Jon Switkes

Jon Switkes has a diverse work experience spanning multiple industries. Jon started their career at IBM as a Process Development Engineer, where they focused on suspension design and modeling for high-end server disc drives. Jon also worked as a process engineer, leading teams to solve manufacturing yield issues.

Jon then moved to KLA-Tencor - SurfScan division, where they held the role of NPI Manager. In this position, they managed cross-functional projects to improve reliability, performance, and annual service cost for the SP1 platform. Jon also successfully collaborated with a vendor to improve laser life.

After that, Jon joined KLA-Tencor - Viper Division as a Product Support Manager. Jon led Design for Service and Infrastructure Rollout projects, reducing system downtime and designing a next-generation system with lower annual service cost.

Following their tenure at KLA-Tencor, Jon joined Artificial Muscle, Inc. as a Senior Manufacturing Engineer and later became the Director of Manufacturing. Jon successfully introduced an ElectroActive Polymer actuator product to high-volume, offshore manufacturing and outsourced the proprietary material scale-up to support production volumes.

Jon's next venture was at Google, where they held multiple roles. Jon started as a Tech Lead and Program Manager for the Renewable Energy team, leading the Heliostat development program and researching low-cost technologies for sun tracking mirror systems. Later, they became a Manufacturing Introduction Engineer for Android and was responsible for introducing the Nexus Q product to high-volume manufacturing, managing yield and quality for injection moldings and cast components. Finally, they served as a Technical Program Manager for the Self-Driving Cars division.

Most recently, Jon joined X, the moonshot factory as a Manufacturing Operations Manager.

Jon Switkes earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College, where they attended from 1993 to 1997. Following this, they pursued a Master of Science (MS) degree in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University, from 1997 to 1998.