Design & Innovation across global consumer electronics and advanced imaging products:

John Merrell has created as a principal and associate corporate inventor dozens of products while managing customized electronics and imaging hardware on-site across a dozen global manufacturing countries. As both a creative designer (form and chassis), his work includes product and packaging tooling and design considerations, chassis refinements, and global R&D testing and compliance management with dozens of top 50 international consumer electronic and imaging companies.

As a CE product designer and creative executive, John Merrell has principal and associate corporate patents, and has internationally managed more than 1500 consumer electronic product planning and design programs exceeding $17 billion in product sales across both partner and internally managed staffs since 1991. Production volumes per SKU typically ranged from 20,000 to more than 12 million units.

John active management have created, developed, patented, and marketed multiple ‘Smart’ electronics including ‘Smart TV / HDTV’ convergence models (consumer and commercial) using active blends of 3 and 4 tuners across 7-stage or larger internet / broadcast / cable / satellite / multi-input formatted TV and image displays, browsers, EAS integrations, and customized user interfaces. He is among a few select CEA, SID, and ISCRAM professionals with more than 10 years of both CEA TVMC representation and a full range of global marketing/sales development creative management.

His product executive work since 2009 includes 3D HDTV standards at the Consumer Electronics Association and industry RFID and product tagging proposals for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. As early as 1997 beginning with a simplistic product line he customized a Panasonic consumer steam iron product with an integrated retractable cord and a product safety cool plate for international hotels and resorts. By doing so he increased sales from $4000 in North America to more than $12 million while allowing an older factory to be far more efficient. Since 2002 he has helped create more than a thousand display and imaging products including exotic flat panel televisions and commercial studio equipment.

In the past 17 years he has developed and assisted on dozens of industry standards while employed at Kodak, Panasonic, Thomson-Technicolor (the parent of RCA and GE Electronics), and more recently at China and Taiwan based XOCECO - CPT Electronics. As a global project manager he has managed entire product lines helping merge home and mobile electronics with "cloud hub" synergies while maintaining capable and friendly user interfaces. His product creations in consumer and commercial audio, video, appliance, gaming, imaging, and communications have been branded under more than three dozen brands internationally.

Highlights:

- Conceptualized, designed, patented, and created RCA AlertGuard™ all-hazard alert system, including displays/user interface software and algorithms, gaining media recognition including "Best of CES" consumer electronics award in USA Today. For a short video overview of AlertGuard™, click here. The technology created a synergistic platform among PC, TV, Smart phones, and Home Entertainment products.

- Developed more than 1500 consumer electronics SKU's ($14 billion in sales) for Wal-Mart, Costco, Best Buy, and Amazon under global brands including Panasonic, Samsung, Insignia, GE, RCA, AlertGuard, Life, Polaroid, Philips, Telefunken, Jensen, AudioVox, Sanyo, Nokia, LG, X-Box, Quasar, and NEC.

- Created and developed (including patents) the first consumer electronic designer products for Target stores with sophisticated user interface and chassis for the hearing and visually impaired community, providing more than $120 million in supplemental sales.

- Product manager and corporate patent holder for customized user interface and software systems tied to consumer products including small appliances, televisions, home security systems, mobile electronics, AVL and CAD transit equipment, commercial and office equipment, and U.S. and Canadian emergency Precision Information Environments (PIEs) and public sector warning systems.

- Presented a public overview on implementing a joint industry and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission proactive product labeling and compliance program integrating consumer product RFID and electronic identification.

- Inventor and/or co-inventor on 14 U.S./European patents including MP3 compression indexing images, user interface and remote control methods, and metadata and algorithms for U.S. and Canadian government's EAS and Public Alert consumer home alert hardware and software integration.

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Copyright John Merrell, 2010