LA NPDT — LA New Product Development Team

LA New Product Development Team

Meet the Team

Solving problems is our obsession. Creativity, innovation, and productivity drive us to achieve results for our customers.

We are a cross-functional team with a unique combination of skills and expertise.

We practice SCRUM and know how to get things done!

Core team

The people behind your product

Konstantin Dolgan, Ph.D., NPDP, Chief Executive Officer at LA NPDT
Konstantin Dolgan, Ph.D., NPDPChief Executive OfficerFounder and CEO. Ph.D. in materials and infrastructure systems engineering, NPDP-certified, and 1,000+ products taken from concept to production.Read bio
Onega Ulanova, Business Development at LA NPDT
Onega UlanovaBusiness DevelopmentCo-founder. The youngest female International Lead Auditor, combining innovation, brand development and people.Read bio
Ralph Hill, Prototyping Engineer at LA NPDT
Ralph HillPrototyping EngineerBuilds the physical systems: electromechanical prototypes, 3D manufacturing, testing and technical visualization. With LA NPDT since 2019.Read bio
Ashok Chintagunta, Software Engineer at LA NPDT
Ashok ChintaguntaSoftware EngineerCTO at QMS2GO and software engineer at LA NPDT. Artificial intelligence, automation and full-stack development for industrial and product teams.Read bio
Yelena Rymbayeva, Marketing Manager at LA NPDT
Yelena RymbayevaMarketing ManagerMarketing, product strategy and technology commercialization. With LA NPDT since 2017, connecting engineering work to real market positioning.Read bio

Want to join the team?

We are a cross-functional team of engineers, designers and developers based in Ruston, Louisiana. If you like solving hard product problems, we would like to hear from you.

Apply here

How the team works on a project

Knowing the names matters less than knowing who does what, and when they touch your product.

Project roles by stage
StageWho leads itWhat they are deciding
Discovery and researchBusiness development and researchWhether the market and the patent landscape support the product, and what it must cost
Concept and industrial designDesign leadForm, ergonomics, materials and which direction is worth engineering
EngineeringMechanical and software engineersGeometry, tolerances, electronics and how the thing is actually made
Prototyping and testingPrototyping engineerWhich process builds it, and what the first unit proves or disproves
Manufacturing hand-offEngineering plus CEO reviewSupplier fit, tooling, documentation and launch readiness

What working with us looks like week to week

Every engagement opens with a kickoff that turns your goal into written design criteria — what the product must do, what it must cost, who it is for and what would make it a failure. That document is the reference every later decision is checked against.

From there the work runs in sprints. Each ends with a review where you see the current CAD, renders or hardware and make the calls that unblock the next one. Between reviews you have a single point of contact rather than a ticket queue.

The team is cross-functional on purpose: engineers with graduate degrees, a prototyping shop that builds what the engineers draw, and marketing people who have taken products to retail. Founded in 2015, the group has carried well over a thousand products from concept toward production, which mostly means we have already made the mistakes your project is about to offer you.

Questions about the team

Who will I actually work with on my project?

One engineer or designer owns your project and stays your point of contact from kickoff to hand-off. Specialists join for the stages that need them — electronics, firmware, prototyping — but you are not re-explaining your product to a new person each phase.

How large is the team?

A small core team in Ruston, Louisiana, extended by long-standing specialist collaborators for electronics, tooling and testing. Projects are staffed deliberately rather than pooled, so the group that starts your build finishes it.

Do you work with clients outside Louisiana?

Most of our clients are elsewhere in the United States and abroad. Work runs remotely through scheduled reviews, shared CAD and shipped prototypes; we are reachable Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm Central.

What does it mean that the team practices SCRUM?

Work runs in short sprints with a defined goal and a review at the end of each. You see progress at a fixed cadence rather than waiting for one large reveal, and scope changes get priced when they are raised instead of at the end.

Is my idea protected before we start?

We sign a mutual NDA before any technical discussion, and engagements include a work-for-hire assignment so the intellectual property created on your project belongs to you.

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