Q&A: Mechanical engineering alum brings lessons from Intel to capstone

Capstone sponsor Zachary Eyde has 20 years of experience in mechanical, electrical and industrial engineering. He applies that knowledge as a research and development test engineer at Intel in Chandler, Arizona.

Eyde graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering in 2007. He has earned multiple master's degrees, including mechanical engineering from U of A in 2009 and a master’s degree in electrical engineering in 2014. He later finished a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Arizona State University in 2024.

Eyde started at Raytheon, an RTX Business, in Tucson, where he worked as a mechanical design engineer and later as an RF/antenna project manager. In 2014, he joined Intel and worked his way up the career ladder in technical and program management roles focused on semiconductor manufacturing, process improvement, quality and engineering development. 

Eyde sponsors Capstone Team 27026. The team will attempt to create a way to consistently connect optical cables during manufacturing, potentially improving the accuracy of testing.

What motivated you to sponsor a project?

I'm a three-time U of A graduate, so there was already a pull to give back to the college that trained me. What sealed it was the nature of my project: building a passive alignment fixture for Co-Packaged Optics manufacturing isn't a single-discipline problem. It needs optics, precision mechanical design, thermal/tolerance analysis and data-driven validation working together. This is exactly the kind of team-based engineering I've built my career around.

What professional experience do you plan to bring as a project sponsor?

Nearly 20 years of experience spanning two very different engineering environments: eight years at Raytheon Missile Systems as an RF/antenna design engineer and technical lead managing radome development, tolerance/DOE work and supplier oversight; and over a decade at Intel leading process engineering, program management and now quality, automation and AI initiatives in semiconductor test manufacturing. I'm also a licensed professional engineer and currently pursuing a PhD in industrial engineering at ASU, so I bring both hands-on design and analysis experience and a research-oriented, data-driven mindset.

How have those experiences shaped the engineer you are today?

Raytheon taught me to work across mechanical, electrical and RF boundaries as the "Responsible Engineering Authority" on a design. I learned that you can't hide behind your own discipline. Intel taught me statistical rigor: root-cause everything with data, not anecdotes and don't tolerate repeat problems. Together they've made me someone who treats engineering as systems-level problem solving rather than a single narrow specialty.

How do you plan to guide students through challenges they encounter in a project?

The same way I coach engineers at Intel. I insist on evidence over guesswork, break an ambiguous problem into testable hypotheses and create a psychologically safe space where they can bring me a half-formed idea or a failed test without fear. I'll set a regular review cadence, like the quality forums I run at work, so problems surface early instead of piling up before a deadline.

Why do you think it's important for students to work on interdisciplinary design teams?

It’s important because that's how real engineering happens. My own path – mechanical and electrical engineering degrees, RF/antenna work that blended mechanical and electrical design, and now a career bridging hardware, automation and AI – has never lived inside one discipline's lane. A capstone team that mixes optics, mechanical and controls/data backgrounds mirrors what they'll face in industry from day one.

What part of your project are you most excited to work on with your team?

Honestly, less the building and more the watching. I'm most looking forward to seeing the team take a first crack at the alignment fixture, hit a wall and then work through the iteration cycle themselves. Being there to ask the right question at the right moment, point them at a design-of-experiments approach instead of trial-and-error and watch a rough first design evolve into something that actually hits the micron-level repeatability target is the part I find most rewarding.

What do you hope students learn from working with you that they might not learn in a classroom?

I hope they learn how to operate under real manufacturing constraints – ambiguous specs, cost and schedule pressure, and stakeholders who want a defensible, data-backed answer, not just a working prototype. I want them to leave understanding the difference between "it works on the bench" and "it's producible at volume."

What do you hope students remember most about their capstone experience five or 10 years from now?

I hope they remember that they built something an actual company needed and could defend it with real data, and that someone from industry invested real time in them, not just a grade.

If you could go back and give your younger self any advice, what would it be?

Don't be afraid to keep going back to school. The ME degree, then the EE degree, then eventually the PhD, each one opened doors I didn't expect. Also: say yes to cross-functional, uncomfortable assignments early; that's where growth actually happens.

How did the College of Engineering prepare you for your career?

It gave me a genuinely broad technical foundation. I did a BS and MS in mechanical engineering and then came back for an MS in electrical engineering and finally industrial engineering, which set me up to move fluidly between mechanical, RF, and now data and AI-driven roles instead of getting boxed into one specialty.

What do you remember most about being a student at the U of A, and how does that experience shape the way you approach mentoring today?

I was there long enough, across three degrees, to go from undergrad to grad researcher, and I remember how much faculty relationships mattered to that transition. That's part of why I take a long-view approach to mentoring now. I'm not just trying to get a student through one semester; I'm trying to set them up for the next ten years.

What's something people might be surprised to learn about you?

I have competed and finished multiple IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 events across the U.S., completing IRONMAN AZ twice over the years.