Skip to content

Every stage of your product,

developed under one roof.

With our in-house designers, engineers, and machinists working together from day one, issues get fixed in CAD - not discovered in production, so you get your product shipped without compromising your vision, or timeline.

 

Product Development

From Concept to Completion

We partner with forward-thinking companies to explore new product possibilities, then guide them from concept sketch to first article and beyond. Delivering end-to-end product development with design, engineering, prototyping, testing and validation in-house, so ideas become manufacturable products faster.

For our clients, this breadth of expertise means stronger engineering solutions, simplified purchasing, and full lifecycle support. Whether we take on the full project or a specific portion, you can rely on us for the creative vision, technical depth, and an agile M.O. to move it across the finish line.

VIPD New

SHERPA

Industrial Design

Create vision for final
product look and feel and
generate design concepts.

Primary Button Secondary Button

Mechanical Engineering

Design, analyze, and
prototype new mechanical
systems and tools.

Primary Button Secondary Button

Electrical and
Firmware Engineering

Architect, layout, and
prototype electrical systems and
tools. Integrate electrical
systems and firmware.

Primary Button Secondary Button

Manufacturing And Prototyping

Low volume production, proof of concept parts through in-house Carbon Additive Manufacturing and Precision Machining.

Carbon 3D Printing Precision Machining
carbon3DPrinting
Carbon 3D Printing
Precision-Machining
Precision Machining

Testing And Validation

Measurement and Instrumentation
(Optical testing, environmental
testing. FEA, Thermal
and PCB Simulation
Software, CMM and laser
scanner) for inspection
and reverse engineering.

Primary Button Secondary Button

Pre-Production Builds

Small batch builds supporting engineering and production validation including assembly instructions, and pilot line runs.

Primary Button Secondary Button

Support to Production

Design documentation, DFA, DFM and supplier communications.

Primary Button Secondary Button

From Concept to Completion

We partner with forward-thinking companies to explore new product possibilities, then guide them from concept sketch to first article and beyond. Delivering end-to-end product development with design, engineering, prototyping, testing and validation in-house, so ideas become manufacturable products faster.

For our clients, this breadth of expertise means stronger engineering solutions, simplified purchasing, and full lifecycle support. Whether we take on the full project or a specific portion, you can rely on us for the creative vision, technical depth, and an agile M.O. to move it across the finish line.

Flexible Engagement Options

Sherpa offer both engineering team augmentation and full-service product development.

R&D
Augmentation.

Our engineers can scale support to include prototyping, machining, simulation and testing for validation. Engagements range from short-term sprints to long-term program support.

Full-service product development.

Projects are scoped and managed internally, with Sherpa delivering turnkey solutions from concept to production. Clients engage Sherpa for its ability to bridge industrial design, mechanical and electrical engineering, prototyping and testing, especially when manufacturability and speed-to-market are critical.

Choose your service based on your needs.

Whether your program needs end-to-end product development or a single offering, like Carbon 3D Printing, we are ready to support you.

Built for Better Product Development:

Industrial Designers reviewing 3D protypye - color corrected and cropped-1-1

Industrial Design

Our Industrial Design team collaborates closely with mechanical engineers from the very beginning of each project. This approach ensures that design concepts are created with manufacturing and functional requirements in mind.

Mechanical & Electrical Engineering

Our mechanical design engineers focus on design for manufacturing (DFM) from the outset of the project, reducing surprises and rework.  Our electrical engineers architect, layout and prototype electrical systems and tools, as well as integrate firmware to ensure seamless operation.

Electrical Engineer designs circuite board 2-1-1-1
Engineer - employee using NX-1

Powered by NX 

We are experienced with SolidWorks, NX, and Altium, but our team stands out for its Siemens NX CAD expertise and dedicated training, making us an ideal partner for NX-based projects.

Prototype Advantage

When you can prototype early and often, products become stronger and get to production sooner. Our in-house machine shop and 3D printing facility means rapid turnaround of client prototypes and first article parts.

Close up of Carbon machines and MBARI 3D printed part-1
Precision Machining Image Sherpa Design

Precision Machining

Take advantage of our in-house manufacturing equipment for custom tooling, prototypes, reverse engineering, CMM and first article inspection (FAI).

Carbon 3D Printing

As an early Carbon design partner, we have been at the forefront leveraging digital tools for design for additive manufacturing (DfAM). We help de‑risk additive tooling and part development by prototyping with the final materials.

Start Carbon M3 Max_EDIT-1-1
Engineering doing strength test - testing page_EDIT_BLUR_V2-2-2

Testing & Validation

Our robust facilities include on-site testing and validation to ensure your product meets applicable performance and safety standards before production. We are ITAR Certified and have experience working with UL/CE and ATEX Designed Equipment.

Support to Production

We provide complete design documentation, DFA and DFM, to support the final handoff to your contract manufacturer. We can assist you with supplier communications to help achieve a successful product launch.

Production-1

three-circles

Testimonials

“There are people who can do the work on screens, creating CAD designs that look great, but there is a difference between that and finding people who can design for actual manufacturing… That is where Sherpa Design excels.”

Brad Walhood – Able Coffee

“Sherpa Design’s ability to produce such a realistic prototype so quickly really helped us move this product into the market.”

Steve Skillings, JamHub

“We appreciated how closely Sherpa worked with us on the manufacture of a very difficult part. They provided sample pieces and used a variety of printing methods to give us exactly what we needed.”

James M Birch Ph.D – Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)

“The Sherpa team has continuously refined and customized the design based on our findings, resulting in a tool that truly meets the needs of patients and clinicians alike.”

Samuel Rodriguez, MD, pediatric anesthesiologist and co-director of the Stanford Chariot Program

three-circles

FAQs

  • Due to client confidentiality, we cannot talk about most of the client projects. However, Sherpa is best suited for complex product development programs that require a combination of industrial design, engineering, prototyping, testing, and manufacturing expertise. Whether you're creating a new product from scratch or improving an existing design, we help teams move efficiently from concept to manufacturable solution.
  • Both. Some clients engage us to manage an entire development program from concept through pre-production, while others bring us in for a specific need such as mechanical or electrical engineering, prototyping, testing, CNC machining, industrial design, or manufacturing support. We tailor our engagement model to fit the needs of your team and project.
  • Absolutely. Many of our clients use Sherpa as an extension of their internal R&D organization. Our engineers routinely integrate with client teams, workflows, and development processes, providing additional bandwidth, specialized expertise, and rapid prototyping resources when needed.
  • Who owns the intellectual property developed during the project?When we partner with a client, the product is theirs. Project-specific designs, inventions, analyses, and deliverables developed for your program belong to you. We do not reuse client designs or share proprietary information between projects. Like most engineering firms, we retain ownership of our general engineering methods, know-how, templates, and internal process tools while ensuring ownership of your IP remains with your organization.
  • Our team has experience developing products across a wide range of industries, including medical devices, robotics, industrial automation, aerospace, sensing and defense, semiconductor equipment, consumer products, scientific instrumentation, and advanced manufacturing. Because our expertise is rooted in engineering and product development processes, we can apply proven methodologies across many industries and technologies.
  • Sherpa provides a range of prototyping services, including CNC machining, Carbon DLS additive manufacturing, proof-of-concept models, functional prototypes, test and assembly fixtures, and short-run production builds. Having prototyping resources in-house allows us to quickly validate designs, gather feedback, and support iterative development.
  • Clients work directly with the engineers and technical staff responsible for their project. Regular meetings, documented action items, design reviews, and transparent communication help ensure alignment throughout development. We can use your project management tools or our own. Our goal is to make collaboration seamless and provide clear visibility into progress, decisions, and next steps.
  • Yes. Many clients come to Sherpa with existing concepts, CAD models, prototypes, or partially completed designs. We can provide targeted support in areas such as engineering refinement, prototyping, testing, manufacturing readiness, simulation, design optimization, or troubleshooting specific technical challenges.

How we make it possible