Aswath Subramanian — Engineering Consultant for Scale-Up & Pilot Risk

De-risking the transition from lab-scale technology to industrial reality.

Where failures cost months, millions, or organisational credibility.

I help technical teams identify where sound ideas become fragile in execution — bridging the gap between pilot-scale validation and factory reality.

Who this is for

Teams scaling a process that works in the lab but breaks down at pilot scale.

Engineers facing uncertain process windows, yield behaviour, or operating margins.

Organisations where technical and operational realities are misaligned.

Projects where early design decisions carry long-term risk.

Risk is lowest when mistakes are still reversible and system architecture remains flexible.

When systems are already constrained, I focus on identifying what can still be stabilised, decoupled, or safely worked around.

Selected work

Preventing throughput collapse during a 4.5× scale-up

Failure risk A rigid box production line was projected to scale output by increasing shifts and operator load, without understanding physical bottlenecks.

Intervention Analysed operator constraints, process capability, and physical line layout to identify where throughput would fail under increased load.

Outcome Scaled production from ~2,000 to 9,000+ units/day while maintaining ISO 9001 compliance and stable defect rates.

Diagnosing hidden revenue leakage in residential PV operations

Failure risk Structural mismatches between quoting tools, engineering design, and invoicing logic caused consistent but invisible revenue loss.

Intervention Mapped the full workflow and introduced a closed-loop feedback system between design and installation teams.

Outcome Recovered approximately €10k/month in lost revenue and reduced per-project design cost by 29%.

De-risking thermal failure in a novel thin-film substrate

Failure risk A polymer/TCO substrate architecture was assumed to be limited to ~120°C, threatening feasibility for industrial processing.

Intervention Led lab and pilot-scale trials to establish actual thermal limits and map the real process window.

Outcome Demonstrated stable processing beyond 500°C, enabling downstream integration and avoiding premature architectural rejection.

Approach

Typical engagements start with a focused diagnostic — usually 2–4 weeks of structured investigation into where a process, design, or workflow is most likely to fail under real operating conditions.

My work style is analytical, constraint-driven, and grounded in physical reality. I focus less on optimisation frameworks and more on understanding where systems become fragile under scale, throughput, and operational pressure.

The output is a clear map of physical, technical, and organisational constraints — not a slide deck, but actionable findings that inform design decisions, investment choices, and scale-up strategy.

Background

I have worked across thin-film PV R&D, residential solar system design, and high-volume manufacturing.

I have a technical foundation in mechanical engineering and sustainable energy systems.

I provide technical judgment during scale-up — a role often handled by Owner’s Engineers — bridging R&D assumptions, production reality, and investor expectations.