Nicholas Townsend

Mechanical Engineering Team Lead at Project Eaden

Berlin, Berlin, Germany

About

Agritech professional with 8+ years of experience in New Zealand, now based in Berlin and pursuing an exciting opportunity in the plant-based meat space. I'm passionate about using technology to solve the challenges facing the global food system. I have a proven track record of success in developing and implementing innovative agritech solutions that improve efficiency, productivity, and sustainability. I'm now excited to be working in the plant-based meat space at Project Eaden. This is a rapidly growing industry with the potential to revolutionize the way we produce and consume food. I am looking forward to using my skills and experience to help the company to achieve its mission of creating a more sustainable and ethical food system.

Experience

  • PROJECT EADEN (Berlin, Germany · On-site)
    • Mechanical Engineering Team Lead
      Jul 2025 - Present · 1 yr

    • Senior Automation Engineer
      Jul 2023 - Oct 2025 · 2 yrs 4 mos

  • TOMRA Food (On-site)
    • Senior Research Engineer
      Jul 2022 - Jul 2023 · 1 yr 1 mo

      RESPONSIBILITIES • Designed and built test rigs and prototypes as part of the product development process, from proof of concept through to minimum viable product. • Coordinated and mentored junior engineers throughout product development. • Determined commercial metrics of concepts to inform business decisions. ACHIEVEMENTS • Successfully validated the design of a novel robotic kiwifruit packing machine. This involved multiple design iterations and extensive in house testing followed by customer demonstrations in a live production facility.

    • Research Engineer
      Aug 2021 - Jul 2022 · 1 yr

      RESPONSIBILITIES • Design and build innovative new product prototypes. • Design and implement testing plans to assess and improve product developments. • Determine commercial metrics of concepts to inform business decisions. ACHIEVEMENTS • Designed and validated a novel fruit discretisation roller conveyor for a robotic kiwifruit packing machine. • Installed and tested a prototype robotic packing machine in a kiwifruit packing facility.

    • Application Engineer
      Jan 2020 - Aug 2021 · 1 yr 8 mos

      RESPONSIBILITIES • Performed final testing on new product concepts to assess technical and commercial feasibility. • Provided technical knowledge and resolved problems for service teams and customers. ACHIEVEMENTS • Installed and validated the initial concept of a novel machine learning based adaptive rate controlling system for fruit sorting machines. • Designed and fabricated 3 minimum viable products and evaluated their feasibility in commercial context.

  • TOMRA Food (Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand)
    • Intern Mechanical Design Engineer
      Nov 2015 - Oct 2016 · 1 yr

      RESPONSIBILITIES • Assisted full-time Engineers in completion of 3D modelling and technical drawings in Solidworks. • Setup new parts in the ERP system (infor LN). ACHIEVEMENTS • Created 3D models and 2D drawings for a new cohort of configurations on a cherry sorting machine. • Produced 80+ technical drawings for manufacturing.

    • Intern Prototype Engineer
      Nov 2014 - Nov 2015 · 1 yr 1 mo

      RESPONSIBILITIES • Assisted full-time Engineers in the design, fabrication and operation of test rigs. • Help maintain workshop equipment and tools. ACHIEVEMENTS • Designed and fabricated a black out LED testing rig. • Developed a novel method of rotationally moulding with thermoset polyurethane. • Numerous fabrication projects using lathe, mill, mig welding and grinding.

  • Student at University of Auckland
    Mar 2013 - Sep 2016 · 3 yrs 7 mos

    •Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering with Honours. •Honours thesis: Design development and commissioning of a lab scaled gas fired rotational moulding machine and evaluation of moulding efficiency.