About Us

Current Werks is dedicated to providing leading innovations in power storage and charging devices for your portable world.

Patrick K. Manning – Chief Executive Officer
Patrick Manning is the Co-Founder and CEO of CurrentWerks. In the span of a few months he has grown CurrentWerks from an idea on the back of a napkin to a leader in eco-charging solutions. He has been in the high-tech consumer electronics industry for over 25 years, working at companies such as FastMac Inc, Arrow, Avnet and Bell Micro. Patrick has played a leading role in bringing world renowned products to market. These include the fastest direct drop-in CPU upgrade card for Apple devices and the first iPhone case with built in battery charging and flash capabilities . He takes an active role in corporate, social and environmental responsibility initiatives worldwide, and CurrentWerks was founded on these principles. Patrick and CurrentWerks strive to keep manufacturing in the USA and save unnecessary e-waste from landfills.
Tim Ericksen – Chief Operating Officer
Tim Ericksen is the Co-Founder and COO of CurrentWerks. Tim has 30 years of experience in the electronics industry and has played a major part in bringing numerous designs to the market. He is also the founder and a managing member of Giga Designs, a company that designs and produces CPU microprocessor cards for Apple devices. He studied business and computer programming at Foothill College. Tim has over 10 years of experience manufacturing computer upgrades and accessories for the consumer electronics market. He takes an active role in creating products that are environmentally friendly and makes every effort towards a greener earth. In his free time, Tim enjoys cooking and the whole CurrentWerks group benefits.

434 million external power supplies will be retired in the U.S. alone and only 12.6% are recycled, leaving 379 million wall warts going into landfills

Our mission is to provide eco-friendly portable charging solutions.

We want to see the death of the AC Adapter a.k.a “wall wart, that big ugly black thing in your outlet”, It’s one of humanity’s worst inventions. AC-plug power supplies are a cheap workaround to various engineering, economic, and regulatory problems that manufacturers face, and they solve those problems by pushing them off onto end users. Wall warts have become such a universal nuisance that besides having given them an insulting slang name, people have pretty much accepted them as a part of how the world works.

We want to eliminate the need for wall warts and get rid of them altogether, they are hurting our environment more than most realize, constantly leaking energy known as vampire power. The term refers to the electricity many gadgets and appliances waste just by being plugged in (even if they’re switched off).

In the United States alone, vampire power costs consumers more than $3 billion a year [source: Energy Information Administration]. Over time, many microwaves and televisions actually consume more electricity during the hours they’re not in use than the times you’re actually using them to heat up dinner and watch your favorite show.

Stephen M. Samuel, PE – Head of Industrial Design

Steve Samuel, PE is the CEO and founder of Design Visionaries an industrial design and engineering firm located in the Silicon Valley. He is also the design lead and partner of CurrentWerks. Stephen began his engineering carrier in Pratt and Whiney Inc., a manufacturer of jet engines. As a Pratt and Whitney engineer and subsequently the CEO of Design Visionaries, Stephen has made major advancements in the use of computer aided design to bring about some of the most innovative products in a diverse market place. From aerospace, to automotive, to consumer products Stephen has been at the forefront of technology, obtained five US patents, is the author of several internationally selling books and articles and serves as a design process consultant all over the world to companies like Bose, Apple, Johnson and Johnson, and Applied Materials, to name a few. Stephen currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Oakland Military Institute. Stephen holds a BSME from the University of Massachusetts.

Katherine E. Robbins – Head of Product Design

Katie Robbins is a highly motivated design engineer at CurrentWerks. She is also the lead product designer and partner at Design Visionaries, a design firm located in Silicon Valley. She holds a Bachelor of Science of Industrial Engineering from California Polytechnic State University. She has been instrumental in the design and manufacturing of consumer products, medical products and many other charging products. She has trained numerous engineers at companies such as Bose, AeroJet, and LAM in computer aided design. She is also the co-author of the definitive text on Solid Edge ST2 Modeling, Drafting and Assemblies, and SolidWorks 2011 Modeling, Assemblies and Drafting. Katie loves creative hobbies, such as wood-working and painting.