Yash Ganatra
Thermal Engineer

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About

Thermal engineer who ships consumer electronics. 8+ years taking products from first concept through mass production — thermal validation (IR imaging, thermocouples, automated test frameworks), thermal simulation, evaluation of thermal solutions, and software thermal management policies that balance performance with thermal comfort and safety.

Work Experience

Apple
https://www.apple.com
Aug 2023 – Present
Thermal Engineer (System Product Design)
Thermal testing and design of iPad Air (6th & 7th gen, 2024/2025) and iPhone 17 (2025).
Highlights
  • Own all thermal objectives from initial concept through launch, defining software thermal management policies that balance performance and thermal comfort
  • Characterize thermal performance across real-world use cases — benchmarks, gaming, video streaming, charging, camera — and analyze field metrics to mirror customer usage in tests
  • Define touch-temperature limits through user perception studies; design virtual temperature sensors that predict skin hotspots and cut test time
  • Evaluate feasibility and performance of thermal solutions: graphite spreaders, graphite-wrapped foams, copper sheets and TIMs
  • Partner with power teams to define and validate use-case power budgets, driving EE optimizations when power exceeds targets
  • Commissioned a thermal validation lab at a vendor site and authored thermal test SOPs
Amazon Lab126
https://amazon.jobs/en/teams/lab126
Dec 2018 – Jul 2023
Thermal Engineer II
Thermal testing and design of Echo Dot (3rd & 5th gen), Echo (3rd gen), Echo Show 10, Echo Studio, Echo Flex, Halo Rise and the Astro home robot.
Highlights
  • Enabled $250k cost savings for Echo Dot by validating and assessing thermal risk during new product development
  • Led thermal validation of Amazon's first consumer robot (Astro) against TS-1/TS-2 thermal safety specs
  • Developed virtual temperature sensors to predict skin hotspots across safety validation tests, reducing test time
  • Built a Python test-automation framework that cut test time by 50% by automating music/video streaming, display and LED control, and internal temperature and power capture
  • Developed the Temperature Sensor feature on Echo Dot (5th gen) by collecting and processing large-scale device data with Python and Unix scripting
Syscon International
http://syscon-intl.com
Feb 2017 – Oct 2018
Product Engineer
Developed portable temperature measurement systems from concept to manufacturing for the Iron & Steel industry.
Highlights
  • Standardized thermocouple calibration; tested and troubleshot hardware and software prototypes
  • Sped up product builds by 25% with MATLAB algorithms for processing field data
  • Trained distributors and sales teams; presented at AFS and AIST industry conferences
Purdue University
https://engineering.purdue.edu
Jan 2015 – Dec 2016
Graduate Research Assistant
Master's thesis: cooling smartphones using Phase Change Materials.
Highlights
  • Developed and validated a passive cooling solution (COMSOL, Ansys Fluent, IR camera, thermocouples), cutting processor temperatures by 5%
  • Published in the International Journal of Thermal Sciences; presented at ASME InterPACK

Volunteer

Tecumseh Junior High School, Lafayette
Aug 2015 – Dec 2015
Teacher
Make learning fun and more relatable
Highlights
  • Facilitate better understanding of energy conversion through hands on experiments and examples

Contact

Austin, Texas US
gyash@protonmail.com
https://yashg1.github.io
LinkedIn
yashganatra
GitHub
yashg1

Education

  • 2014 - 2016

    Purdue University, USA

    Master of Science

    Mechanical Engineering (minor: Computational Science)

    GPA: 3.67/4

  • 2010 - 2014

    Vellore Institute of Technology, India

    Bachelor of Technology

    Mechanical Engineering

    GPA: 9.03/10

Skills

Thermal Engineering
Thermal validation & testing Touch-temperature limits & user perception studies Virtual temperature sensors (skin-hotspot prediction) Thermal solutions: graphite spreaders, foams, TIMs IR imaging, thermocouples & DAQ Software thermal management policies
Simulation & CAD
Ansys Icepak FloTherm XT COMSOL SolidWorks CAD
Product Development & Programming
Consumer electronics development (xVT) Use-case & power budget testing Test automation frameworks Python & Unix scripting MATLAB & data analysis

Publications

Experimental investigation of Phase Change Materials for thermal management of handheld devices
International Journal of Thermal Sciences (2018)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2018.03.012

Hardware thermal testing to quantify usefulness of PCMs in cooling smartphones.

Investigation of aluminum foams and graphite fillers for improving the thermal conductivity of paraffin wax-based phase change materials
IEEE ITherm (2017)
https://doi.org/10.1109/ITHERM.2017.7992499

Improving effective thermal conductivity of PCM-based passive cooling.

Passive Thermal Management Using Phase Change Materials: Experimental Evaluation of Thermal Resistances
ASME InterPACK (2015)
https://doi.org/10.1115/IPACK2015-48499

Characterize thermal resistance of PCMs using IR camera and reference bar method (ASTM D5470 standard).

Interests

Outside work
Soccer Table tennis Reading Built a BAJA SAE off-road vehicle