Hunter Foy

Auburn University industrial design graduate Hunter Foy has made a name for himself in both the corporate world at IBM and as an independent consultant as president of OrchardDesign studio. While employed at IBM, Foy worked on the design of the Simon, the world’s first smartphone that went on sale in 1994 and featured a touchscreen, email capability and a handful of built-in apps including a calculator and sketch pad. The award-winning designer also created several tablets and notebook-style laptops, and worked on the design of kitchen appliances, outdoor lighting and medical devices. Foy was also lead designer on a diagnostic tool for General Motors.

Howard Garrett

For years considered the “face of industrial design in Alabama,” Bessemer native Howard Garrett graduated with a degree in industrial design from Auburn University in 1950 and then worked in the store planning and fixture industry. In 1960, the World War II Army veteran founded Howard Garrett & Associates Inc., which provided store, product and fixture design services to the national retail market. The firm evolved in 1981 into HGA Products, which provided total store interior design services to global clients such as Estée Lauder Companies Inc. and all of the custom store case work for Tiffany worldwide.

Photo Credit: Howard Garrett

Intergraph Corporation 

Though Silicon Valley may be the epicenter of tech companies today, one of the earliest developers of hardware and software got its start in Huntsville. Intergraph Corporation was founded in 1969 by former IBM employees who worked with NASA and the Army to develop systems to apply digital computing to missile guidance. By 2000, Intergraph was focusing exclusively on software and by 2008 was one of the world’s largest software companies. The company was acquired in 2010 by Hexagon AB, a global technology group based in Sweden.  

Photo Credit: Intergraph

Brad Lugar

Part of Birmingham’s flourishing beer scene is Steel City Taps, a design and production company started by Auburn University 2013 industrial design graduate and Alabama native Brad Lugar. The company’s main focus is the design and production of custom, hand-painted tap handles, along with branding and promotional materials with all products made in-house. Steel City has created taps for a number of breweries nationwide. The company is also working with several microbrewers to help with their marketing and branding needs through the use of keg collars, stickers, web pages and other means.

Photo Credit : Brad Lugar

Tim Cook

Apple recently became the first company in the United States to reach a $1 trillion market value due in large part to its well-designed products, in particular the iPhone. Apple CEO Tim Cook called this monumental milestone “not the most important measure” of the company’s success, but was instead the result of its laser-sharp focus on its products, customers and company values. Cook’s degree from Auburn University is in industrial engineering, not design. Nevertheless, Cook has taken one of the largest design-driven companies in the world to stratospheric heights.

Photo Credit: Tim Cook

Tippi Clark

With her experience in design and development for major brands, Auburn University industrial design graduate Tippi Clark’s resume reads like a Who’s Who in fashion design – Banana Republic, Kate Spade, Juicy Couture, Coach and Club Monaco, to name a few. The Opelika native is currently senior technical designer at Marc Jacobs for handbags and novelty accessories and creative director for the design firm The Novogratz. At Banana Republic, Clark was production and product development manager for all accessories and she served as director of development for Rebecca Minkoff. Clark is also the founder of denim brand Holt McCall and Little Flea NOLA, a new Orleans-based flea market specializing in vintage finds.

Photo Credit: Tippi Clark

Tom Hardy

Every time you use your laptop or ThinkPad you have early innovators like Alabama native Tom Hardy to thank. Hardy studied industrial design at Auburn University under Eva Pfeil and Walter Schaer and then began a 22-year career at IBM as an industrial designer of award-winning IBM products, including the original IBM Personal Computer introduced in 1981. In 2016, two products directly influenced by Hardy were selected by Time magazine as being among “The 50 Most Influential Gadgets of All Time.” No. 5 on the list is the first IBM Personal Computer 5150 and No. 21 is the iconic IBM ThinkPad 700C. Today, Hardy is Professor of Design Management at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

Photo Credit: Tom Hardy

KW Container

A pioneer in the plastics recycling industry, Troy-based KW Plastics was founded in 1981 to process used automotive battery casings into polypropylene resin – a durable and versatile material much in demand for making quality recycled products. In 1998, KW entered the packaging industry with its all-plastic, one-gallon can that’s injection molded and 100 percent recycled and recyclable. Today, KW Container is the leading global supplier with these all-plastic, one-gallon paint containers to the paint and coatings industry. KW also supplies recycled resin to many industries including automotive, agriculture and construction.

Photo credit: KW Container

Chris Livaudais

An organization that was instrumental to the design career of Chris Livaudais has now appointed him to its top position. The Auburn University industrial design graduate is the new interim executive director of the Industrial Designers Society of America, one of the oldest and largest industrial design associations. Livaudais has been an active member in IDSA since he graduated from Auburn University in 2002, serving in several key regional positions. Livaudais was senior design consultant at Embraer in the San Francisco Bay Area when named to head the IDSA. Prior to this, he was creative director of InReality in Atlanta. 

Photo credit: Chris Livaudais

Lloyd Cooper

“I always wanted to be an inventor when I grew up,” says industrial designer Lloyd Cooper, who studied mechanical engineering and industrial design at Auburn University. As co-founder and principal of PUSH Product Design in Birmingham, Cooper – who currently holds 17 patents – has achieved his childhood dream and more. PUSH has provided full industrial design services for the past 20 years, taking on a range of challenges from advanced jet-skis to new medical technologies. Among PUSH’s diverse clients are Altec, Yamaha, Gibson, John Deer, University of Alabama at Birmingham and Wake Forest School of Medicine.

Photo credit: Lloyd Cooper

Eva Pfeil and Walter Schaer

Two professors of industrial design at Auburn University made important contributions to field in Alabama and beyond. Drs. Eva Pfeil and Walter Schaer, both graduates of the famed Ulm School of Design in Germany, joined Auburn’s faculty in 1960. For three decades they elevated its industrial design program and taught countless students who themselves made significant contributions in the field. Pfeil and Schaer are recognized as educators who “brought to the South a new design approach which considered user-centered research a prerequisite for intelligent and responsible product development.”

Photo credit: Eva Pfeil and Walter Schaer

Owen Foster

Owen Foster, a 2005 graduate of Auburn’s Master of Industrial Design Program, has spent much of his career bringing design to students. He is co-founder and co-director of SHIFT Design Camp, where high school and university students worldwide meet every summer near Tuscumbia to engage in design. The Alabama native is also director at Aether Global Learning, a think tank for transformational learning and leadership, and is co-owner and designer of Fulcrum Collaborative, a multi-disciplinary design studio. The Industrial Designers Society of America named Owen Foster its 2015 IDSA Educator of Year while he was department chair of industrial design at Savannah College of Art and Design.

Photo credit: Owen Foster

Mary Catherine (Clem) Folmar

The designs created by Mary Catherine Folmar for her hand-illustrated textiles and wall coverings reflect her Alabama upbringing, along with her travels through Europe, Asia and America’s east and west coasts. Her style is inspired by the “classic and timeless design of southern living while pushing the limits with contemporary patterns, colors and textures.” The Auburn University industrial design graduate founded Birmingham-based Cotton & Quill in 2012 and has been featured in a number of publications including Southern Living.

Photo credit: Mary Catherine (Clem) Folmar

Ken Musgrave

Auburn University industrial design graduate Ken Musgrave is vice president and head of Global Customer Experience and Global Experience Design for Hewlett-Packard, where he leads new product, brand and user experience design and development. Before HP, Musgrave was executive director of experience design at Dell Inc., directing the design of every category of Dell products and leading the global design capability for Dell’s commercial products. Prior to Dell, he served in various product development leadership roles for Becton Dickinson, a medical technology company. He was previously at Ratio Design Labs, an emerging design & technology development firm in Atlanta.

Photo credit: Ken Musgrave

Anjuli Bedekar Clavert

As Senior Innovation Strategist at Humana in Louisville, Kentucky, Anjuli Bedekar Clavert champions human-centered design and innovation discipline to develop solutions that reduce the occurrence of disease and slow its progression. Clavert graduated cum laude from Auburn University in 2008 with a degree in industrial design and has spent the past 10 years designing products and experiences for a wide variety of consumers, brands and technologies. She was named one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30” in Manufacturing & Industry in 2015.

Photo credit: Anjuli Bedekar Clavert