Innovate Engineer is a structured product development methodology, built by a mechanical engineer with over 15 years of hands-on experience taking physical products from concept to production.
Innovate Engineer was founded by Dave Lock, a mechanical engineer and Technical Director at Cast Iron CAD Ltd. Dave has spent his career working at the intersection of design, engineering, and manufacturing — helping clients turn ideas into products that can be made, sold, and scaled.
His experience spans consumer products, industrial equipment, IoT devices, and bespoke builds — always with a focus on commercial viability and manufacturability. He lectures at the University of Brighton and sits on its Industrial Advisory Board, connecting academic rigour with real-world product development practice.
Most product ideas fail not because they are bad ideas, but because founders skip the validation work that would have told them what to fix before committing serious money. They jump from concept to CAD to tooling — and discover problems that should have been caught in week one.
The Innovate Engineer methodology is a structured 10-stage framework that forces the right questions at the right time. It covers everything from opportunity identification through to manufacturing readiness, with clear decision points at each stage.
The Viability Sprint is free and takes about two hours. It gives you a clear, honest assessment of where your product idea stands — and what needs to happen next to move it forward.
If your idea has legs, you can continue with expert-led packages: an engineering review, a full specification, or a premium consultation that maps the path from validated concept to production-ready product.