ABOUT PRINCIPAL THINKING / MEET THE CEO
Jonathan
EvansFounder & CEO
Pipe welder. Product developer. Inventor.
23 years of industrial experience.
A practical perspective on what comes next.
THE PERSON BEHIND THE COMPANY
Experience at work.
Ideas with purpose.
Jonathan Evans is the Founder and CEO of Principal Thinking, LLC, an independent product development company focused on turning practical observations into original products and commercial opportunities.
His perspective comes from 23 years as a professional pipe welder, with a welding career that began in 2003. His experience spans oil refineries, gas refineries, combustion turbines, nuclear power plants, pharmaceutical plants, pipeline work, shipbuilding, and other heavy industrial environments. That breadth of work has put him close to the tools, processes, and everyday challenges that inspire his inventions.
Pipe welding requires precision, preparation, and close attention to the work environment. For Jonathan, it also provides a direct view of how people use equipment: how a handle feels during detailed work, how a task could be made more practical, and how a hazard is communicated to someone arriving later. Those observations form the starting point for his approach to product development.
As CEO, he sets the company’s direction and leads its product vision, requirements, technical collaboration, intellectual-property strategy, and commercial discussions. He brings the perspective of the person doing the work, while coordinating with engineering and testing specialists to move ideas through design, prototyping, and evaluation.
THE GOALS BEHIND THE WORK
Improve the work.
Improve the human experience.
Jonathan’s goal is to improve the human experience through practical innovation, a commitment to philanthropy, and greater attention to the safety and well-being of welders and the people working around them.
For him, product development begins with the person using the tool or sharing the work area. A useful invention should address a real need: making a demanding task more comfortable, communicating a hazard more clearly, or helping people work with greater confidence and awareness.
That purpose connects the ergonomic TIG welding handle and the Hot Weld Warning Light. The handle focuses on the physical demands of holding and guiding a torch. The warning light focuses on communicating the heat that can remain after welding ends. Both begin with a concern for the people doing the work.
Philanthropy is part of Jonathan’s longer-term vision: building a company whose success creates opportunities to give back and support others. It is a goal guiding the company’s development, alongside creating useful products and advancing worker safety.
INDUSTRIAL EXPERIENCE
A career across
demanding environments.
Jonathan’s pipe-welding background reaches across the facilities and infrastructure that support industry.
- 01Oil refineries
- 02Gas refineries
- 03Combustion turbines
- 04Nuclear power plants
- 05Pharmaceutical plants
- 06Pipelines
- 07Shipbuilding
- 08Other heavy industrial facilities
FROM THE JOBSITE TO PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Inventing around
real needs.
The ergonomic TIG welding handle
Jonathan is the inventor named on U.S. Design Patent D969,580 S for an ergonomic welding handle, issued November 15, 2022. The design focuses on the physical interface between a welder’s hand and the torch. Its contoured grip is intended to support a more natural hand position and comfortable torch control, with less reliance on a tightly clenched fist during prolonged welding. Jonathan’s aim is to ease the gripping effort and strain experienced in the hand, forearm, and arm while preserving the control the work requires.
Grip comfort and reduced strain are intended benefits, subject to ergonomic testing with users and compatible torch assemblies.
Explore the patented handle ↗The Hot Weld Warning Light
His current development work includes the patent-pending Hot Weld Warning Light, a portable warning concept intended to draw attention to recently welded metal and other hot surfaces. The concept combines motion-responsive visual and audible warnings with planned infrared temperature monitoring and laser-assisted aiming.
The idea addresses a practical communication problem: welding may be finished while the workpiece remains hot, and the next person approaching may not have witnessed the work. The product remains in development, with prototype integration, testing, and performance validation ahead.
Explore the Hot Weld project ↗WHAT PRINCIPAL THINKING IS ABOUT
Observe the problem.
Develop the idea.
Create an opportunity.
Principal Thinking develops its own products and intellectual property. Its purpose is to recognize useful opportunities, give original ideas a clear direction, and work with qualified collaborators to assess how those ideas can become practical products.
Jonathan’s ambition extends beyond any single invention. The company is a platform for developing new products and connecting them with people and organizations that can help bring them to market. The standard is a clear purpose, an understandable design, and development grounded in the realities of use.
Every invention is open to a commercial conversation. Individuals and companies can discuss purchasing available products, acquiring available intellectual property, or negotiating licensing and leasing rights. Product availability, development stage, and the rights included are established for each agreement.
Contact Jonathan directly ↗