Meet Fred Dewees, SPARK’s Newest Senior Mechanical Engineer

September 15, 2025

SparkPD

Meet Fred Dewees, SPARK’s Newest Senior Mechanical Engineer

We’re excited to welcome Fred Dewees to the SPARK team as our newest Senior Mechanical Engineer!

From physics to products: Claudia Smith’s Post-grad Year at SPARK

July 22, 2025

SparkPD

From physics to products: Claudia Smith’s Post-grad Year at SPARK

When Claudia Smith applied to intern at SPARK, she wasn’t your typical mechanical engineering student. In fact, she wasn’t a mechanical engineering student at all.

Pitching In at the 2025 Special Olympics Virginia Summer Games

July 7, 2025

SparkPD

Pitching In at the 2025 Special Olympics Virginia Summer Games

At SPARK, we’re builders at heart, problem-solvers who love to roll up our sleeves, work together, and make things happen. That same mindset fuels not just our product design work, but our commitment to community.

6 Common Product Development Mistakes (And what to do instead)

May 28, 2025

SparkPD

6 Common Product Development Mistakes (And what to do instead)

What we’ve learned from 30 years and 130+ years of combined experience in product development

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.

Recent Posts

Featured

What Happens When Manufacturing Knowledge Doesn’t Scale

Growth is usually a sign that something is working. More customers are buying, production is increasing, and the company may be adding people, equipment, or even new facilities to keep up.

But growth can also create a strange kind of frustration when processes that worked well for years start becoming harder to sustain. Engineering may struggle to keep up with the volume of work, manufacturing questions that were once easy to resolve can become recurring issues, and the company may find itself relying heavily on a handful of experienced people who know how things are supposed to be built.

When every component is right and the assembly still fails

One of the more frustrating problems with a sheet metal assembly is when everything looks right individually, but doesn't work when you put it together.

The drawings may have been reviewed and the individual components may look perfectly reasonable on their own. It’s only when the full assembly comes together that the problems become apparent: holes don't line up, connections are difficult to make, or components don't interface the way everyone expected.

Why fabricators no-quote jobs (And what they’re trying to tell you)

You send a sheet metal part out for a quote and expect comparable pricing back. Instead, one fabricator declines the job entirely, another comes back with questions, and a third sends a quote with no apparent concerns.

We’ve heard many versions of this same story. And having this experience can be very confusing. After all, all the fabricators you’ve reached out to are looking at the same drawing.

Why sheet metal is almost always what’s holding up your project

When a sheet metal project falls behind, production usually gets the blame. But the delay often started much earlier, before fabrication ever began.

A drawing that needs clarification, a needlessly tight tolerance, an assembly issue no one caught in review, or a manufacturing question that sits unresolved can quietly eat into the schedule long before anyone calls the project “late.” By the time the problem finally shows up on the shop floor, the easiest opportunities to fix it may already be gone.

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.

Meet Fred Dewees, SPARK’s Newest Senior Mechanical Engineer

From physics to products: Claudia Smith’s Post-grad Year at SPARK

Pitching In at the 2025 Special Olympics Virginia Summer Games

6 Common Product Development Mistakes (And what to do instead)

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

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