Our Newest Full-Time Hire - Mike Holt

April 22, 2025

SparkPD

We’re excited to officially welcome Mike Holt to the SPARK team as our newest full-time hire. (Although he’s been around for a while!)

The Innovation Bottleneck: Why internal teams stall out (and what to do instead)

April 2, 2025

Philip O'Connor

The Innovation Bottleneck: Why internal teams stall out (and what to do instead)

Internal innovation teams are everywhere these days. And for good reason: who better to spot opportunities, propose smarter systems, or dream up the next big thing than the people already working inside your company?

What I Learned at AHR Expo 2025: Insights from the HVAC Industry’s Biggest Event

March 17, 2025

Philip O'Connor

What I Learned at AHR Expo 2025: Insights from the HVAC Industry’s Biggest Event

SPARK Product Development is proud and excited to announce that October 31st marks our 27th anniversary as a company! For nearly three decades, we’ve been

Celebrating 27 Years by Bringing Engineering & Design Talent to the Community

October 29, 2024

SparkPD

Celebrating 27 Years by Bringing Engineering & Design Talent to the Community

SPARK Product Development is proud and excited to announce that October 31st marks our 27th anniversary as a company! For nearly three decades, we’ve been

Meet SPARK’s Newest Owner - Shane Diller

April 29, 2023

SparkPD

SPARK News, Staff

Meet SPARK’s Newest Owner - Shane Diller

Shane Diller joins the ranks of owners at SPARK Product Development.

Philip O'Connor Joins SPARK's Leadership

March 31, 2023

SparkPD

SPARK News, Staff

Philip O'Connor Joins SPARK's Leadership

Philip O'Connor is joining SPARK's leadership

Happy Birthday To Us!

October 31, 2022

SparkPD

SPARK News

Thank you to everyone who has made the last 25 years possible!

Becoming a Mechanical Engineer: The Intern Speaks

April 18, 2022

SparkPD

Staff, Mechanical Design, SPARK News

Becoming a Mechanical Engineer: The Intern Speaks

An interview with Ellie Birnbaum about her experience as a SPARK intern while studying mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech, and what it took to get her dream job after graduation.

Know Your Designers – Introducing Jonathan Kyte

February 9, 2022

SparkPD

Industrial Design, SPARK News, Staff

Know Your Designers – Introducing Jonathan Kyte

Jonathan Kyte explains how he became an industrial designer doing product development with SPARK after years of designing race cars for GM.

How Patents Protect Inventors

July 13, 2021

SparkPD

Informative Resources, Start-Ups

Different types of patents and how they protect products and intellectual property for inventors, entrepreneurs, small businesses, and established firms.

What’s So Special About Industrial Design?

June 21, 2021

SparkPD

Industrial Design, Informative Resources

What’s So Special About Industrial Design?

Industrial design is a process for developing products based on real-world considerations that put the end-user at the forefront. Learn how industrial design saves time and money.

Client Experience – A Chat With Conner Trebour

May 25, 2021

SparkPD

Client Spotlight, Start-Ups, Informative Resources

Client Experience – A Chat With Conner Trebour

How SPARK’s design process and manufacturing expertise saved entrepreneur Conner Trebour thousands of dollars and months of development time.

What's In A Title?

April 30, 2021

Chris Murray

Industrial Design, Process, SPARK News, User-Centered Design

What does Design Manager mean to you? It means, SPARK is doubling down on user-centered design and its importance to the product development process.

Partner Spotlight: Vince Robertson

January 13, 2021

SparkPD

Partner Spotlight

For the past 5 years you may have noticed that our Christmas card game has been particularly on point (if we may say so ourselves). That’s because we managed to find the ideal graphic designer to capture SPARK’s voice, humor, and commitment to quality.

New Faces At SPARK—Welcome Philip O’Connor!

December 7, 2020

SparkPD

SPARK News, Staff

New Faces At SPARK—Welcome Philip O’Connor!

SPARK Product Development is proud to announce our newest hire, Philip O’Connor. Philip joins us as our Business Relationship Manager.

3D Printing Technology

November 11, 2020

SparkPD

Informative Resources, Prototyping, Technology

Additive manufacturing (better known as 3D printing) is a modern marvel that even in its youth is changing the face of manufacturing and product development.

Why Prototypes Matter

October 13, 2020

SparkPD

Manufacturing Readiness, Process, Prototyping, User-Centered Design

At SPARK, our product development process is bespoke to you. We don’t require you to sign off on a lifesize prototype before moving into the production phase—but to say we highly recommend it is like an accountant saying they highly recommend tracking your expenses. Or a lumberjack highly recommending that you run that way.

Promotion News – Chris Murray

October 1, 2020

SparkPD

Industrial Design, SPARK News, Staff

I am excited to announce that we’ve promoted Chris Murray to Design Manager.

We Help You Solve Problems—Not Produce Products

September 18, 2020

SparkPD

Market Research, Process, Informative Resources, Usability, User-Centered Design

We Help You Solve Problems—Not Produce Products

There’s a couple different ways to look at what we do at SPARK. From the logistical, manufacturing perspective: we develop physical products. But from a business/marketing/end-user perspective, what we do is help you develop better solutions to problems you’ve discovered.

Dangers of Boilerplate Product Design

July 20, 2020

SparkPD

Process, Informative Resources

Prospective clients often ask about our process for product development. We can’t help but chuckle and say that’s a complicated question. Maybe we should discuss it over a beer.

Recent Posts

Featured

Enhancing a Richmond Gem: SPARK’s Volunteer Day at the Science Museum of Virginia

As hands-on problem solvers, we know that big successes often rely on the foundational work done completely behind the scenes. Recently, the SPARK team traded our engineering desks for high-vis vests and headed over to the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond to pitch in and get our hands dirty.

AI Wants an Answer. Product Development Needs Exploration

One challenge SPARK has encountered while experimenting with AI is that the tool rapidly wants to move toward an answer. In many situations, that is useful. In early-stage product development, however, reaching an answer too quickly can work against the way creative ideation actually happens.

AI-Assisted Visualization: When Does Efficiency Stop Being Efficient?

As SPARK continues to explore AI within product development, some of the clearest applications for our Industrial Design team have not necessarily been in generating concepts. Instead, AI has proven useful in supporting familiar, labor-intensive visualization tasks.

Engineering Beyond the Classroom: Will Knutson’s Summer at SPARK

When Will Knutson arrived at SPARK at the beginning of the summer, he already knew how he would approach his internship:

Intentionally.

Pitching In (Again!) at the 2026 Special Olympics Virginia Summer Games

We are hands-on problem solvers who know that big successes rely on the work done out of the spotlight. We might not be athletes, but we know how to do some heavy lifting. At SPARK, tackling the behind-the-scenes details isn't just a step in our engineering process—it’s where we believe the most meaningful impact is made.

Our Newest Full-Time Hire - Mike Holt

The Innovation Bottleneck: Why internal teams stall out (and what to do instead)

What I Learned at AHR Expo 2025: Insights from the HVAC Industry’s Biggest Event

Celebrating 27 Years by Bringing Engineering & Design Talent to the Community

Meet SPARK’s Newest Owner - Shane Diller

Philip O'Connor Joins SPARK's Leadership

Happy Birthday To Us!

Becoming a Mechanical Engineer: The Intern Speaks

Know Your Designers – Introducing Jonathan Kyte

How Patents Protect Inventors

What’s So Special About Industrial Design?

Client Experience – A Chat With Conner Trebour

What's In A Title?

Partner Spotlight: Vince Robertson

New Faces At SPARK—Welcome Philip O’Connor!

3D Printing Technology

Why Prototypes Matter

Promotion News – Chris Murray

We Help You Solve Problems—Not Produce Products

Dangers of Boilerplate Product Design

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