ABOUT

About — NINAVA
About — Saleh Ghiyath

Practical
innovation.

Saleh Ghiyath — Founder, NINAVA

I grew up watching people build remarkable things from almost nothing.

In Baghdad, under sanctions that cut off supply chains and starved manufacturers of materials, ordinary people engineered extraordinary solutions — not because they were exceptional, but because necessity left no other option. That spirit of practical innovation shaped everything I do.

"Purpose means adding real value — something I genuinely believe in. Not just chasing quick trends."

I moved to New Zealand and spent 20+ years engineering hardware products that shipped globally. Battery management systems for Yamaha. Marine electronics for NAVICO. Storage systems for Sistema Plastics at a $2M budget. A portable speaker selected by Sony USA that sold 50,000 units in its first year.

I hold 7 patents and won the NZ Plastics Industry Gold Prize in 2004. I am not a designer who hands over pretty renders. I am an engineer who understands what happens when the design hits the production floor — and I design accordingly.

20+Years product & mechanical design engineering
7Patents granted
$2MProject budget managed
50kUnits sold — year one
GoldNZ Plastics Industry Prize 2004
SonyProduct selected by Sony USA

Career highlights

2021–Now
Invenco Group
Senior Mechanical / Product Design Engineer
Delivering the EVO G6 payment terminal — a complex product with integrated printer and universal card reading capability.
2019–2021
BEP Marine / ASG by Brunswick
Senior Mechanical / Design Lead Engineer
Led mechanical design for the Smart Battery Hub. 300amp power surge testing, IPX7 rated, full production line setup in Juarez, Mexico.
2014–2019
NAVICO — Simrad · Lowrance
Senior Mechanical / Design Lead Engineer
Led product design for rugged marine electronics. IPX6/7 enclosures, DFM/DFA, vendor assessment, factory trials. Products sold globally.
2013–2014
Sistema Plastics
Product Design Manager
$2M USD storage bin development program. 21 tools made, 7 patents granted, delivered within 12 months.
2008–2012
Fisher & Paykel Appliances
Product Development Engineer
Storage Systems Refrigeration. Toyota LFPD and LAMDA discipline. DVP, PPAP, UL standards, 6 Sigma decision tools.
2004–2007
Slab International — Sony · Maxell
Industrial Designer / Design Engineer
Designed the Galaxy speaker system — selected by Sony USA. Maxell 2.1 variant sold 50,000 units in year one. 300+ designs created.

Why NINAVA

NINAVA is everything I wish existed. Products designed properly — with real engineering behind them, not just aesthetics. Built to last, not built to be replaced.

The name comes from a place of origins. Like the brand — built from constraint, designed for the distance.

Work with me.

Available for consulting — NZ, AU, and international remote.

See consulting services
saleh@ninava.co.nz  ·  +64 21 1262516
ninava.co.nz  ·  Auckland, New Zealand