Patrick Robertson
Chicago
Summary
AI-first innovator and compliance leader with 14+ years of blending advanced machine learning with aerospace-grade quality systems. Proven expertise in building agentic AI architectures, GPT workflows, and audit-grade reasoning tools tailored for regulated environments. Technically fluent in Python, PyTorch, and Java, with deep command of AS9100, ISO 9001, NADCAP, and FAA/EASA frameworks. Skilled in MLOps fundamentals, AI governance, risk automation, and manufacturing excellence — including PFMEA, SPC, PPAP, 8D, and supplier quality. Uniquely positioned at the intersection of AI system design and industrial compliance, delivering next-gen solutions that are both innovative and certifiably sound.
Overview
6
6
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Compliance Manager
Regal Rexnord
Downers Grove
11.2025 - Current
- Responsible for leading regulatory, customer, and quality system compliance across aerospace machining, grinding, honing, heat treat, sealing systems, and assembly operations.
- Ensures adherence to AS9100, ISO 9001, NADCAP, and major OEM specifications (Collins, Pratt & Whitney, Honeywell, Raytheon, and Boeing).
Key Responsibilities: • Lead internal and external audits, including AS9100, ISO 9001, NADCAP, and OEM-specific audits.
•Maintain compliance with customer specifications, SPOCs, special process requirements, and regulatory controls (ITAR/EAR).
Oversee the site’s Quality Management System (QMS), and ensure documentation, procedures, and processes remain compliant and current.
Manage corrective action systems using 8D, 5-Why, RCCA, and fault-tree methodology.
Ensure compliance of machining, grinding, honing, heat treat, NDT, and sealing systems operations.
•Facilitate risk management activities including PFMEA updates, process controls, and mitigation plans.
•Coordinate with design engineering, sustaining engineering, and materials engineering to support investigations and field-return analysis.
•Lead supplier compliance activities, qualifications, and flow-down adherence.
•Provide compliance training and reinforce a strong culture of quality across the plant.
•Support continuous improvement initiatives and ensure alignment with industry and customer expectations.
Founder/Software Engineering Manager
Patrick Intellectual Holdings
Chicago
01.2025 - Current
- Set product vision and IP strategy: define platform thesis, differentiation, and defensible moats; convert concepts into asset-grade specs, prototypes, and licensing-ready packages.
- Own end-to-end venture build: take ideas from zero to PRD, MVP, demo, and pilot discussions; manage scope, timelines, and delivery quality.
- Design monetization and GTM: develop a pricing strategy (freemium, subscription, licensing), partner value propositions, and enterprise adoption pathways.
- Build investor-grade collateral: craft pitch decks, one-pagers, technical narratives, and ROI models; translate engineering into business outcomes.
- Drive customer discovery: interview operators, compliance leaders, and decision-makers; convert pain points into requirements, workflows, and adoption criteria.
- Create governance and defensibility: implement auditability, validation, tamper evidence, and anti-gaming controls; ensure systems are enterprise safe by design.
- Operate as the principal architect: define reference architectures, integration patterns, and deployment models (cloud, local, hybrid) aligned to security expectations.
- Manage risk and compliance posture: establish policies for data handling, model evaluation, and operational controls; align with standards-minded environments.
- Own roadmap and prioritization: balance experimentation with delivery; choose what ships, what gets killed, and what becomes IP.
- Translate business needs into engineering work: convert ambiguous goals into scoped epics, user stories, acceptance criteria, and clear definitions of 'done.'
- Architect and lead build execution: design services, pipelines, and system interfaces; manage technical debt, reliability, and performance trade-offs.
- Implement quality and validation systems: build test strategies, evaluation harnesses, regression checks, and release gates—especially for AI-driven outputs.
- Establish an engineering operating rhythm: planning, stand-ups, reviews, retros; maintain delivery cadence, and enforce accountability.
- Own technical documentation: create PRDs, architecture diagrams, runbooks, and decision logs, so systems are maintainable and auditable.
- Build data and model workflows: define labeling requirements, dataset versioning, evaluation metrics, monitoring, and drift detection.
- Design safety and control layers: role-based access, input validation, output schemas, escalation paths, and error taxonomies for production readiness.
- Lead cross-functional alignment: coordinate with stakeholders (quality, compliance, operations) to implement solutions that match real-world constraints.
- Measure outcomes: track operational KPIs (cycle time, defect rate, cost per case, automation rate, rework), and report impact like a business leader.
Quality Engineer
Regal Rexnord
Downers Grove
09.2025 - 11.2025
- Utilize data-driven problem-solving methods to improve performance on key quality metrics, such as internal and external DPPMs, scrap, and customer satisfaction.
- Review nonconforming products, determine, and approve dispositions.
- Provide shop floor support in the creation and updating of inspection plans, performing gauge R&Rs, capability studies, and the use of other quality assurance tools.
- Engage in the design, development, and implementation of a quality roadmap for achieving company objectives.
- Drive a culture of quality at the source, whereby all associates assume ownership for the quality of their work, services, and products.
- Develop and execute criteria for the qualification of new equipment, processes, and product introductions through new product development methodologies for aerospace.
- Identify and drive continuous improvement opportunities within the facility and at our suppliers' locations.
- Assist in the effort to maintain all current AS9100 certifications, as well as NADCAP special process certifications.
Quality Engineer II
G&W Electric Company
Bolingbrook
08.2024 - 07.2025
- Managing the implementation of methods and procedures for process control and improvement to ensure products meet ideal standards. This includes designing experiments to understand sources of variation affecting products and processes, and applying statistical process control (SPC) methods for data analysis.
- Collaborating with the supplier quality team to address quality problems, ensure corrective actions are implemented, and contribute to supplier quality improvement programs.
- Leading troubleshooting efforts for quality issues with diverse teams, conducting root cause analysis activities, and driving short-term and long-term corrective actions.
- Participating in engineering design reviews, and providing recommendations to enhance the quality and manufacturability of new designs.
- Utilize Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) to identify and mitigate potential failure modes in processes and products.
- Applying sound and systematic problem-solving methodologies to identify, prioritize, communicate, and resolve quality issues.
Performing operational Material Review Board (MRB) walks, and consolidating failure data for analysis.
Manage Non-Conformance Reports (NCR), and implement corrective actions. - Getting root cause analysis and corrective/preventive actions in place, while ensuring adherence to the 8D methodology.
- Investigating first-pass yield failures and implementing corrective actions to prevent similar failures from occurring in the future.
- Ensuring containment activities are performed when nonconformances are discovered, to prevent repeat issues.
- Working as a team member on various cross-functional, high-impact project teams to address quality-related challenges.
- Reporting quality issues, performance metrics, and status updates to management and other department team members, as needed.
- Conducting internal audits based on ISO 9001 standards to ensure compliance and identify areas for improvement.
Supplier Quality Engineer
G&W Electric Company
Bolingbrook
01.2024 - 08.2024
- Drives and champions quality improvement efforts internally and externally, including the supply base.
- Processes nonconformance and supplier corrective action reports when necessary.
- Leads PPAP efforts within the organization and at the supplier.
- Responsible for advanced product quality planning, roadblock removal, and successful launch of supply base projects.
- Work closely with Procurement and Engineering to establish the Quality Plan and PPAP requirements of the full product lifecycle of G&W products.
- Manage supplier quality metrics, including improving PPAP results, supplier scorecard, SCAR, supplier audit, and supplier SPC processes.
- Conduct ISO 9001-based audits at suppliers. Audit supplier corrective action results.
- Improve the supplier evaluation, score card, and approval processes, and manage the results through corrective action, continuous improvement, and off-sourcing activities.
- Conduct supplier quality training at the supplier’s or G&W facilities to meet G&W’s and/or the customer’s specific quality expectations and requirements.
- Optimizes process capability on critical characteristics at the supply base through the effective application of statistical analysis techniques and problem-solving.
- Proactively work with suppliers to minimize ongoing quality and performance issues.
- Review and make dispositions on supplier PPAPs to ensure they are submitted and approved according to organizational requirements.
- Travel 10% to 25% of the year (Canada and international).
Quality Engineer
Alliance Steel
Gary
05.2023 - 06.2024
- At Alliance Steel, I led critical quality engineering initiatives across both structural and manufacturing environments. My role involved cross-functional collaboration with technicians, auditors, and customers to ensure total quality compliance, and continuous improvement across multiple manufacturing processes.
- Identified and applied statistical methods to recommend quality improvement parameters in manufacturing processes.
- Demonstrated technical competency in analyzing quality requirements, deviations, and technical documentation.
- Set up and documented PPAPs, including customer approvals and submission readiness.
- Led quality efforts for precast and prestressed concrete systems.
- Directed internal audits, customer audits, and corrective action initiatives based on 8D methodology.
- Led all CWI (Certified Welding Inspector) inspection planning and coordination.
- Monitored quality performance of manufactured parts, incoming materials, and inspections to ensure conformance.
- Conducted root cause investigations on internal rejections and customer complaints.
- Provided technical support for in-house rejections and drove corrective actions to closure.
- Assisted setup technicians with proper measurement techniques, including automation implementation.
- Developed sampling plans using attribute, variable, and sequential sampling techniques.
- Collected, analyzed, and summarized statistical quality data to inform decisions and reporting.
- Maintained responsiveness to cross-functional quality requests, contributing to team efficiency and results.
Quality Manager
Quam Nichols
Chicago
07.2022 - 05.2023
- At Quam Nichols, I was responsible for leading comprehensive quality assurance and inspection initiatives across the full product lifecycle—from incoming inspection through final audit. I served as a technical liaison across production, suppliers, and regulatory bodies to maintain product integrity and compliance for UL and ETL-listed products.
- Trained, managed, and supported inspection personnel across incoming, first-piece, in-process, and final audits.
- Established inspection procedures, sampling plans, and quality control guidelines. Investigated non-conforming materials and implemented disposition processes.
- Led root cause investigations and corrective actions related to assembly issues and quality returns. Oversaw the implementation of corrective and preventive actions to avoid recurring defects.
- Examined tooling and assembly fit conflicts to resolve product design and packaging quality risks. Provided technical input during product development and complex assembly troubleshooting.
- Managed calibration of internal and external measurement equipment. Coordinated with suppliers on quality non-conformances and enforced corrective action plans.
- Facilitated communication with external tool and die maintenance partners. Oversaw customer return authorizations and managed returned product evaluations.
- Maintained Safety Data Sheets and ensured compliant product labeling throughout the facility. Supported facility audits from UL, ETL, and Intertek, and ensured readiness of Quam Nichols’ quality systems.
- Participated in customer audits and supported regulatory and system compliance.
Supplier Quality Engineer
Abbott Molecular
Des Plaines
04.2020 - 04.2022
Education
Bachelor of Science - Mechanical Engineering
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI06-2012
Some College (No Degree) - General Studies
South Suburban College of Cook County
South Holland, ILSkills
- Python
- PyTorch
- TensorFlow
- Java
- Prompt engineering
- AI agent orchestration
- Audit-grade reasoning systems
- MLOps fundamentals
- Data-driven risk and compliance automation
- GPT / LLM system design
- AI workflow engineering
- AS9100, ISO 9001, NADCAP, FAA/EASA compliance
- Safety Management Systems (SMS – ICAO Annex 19)
- Corrective action: 8D, RCCA, 5-Why, fault tree analysis
- PFMEA, risk management, and change control
- Supplier quality: PPAP, SCARs, supplier audits
- SPC, gauge R&R, capability studies
- Internal, customer, and regulatory audits
Certification
Six Sigma Green Belt
Timeline
Compliance Manager
Regal Rexnord
11.2025 - Current
Quality Engineer
Regal Rexnord
09.2025 - 11.2025
Founder/Software Engineering Manager
Patrick Intellectual Holdings
01.2025 - Current
Quality Engineer II
G&W Electric Company
08.2024 - 07.2025
Supplier Quality Engineer
G&W Electric Company
01.2024 - 08.2024
Quality Engineer
Alliance Steel
05.2023 - 06.2024
Quality Manager
Quam Nichols
07.2022 - 05.2023
Supplier Quality Engineer
Abbott Molecular
04.2020 - 04.2022
Bachelor of Science - Mechanical Engineering
Michigan State University
Some College (No Degree) - General Studies
South Suburban College of Cook County