Tell us about your background

I grew up on the North Carolina coast and have always loved the sea, as well as lscience and science fiction. I went to Space Camp as a kid to be closer to the vehicles I'd read about and watched. I later studied architecture, then gravitated to industrial design.

I started at IBM in the 1990s, where I learned to craft new category devices from our lead, Richard Sapper, one of the most impactful designers of the 20th century. Other career highlights before DEEP include working in NASA's habitability design group, where we heard feedback from Apollo astronauts including Neil Armstrong, and designing the next gen Humvee at BAE.

What’s your role at DEEP?

I began as the sole industrial designer and built a team to apply the processes that I’ve seen work in other organisations. DEEP projects combine NASA-style work with the pace of a tech startup. Our day-to-day work involves learning about life in underwater habitats, developing habitat architecture concepts for DEEP products, and working with our amazing subsea engineering teams to make those concepts a reality. A big part of our process is using physical models to make the concepts more real, to learn from them, and to make quick iterations to improve designs. We then follow the concepts to the factory floor, ensuring the highest level of execution on the habitat vision.

What's your favourite thing about working at DEEP?

It's a perfect fit for my passions and experiences. My favourite thing about working at DEEP is that we have the team, assets, and capabilities to create fantastic new habitats and vehicles the world has never seen or imaged before. We will bring a more comfortable and safer habitat experience to the next generation of explorers who will someday live and work under the ocean. Another favourite aspect is the people - we have an amazingly talented and diverse group of people here, a perfect combination for innovation and creative collaboration. Lastly, I've been a science fiction fan my whole life and DEEP is making sci-fi dreams a reality.