NAME: Michael Creighton

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

I come from a great family! I grew up just a few miles from our current office location. I attended The Pennsylvania State University and received my degree in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Product Realization and a certificate in Engineering Design. I’ve been working here at Creative Mechanisms since I graduated in 2009. I currently live in Warrington, PA. 

WHAT IS YOUR POSITION AT CREATIVE MECHANISMS, AND HOW DO YOU CONTRIBUTE IN THAT ROLE?

I am the Engineering Manager. I am typically responsible for the early technical discussions related to each job we are involved in. From there I work with our team to develop estimates and proposals. Once a job is approved, I do my best to determine which of our team members are best suited to work on each project. Then I do my best to keep all of our work on schedule and within budget. I am in constant communication with our customers throughout the life of a project so everyone is aware of progress. In addition to that, I also contribute just like everyone else here by designing, engineering and prototyping on projects. I am also our resident “electronics guy” - I don’t really have much formal electronics training but I have taught myself a lot and learned a lot online. We have done some pretty impressive electronics projects, so I am proud of that.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO BE IN THIS FIELD?

I really like being able to design a quality product that works well, feels great, and looks good. Each project we work on gives us the opportunity to make that happen. It is also nice to help our customers who are sometimes stuck. They need us to complete the development of their product, so it is a good feeling to be able to offer help and be part of a bigger mission. But, I think the ultimate reward is to be able to go to a store and buy a product that you helped produce. I have a display case at home that is full of products that we have worked on that I was able to go buy in a store. And after 7 years of working here, that case is getting close to being full so I might need to get another. That’s kind of unique, most people don’t get to hold something in their hands and say “I made this and you can buy it.”

I’ve also always loved to build stuff, from little models up to big skateboard ramps and everything in between. Here at Creative Mechanisms, I get to build things every day, and I’m usually “building” something new every couple of weeks.

EXPLAIN THE CREATIVE MECHANISMS PROCESS; HOW DO YOU BRING AN IDEA FROM CONCEPT TO REALITY?

We can pick up on a project from many different stages of development. But in general, we offer the most amount of help by being able to offer our expertise related to mechanism design, materials, and manufacturing methods. At times, we need to have an artistic eye, other times we need to be very calculated and scientific. I think our broad range of experience and expertise allows us to consider all aspects of a project.

We are also very proficient at making prototype models. Prototyping is often very different from full scale manufacturing. We offer many solutions that allow our customers to more easily make the transition from concept to engineering to prototyping and finally to manufacturing.

TELL US ABOUT ONE OF YOUR MOST SATISFYING PROJECTS THUS FAR:

We helped with the development of a cell phone case that was invented by a local police officer. The case allows you to store a short Apple Lightning cable inside so you can use it if you find yourself in need of a charge. He was working with another facility in our area that was unable to deliver on the product after wasting a lot of time and money. When the project was brought to us, we quickly designed and engineered the case properly and prototyped using a mix of different 3D printing technologies. Next, we stayed with the project as it moved on to one of our injection molding partners for mass production. In the end, we were able to deliver a really neat phone case that looked and worked great. The first case we made was for the iPhone 5, after that we ended up doing a case for the iPhone 6 too. Today, I have an iPhone SE (which is the same size as the iPhone 5), and I use the case every day. I love it, the cable has come in handy many times and the rugged nature of the case has protected my phone from many drops. 

WHY SHOULD COMPANIES & ENTREPRENEURS CONSIDER CREATIVE MECHANISMS?

We have delivered on items that our customers once thought were impossible. We have clients that will say things like “I trust you guys, you can figure it out and tell us what to do.” That comes from their previous experience working with us. We have a way of figuring things out, especially when others might get stuck. We work in a proper team setting and truly care about the quality of products we are involved with.

Do you have a project that requires a design and engineering team? Consider Creative Mechanisms

We've put together a team with depth and breadth across many industries to help design and engineer solutions to complex problems. Our team has extensive experience with plastics, and we are skilled at defect prevention for injection mold manufacturing. Here are some quotes from previous clients about working with the Creative Mechanisms team:

• "After thinking there was no way to develop and prototype living hinges, Creative Mechanisms were recommended to me. I quickly learned they offer a rare and sought after service, ideal for any early stage prototyping through to production level injection molding. They were hands down the best external contractor I can recall working with." Carla Zampaglione, Invetech
• "Creative Mechanisms is the type of company that is hard to find. I’m glad I found them. They provided what they promised on a short notice, tight timeline, and with amazing precision. They exceeded my expectations and I highly recommend them - without a doubt." Hassan Mohamed, Edgewell

You can read more about our previous work here, or feel free to reach out directly - we'd love to hear from you about your project!

Click here to learn more about Accelerating the Product Development Process