GYRE9 Employee Spotlight - Andrew Krystinik, VP of Product Development

We at Gyre9 believe that a company’s most important asset is the people, so we decided to show off an employee every month. The first up is Andrew Krystinik, VP of Product Development. Andrew’s background in mechanical and electrical engineering has been an important asset to Gyre9. We were able to catch Andrew during his super busy schedule to sit down and get to know him.

How long have you worked at Gyre9 and what does your job entail?

I have been with Gyre9 for 11 years and 10 months. I started at this company as a Junior Mechanical Engineer, working alongside Ed as a dynamic engineering pair. Currently, I am VP of the Product Development team. My day-to-day ranges anywhere from meeting with clients, to drawing/CAD reviews, or even breaking things to test their limits. You never know what challenges lie ahead in the world of Product Development. However, as we grew as a company, both in size and scope, my responsibilities have evolved into more of a leadership role. Especially since we have grown our product development team and expanded our contract manufacturing capabilities. This allows me to not only expand the company’s ability to do work but also nurture and teach future engineers/designers being added to our team.

What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

Well, work never really feels like work when you love what you do. At home, I am still working on CAD, fabrication, and building things. However, in this case, it is my own car. My wife and I are nationally competitive autocross racers who compete all over the country. With this comes a lot of opportunities to design/engineer our own vehicles. Aside from that, I like to spend time with my family out on the boat or being outside.

What is one lesson about your field that you learned at Gyre9?

 The scientific method we all learned in grade school never truly goes away.  When designing a new product, you need to constantly hypothesize and test every aspect of it to move forward. The only way to truly understand a product is to know it fully and figure out all its failure points. Product design and development is a very fast-moving but rewarding process at Gyre9. I have grown to truly become one with the process. ‘Try fast, fail, and then try again!’

Additionally, the recent expansion of our contract manufacturing group has allowed me and my team to become experts at DFM (Design for Manufacturing). A lot of places that are just solely product development or only manufacturing do not have the same cross functionality that Gyre9 has. So being able to work directly with the manufacturing team has opened my eyes to a more practical approach to design and development. It becomes a lot more than ‘throwing it over the wall’. 

What is one lesson about life that you have learned at Gyre9?

One life lesson I’ve learned at Gyre9 is the value of embracing different perspectives. It’s human nature to instinctively disagree with ideas that aren’t our own. But the creative and collaborative environment at Gyre9 encourages everyone—regardless of background—to share their viewpoints and solutions. What I’ve come to realize is that there’s no single “right” or “wrong” perspective—just different ways of looking at a problem. Learning to view all perspectives with equal respect has been one of the most important lessons for me.

We want to thank Andrew for taking some time to talk with us and allow the world to get to know him better. Whether you're an entrepreneur with a bold idea or an established company seeking a trusted partner to bring complex products to life, Gyre9 delivers world-class product development and contract manufacturing services—right here in Connecticut. Our multidisciplinary team of engineers, industrial designers, and manufacturing experts collaborates closely to turn concepts into manufacturable, market-ready solutions. From initial design and prototyping to full-scale production, we provide the creativity, precision, and speed needed to help our clients succeed.

Want to learn more about how Gyre9 can support your next project? Visit Gyre9.com to explore our capabilities, meet the team, and see why companies across industries choose us as their product development partner. Follow us for more employee spotlights, behind-the-scenes stories, and real-world innovations from one of Connecticut’s premier product development firms.

Let’s create something amazing together. Contact us today.