Kopal Gangrade

Product Manager

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India5 yrs 5 mos experience
Most Likely To SwitchAI Enabled

Key Highlights

  • Gold Medalist at IndiaSkills National and Regional levels.
  • Designed a patented suturing device for medical applications.
  • Mentor and jury member for state-level skill competitions.
Stackforce AI infers this person is a Healthcare Design Specialist with a strong focus on User Experience and Product Design.

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Skills

Core Skills

User Experience DesignProduct DesignHealthcare Design

Other Skills

3D Modeling3D Printing3D VisualizationAdobe IllustratorAdobe InDesignAdobe PhotoshopAdobe XDArtificial Intelligence (AI)AutoCADAutodesk Fusion 360Autodesk SketchbookComputer-Aided Design (CAD)CorelDRAWCreative Problem SolvingCritical Thinking

About

Hello👋, I'm Kopal Gangrade I help teams turn fuzzy problems into meaningful design directions through thoughtful research, clear synthesis, and strategic insight. Over the last 3 years, I've been part of the dynamic team at frog, collaborating with renowned brands to bring new and exciting ideas to life. 🌱 My design journey began at IIT Bombay's biomedical research lab, BETiC, where I collaborated with doctors to identify unmet medical needs, develop novel concepts, and even filed a patent for a suturing medical device. This impactful experience led me to pursue a Master's degree in Product Design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India's premier design institute. 🇮🇳 In 2022, I was selected to represent India at the WorldSkills Competition after securing a Gold Medal at both regional and national levels (IndiaSkills). Today, I extend my expertise by serving as a jury member and mentoring participants in various state-level skill competitions across India. ✏️ Beyond my professional work, I am deeply passionate about education and learning. I serve as a Board of Studies Member for Somaiya School of Design and regularly mentor and share knowledge at Somaiya Vidyavihar University. 🔎 My research interests include (but are not limited to) human-centered design, behaviour and learning sciences, and healthcare. One of my notable research projects, "Ferris Wheel of Shifting Power Dynamics," explored the effects of casual discrimination, name-calling and bullying behavior on school students. This research was presented as an interactive workshop at the RSD10 Relating Systems Design Symposium held at TU Delft, Netherlands, in November 2021. ♫ Additionally, I hold a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Mumbai and a degree in Hindustani Classical Music (Madhyama Purna) from the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Miraj.

Experience

5 yrs 5 mos
Total Experience
4 yrs 7 mos
Average Tenure
5 yrs 5 mos
Current Experience

Frog

2 roles

Design Consultant (Designer II)

Promoted

Jan 2025Present · 1 yr 5 mos

Associate Design Consultant (Designer I)

Sep 2022Jan 2025 · 2 yrs 4 mos

  • Worked on interdisciplinary projects across sustainability, automotive, medical, FMCG, and aviation sectors, applying user-centered research and design strategies to enhance product usability, operational efficiency, and customer experience.
User-Centered ResearchDesign StrategiesProduct UsabilityOperational EfficiencyCustomer ExperienceUser Experience Design+1

Worldskills international

WorldSkills Competitor - 2022 Special Edition

Mar 2022Aug 2022 · 5 mos

  • After winning Gold medals in the IndiaSkills National and Regional levels, I was nominated by the Government of India to represent India at the 46th WorldSkills International Competition in Industrial Design Technology. I underwent six months of training, receiving guidance from industry experts in different countries.

Whirlpool corporation

Graduate Thesis (Global Consumer Design)

Sep 2021Feb 2022 · 5 mos · Gurugram, Haryana, India

  • As part of my graduate thesis, I created a new brand language for Whirlpool, articulating the values of Reliability, Collaboration and Care through signature brand elements and consumer experiences.
  • To demonstrate these ideas, I designed a new mini refrigerator with enhanced interior accessibility to encourage prompt food consumption for forgetful users and two-way door design that minimizes cooling loss.

Somaiya school of design

Board of Studies Member

Jan 2021Present · 5 yrs 5 mos

  • Active participation in bi-annual meetings to approve the curriculum and activities planned for B.Des students of the Somaiya School of Design.

Betic, iit bombay

Undergraduate Research Thesis

Mar 2018Jan 2019 · 10 mos · IIT Bombay

  • Medical Product Design and Development under the guidance of Dr. Shantikumar Chivate (President of International Society of Coloproctology, Jeevan Jyot Hospital, Thane, Maharashtra), Dr. Ramesh Lekurwale and Prof. B Ravi (Institute Chair Professor, IIT Bombay)
  • A Rectal Prolapse surgery (Rectum slides from its original position) is generally performed through an abdominal incision. Dr. Chivate had an alternative method of operating through the anus, however, suturing was a complicated task in this method due to restricted space.
  • I contributed towards the design of an alternative locking mechanism (stapler like) that could pass through the narrow area and replace the sutures completely, thus reducing the surgery duration to half and cutting down the recovery time drastically from 4-6 weeks to 1 day.
  • This project is patent protected.
Medical Product DesignSuturing Mechanism DesignPatent FilingProduct DesignHealthcare Design

Jsw

Summer Intern

Jun 2017Jun 2017 · 0 mo · Tarapur & Vasind

  • JSW Steel is a leading private-sector steel company in India with a global footprint in over 140 countries. As a Summer Intern, I was a part of the Mechanical Maintenance Department at the Tarapur and Vasind Plant which involved continuous supervision of the manufacturing line and providing timely assistance in the events of line breakdown.

Education

National Institute ofDesign (NID) Ahmedabad

M.Des — Product Design

Jan 2019Jan 2022

University of Michigan

Global Studio Virtual Exchange Program — Design

Jan 2021May 2021

University of Mumbai

Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) — Mechanical Engineering

Jan 2015Jan 2019

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