Sam Friedel

Background

About Sam Friedel

As a mechanical engineer specializing in product development, I'm passionate about turning concepts into real-world products that are sustainable, optimized for mass-production, and designed with a customer focus. My role at Pentair lets me channel that passion to develop innovative pool products. A lot of my time is spent designing, prototyping, and testing parts, then bringing them together to build complex hydraulic systems. This includes plastic part and sheet metal design, running FEA simulations, working in large CAD assemblies, procurement, and data analysis, among much else. One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about NPD is that it necessitates looking at projects through many different lenses for success. I'm always engaged with stakeholders in other parts of the business to make design decisions, allowing me to see how products come to life. Some of my past experiences include managing a student team as a project lead for Engineers Without Borders, co-founding a mock startup to automate smoothie bars, and bringing a fleet of autonomous forklifts to a Pentair manufacturing facility during a summer internship.