Riley
Beenders

R&D, Electromechanical and Automation Engineer

Bethlehem, PALead, Research & Development EngineerProteor, since January 2025

01  Summary

I'm an electro-mechanical engineer and a leader specializing in product development, manufacturing and industrial automation, as well as someone who's quick to pick up, apply, and integrate new technologies into real-world systems. I unite mechanical design, electronics, controls, software, and manufacturing to develop reliable, practical products and systems built for real-world use. That same curiosity extends beyond my professional work into traveling the world, rebuilding cars, replicating movie props and finding creative ways to automate the repetitive parts of my everyday life. RileyBeenders.com is another extension of that curiosity. I built it to house my experience and projects, apply to ambitious opportunities, and show the full range of what I can offer.

02  Experience

Lead, Research & Development Engineer

January 2025 — Present

Proteor · Coplay, PA

When Proteor acquired Filament Innovations, my role as CTO carried forward as Lead R&D Engineer.

  • Led the design and development of the ICARUS-Lite, a compact industrial printer that automates prosthetic and orthotic production with minimal customer setup. Owned its mechanical, electrical, and software design, including custom AC heaters.Read more
  • Owned the ICARUS-Lite through commercialization against unit goals of 60 in 2025 and 100 in 2026.
  • Built ExtrusionStudio, a QC and production system live on all three filament extrusion lines since October 2026, taking it from a LabVIEW proof of concept to a Python service. An offset for the 1-2 minute lag between the laser and the spool ties each reading and alarm to the filament being wound, and print-on-demand thermal labels reducing up to 30% of paper waste per run.Read more
  • Serve as the technical subject-matter expert across the plant, from industrial electronics on the extrusion lines to low-voltage sensors, and the go-to contact for customer troubleshooting across mechanical faults, electrical faults, and user error.
  • Assisted in implementation of ProteorPrintOS with SimplyPrint, enabling remote operation and AI-assisted diagnostics with live video and material, waste, and outcome metrics.
  • Developing an offline version of the ICARUS-Lite and ICARUS-Pro control screen, along with over-the-air automated updates, so customers can run without a Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection.
  • Co-developed a custom hotend with an outside partner, improving reliability and reducing cost for our materials.
  • Managed the Coplay location's Microsoft Business Central ERP implementation in five weeks, migrating more than 2,000 items and 150+ products, reconciling inventory counts on the floor, and syncing SKUs with Proteor's global locations.
  • Led the 2026 inventory count in Business Central, tracing discrepancies to production orders that were processed without verification and never took items out of inventory, then assisted in implementation of a more warehouse-focused workflow.
  • Estimate and track the budget of every engineering project, build its BOMs, and maintain each product's unit cost in Business Central.
  • Present project status, constraints, and budgets at Proteor's monthly USA review with leadership from its global locations.
  • Act as Hiring Manager for engineering roles, conducting technical interviews and owning final hiring decisions.
  • Performed risk analysis and mitigations to EU and U.S. standards across ProteorPrint hardware and cloud products.
  • Re-engineered POSEIDON and ICARUS around one linear-motor motion platform with universal mounts, reaching 4 m/s with 4-micron precision on a 30 kg moving mass.
  • Managed and expanded the division's IT infrastructure after the Proteor acquisition, standardizing software and internal processes to align with company-wide systems.Read more

Chief Technology Officer

January 2023 — January 2025

Filament Innovations · Whitehall, PA

Acquired by Proteor and is recognized globally as 'Proteor Print'.

  • Oversaw the product-development pipeline, internal IT infrastructure, and technology strategy while retaining hands-on responsibility for mechanical, electrical, firmware, and software systems, and gave the CEO and the company regular updates as designs and software iterated.
  • Led the design and launch of the Gen3 POSEIDON, combining a 1 m³ build volume, filament-and-pellet dual extrusion, braked NEMA 34 Z drives, industrial servo XY motion, and a custom gantry.
  • Designed and hosted a redundant Kubernetes cluster running a self-developed ERP/CRM for orders, inventory, tasks, projects, and customer interactions, with dynamic BOM generation linked to purchasing.
  • Researched high-speed linear motors that moved a 30 kg payload at 3 m/s with 5-micron accuracy and conducted early 6-axis robotic non-planar printing research.

Lead Electro-Mechanical Engineer

June 2022 — January 2023

Filament Innovations · Whitehall, PA

  • Improved thermal and acoustic performance through enclosure redesign and component placement, including custom tooling with local fabricators for large-radius aluminum-panel bends.
  • Integrated a multi-board CAN-bus control architecture that simplified wiring and debugging while supporting larger, modular machines.
  • Developed independently testable electronics enclosures that could be installed in minutes and coordinated custom harnesses, panel designs, and hardware improvements with vendors.

Industrial Engineer

April 2021 — June 2022

Filament Innovations · Whitehall, PA

  • Designed and released Kratos, a machine engineered to print high-strength above-knee and below-knee prosthetic sockets.
  • Developed next-generation ICARUS and POSEIDON models with higher-performance components and expanded motion safety through NEMA 34 motors, planetary gearboxes, and power-failure brakes.
  • Designed THE KRAKEN, a 1 x 2 x 1.5 m hybrid pellet-and-filament gantry printer for a client producing the world's largest 3D-printed statue, and managed CAD, BOM, sourcing, fabrication, assembly, firmware tuning, support, and training.Read more

Engineering Technician

May 2020 — April 2021

Filament Innovations · Whitehall, PA

  • Diagnosed mechanical and electrical problems during assembly and operation, improving early product reliability.
  • Tuned, calibrated, and optimized print parameters while documenting design limitations and opportunities for product improvement.

Owner & Engineering Consultant

2015 — Present

RJB.Engineering · Pennsylvania

  • Deliver project-based engineering support for automotive clients and operate a small online store for 3D-printing heat inserts and other printer accessories.
  • Produced 3D-printed plastic face shields during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Treasurer

April 2026 — Present

Carver House Homeowners Association · Pennsylvania

  • Manage the banking and monthly insurance payments for an association of about 80 units.
  • Help establish a community-focused member board in place of a property management company, remaining Treasurer through a mid-year restructure.

Ski Lift Operator

November 2019 — January 2021

Blue Mountain Ski Resort · Palmerton, PA

  • Operated lifts and assisted thousands of guests with ticketing, weather, and slope information.
  • Performed motor and control safety checks and supported the maintenance team during lift breakdowns.

Computer / Network Technician

June 2016 — August 2019

Northampton Area School District · Northampton, PA

  • Built network infrastructure and deployed more than 750 wireless access points across six school buildings.
  • Accelerated deployment of more than 2,500 Chromebooks by developing an Arduino-based tool to automate setup-data entry.
  • Coordinated final device distribution with school administrators.

03  Skills

Engineering

Design for Manufacturing (DFM)Design for Assembly (DFA)Electrical Layout and Schematic DesignEngineering Documentation and BOM ControlFDM, FGF, MJF, and SLS DesignFixture and Tooling DesignGeometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing (GD&T)Lean ManufacturingLean Six SigmaProduct Development and CommercializationProduct Safety and Regulatory ComplianceProduction Workflow OptimizationR&D Prototyping & ValidationTechnical Writing and DocumentationVendor Communication and Cost NegotiationWorldwide Project CollaborationProcess Development

Design & Software

Autodesk InventorCATIAFusion 360GitHubLabVIEWLM StudioMacrosMATLABoMLXPythonRapid PrototypingSiemens NXSolidWorksVisual Studio Code

Controls & Automation

Allen Bradley PLCsSiemens PLCsDuet3D ControllersMean Well Power SuppliesData Logging and Process AnalysisGit Version ControlWorkflow AutomationWindows Applications

Infrastructure & Systems

Automation Equipment DevelopmentDomain-Based Application AccessDNS and Subdomain ConfigurationDocker and Containerized ApplicationsProxmox VirtualizationReverse Proxy and Firewall RoutingServer Network and VLAN ConfigurationVirtual Machine and Container ManagementWindows/Linux Systems AdministrationUbiquiti UniFi Network AdministrationDHCP and IP Address ManagementMulti-Site Network ManagementNetwork Monitoring and TroubleshootingWireless Network Design and OptimizationIoT and Production Network SegmentationNetwork Security and Access Control

04  Education

Penn State University

BS, Electro-Mechanical Engineering · December 2024

Certificate in Engineering Design and Tools

Penn State University

Issued Spring 2023

Mechanical Engineering Certificate

Lafayette College

Issued Spring 2019

Lean Six Sigma White Belt

Educate 360

Issued June 2025

Show credential

Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt

Educate 360

Issued July 2025

Show credential

MATLAB OnRamp

MathWorks

Issued July 2026

Show credential

Simulink OnRamp

MathWorks

Issued July 2026

Show credential

Simscape OnRamp

MathWorks

Issued July 2026

Show credential

Machine Learning Onramp

MathWorks

Issued July 2026

Show credential