S7E16 Chad Walters | Constraints, Iteration, & Industrial Design in Product Development

Send us Fan Mail

Chad Walters is an experienced product design leader with more than two decades of experience developing complex products across healthcare, life sciences, aerospace, defense, and commercial markets. As the first industrial designer at a major engineering-focused design center in the Raleigh-Durham area, Chad helped establish and grow a strong user-centered design presence within an organization traditionally driven by engineering and manufacturing excellence.

Throughout his career, Chad has led multidisciplinary teams in the development of products ranging from large-scale interactive vending systems like the Coca-Cola Freestyle to advanced surgical robotics platforms and handheld CPR coaching devices. His work goes far beyond surface-level aesthetics — focusing on defining product behavior, reducing usability risk, and ensuring that form, function, and brand identity work together to support both user needs and business outcomes.

A passionate mentor, Chad has also served as a long-time Product Development Advisor to biomedical engineering and entrepreneurship students at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. In this role, he guides multidisciplinary student teams through the realities of product development — helping them structure teams, build compelling business cases, refine investor pitches, and understand the importance of being the best storytellers in the room.

Earlier in his career, Chad led design teams developing aftermarket performance components for Audi, Volkswagen, and Porsche vehicles at APR, LLC, where he combined engineering rigor with brand storytelling and public-facing product launches. He began his professional journey designing avionics control systems at Archangel Systems, Inc. and contributed to professional-grade kitchen equipment development at Viking Range, LLC — experiences that shaped his ability to bridge mechanical engineering, user interface design, and human-centered product strategy.

Chad holds a degree in Industrial Design from Auburn University and an associate’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Wallace Community College. His career reflects a rare blend of technical fluency, design leadership, and deep empathy for end users — all aimed at creating products that perform at the highest level while genuinely improving the human experience.

LINKS:

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadwaltersid/

Aaron Moncur, host

PDX 2026 is October 20-21 in Phoenix, AZ. Attendee tickets are 50% off August 3-7 only. Learn more and register at https://pdexpo.engineer/ 

Subscribe to the show to get notified so you don't miss new episodes every Friday.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment like cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us at www.teampipeline.us

Watch the show on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TeamPipelineus