Jake Smith

About Jake Smith

Who am I? Many of you don\'t know me. Many of you do! I am actively growing my LinkedIn network, reaching out to people that I don\'t know because this is a tool to connect people and drive interesting conversations, potentially including, of course because it is career-focused,\"would you like to work on this?\"My three-year-old daughter would say,\"Papa, you\'re silly.\" And maybe that is who I am. My seven-month-old wouldn\'t say anything. She can\'t talk yet. Most people don\'t write a novel or build a fun website for their company to drive actual engagement. Not the HR kind, but real team comradery. As in, I enjoy going to work, working with my team, and being silly about it at times. This extends beyond work, too. I rewrote The Night Before Christmas during Covid for a PowerPoint Presentation among friends (yes, I use Office tools for fun all the time). I also have a history of making Fantasy Football trophies out of hot glued and spray painted trinkets from Dollar Tree. When we go on vacation, as my wife and friends could attest, not only do I make a Google Sheet itinerary, it works really well. Back at work, this levity helps my team perform better, at an award-winning level. And on the more personal side, it has propelled me through a Bachelor\'s Degree in Electrical Engineering, a Master\'s Degree in Optics, and allowed me to work on some of the coolest things being created in the world- As an intern in high school, I got to work on multimedia video and design spaces at Downstream Digital- Part-time in undergrad, I got to work on the world\'s largest telescope array for the NRAO- As part of my senior project, I got to work on a novel laser design for the Air Force Research Lab- Before graduating, I backpacked solo around Mexico- After undergrad, I backpacked solo around Europe for 3 months, visiting 13 countries- While in grad school, I worked part-time on all-fiber lasers for what was then a start-up- I spent a summer in Leon, GTO, Mexico at CIO as an Optics expert for a Tech Transfer program- After graduating and entering the workforce full-time, I joined HP working on their printers- I also got to spend five months living in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China at Flextronics, overseeing production ramp- Later, I moved across the country to work on Optical Coherence Tomography for Leica Microsystems- After a few years, I moved up into my current role as Manufacturing Manager for the site. Outside work, I like to be silly with my daughters. So, if you don\'t know me, hi! And if you do know me, hi again!Jake

Experience

1. Senior Quality Assurance Manager

   Hardin Optical Company

   Jan 2026 — Present · Bandon, OR, US

Education

• University of Arizona

  Master’s Degree, Optics/Optical Sciences

  2008 — 2010

• New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

  Bachelor’s Degree, Electrical Engineering

  2004 — 2008

Skills

• Leadership
• Project Management
• Optical Engineering
• Microsoft Excel
• Testing
• Electrical Engineering
• Integration
• Microsoft Office
• Systems Integration Engineering