance innovation, cost reduction, and performance enhancement in product development?
Applying VAVE principles involves a systematic approach to evaluating products and processes to maximize value while minimizing costs. The basic approach I take is ensuring the part I’m designing is user-friendly, which brings out my innovative thoughts on designing something functional and intuitive.
Sometimes innovation and cost don’t go hand in hand. I keep a close eye on how I can optimize and maintain balance between the two by selecting appropriate materials and manufacturing processes. This VAVE approach has helped me not only bring innovative products to market but also gain customer satisfaction through performance and usability.
By integrating these VAVE principles, I can drive product development that not only meets market demands but also delivers superior value to customers while maintaining cost efficiency.
As someone who’s managed cross-functional teams and offshore resources across multiple countries, how do you ensure design innovation doesn’t get lost in the complexity of global product development?
To ensure that design innovation thrives amidst the complexities of global product development, I focus on several key strategies:
First, I arrange kickoff meetings covering all design requirements and product specifications. Product Data Management (PDM) helps maintain efficient CAD workflows and ensures everyone works with the latest design iterations, minimizing conflicts and fostering collaboration.
Standardization is crucial for cross-functional teams. Working with standard procedures includes design standards covering critical aspects like GD&T principles and standard parts libraries. Project segmentation is equally important—breaking down large projects into smaller, manageable pieces allows team members in different time zones to work independently and advance their tasks, creating continuous workflow and maintaining momentum.
Mentorship and training become very important as everyone needs to understand product requirements and how the end-user will use the product. For example, something designed for a USA user will have different expectations than something designed for an Asian end-user.
In an era where AI and automation are transforming engineering workflows, how do you maintain the balance between leveraging technology and preserving human creativity in mechanical design?
Maintaining balance between leveraging technology and preserving human creativity in mechanical design is essential, especially in an era of rapid AI and automation advancements. I view AI and automation as tools that can complement human creativity rather than replace it.
I think AI and automation tools give you numerous solutions for your problem, but it’s up to the engineer to pick the best one and make it work for their application. AI gives you more options for selection and brainstorming. When used correctly, AI can help identify design shortcomings in advance and help evaluate customer pain areas for particular designs.
By implementing these strategies, I can effectively harness the power of AI and automation while ensuring human creativity remains at the forefront of mechanical design, leading to innovative and effective solutions.
You’ve mentioned analyzing customer feedback from social media platforms to improve designs. How has this direct customer engagement influenced your engineering approach, and what role does real-world feedback play in your innovation process?
This is the most important and I’d say the only driving factor in my innovations. As an engineer, I design to the best of my knowledge, but once this goes into customer hands, they are the best critics of my design. There have been instances where customers have modified my design to suit their requirements, and these instances have broadened my thought process on how the products I design will be used in the real world.
With prototype designs installed on vehicles, my first customers are the technicians who install my design. There I get valuable insights on design elements like why we have different bolt heads—why can’t we have the same bolt head so customers won’t have to use different tools?
Social media helps tremendously by providing useful real-world feedback on how products are used and understanding the end user’s wishlist.
You work extensively with suppliers across the US, China, and other countries. How do you manage the complexity of global supply chains while maintaining design integrity and innovation capabilities?
Managing the complexity of global supply chains while maintaining design integrity and innovation capabilities involves a multi-faceted approach:
Strong communication and clear requirements are key. I need to define my requirements precisely—for example, what material standards and material strength are required for my design. Clearly defining timelines for when parts are required for validation builds is crucial.
Keeping a vast base of overseas supplier networks is critical and has helped me switch between different regions in case there are tariff implications. This diversification ensures continuity and flexibility in our supply chain operations.
Some of your designs have been adapted for military applications in harsh conditions. How do you approach designing components that can scale from recreational to mission-critical applications?
Designing components that can scale from recreational to mission-critical applications, such as military use, requires a meticulous approach focused on durability, reliability, and adaptability.
Design flexibility is crucial—I design components with flexibility in mind, allowing for easy modifications or enhancements to meet the more stringent demands of military applications. This includes scalable designs that can be adjusted for increased load or wear resistance.
Feedback and iteration are essential. I actively incorporate feedback from field tests and user experiences to refine and enhance designs. This iterative process is crucial for identifying potential weaknesses and areas for improvement, ensuring the final product meets all necessary standards and exceeds user expectations. For example, through this approach, my Heater Kit was successfully adopted for our off-road military vehicles, demonstrating its reliability and effectiveness in real-world conditions.
How do you see mechanical design engineering evolving over the next 5 years, particularly in the off-road vehicle and powersports industry? What emerging technologies will have the most significant impact?
I don’t see people stopping having fun, and the powersports industry serves people who enjoy the outdoors and thrill. This will only improve as new technologies in electric or hybrid vehicles evolve. People will be more demanding, requiring more advanced products, and that excites me as it gives me opportunities to bring more innovative products to market.
Overall, the next five years will see mechanical design engineering in the off-road vehicle and powersports industry become more innovative and technology-driven, requiring engineers to adapt to new challenges and opportunities presented by these emerging trends.
For organizations looking to implement effective VAVE practices and innovation processes, what should they prioritize to ensure successful adoption and measurable business impact?
Organizations should be open to taking on new challenges and innovation approaches, giving teams free rein where team members feel empowered to share ideas and propose innovative solutions to cross-functional groups. Engineers’ involvement in more real-life scenarios and customer-centric design becomes key.
There should be more tangible and realistic short-term goals that need to be established. These goals should be achievable yet challenging enough to drive innovation forward.
Verification and validation of the final design product is crucial—does the final product meet the requirements and functionality it was initially intended to meet? This ensures that innovation efforts translate into real business value and customer satisfaction.
