Loving Design at McKinsey

About a year ago, McKinsey acquired LUNAR (now part of McKinsey's design team), an award-winning product design and engineering firm. We recently sat down with one of our senior mechanical engineers, Chris, to get the inside scoop on what makes McKinsey Design such an amazing place to work.

Chris W inline
Chris W inline

Interviewer: What brought you to McKinsey, and why do you stay?

Chris: McKinsey has an excellent portfolio of ingenious engineering work. I was particularly excited to contribute to the development of new products while growing our engineering prowess in Chicago. I have stayed at McKinsey because of the culture. Our team is made up of brilliant and dedicated individuals who are passionate about growing professionally and making each other and our work better.

Interviewer: Tell us about your most memorable project.

Chris: To date it has been designing a button on a medical device. It needed to be water-tight and highly tactile. As a design engineer and technical expert, I collaborated with industrial designers, other engineers, our injection molding supplier, and our clients throughout development. After many iterations, testing with multi-material 3D printed parts and aluminum tooled prototypes, we received a great review from the client: “The buttons feel perfect. Don’t change them!”

Interviewer: What design tools does McKinsey use during development?

Chris: We utilize the most cutting-edge design tools to meet our clients’ needs as efficiently and effectively as possible. For CAD development, we use many packages – mostly databases built in Solidworks or Creo. We do virtual simulations early on with FEA, and we extensively prototype concepts to verify our goals are met before we go to tooling. We have an in-house workshop, electrical lab, and 3D printers. If we have specific needs such as high fidelity, premium finish, urethane casting, or aluminum tooling, we outsource to qualified prototyping vendors. We do everything we can prior to release to ensure our designs are the best they can be.

Interviewer: What’s your best advice for someone considering applying to McKinsey?

Chris: Tell a story. Put together a portfolio and resume to show who you are, your skills, and where you want to go. We are interested people who have technical skills and experience in expressive design, and we are excited by passionate individuals whose tenacity helps them succeed in the face of challenge.

Interviewer: What are you passionate about outside of work?

Chris: I have way too many passions, but I hesitate to say they are outside of work. Most of them lie in the fields of engineering and science – working to make the world better, pushing myself, and enjoying life. I love to go on adventures, learn new things, and work in my shop on robotic and bike projects. I love to challenge myself physically by playing hockey, skiing, lifting weights, running, and riding my bike.

Find a job like Chris'

About Chris

Chicago-based Chris is an associate director of engineering with McKinsey Design. Prior to McKinsey, he was an engineer at several product development and tech firms. Chris has a bachelor's in mechanical engineering from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

For more information on McKinsey's tech career paths, visit mckinsey.com/TechCareers.

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