The only manufacturing summit for engineering and operations leaders developing electronics
Build Better 2024
The Next Way
The Toyota Way, The Motorola Way, The Apple Way – there are all sorts of “ways” to build in electronics manufacturing. At Build Better 2024, we’re focusing on “The Next Way.” This event will spotlight how visionaries at both established companies and innovative upstarts are crafting a new vision for development and production, harnessing the power of data, technology, and AI to create better products.
Details
When: October 16th – Full Day
Where: The USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, CA
Why Attend:
Build Better is a knowledge summit for manufacturing leaders and visionaries across the electronics industry – we never found an event like this, so we made one.This is a knowledge-first event – no selling, just learning.
- 50%+ attendees at our last event were VP to C-Level
- Content designed for leaders and visionaries across engineering, quality, operations, reliability, and sustaining for both New Product Introduction and production.
Including Speakers From
Build Better 2024 Agenda:
10:00 AM - 10:10 AM
Introduction and Welcome
Speakers: Philip Stoten (Founder of SCOOP and Contributor at Forbes, Fast Company and Entrepreneur)
10:10 AM – 10:40 AM
The Motorola Way, the Apple Way, and the Next Way
There are lots of "ways" to do electronics NPI and manufacturing -- Motorola gave us EVT, DVT, and PVT and Apple gave us execution at scale. What are the core lessons of these methodologies and how are modern organizations honoring or breaking them?
Speakers: Zach Scott (Head of Hardware at Backbone), Matt Hill (Senior Manager, Device Engineering at Snap Inc.) , Felix Alvarez (Manager, Second Order Effects)
Moderator: Patrick McGee (Financial Times)
10:40 AM – 11:10 AM
The Next Way
A vision for the Next Way in electronics manufacturing -- leveraging data, technology, and AI
Speakers: Anna-Katrina Shedletsky (CEO at Instrumental)
11:15 AM – 11:45 AM
Scaling Manufacturing: How Zero-to-One Lessons Unlock New Opportunities in Existing Operations
Suppliers, fulfillment, manufacturing model -- starting fresh provides fresh perspectives for getting more out of existing manufacturing operations.
Speakers: Sapana Talwalkar (VP of Hardware Operations at Toast)
Moderator: Wayne Miller (Consulting and Business Development Partner at Product Realization Group)
11:45 PM – 12:00 PM
The State of Hardware 2025: 1,000 Engineers on Trends, Challenges, and Toolsets
Get an exclusive first look at the soon-to-be-released study on the latest engineering trends, challenges, and essential toolsets shaping the future of hardware. Based on insights from over 1,000 hardware and electrical engineers, this session dives into key data collected from LinkedIn professional groups and a broad range of industries.
Speakers: Valentina Ratner (Co-Founder & CEO of AllSpice.io)
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Network with Peer Leaders over Lunch
Easily find and mingle with your cohort of peer leaders -- whether that's in engineering, operations, quality, test, repair, etc.
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM
Superpowers for Engineers: Leveraging AI to Accelerate NPI
Reality Labs is at the forefront of what the devices and AI future might look like. Take a peek at how Meta's Reality Labs team employs data and AI tools to do the work of 3 engineers on every NPI
Speakers: Judd Nutting (Product Design Engineering Manager, Meta), Miles Hansen (Product Engineering Manager, Meta)
1:30 PM – 2:00 PM
Principles for a Modern Manufacturing Technology Stack for Defense
Anduril is at the bleeding edge of innovation in the defense space. Instead of settling for the limited decades-old technology tools defense primes have chosen, Cy has led his team with a series of principles to embrace cloud, interoperability, and technology.
Speakers: Cy Sack (Head of Business Systems at Anduril)
Moderator: Rich Besen (Head of Innovation - PER Lab, Kearney)
2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
The Future of Functional Test: Fast, Scaleable, Simple
This panel discussion will highlight innovative approaches leaders are taking in test engineering design, spanning the test requirements of consumer electronics, B2B electronics, and defense.
Speakers: Colton Black (Founder & CEO, Onnyx Systems (Former Reekon), Pete Staples (Co-Founder and CEO of Blue Clover Devices), L Lin (Senior Software Manager at Latitude AI, former ChargePoint), Sri Mellacheruvu (Former Meta, Apple, Google)
Moderator: Helaina Hurwitz (Mechanical Engineering Manager, Andrews Cooper)
2:30 PM – 2:40 PM
What's Next for America's Critical Supply Chains
A quick interlude that will be part health check and part motivation for those wondering about Made in USA.
Speakers: Alex Huckstepp (Advisor at Omni Venture, co-founder of Uptool)
2:40 PM – 3:30 PM
Snack Break and Networking
3:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Innovating in Refurbishment, Repair, and Remanufacturing
Units returning from the field are a huge opportunity to build better products upstream -- but most companies aren't taking advantage of it. Leaders on this panel will share practical advice for technology and processes to get the most out of your refurbishment center.
Speakers: Sal Zaman (Sr. Director, Logistics and Hardware Procurement, Toast), Colin Ravenscroft (Senior Manager, Microsoft), Steven Nickel (Director, Consumer Hardware Operations, Google)
Moderator: Matt Zieminski (VP of Partnerships at iFixit)
4:00 PM – 4:20 PM
The Next Way for Reducing NPI Cycles
In 2024, hardware companies are ramping up new product development, with CEOs pushing engineering leaders to cut NPI schedules by up to 50% for profitable growth. Learn how Alan Porter and Alon Ben-Shoshan are helping top electronics brands achieve these NPI cycle time reductions while improving factory and field quality.
Speakers: Alan Porter (Vice President, Electronics Industry, former Apple)
Moderator: Alon Ben-Shoshan (CBO, Instrumental, former Amazon)
4:20 PM – 5:10 PM
Leading from the Front: The Missing Chapter for Hardware Executives
There's a missing chapter in leadership books about how to lead in companies that build things. This session is designed to showcase the angular perspectives and philosophies of several leaders we personally admire. Expect tactics and practical takeaways that will make you think about how you're leading in your organization today.
Speakers: Nathan Ackerman (Founder of Stealth AI Startup, Former Amazon, Owl Camera), Bill Carter-Giannini (Hardware Engineering Leader, Team Builder, Business and Operational Advisor), Bryan Roos (Director of Hardware Program Management), Gemma Ross (VP of Operations, OSARO)
Moderator: Keith Lucas (Advisor, Author, former Instrumental COO)
5:10 PM - 5:15 PM
Thank You & Closing
Speakers: Philip Stoten (Founder of SCOOP and Contributor at Forbes, Fast Company and Entrepreneur), Anna-Katrina Shedletsky (CEO at Instrumental)
5:15 PM – 5:45 PM
Happy Hour with Engineering vs Operations "Family Feud"
Network with peer leaders while enjoying a rousing game of electronics-themed family feud.
Host: Tobias Harrison-Noonan
5:30 PM -- 6:30 PM
Apple Alumni Happy Hour
Build Better 2024 has ended, sign up here to get early ticket info for next year!
Unlike other manufacturing conferences the Build Better Summit reaches thousands of leaders in engineering and operations across manufacturing.
Build Better is brought to you by:
Want to become a sponsor?
Copyright © 2024. Privacy Policy.
