I’m Neil Hawke (霍寧), a Hong Kong–based operator focused on advanced manufacturing and industrial strategy across Asia.
I work at the intersection of product development, manufacturing, sourcing, and operational risk. I'm interested in how complex physical products get built at scale, and how organizations develop resilient industrial systems in an uncertain world.Today, I lead Advanced Sourcing initiatives across Asia for Milwaukee Tool, including supplier intelligence, manufacturing capability assessment, and early-stage sourcing strategy.• MBA and BS in Engineering Management, Michigan Technological University
• PMP Certified
• Michigan Tech Engineering & Supply Chain Management Industry Advisory Board
• Based in Hong Kong, originally from MichiganOutside of work, I enjoy sailing, diving, skiing, hiking, training Muay Thai, traveling Asia, and learning Mandarin.If we haven't met yet, feel free to reach out [email below].
Hawke Systems is a personal infrastructure project exploring portable computing and communications systems for globally mobile industrial work.Built around my own use cases traveling between suppliers, factories, and offices across Asia, the project focuses on compact, self-contained systems for local storage, networking, and resilient field computing outside traditional office environments.Status: Active, in development.
TraceLayer is a proof-of-concept supplier intelligence and disruption-monitoring tool for electronics sourcing.Built around real operational pain points encountered in Asia manufacturing and supplier management, the platform maps approved vendor ecosystems against supply chain events, geopolitical risk, and component exposure to generate lightweight executive visibility and sourcing intelligence.The project currently exists as an experimental prototype exploring more proactive approaches to electronics supply chain resilience.Status: On hold.
Good in the Great Lakes Region- that's what Thimbleberry Capital is about. I have a lot of belief in the grit and innovation of founders in the Michigan-Wisconsin-Minnesota-Illinois area, and I founded Thimbleberry Capital as a purpose-driven nanocapital initiative, supporting founders in the outdoor, mobility, and health sciences industries in this region.Our first investment was sponsoring Michigan Tech's Circular Solutions Enterprise Team in a project to develop a recyclable textile solution.Status: Archived.
Founded in 2021, Great Lakes Coastal is my love letter to my home, the Great Lakes region.With the help of talented designers, I created the first Great Lakes Beach Shirt and other associated beachwear, featuring prints unique to iconic Great Lakes locations.This project was designed to be explicitly low-tech and to step away from complexity, but proved to have its own challenges in terms of unit economics and global sourcing.We've had the opportunity to partner with great organizations, creating custom shirts for Door County Brewing Company, and Copper Harbor Trails Club, in addition to our own collection.Currently operations are paused, with plans to resume on my return to the US.Status: On hold.
College Coaching with Neil
College Coaching with Neil aims to support struggling college students, using my unique perspective and experiences from my undergraduate degree.I offer downloadable PDF materials on Gumroad.These resources are grouped by student needs, with some geared toward parents, some for academic crisis-mode, and some for early career planning. All are free or very low-cost.Status: Passive.
