Francis kalonji

Mbuyamba

Available for engagements
Working remotely with clients worldwide
Mechanical Engineering Consultant — Interactive Experiences & Durable Hardware
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mechanical engineering — interactive hardware — durable design

mechanical engineering — interactive hardware — durable design

mechanical engineering — interactive hardware — durable design

mechanical engineering — interactive hardware — durable design

01

Durability & Materials Consulting

  • Materials selection for high-cycle use
  • Failure mode analysis
  • Long-term reliability strategy
  • Protective coatings & finishes
  • Environmental durability
  • High-traffic installations

Engineering for hardware that has to survive years of real-world use. Materials selection, failure mode analysis, and durability strategy for installations, attractions, and consumer products with mechanical or electromechanical components built for high-cycle and long-lifecycle applications.

02

Design for Manufacture (DFM)

  • DFM and tooling reviews
  • Over-molded geometries
  • Organic & themed forms
  • Prototype-to-production
  • Cost reduction
  • Manufacturing risk assessment

Independent DFM and tooling reviews to catch manufacturing problems while they're still cheap to fix. Experienced with over-molded geometries, organic and themed forms, and the bridge between industrial design intent and manufacturable reality.

03

Independent Technical Reviews

  • Design reviews
  • Risk assessment
  • BOM interpretation
  • Pre-engagement feasibility
  • Technical due diligence
  • Second-opinion engineering

Senior engineering judgment when teams need a second set of eyes. Design reviews, risk assessments, BOM and specification interpretation, and pre-engagement feasibility analysis. Useful when in-house teams are stretched or when an outside perspective is needed before commitment.

04

Fractional Engineering Support

  • Senior engineering input
  • Project leadership
  • Cross-functional collaboration
  • Vendor & sourcing guidance
  • Cost & hour estimation
  • Ongoing advisory

Ongoing senior engineering input for hardware companies, experience studios, and project leads who need real engineering judgment without the cost of a full-time hire. Engagements scoped to fit the work, not packaged into rigid retainers.

My
Resume

April 2026 - Present

Independent Mechanical Engineering Consultant

Self-Employed

Senior mechanical engineering consulting for interactive experience hardware, location-based entertainment systems, and durable consumer hardware. Service areas include independent technical reviews, DFM and durability consulting, failure mode analysis, materials selection for high-cycle applications, mechanical architecture for interactive systems, and fractional engineering support for hardware companies and experience studios.

Independent Practice
Technical Advisory
DFM Consulting
Durability Engineering
Risk Assessment
May 2021 — April 2026

Senior Mechanical Engineer

Jaycon

Led mechanical engineering teams at a contract product development firm serving entertainment, consumer, and industrial sectors. Directed mechanical design on a themed haptic-feedback consumer product engineered for child users, organic over-molded geometry, thermal safety, and drop survival. Architected mechanical systems for a high-traffic public attraction designed for a 25-year operational lifespan, engineering five primary interactive elements to sustain 300,000+ usage cycles each. Engineered custom test infrastructure that cut quality assurance cycles by approximately 50% across multiple mechanical systems

Team Leadership
Product Development
DFM
Failure Mode Analysis
Test Infrastructure
October 2024 — April 2026

Independent Engineering Advisor

ES Engineering Services

Engaged as an on-call senior engineering advisor to a project lead operating in the public art and experiential installation space, providing technical judgment across a portfolio of projects on a fractional basis. Work spanned BOM interpretation, building code review, vendor sourcing intelligence, materials and protective coatings analysis, maintenance protocol design, and pre-engagement risk assessments that influenced leadership-level project decisions

Fractional Advisory
Technical Interpretation
Risk Assessment
Vendor Sourcing
Materials Analysis
May 2019 — December 2020

Undergraduate Research Assistant

West Virginia University — Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department

Hydrogen fuel research laboratory. Designed a hermetically sealed enclosure for a spray deposition system used in fuel cell manufacturing research. Developed Python tooling for experimental data processing and visualization. Trained incoming research assistants on lab equipment and standard operating procedures

Research
Mechanical Design
Python
Data Visualization
Lab Operations

Building something that has to last?

Location
  • Remote
  • Working with clients worldwide
Phone
  • +1 304-282-5349
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