Ti Chang: Products for women, by women

When she became the first female industrial designer at Trek, Ti Chang realized that since her field had so few women, real women were underserved by the products companies create. This sparked her mission to design products for women, by women. Watch...after your kids are safely tucked into bed. For more information, visit poptech.org.

Ti Chang is the Co-Founder and VP of Design of CRAVE, a San Francisco-based company specializing in discreet and beautifully designed luxury sex toys. The DUET, Ti’s first design at CRAVE, debuted through a crowd-funding project, which ultimately secured over $100K from over 900 donors and become the world's first crowdfunded sex toy. Since then, Ti has continued to lead the concept and design for the company’s full line of products, including its celebrated foreplay jewelry. 

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Jessica Banks: Real furniture from unreal visions

Levitating tables and robotic chandeliers seem like the stuff of surrealist visions. In a way, they are. Jessica Banks, founder of RockPaperRobot, discusses how a ‘defect’ in her eyes helps her imagine and create improbable, innovative furniture. For more information, please visit poptech.org.

Jessica Banks is an inventor, roboticist, and entrepreneur. She is the founder of RockPaperRobot, a company specializing in responsive objects that expand the functional and aesthetic versatility of traditional decor. From levitating and transformable tables to robotic chandeliers, RPR aligns time-honored craftsmanship with progressive engineering. She is also a creative and technical consultant on major advertising campaigns, global initiative development for international corporations, and robotic designs for high visibility clients. 

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Erika Hall: Asking "why?"

What is the world like now? What should it be like? Mule Design co-founder Erika Hall makes the case that the design process is simply determining the space between “is” and “should.” She argues that designers must also be philosophers, and that the question “why?” is their most vital tool. For more talks, visit poptech.org.

Erika Hall is the author of Just Enough Research. In 2001, she co-founded Mule Design Studio in San Francisco where she is the Director of Strategy. Erika speaks and writes frequently about cross-disciplinary collaboration and the importance of natural language in user interfaces. In her spare time, she battles empty corporate jargon at Unsuck It.

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George Arriola: Mashing it up

George is a hybrid with a wide-ranging background that includes roles at Sony and Apple, to name a few. Here he discusses three world-changing products that wouldn't exist without a hybrid approach. Watch and learn about what can happen when we mash things up with this hybrid mentality. For more information, visit poptech.org.

George Arriola is an entrepreneur, craftsman, product guy, (a)rchitect, type designer, nerd, otaku, sous chef, and epiphany engineer. He is currently founder and CEO at a skunk_works product design boutique known as Minimalisms, and is a Founder, President & Chief Product Officer at Monohm Inc. Monohm exists to create New Necessities™ crafted on core values: heirloom, connection, control, ecosystem - Heirloom Electronics™. Previously, as Founder / CXO at zeroº (zero360, inc.) a stealth wearable hardware and platform company. 

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Joe Palca: NPR's "Big Idea"

NPR’s Joe Palca sits down with chemist and inventor Bryan Shaw, and biomedical engineer Maria Oden to discuss their work and what drives them to design life-saving devices for our most vulnerable populations.

NPR’s Joe Palca sits down with chemist and inventor Bryan Shaw, and biomedical engineer Maria Oden to discuss their work and what drives them to design life-saving devices for our most vulnerable populations.

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