Brandon Janowiak

Systems Architect for Engineering & Operations

25 years · Woodhead → Littelfuse → Molex → Cozzini

I turn chaos into systems.

Connectors for explosive environments. Circuit protection that predicts failures. Backplane systems that won against competitors with a 12-month head start. 25 years building what didn't exist — and making it work in the real world.

At Cozzini, I built the engineering system from zero: department, processes, certifications, 40+ post-acquisition integrations. 2× throughput. 33% labor reduction. Find the constraint. Build the system. Make it repeatable.

Systems thinking is how I see the world.

When growth, acquisitions, or complexity outpace the systems underneath — that's when I get the call.

What colleagues say after working inside the system

"You know you're working with a true engineer when they listen intently to a problem and come up with the simplest, most effective solution. This is the essence of Brandon."

Brian McCarte, former colleague, Cozzini Bros.

"Brandon brings a lot of creative energy to the projects he designs. The model shop team can always count on Brandon to be there to support the fabrication of his projects — and as a result everything routinely goes as planned."

Alan Arend, former colleague, Molex

Select Work

Impel 40 Gbps Backplane Headers
Molex
Core design contributor (joined after inception). Program was 12 months behind schedule. Won the standard. Landed Cisco, Juniper, and Huawei. Now the foundation of Molex's backplane portfolio — Impel evolved into Impel Plus (56 Gbps) and Impulse (112 Gbps), leading the datacom market.
CEO Award
Nano-Pitch OCuLink Connectors
Molex
One of the first 64 Gbps SFF connectors. Built for enterprise storage, ahead of its time. A decade later, adopted by GPD, AYANEO, and the eGPU community as the interface that makes handheld gaming PCs viable desktop replacements.
Patent US11258214B2
BiPass I/O Connector System
Molex
Cable-bypass pluggable I/O that routes high-speed signals over low-loss twinax between near-ASIC and front-panel I/O to improve channel margin. Core design team contributor; product commercialized after my departure. Named inventor on US10784603B2.
Patent US10784603B2
Quantum Cutlery + Hydra Sharpening System
Cozzini Bros.
Built engineering department from zero — solo engineer for 2 years across 9 factories. Designed Quantum knife line and invented Hydra, the proprietary sharpening technology now marketed as the company's key differentiator. Obtained NSF certification. $6M budget. Supported 40+ post-acquisition integrations.
throughput 33% labor reduction 55k+ customers use it daily
Intelligent Circuit Protection System
Littelfuse
Patented system that distinguishes short circuits from overload failures and predicts faults before they happen. Networked monitoring across facilities. Predictive maintenance before "IoT" was a term.
Patent US20100019913A1 (abandoned)
Hazardous Location Connectors
Woodhead Industries
Coaxial connectors for explosive environments — Canadian oil fields, pipeline heat-trace systems. Tool-free installation in frigid conditions where mistakes mean disaster.
Patent US7134894B2

What I'm Focused On

AI will be the force multiplier for thought labor that the mechanical engine was for manual labor. But neural networks don't work like mechanical systems — you can't allow a single hallucination to enter shop floor data. AI must be constrained, auditable, and safe for operational environments.

I'm building Layer 1 of a sovereign AI stack: local inference on budget hardware. Dashboards, OCR on paper shop forms, document generation, process automation. Proving what's possible before it needs to scale.

bigbang
Mini PC · Ubuntu Server 24.04
Where I pressure-test operational AI systems under real constraints.
Ollama · Open-WebUI · N8N · Forgejo · BookStack · Nextcloud · Vaultwarden

What I Do Now

I work at operational inflection points — when growth, complexity, or acquisition has outpaced the systems underneath the business.

My career gave me the full stack: progressive die stamping, screw machine, CNC machining, injection molding, insert molding, overmolding, plating (selective gold, nickel, tin), tool and die, automated assembly, vision inspection, and multilayer PCB design. Napkin sketch to million-unit production.

My work focuses on rebuilding engineering and manufacturing systems so execution becomes predictable and durable.

I build systems that run without me — and leaders who can own them.

Publications & Standards

PCI Express® OCuLink Specification Revision 1.0
PCI-SIG · October 2015
Technical contributor for Molex. Developed the engineering requirements for internal and external small form factor PCI Express connectors — cabling and connector specifications for 8.0 GT/s signaling.

Board & Community

Board Member Cosley Foundation, Wheaton Park District 2017–2021
501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation overseeing $130-150K annual fundraising for zoo capital development.
National Official USA Swimming (Strokes & Turns, Admin) 2019–Present

Contact

My work has focused on organizations at operational inflection points.