Curriculum Vitae — Controls · Safety · Automation

Vignesh Viswanath

Engineering Leader — Controls, Electrical & Functional Safety

Engineering leader with 14 years in controls, electrical, and functional safety across advanced manufacturing, aerospace, and consumer electronics. Currently leading a team of 10+ engineers and vendors at Finisar, owning $20M+ in capital programmes across Apple and Finisar. TÜV-certified Functional Safety Engineer, with controls systems now running on 200,000+ stations worldwide.

• $20M+ capital programme ownership. DRI for 50–60 iPhone assembly lines at Apple (~$15–18M) and 12 optical alignment machines at Finisar (~$4.8M) — RFQ and BOM through FAT, SAT, and commissioning.
• Scaled optical alignment production 3 ? 10 units in 8 months. Coordinated 10+ people across mechatronics, software, MES, process, and production; moved to China-based CMs without losing controls IP.
• Machine efficiency 60% ? 90% on iPhone module assembly at Apple, with vision-system cycle time cut 40% on the same programme.
• Controls & safety deployed to 200,000+ stations worldwide. Architected the modular platform at Apple HW Test, improving reusability 80% and cutting development time 30%.
• Six test rigs and a TVAC chamber delivered at Isar Aerospace, including the full engine test rig. Led IEC 61511 safety across all assets; the infrastructure supported Isar’s first launch.
• Built safety governance from scratch at two organisations. Company-wide guidelines authored at Apple (90% compliance improvement); ISO 12100 / ISO 13849 programme established at Finisar.
• Org-wide technical influence at Apple. Drove PLC and real-time controls architecture from HW Test into Advanced Manufacturing, enabling the Mac team’s transition.

Jun 2025 — Present

Lead — Controls, Electrical & Safety Engineering

Finisar · Sydney, Australia

• Manage 10+ engineers and vendors across controls, electrical, mechanical, software, and third-party partners.
• Own end-to-end capital procurement for 12 optical alignment & assembly machines (~$4.8M): RFQ ? BOM ? FAT ? SAT.
• Scaled optical alignment production 3 ? 10 units in 8 months via a mixed in-house / China-CM model without losing controls IP.
• Redesigned legacy controls into a modular TwinCAT 3 / TwinSAFE framework achieving sub-10 µm positional repeatability.
• Established ISO 12100 / ISO 13849 machinery safety governance to Australian WHS and AS compliance.

Dec 2022 — Jun 2025

Controls & Safety Engineer — Advanced Manufacturing

Apple Inc. · Cupertino, CA

• DRI for ~50–60 iPhone assembly lines (~$15–18M capital); presented to VP level.
• Raised machine efficiency 60% ? 90% and cut Keyence vision cycle time 40%.
• Designed a scalable PL-d modular safety architecture across 100+ stations with line-level diagnostics.
• Drove PLC / real-time controls architecture from HW Test into AME, enabling the Mac team’s platform transition.
• Integrated SECS/GEM, MQTT, and OPC UA for traceability and real-time diagnostics.

Nov 2020 — Nov 2022

Senior Controls & Safety Engineer

Isar Aerospace · Munich, Germany

• De facto controls lead for a team of ~11 across controls, C# software, and GUI / datalogging.
• Commissioned the valve test rig in 6 months as the first implementation of Isar’s controls template.
• Delivered the avionics hardware-in-loop rig and contributed to six ground-test assets plus a TVAC chamber.
• Led IEC 61511 safety across all six rigs including the full engine test rig; infrastructure supported Isar’s first launch.

Sep 2016 — Oct 2020

Controls & Safety Engineer — HW Test Engineering

Apple Inc. · Shanghai, China

• Built modular controls & safety systems now running on 200,000+ stations worldwide (~$4M controls hardware).
• Improved equipment reusability 80% and cut development time 30% through modular architecture.
• Deployed PLe-rated safety systems for a 90% compliance improvement across global sites.
• Authored company-wide safety design guidelines adopted by engineering teams globally.

Jun 2012 — Sep 2016

Controls & Safety Engineer

KW Special Projects · Brackley, UK

• Delivered software for 10+ machines across pharma, automotive, and additive manufacturing (largest ~£1M pharma).
• Built synchronised multi-axis motion on Beckhoff platforms and Cognex vision inspection tools.
• Progressed to full controls-stack ownership within 8 months of joining.

MSc Motorsport Engineering

Oxford Brookes University · 2010–2011

BE Mechanical Engineering

Karunya University · 2006–2010