About the FreeReel™ Company
FreeReel was born from a persistent drive to solve mechanical and electromechanical design challenges through engineering. Our foundation is built on decades of professional product design experience, moving beyond standard solutions to create something truly useful. Every FreeReel® product is the result of a rigorous development cycle—from initial computer models to an exhaustive prototyping phase in which we refine every detail until we are satisfied that we have found the optimal compromise of design alternatives.
While we’ve scaled significantly from our early days of hand-assembled prototypes, our core mission remains focused on producing unique and practical products. Being a specialized, agile company is our advantage; it allows us to prioritize innovative design and high-performance standards that others often overlook. At FreeReel®, we aren’t just building tools—we’re engineering better experiences.
Jay Martin - President and Product Design Principal
Liam Martin - Chief Operations Officer
John Ruck - Executive VP of Sales
Greg Carson: Patent Attorney – Biomedical Engineer – Inventor
"Designing, developing, and producing products that surprise, delight, and meet a critical need energizes me." After a first career as a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Jay co-founded Martin Product Design to directly engage in pursuing this goal. "I truly appreciate the opportunity I had working and learning with students at the university. MPD has provided similar learning opportunities, and we have the chance to produce great products. What more could you ask for?"
As a co-founder of MPD, Liam Martin has found that his degree in Psychology has been very helpful: "So much of product development is about people. Observation of the response of people to problems and devices designed to mitigate those problems is essential to good design." Liam has also found that his training and experience has been essential to business development: "Building a business is also about people. This goes from the way you work with others in your company, to others in companies you work with, to the people you produce products for."
With over 28 years in the home improvement and hardware industry, John Ruck brings a wealth of experience in sales, marketing and product development to the table. “The overwhelming goal is to always bring the absolute best possible value and experience to our customers and end consumers. Having worked closely with nearly every major home and hardware retailer in the US and Canada, I understand what the needs are of our buyers and the end user of our products. Everything we do is directed at meeting and exceeding those needs in an ethical and efficient way.” Building products that solves problems for the consumer and is designed and produced domestically is paramount for us as a company and personally.
Gregory (Greg) D Carson is part of our leadership team, primary patent practitioner, and lawyer. He is a USPTO Registered Patent Practitioner (patent attorney), a California attorney (lawyer), inventor, and engineer. Greg has been working with the latest new human technologies since 1986 when he joined the United States Air Force as a Clinical Engineering Officer. His patenting experience includes a wide range of utility and design inventions. His patent engineering experience includes biomedical, electrical, mechanical, and software inventions. The most important thing about Greg is his passion for helping fellow inventors seek patent protection for their inventions and ideas.