Community / Team
We are a bunch of super positive, "glass is half full" kinda people.
Find out about what we do below, and then navigate to the Get Involved menu to find out how to join us in our adventure.
Our community is a team of people from around the world.
Our community is a team of people from around the world.
Designers, students, and professors, all working to create a shared resource.
Designers, students, and professors, all working to create a shared resource.
Leslie Speer
Leslie Speer
Master Thinker & Designer
Master Thinker & Designer
With a career that has been dedicated to using design to improve the world, and combining experience in corporate, consulting, and academic environments, Leslie has focused on teaching for 25+ years and how that environment can help others learn how to use design methods to improve their lives, and the lives of others. She is currently the Chair of the Product Design Department at Maryland Institute College of Art.
Her focus has been on designing for sustainable futures and with underserved communities. She works in rural and developing communities around the world, closely collaborating with the people of those communities. Her joy is found by seeing young students realize when they've had their worldview expanded by this exposure, and how they've been able to surprise a field-worker or a working mother by designing something that really meets their needs.
Leslie lives in rural Maryland with her husband, Adam Richardson, and their two acrobatic Bracco Italianos, Giorgio and Bretta. When not doing all things design, you can find her in her extensive vegetable and herb garden, her emergin food forest, or her goldsmithing studio.
More info: http://www.lesliespeer.com/aboutme
Her focus has been on designing for sustainable futures and with underserved communities. She works in rural and developing communities around the world, closely collaborating with the people of those communities. Her joy is found by seeing young students realize when they've had their worldview expanded by this exposure, and how they've been able to surprise a field-worker or a working mother by designing something that really meets their needs.
Leslie lives in rural Maryland with her husband, Adam Richardson, and their two acrobatic Bracco Italianos, Giorgio and Bretta. When not doing all things design, you can find her in her extensive vegetable and herb garden, her emergin food forest, or her goldsmithing studio.
More info: http://www.lesliespeer.com/aboutme
John McClusky
John McClusky
Master Maker & Strategist
Master Maker & Strategist
John is a designer and Professor at San Jose State University. He is an Industrial Designer with 35 years of experience including 25 years of experience in Inclusive Design. His research and design focus are on the role that meaning plays in the design of products and experiences.
He has developed curricula for teaching design thinking and 3D foundation design principles to both students and clients alike. Clients have included Roche Diagnostics, Xerox and Fuji Xerox, Swingline/Acco Brands, Herman Miller, Proctor & Gamble, Whirlpool, Crown Equipment Corporation and Rio Digital Audio.
His work has earned multiple patents and several awards including the IDEA Gold Award, the Red Dot for High Quality Design and the Atheneum Good Design Award.
John and his Art Historian wife, Jenn “Dr.J” Barrows, live in their 100-year-old, “work in progress” house in the San Francisco Bay Area and entertain their neighbors with the antics of their Australian Cattle pups Izzy and Darwin.
He has developed curricula for teaching design thinking and 3D foundation design principles to both students and clients alike. Clients have included Roche Diagnostics, Xerox and Fuji Xerox, Swingline/Acco Brands, Herman Miller, Proctor & Gamble, Whirlpool, Crown Equipment Corporation and Rio Digital Audio.
His work has earned multiple patents and several awards including the IDEA Gold Award, the Red Dot for High Quality Design and the Atheneum Good Design Award.
John and his Art Historian wife, Jenn “Dr.J” Barrows, live in their 100-year-old, “work in progress” house in the San Francisco Bay Area and entertain their neighbors with the antics of their Australian Cattle pups Izzy and Darwin.
Taylor Lane
Taylor Lane
Master Inspirer & Designer
Master Inspirer & Designer
Shortly after graduating from San José State University in 2017 with a B.S. in Industrial Design and completing an internship at The North Face as an Equipment Designer, Taylor created the first functional Cigarette Surfboard by upcycling thousands of beach-littered cigarette butts. This project launched him into the worlds of ocean conservation, filmmaking and the surf industry, enabling him to meet and converse with some of the brightest and most renowned minds in these spheres.
This project has offered Taylor the opportunity to speak at the Trinity College in Dublin, We Love Green music festival in Paris, Brightworks Innovation Day in Toronto, Inertia Evolve Summit in Los Angeles, and more.
Born from a long line of makers in the family tree, Taylor has sought fulfillment by finding solutions that address social and environmental problems. As a creative designer and collaborator, he enjoys nothing more than working with others to create ways that open up the minds of people and incite alternative ways of thinking and doing, from products to experiences.
More info: https://tlanecreates.com/
This project has offered Taylor the opportunity to speak at the Trinity College in Dublin, We Love Green music festival in Paris, Brightworks Innovation Day in Toronto, Inertia Evolve Summit in Los Angeles, and more.
Born from a long line of makers in the family tree, Taylor has sought fulfillment by finding solutions that address social and environmental problems. As a creative designer and collaborator, he enjoys nothing more than working with others to create ways that open up the minds of people and incite alternative ways of thinking and doing, from products to experiences.
More info: https://tlanecreates.com/
Kohar Scott
Kohar Scott
Master Thinker & Designer
Master Thinker & Designer
Kohar Scott’s background includes a focus on Color, Material, and Finish (CMF) and IndustrialDesign. She is an Assistant Professor in the Industrial Design program at San José State University.
Her client list includes industry leaders in consumer electronics, pro-audio, toymanufacturing, personal care, and soft goods.
Kohar’s current research revolves around the use of materials, AI, VR, and AR to solve problems in the design process.
More info: https://www.cmf.design/
Her client list includes industry leaders in consumer electronics, pro-audio, toymanufacturing, personal care, and soft goods.
Kohar’s current research revolves around the use of materials, AI, VR, and AR to solve problems in the design process.
More info: https://www.cmf.design/
Alison Armstrong
Alison Armstrong
Master Maker & Designer
Master Maker & Designer
Alison is a Designer and Adjunct Professor at San Jose State University. Her 30 year design career has combined experience in corporate, consulting and teaching. She has several patents and design awards for her work.
A childhood spent in several countries sparked a lifelong interest in the role design plays across cultures and how personal lenses can shape an understanding of the world. Through her career she has focused on improving interactions between people and the objects and spaces in their lives. Seeing the possibilities of design through the eye of client or student and helping both see the world in new ways has been an important part of her design and teaching philosophy. Watching that light bulb of understanding happen with a student in an ongoing source of joy.
Alison is currently spending a lot of time at home in the Santa Cruz mountains with her family, a lovely shaggy dog and a garden with honey bees that has never had so much attention before.
A childhood spent in several countries sparked a lifelong interest in the role design plays across cultures and how personal lenses can shape an understanding of the world. Through her career she has focused on improving interactions between people and the objects and spaces in their lives. Seeing the possibilities of design through the eye of client or student and helping both see the world in new ways has been an important part of her design and teaching philosophy. Watching that light bulb of understanding happen with a student in an ongoing source of joy.
Alison is currently spending a lot of time at home in the Santa Cruz mountains with her family, a lovely shaggy dog and a garden with honey bees that has never had so much attention before.
Soumitri Varadarajan
Soumitri Varadarajan
Master Thinker & Writer
Master Thinker & Writer
Dr. Soumitri Varadarajan, is Discipline Leader, at the Industrial Design Program, RMIT University. He currently holds positions at Universities in New Zealand, China and India, and works with the DESIS Group at RMIT University.
He has worked at Hitachi in Japan and directed studios in Israel, India, Netherlands, China, Turkey, Portugal and France. In his practice, Studio Soumitri, he works to realize new services through prototyping them in communities.
With a first degree in Mechanical Engineering and PhD in social science to add to his Industrial Design training he brings to his design thinking a combination of perspectives from engineering, material culture and systems thinking.
His site, Your Makerspace, is an initial springboard that inspired our team.
He has worked at Hitachi in Japan and directed studios in Israel, India, Netherlands, China, Turkey, Portugal and France. In his practice, Studio Soumitri, he works to realize new services through prototyping them in communities.
With a first degree in Mechanical Engineering and PhD in social science to add to his Industrial Design training he brings to his design thinking a combination of perspectives from engineering, material culture and systems thinking.
His site, Your Makerspace, is an initial springboard that inspired our team.
Future Maker
Future Maker
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Future Designer
Future Designer
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Future Strategist
Future Strategist
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Thank you for your interest in the MAKING•designing•THINKING project.
Thank you for your interest in the MAKING•designing•THINKING project.