Kelly Wayne Pickering

A student of human interactions

Focused on persistent interrogation and rapid iteration to distill and identify root problems, to create design-centric product solutions focused on identifying product market fit. Merging end-user needs, business goals, and stakeholder objectives.

email: kelly@kellypickering.com

Work Experience

06/2021-current

CEO / Founder

Lookout AM LLC DBA Addazu

Highlights

Early-stage startup focused on reconfigurable panelized modular housing. Built an early prototype and conducted full-scale ethnography experiments to prove technical feasibility. Conducted over 100+ customer discovery interviews. Negotiated partnership contracts, built an internal team, raised over $100k in pre-revenue investments, designed and engineered a novel building system, and developed, and negotiated customer contracts

08/2022-current

NREL West Gate Program Director - Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Colorado School of Mines

Highlights

Lead for the Colorado School of Mines NREL West Gate partnership program. The first cohort focused on commercializing four innovative ventures in the clean energy vertical. Personally responsible for developing an internal curriculum focused on incubating hardware product solutions in the deep tech and energy space.

08/2020-08/2022

Adjunct Instructor - Engineering, Design, & Society

Colorado School of Mines

Highlights

Optimized the online learning interface for the Cornerstone design curriculum, managed and expanded client engagement as project advisor for Capstone senior design. Mentored four Capstone senior design projects. One team won third place out of ~60+ teams; a second team raised over $750,000 post-graduation and is currently deploying their product for commercial customers.

01/2020-12/2022

Graduate Candidate - Advanced Manufacturing

Colorado School of Mines

Highlights

Navigated complex university approvals for facility access and funding as the team lead for Mines COVID-19 PPE response. Team lead for two multi-national Innov8x projects, Disaster relief housing (FEAM), and Alternative building materials (United Arab Emirates). Acquired a Master’s Degree in Advanced Manufacturing and a Professional Certificate in Finite Element Analysis.

01/2020-06/2020

Adjunct Instructor

Red Rocks Community College

Highlights

Designed and taught course curriculum for advanced Adobe skills and methodologies for learning design software.

02/2019-08/2020

Adjunct Professor

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design

Highlights

Developed original undergraduate curriculum for Environmental Design and Human Interactive Design courses. Focused on solving complex design problems through 5 stage design thinking: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test.

02/2019-07/2019

User Experience Director

gyro

Highlights

Managed a team of five UX designers and three UI designers across five consumer brands and three offices. Developed user studies to define product features, and functional optimizations.

03/2017-02/2019

Chief Creative Officer / Founder

Schoolyard Creative

Highlights

Built a product development focused agency focused on new and emerging brands. Launched two emerging brands from concept to 20+ state distribution within 24 months.

09/2016-4/2017

UX/UI Consultant

Tempus, Inc.

Highlights

Coordinated multiple SaaS product design efforts and multivariate testing for a cancer genomic sequencing company.

04/2015-09/2016

Senior User Experience Designer

mcgarrybowen

Highlights

Lead experiential designer/design strategist for all on and offline user engagement. Defined the organizational design workflow and built the corporate user-centric design curriculum.

Work history prior to 2015 is available upon request.

Skills & Competencies

- PRODUCT DESIGN

- CUSTOMER DISCOVERY

- DESIGN FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

- STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT

- LEADERSHIP

- CRITICAL THINKING

- CAD MODELING

- CREATIVE EXECUTION 

- COMMUNICATION

- TOPOLOGY DESIGN

- UX DESIGN

- DATA ANALYSIS

- WORDPRESS / CSS / HTML

Achievements & Certificates

Business Owner and Entrepreneur

User Experience Curriculum Development

mcgarrybowen, Chicago

Level A improv training Second City Chicago

Leadership Training LTFI

Communication Style Training DiSC

Solo Showing Artist

Published Paleontologist

Denver Natural History Museum

Colorado State Troopers Colonels Award

Alive at 25 Foundation

Mentor Gold Crown Computer Club

Lakewood, CO

Interests

3-D Design | Social Entrepreneurship Design Experiential Engineering Sustainability | Sociology Population Studies | Micro Farming | Alternative Energy | Architecture | Fine Art | Creative Writing

Education

MS – Advanced Manufacturing / Professional Certificate in Finite Element Analysis

Colorado School of Mines

Bachelor of Arts – Graphic Design

University of Northern Colorado