About

A bit about who I am, what drives me, and how I got here.

I improve processes and drive efficiency at manufacturing facilities. With over 1 year of experience in manufacturing, I help companies turn complex operational bottlenecks into streamlined, high-performance systems.

I graduated from McMaster University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Management. I spent 16 months as a Process Engineering Intern at Parker Hannifin, where I rotated through Quality, Manufacturing, Lean, and Maintenance departments to see how a plant actually operates. While I was there, I led a project that reduced goods-in-house claims by 53% and another that cut tool-change times by 80%.

Outside of work, I am usually in the garage or at my computer designing something new. I am a big car enthusiast and spend a lot of my time working on my MKV Supra or my G37. Whether I am designing machine guarding or working on my own cars, I enjoy the challenge of turning a complex problem into a reliable, working system.

Portrait of Nima Naderi

How I Work

Principles

Focus on efficiency and automation

I believe every process has waste that can be removed. My goal is always to find where a bottleneck is happening and use automation or better workflows to make things run smoother for the people on the floor.

The shop floor is the source of truth

I believe you cannot optimize a process until you understand it step by step from the perspective of the people actually running it. Understanding the daily reality of an operator is the only way to build a solution that actually lasts.

Systems thinking

I look at a manufacturing facility as one large, integrated machine. My Engineering and Management background from McMaster helps me see how a change in one area affects the others. I focus on building processes that improve the whole plant, not just one isolated station.

Reliable, data-driven solutions

I rely on technical precision and hard data to make decisions. I use tools like AutoCAD to plan layouts and quantitative measurements to prove a fix is reliable before it goes live. If it isn't repeatable and safe, it isn't a finished project.

Career

Experience

Senior Product Designer

Placeholder Studio

2022 — Present

Leading design for a suite of developer tools used by over 500,000 engineers worldwide.

Design Lead

Placeholder Agency

2019 — 2022

Directed a team of designers and engineers building consumer fintech products.

Product Designer

Placeholder Inc.

2016 — 2019

Shipped core features for a platform serving 3 million monthly active users.

Junior Designer

Placeholder Labs

2014 — 2016

Cut my teeth on mobile-first design for early-stage startups.