Community Highlights: Meet Ryan Knights of Knights Engineering

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Knights.

Hi Ryan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I always had a passion for mechanical things. Like many people I played with Legos as a kid, and still do now, as well as always finding unique ways to work with cars. When I was in high school I helped a local company with their social media and in return they taught me car audio installation. The real reason why I was so passionate about cars was because it was the way my Dad and I really connected.

My dad loved cars, specifically high performance cars, and just about every weekend we would go and test drive some new possible purchase. It was always so fun looking at everything from old muscle cars, to german performance, to luxury SUVs. We were always citing back and forth 0-60 times, going to car shows, and watching all the latest Top Gear episodes. All of this passion for cars made me know even in middle school that I wanted to take an engineering path.

My parents were adamant about me going to college. It was something that they instilled in me and was never an option of if I go, but when. I was fortunate to get into a couple different schools and chose Virginia Tech due to its high ranking in Mechanical Engineering. As a first generation college student I really wanted to go to a well-known school. My engineering degree really helped me think differently and start to understand mechanical and electrical systems. A huge part of this was thanks to my involvement with the Virginia Tech BOLT (Battery Operated Land Transport) electric motorcycle team.

As the first motorcycle of its time I still remember when I asked the team leader, an exceptional engineer, what the goal of the team was. Thinking I’d hear “Win this race” or “Hit 200mph” I was really excited for his response. Well, his response was “We want to make sure we don’t kill the rider.” This was insane. We were creating a first of its kind electric motorcycle and really had no guardrails or guidelines like a Formula SAE or Baja Team. The excitement of doing something so new with high risk felt right. The motorcycle ran for many seasons and we got to sleep in a large trailer next to the bike at races, bond with our fellow teammates (most of which are now GM or Ford engineers) and most importantly, we kept the rider safe.

After that I launched my way in the automotive industry as an engineer starting with Ford Motor Company as a liaison between the engineering and studio teams as a process engineer. The sight of seeing the clay model, solving complex problems, and being on what felt like the forefront of engineering was exciting. After my time at Ford I made my way to working with different suppliers which was extremely rewarding. When acting as an engineer at a supplier you get to see the manufacturing, the design, and the entire vehicle process. This cradle to grave development where I was helping to design vehicle grilles at SRG Global for vehicles like the Ford Escape, Lincoln Corsair, and Ford F150 Raptor was a rapid learning process in a world where developments can take 4+ years. The experience I gained really set me up to see automotive in a different light.

All of these early career experiences really helped me gain the knowledge and skills to help me get to where I am today as an Entrepreneur in the Automotive Engineering space providing high quality services to suppliers and OEMs alike.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not, as I don’t think it often is. I really put health on the backburner and full fledged focused on my career until I no longer could. Early in my career I said Yes to everything (and probably still do). This had me where I was once in the Ford Kentucky Truck Plant for 4 months helping to debug some issues on a product. I had just started with the company on Monday and that Thursday was driving to the plant with my boss’s boss to start what would become one of the largest learning experiences, but toughest times, in my life.

This launch required 12-16hr days in the plant, often working through breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I knew the plant like the back of my hand, but didn’t even know a single restaurant in the area besides the waffle house across the street. While this was going on, my apartment complex, of which I had renewed my lease at, accidentally gave away my unit to someone else and wanted me to move out. They gave me 1 week notice. So I moved my stuff into a storage unit and then…my car’s engine blew up. Just 65k miles into my Subaru WRX Life it broke a rod and needed an entire new engine. Normally I would do this myself, but not having a place, and essentially living out of a hotel room in Kentucky, I had to have it done at a shop for $7k that I didn’t have.

So while all these things in my personal life were going south, I also had to keep it together while the workload was the toughest I have ever seen. Luckily, like all things, eventually it turned around. I was lucky to have support from my best friend and he let me stay on his couch in his one bedroom apartment, my car got fixed, and the product got PPAP’ed (Production Part Approval Process) Standard in the Auto Industry. I really feel you would be surprised at how many people in automotive face really tough product launches and think these stories often help build the comradery across the industry. I am glad to have gotten through it, but definitely would do all I can in my designs to ensure no issues like that ever happen.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I currently am doing Automotive Consulting and Engineering where I specialize in Product Development. I utilize the epxerience I have of working across different suppliers and OEMs to help clients win projects through business development and high quality engineering. The company has CAD capabilities as well as Prototyping (3D Printing) capabilities that allow us to work through complex parts and assemblies to deliver accurate results quickly. We help partner with companies to win their next program, execute it, and continue success.

Our approach is helpful for many smaller Build-to-Print suppliers who may not have a full engineering staff, but in today’s climate are expected to. We can help fill the gap by acting as an engineering team (Engineering Manager, Product Development Engineer, Design Engineer, Sales Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer) in either a long or short term capacity. Our organization really sets us apart in being able to manage many aspects of a project and program and delivering accurate results.

For many we have the ability of starting a partnership and even helping these companies to eventually bring the capabilities needed in house. For many of these companies we are able to bridge a gap to help win the big programs without having to hire and train an engineering team to do it. It allows for companies to better manage their long term investment when competing on many different programs.

I would love for people to know that we are extremely passionate about automotive and love to find unique solutions in closing their problems. While often we help to win new business, it is equally important to close out older projects so they can start, or continue to run successfully for the life of the program. We are here to partner with people and help understand their engineering issues and utilize our extensive experience to solve them.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Our passion for engineering is matched by our passion for people. We love meeting new people and partnering together to drive success and growth for everyone. We like to engage with suppliers to help them build relationships in the industry that allow the industry as a whole to grow. We love to be on the forefront of innovation and believe when we bring new products to market in the automotive space we are helping give the customer, which is majority of the US population, a great means of transportation.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.knightsengineering.com
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/knights-engineering-llc