4th Phoenix Hardware Meetup
4th Phoenix Hardware Meetup – April 29, 2026
The Phoenix Hardware Meetup brings together engineers, product developers, and hardware leaders from across Arizona for an evening of learning, discussion, and community.
This event is open to anyone involved in developing physical products, including mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, manufacturing engineers, industrial designers, robotics engineers, hardware startup founders, and others working in hardware development.
The evening will include 1–2 short technical presentations from local engineers, followed by open discussion and time to connect with others in the local hardware community.
Agenda:
6:00 - 6:45pm: Welcome & Networking
6:45pm - 7:00pm: Guest Speaker - Jim Willenborg “Salespeople Cause Sales”
Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jim Willenborg shares lessons from decades of startups and venture capital to highlight a critical truth for technical founders: great products don’t sell themselves. Drawing from real-world case studies—including a company that grew from $4M in revenue to a $2B+ market cap—Jim will explain why early, intentional sales efforts are just as important as great engineering, especially for hardware startups and product teams bringing new technology to market.
7:00pm - 7:15pm: Guest Speaker - Shawn Patterson "Micro Mechanics and Laser Building”
Shawn Patterson of Crystal Sonic Inc will cover the mechanical and thermal intricacies of building tiny solid-state crystal-based lasers using a modified die bonder. Learn more about how they modified an old die bonder because they couldn't afford a pick and place machine, like a flip chip. They were a start-up running on borrowed time and money!
7:15pm - 7:45pm: Open mic
7:45 - 8:30pm: Mix, mingle, and wrap up the night
Whether you're building new products, scaling manufacturing, or simply interested in hardware development, this meetup is a great way to meet others doing similar work in Arizona.
Date: April 29, 2026
Time: 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Location: Pipeline Design & Engineering, Tempe
Food will be provided.
Thank you to PDX for sponsoring the 4th Phoenix Hardware Meetup.