Columbia names Simeon Vandezande Product Engineering Manager

Columbia announces the promotion of Simeon Vandezande from Project Engineer to Product Engineering Manager. In this capacity, Vandezande will be responsible for overseeing engineering activities related to Columbia's products and their creation. He will also be responsible for maintaining continuous improvement. Vandezande will report to Scott Breckley, Columbia's Chief Operating Officer.

Breckley comments on Vandezande's promotion, saying, "Simeon’s proven ability to bring innovative solutions to product development as Columbia expands its engineering capabilities will support the next phase our company’s growth as a leader in purpose-built electric vehicles."
Vandezande's biggest goal in his new position is to implement a documented design/development process and use it to improve time from concept to implementation.

Before his new position at Columbia, Vandezande spent five years as a project engineer, where he was responsible for creating and implementing the design of new products as well as improving current products. Vandezande began his time with Nordic Group at sister company Seats Inc., where he worked as a mechanical engineer from June 2008 to February 2009. Before his employment at Seats, Vandezande interned at Manitowoc Ice (Manitowoc, WI) in the engineering test lab, where he conducted new product verification testing. He also Co-Op'ed at Curwood (Bemis North America, Oshkosh, WI), designing and implementing various machine upgrades. Vandezande graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Platteville (Platteville, WI) with a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering.

Vandezande lives in south central Wisconsin with his wife and two children.