Joe Wardwell

About Joe Wardwell

Looking to advance my career and expand my knowledge in the field of electrical engineering. My passion for electrical engineering lies in renewable, reliable, efficient production, storage, and transformation of energy. My aspirations are to gain experience with an interesting, innovative, and successful company where I can bring a positive and creative influence to engineering projects, learn from knowledgeable and experienced peers, as well as developing a better understanding of how to improve and optimize electrical systems to make them more efficient and effective. I am hardworking, quick learning, outgoing, diligent, and have a strong attention to detail. I enjoy fast paced, individual or team oriented, task and or project driven work environments.

Experience

1. Engineering Manager

   Generac

   Jul 2025 — Present

   Manage a team of engineers and technicians establishing system validation and automation practices for Generac’s clean energy product portfolio, including hybrid inverters, battery storage, microinverters, load management, smart thermostats, and smart disconnect systems. Drive cross-functional alignment on new product and feature development between product management, hardware design, and firmware engineering to ensure reliable, compliant, and market leading releases.• Aligned validation activities with requirements and engineering design outputs while standardize practices for validation plan and failure reporting• Developed system integration test plans in Jira Xray for all aspects of all devices and new firmware features to ensure full design coverage and validate firmware release candidates for field trials.• Designed and oversaw test lab build-out from the ground up for high-power energy systems and made improvements for focusing on safety, organization, and validation throughput.• Conducted schematic and circuit design reviews to identify high-risk areas, verify component derating and protection schemes, and support root-cause analysis during system debugging.• Planned and managed validation resource allocation and sprint priorities to balance test throughput, development feedback loops, automation, and program milestones.• Regularly presented critical validation metrics executive stakeholders, highlighting progress, key risks, and mitigation strategies.• Led unification of automation across devices of core test cases of Python/pytest-based system tests for improving firmware release readiness and reducing validation cycle time.

Education

• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

  Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.), Electrical and Electronics Engineering

  2012 — 2014

• University of Kassel

  Certificate, Renewable Energy

  2014 — 2014

• University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

  Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.), Physics

  2007 — 2011