Deanna Kocher

About Deanna Kocher

I’m a product engineer who executes with precision, empathy, and purpose. My work lives at the intersection of design, engineering, and impact — helping companies turn early-stage ideas into manufacturable, meaningful solutions.Over the past few years, I’ve supported more than 20 interdisciplinary teams across medtech, sustainability, and education. From methane capture systems to menstrual health innovations, I’ve guided prototypes from sketch to scale — translating early-stage complexity into manufacture-ready products. My process is simple: step back, understand what really matters, and build toward that.I care deeply about design that serves both people and planet. That means asking different questions — not just Can we make it? but Should we? and Who does this help? I thrive in environments that are collaborative, experimental, and slightly chaotic — the kind that demand both technical control and creative flexibility.Outside of hands-on engineering, I coach teams on how to work better together. Whether it’s mentoring student engineers or helping startups clarify their next step, I focus on building systems that make progress repeatable.If your team is working on something that doesn’t have an easy answer — something human, messy, and meaningful — I’d love to help build it.

Experience

1. Associate Director, Hardware Entrepreneurship

   Rev Ithaca Startup Works

   Jun 2024 — Present · Ithaca, NY, US

   Technical Director & Lead for Cornell University\'s 3 hardware entrepreneurship accelerators. Manage a team of full and part time engineers to interact with hardware startups at various stages of development. Work with founders and CEOs to strategize, design, develop, and launch products in various technology sectors.

Education

• Lehigh University

  Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.), Integrated Degree in Engineering Arts and Sciences (Mechanical Eng., Design, Psychology)

  2013 — 2017

• Cornell University

  Master of Science - MS, Mechanical Engineering

Skills

• Nx-Os
• Autodesk Inventor
• Cad
• Microsoft Office
• Java
• Spanish
• Matlab
• Autodesk Software
• Solidworks
• Creo
• 3ds Max
• Autocad
• Ansys
• Laser Cutting
• 3d Printing
• Woodworking