About

Brook Kennedy is a product designer, university researcher and inventor with more than twenty years of experience. He was the winner of the Red Dot Best of the Best Award in 2011, along with numerous other accolades before and since. With a foundation in inclusive, human-centered design practices with Smart Design, OXO, Michael Graves Design and others, he has championed the voice of the user and helped define some of the world's most recognized brands. He has commercialized more than 60 mass produced products, many which continue to be successful after years on the market. Today, in addition to advising roles with forward-looking companies, NGOs and startups, he is also co-founder of the BioDesign Research Group, a sponsored research consortium exploring the potential of biological insight and technology in the designed environment with a focus on renewable materials, health and resource management. Many of these projects have been covered in international media and publications including the New York Times, NPR, PBS Newshour, BBC, Czech National Radio, Design Boom, CNN, Ingeniøren, the Washington Post, Fast Company, the Boston Globe and the Verge. His work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian, ICFF, Budapest Design Week among other venues.

Kennedy also mentors the next generation of designers with principles of life-centered design, to leverage design and emerging technology responsibly for the benefit of entire ecosystems, not humans alone. Originally from New York City of the ‘Three Days of the Condor’ and Richard Estes era, he teaches in the College of Architecture, Arts and Design at Virginia Tech where he enjoys being a pedestrian in a small, college town. Kennedy was educated at Reed College in Portland, Oregon and earned a Master of Fine Arts in Design at Stanford University under Matt Kahn. You can contact him at brook (dot) kennedy at vt (dot) edu or at brook at stanfordalumni (dot) org. Publications and patents can be viewed here.