Practical Product Development

4.5 (3)

12 Weeks

Cohort-based Course

Master the Product Development Process from Concept to Manufacturable Prototype in this Project-Based Course led by Industry Professionals

Practical Product Development

4.5 (3)

12 Weeks

Cohort-based Course

Master the Product Development Process from Concept to Manufacturable Prototype in this Project-Based Course led by Industry Professionals

Hosted by

Shivam Dehinwal, Matt DeRemer, and Cris Sion

Product Development Professionals with Decades of Startup Experience

Course overview

Bridge the Gap between Academic Theory and Industry Practice in 12 Weeks

This intensive, project-based course teaches the valuable product development skills that employers expect but universities skip over.

Through hands-on projects, live workshops, and design reviews with expert mentorship, you'll build a portfolio-ready product while mastering the real-world engineering process.

--- What makes this course different? ---

Learn by Doing - Start with a live product teardown on Day 1, then design and build your own functional product from concept to manufacturing-ready prototype.

Industry-Focused Skills - Master DFM for injection molding, sheet metal, and assembly. Snap fit design, enclosure engineering, and cost optimization - the skills that actually land jobs.

Professional Mentorship - Work directly with engineers who've shipped real products. Get personalized feedback through design reviews, not just lectures.

Career Acceleration - Dedicated portfolio development and interview prep. Learn to present your work like a professional, not a student.

Key Modules Include:

✅ Reverse engineering and teardown analysis

✅ Mechanical design fundamentals: snaps, enclosures, mounting

✅ Design for manufacturing (DFM) and assembly (DFA)

✅ Failure analysis and reliability testing

✅ Cost engineering and BOM development

✅ Portfolio creation and interview preparation

⬇️ See Full Syllabus Below ⬇️

Who is this course for

Early-Mid Career Engineering professionals that want to level up by getting their hands dirty and building a strong portfolio of projects

Students looking to accelerate their career, differentiate themself in a competitive job market, and land an internship or entry level job

Entrepreneurs and Freelancers looking to develop engineering, manufacturing, design skills to bring advanced products to market.

Early-Mid Career Engineering professionals that want to level up by getting their hands dirty and building a strong portfolio of projects

Students looking to accelerate their career, differentiate themself in a competitive job market, and land an internship or entry level job

Entrepreneurs and Freelancers looking to develop engineering, manufacturing, design skills to bring advanced products to market.

Technicians and Operators who run machines daily, but want to design products, not just make parts. Get ready to level up your career!

Prerequisites

Basic CAD Experience (Associate Certification Recommended)
We will be using professional CAD software such as Solidworks, Fusion, or Onshape during this course
Basic 3D Printing Experience (Bambu A1 Mini+ Recommended)
You have designed and 3D printed parts on an FDM printer before. You will need easy access to at least a 3D printer during this course

What you’ll get out of this course

Create a Professional Project Portfolio and Showcase your Product Development Journey

Showcase a collection of work you are proud of which will set you apart in your job search 🎯🔍

Accelerate Your Career in the Product Development Industry

Fill in the gaps of what you didn't learn in school, and advance your career 🚀

Design, Engineer, and Bring To Market your own Physical Product

Build the practical skills and knowledge to develop products 0-1 with confidence 💪

What’s included

Live sessions

Learn directly from your instructors in a real-time, interactive format.

Lifetime Access

Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.

Certificate of Completion

Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.

Interview Preparation From Industry Veterans

Learn how to present your technical skills and project portfolio in interviews from professionals who've hired and led engineering teams.

Build a Network of Engineers, Designers, and Entrepreneurs

Design reviews with industry experts, weekly office hours with your instructors, get/provide peer feedback in the Discord community! 👥🗣️

Maven Guarantee

This course is backed by the Maven Guarantee. Students are eligible for a full refund up until the halfway point of the course.

Course syllabus

30 live sessions • 2 lessons • 12 projects

Week 1

Jun 17—Jun 22

Jun

Optional: PPD Office Hour #1

Fri 6/205:00 PM—6:00 PM (UTC)

Optional

Reverse Engineering

Jun
18
Lecture 1: Live Teardown - Reverse Engineering In Action
Wed 6/1812:30 AM—1:30 AM (UTC)
Jun
20
Lecture 2 Problem Definition
Fri 6/2012:30 AM—1:30 AM (UTC)

1 more item

Week 2

Jun 23—Jun 29

Planning, Sketching, Design Visualization

Jun
27
Lecture 4: Communication through Sketching, Visualization, and Design
Fri 6/2712:30 AM—1:30 AM (UTC)
Jun
25
Lecture 3: Project Planning
Wed 6/2512:30 AM—1:30 AM (UTC)

1 more item

Week 3

Jun 30—Jul 6

Jul

Optional: PPD Office Hour #3

Tue 7/112:30 AM—1:30 AM (UTC)

Optional

Jul

Guest Lecture TBD

Tue 7/111:00 PM—12:00 AM (UTC)

Module 3: Design and Concept Development

1 item

Bonus: Generative AI Tools for Design

2 items

Week 4

Jul 7—Jul 13

Jul

Optional: PPD Office Hour #4

Tue 7/812:30 AM—1:30 AM (UTC)

Optional

Prototyping: High & Low Fidelity

Jul
9
Lecture 5: Prototyping - Low Fidelity & High Fidelity
Wed 7/912:30 AM—1:30 AM (UTC)
Optional

CAD Strategies and Tactics

Jul
11
Lecture 6: CAD Best Practices and Material Selection
Fri 7/1112:30 AM—1:30 AM (UTC)

1 more item

Week 5

Jul 14—Jul 20

Jul

Optional: PPD Office Hour #6

Thu 7/1712:30 AM—1:30 AM (UTC)

Optional

Design for Manufacturing and Assembly

Jul
17
Lecture 8: Snaps, Enclosures, and Mates
Thu 7/1711:00 PM—12:00 AM (UTC)
Jul
15
Lecture 7 Design for Assembly and Serviceability
Tue 7/1511:00 PM—12:00 AM (UTC)

1 more item

Week 6

Jul 21—Jul 27

Jul

Optional: PPD Office Hour #8

Wed 7/2310:00 PM—11:00 PM (UTC)

Optional

Jul

Live Feedback

Fri 7/2512:00 AM—1:00 AM (UTC)

Optional

Catch Up Week

1 item

Jul

Guest Lecture

Wed 7/2312:00 AM—1:00 AM (UTC)

Week 7

Jul 28—Aug 3

Design for Sheet Metal & Injection Molding

Jul
29
Lecture 9: Design for Manufacturing - Injection Molding & Sheet Metal
Tue 7/2911:00 PM—12:00 AM (UTC)

Cost Engineering and Design Economics

Aug
1
Lecture 10: Cost Engineering and Design Economics
Fri 8/112:30 AM—1:30 AM (UTC)

1 more item

Week 8

Aug 4—Aug 10

Aug

Optional: Office Hours #10

Tue 8/512:30 AM—1:30 AM (UTC)

Optional

Failure Methods

Aug
7
Lecture 11: Failure Methods of Consumer Products
Thu 8/712:30 AM—1:30 AM (UTC)

1 more item

Design for Reliability and Durability

Aug
7
Lecture 12: Reliability and Durability Design/Testing
Thu 8/711:00 PM—12:00 AM (UTC)

Week 9

Aug 11—Aug 17

Aug

Guest Lecture TBD

Thu 8/1412:00 AM—1:00 AM (UTC)

Product Testing

1 item

Aug

Live Feedback #1

Wed 8/1312:00 AM—1:00 AM (UTC)

Aug

Live Feedback #2

Fri 8/1512:00 AM—1:00 AM (UTC)

Optional

Week 10

Aug 18—Aug 24

Aug

Office Hours

Tue 8/1912:30 AM—1:30 AM (UTC)

Aug

Lecture 14: Portfolio Design & Interview Prep

Fri 8/2212:00 AM—1:00 AM (UTC)

Portfolio Development

2 items

Testing/Validation Methods

Aug
19
Lecture 13: Testing and Validation Methods
Tue 8/1911:00 PM—12:00 AM (UTC)

1 more item

Week 11

Aug 25—Aug 31

Aug

PPD Portfolio Presentations Day 1

Thu 8/2812:30 AM—1:30 AM (UTC)

Aug

PPD Portfolio Presentations Day 2

Fri 8/295:00 PM—6:00 PM (UTC)

Aug

Guest Lecture

Fri 8/2912:00 AM—1:00 AM (UTC)

Week 12

Sep 1—Sep 7

Nothing scheduled for this week

Course Schedule

5-10 Hours Per Week Time Commitment

Live Lectures and Design Reviews (2h/wk Recorded)
Tues/Thurs at 8:30pm ET (5:30pm Pacific)
Join for a live and interactive Q&A section after a 30-45min main lecture
Practical Project Deliverables
3-6hrs/wk (on your own)
Learn new skills from our lectures by applying them right away on real-world tasks and projects.

You will develop your own product during this course following our structured product development process.
Regular Office Hours
Mon, Wed, Sat, Sun
Weekdays from 8:30pm-9:30pm Eastern (5:30pm-6:30pm Pacific)
Weekends on Saturday and Sundays (Exact Times TBD)

Instructors and TA's will help answer any questions you might have.
Join for personalized project feedback and advice.
Optional Networking/Hangout Sessions
Exact Times TBD
Build up a professional network of passionate engineers, designers, and entrepreneurs!
Bonus Guest Lectures
Exact Times TBD

Stay In The Loop

4.5 (3)

What Past Students Are Saying

The course was exactly the right length and gave me the peer pressure I needed to finish my project. Without this course, I would not have completed my Automata watch. The lectures were the most valuable part - getting real-world experience from actual engineers who are getting paid to solve problems. That's what made it worth it!

Joshua Hinman

MRB Engineer, Aerospace Machinist, and Founder of CT3D

I joined this course expecting to spend the summer learning design skills as a side project. Six months later, my coursework became a real business with a $9,000 contract and over a dozen machines deployed at a military base, laundromats, and grocery stores.

Michael Hennessy

Business Student → Hardware Startup Co-Founder

This course taught me how to create a portfolios that showcase process, not just results. The weekly design reviews and peer feedback were invaluable for expanding my thinking. There is nothing else like this course, I think it is really needed, and I enjoyed it so much that am coming back to help as a TA for Cohort 2.

Nimeesh Rahate

Product Engineer at Teal Bio

This bootcamp was the perfect complement to my mechanical engineering background. It helped me understand the entire product development process and gave me practical experience with prototyping and DFM/DFA principles.

Aidan Pulaski

Mechanical Design Engineer - Teradyne

Student Project Showcase: Automata Watch

Free resource

Preview Shivam's Lecture on Product Design

Want to level up your product design skills like Josh did?

Get Link to Youtube Video:

Mr. Turtle - Automated Detergent Dispenser

Developed by Michael Hennessey and Colin Brown - Hardware Startup Entrepreneurs, Cal Poly Grads

Key Holder

From Initial Concept to Refined Prototype by Nimeesh Rahate

Meet Your Instructors

Shivam Dehinwal

Senior Mechanical Design Engineer

Designed and developed numerous products from sketch to production, ranging from energy storage systems to a hardware product for Google's internal use.

Taking concepts from sketches to production and wearing different hats throughout the process is what keeps me going.

🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/dehinwalshivam/

👀 (See Featured Section for Project Portfolio)

Matt DeRemer

Founder and Chief Engineer at Bayard Design

25+ years of product design experience with at least 16 million products in homes, hospitals and vehicles worldwide

Has given talks for FORGE, M2D2, MassMEP and BosRIG on Product Development Strategies

Specialties: Medical/Consumer/IoT/CleanTech products

🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/mderemer/

👀 https://www.bayarddesign.com/portfolio/

Cris Sion

R&D Design Engineer

Product Development Engineer with significant experience in R&D and production manufacturing environments.

Founded Additive Engineering, a product development firm which helps entrepreneurs develop functional prototypes.

🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/cvsion/

👀 https://additiveengineering.com/3d-printing/

Join an upcoming cohort