Justin Chang Stauffer
Product design engineer focused on accessibility and simplicity to create a world where no one is left behind
Skilled at collaborating with cross-functional teams to ideate and prototype solutions for real people
EDUCATION
Northwestern University
MS in Engineering Design Innovation (GPA: 4.0/4.0)
BS in Mechanical Engineering & Design (GPA: 3.7/4.0)
Evanston, IL
Mar 2027, expected
Jun 2025
RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Procter & Gamble Sponsored Project
Project Manager, Product Experience Designer
Sep 2025-Dec 2025
Redesigned Olay products packaging experience to improve user perception, talkability, and eco-friendliness
Planned and conducted qualitative UX research over 8 in-home interviews to understand user behaviors, perceptions, and unmet needs around skincare packaging, synthesized research findings into 13 actionable design requirements
Collaborated with designers and engineers to ideate, prototype, and test concepts across 4 iterative design sprints
Evaluated prototypes with 16 current and target users to validate usability, perception, and experience outcomes
McDonald’s Sponsored Project
Digital Experience Designer
Jan 2026-Present
Conducted interviews with families across McDonald’s and competing restaurants to understand user motivations
Synthesized research into insights focused on increasing engagement and share with family customers
Developed and evaluated early experience concepts using journey mapping, storyboards, and low-fidelity prototypes
Northwestern’s Advanced Intelligent Manufacturing Lab Sponsored Project
Project Manager, Industrial Design Engineer
Jan 2025-Jun 2025
Led iterative redesign of injection molding system using sheet metal to reduce both cost and time of mold creation by 60-70% compared to industry standard CNC machined molds, allowing for easy iteration and testing in industry
Balanced user needs and technical constraints while ensuring quality and tolerances met client’s specifications
Vascular Treatment Medical Device
Human-Centered Product Designer
Jan 2025-Mar 2025
Designed and prototyped embolization coil to occlude vasculature of patients with peripheral artery disease
Interviewed medical professionals and conducted literature review to identify unmet needs in existing products
Translated 15 clinical needs into 21 functional design requirements with specific acceptance criteria
Developed testing validation and verification plan to ensure device meets all required performance metrics
Mechanical Engineering Dynamic Systems
Teaching Assistant
Jun 2024-Dec 2024
Restructured 30 year old course, created materials, and helped teach class of 90 students
Held optional lectures attended by over 60% of students, worked with students out of class 12+ hours weekly
Communicated difficult concepts in ways tailored to each student’s understanding and experience
NASA BIG Idea Challenge
Solar Sub-team Lead, Northwestern Team
Oct 2022-Aug 2024
Won awards 2 years in a row in competitions developing technology for permanent lunar settlement Artemis Missions
Designed lunar rover with autonomous in-situ casting using native lunar materials to create infrastructure and inflatable metal cryogenic fluid storage tanks optimized for efficient transport and simple manufacturing
Led solar sub-team of 6 researching and testing harnessing solar energy with lunar constraints
SKILLS
Design & Research: User research & observation • Prototyping • Testing & iteration • Service design • Industrial design methods • Storyboarding & journey mapping • Concept development • Research synthesis & insight generation
Tools & technical: CAD (SolidWorks, NX) • FEA • Rapid prototyping (3D printing, machining) • Mechatronics • Manufacturing processes • Figma • Matlab • Python • Visual communication (sketching, rendering, AI) • DScout
