Katie Thompson

Responsible for Industrial Design, Softgoods Development, and Research across QBP’s proprietary brands division consisting of 12 distinct brands spanning the development of bicycles, parts, accessories, and softgoods. Includes direct supervision of team, training, employee development, resource planning, and management of departmental budgets for design, research, and prototype development. (𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘢 𝘊𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘉𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴, 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘊𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢, 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘊𝘰, 45𝘕𝘙𝘛𝘏, 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭, 𝘪𝘚𝘚𝘪, 𝘔𝘚𝘞, 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘋𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘒𝘦𝘵𝘭 𝘔𝘛𝘕) - Developed and scaled the practice of Industrial Design and Softgoods Development, driving the sustainable growth of the physical team, structure, and practices to match the needs of each unique brand while maintaining oversight of the larger business needs for effective resourcing, prioritization, and business planning. - Established and led the Advanced Research and Development program, which nurtures a culture of innovation and empowers staff to turn insights into action - Co-Developed, trained, and implemented QBP’s Product Development Framework. Created to harmonize processes across development teams into a sustainable practice of turning innovative ideas into commercialized products. - Introduced consumer research practice to the QBP brands teams, teaching and implementing qualitative research best practices including observational and experiential interviews, co-creation, and storyboarding. - One of the key founders of QBP’s Equity and Diversity Internship Program - created to enable college students of diverse backgrounds gain professional experience in the bicycle industry ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Camber Outdoors – First Ascent Award // September 2016 Bicycle Retailer Industry Influences Under 35 // March 2015

Lead Industrial Designer for the Salsa Cycles brand for the MY13 to MY15 product lines. Products included bicycle frames, bikepacking accessories, and softgoods. - Drove insight discovery with consumers and sponsored athletes to define Model Year Product and Brand Strategies. - Lead Industrial Designer for the first to market and award winning: carbon fiber fat bike (Salsa Beargrease), and full-suspension carbon fiber fat bike (Salsa Bucksaw). - Collaborated with Creative, Engineering, Product Management, Supply Chain and Manufacturing partners to build over 20 concepts into commercialized product. - Utilized digital sketching, Adobe CS, and SolidWorks to create concepts and ensure design intent was upheld in final manufactured product. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Eurobike Award - Salsa Beargrease Carbon // August 2013 Outside Magazine Gear of the Year - Salsa Bucksaw Carbon // April 2015

- Built an industrial design team from inception to sustainable practices in the course of 12 months to support the growth targets of a multi brand consumer electronics company. - Led with the collaborative integration of the design team in all steps of the product development process from research, identifying of opportunities, to the design and manufacturing of 100+ consumer electronic products. - Created and maintained Visual Brand Language documents for the Memorex, TDK, and Imation brands. PATENTS: USD718736S1

Worked collaboratively within the Corporate Research Laboratory to provide research and product design support for 3M’s six main businesses, with a primary focus in the Health Care and Display + Graphic Businesses - Facilitated cross-disciplinary brainstorms and new growth initiatives - Conducted, developed, and interpreted user research and voice of customer sessions - Managed and lead design support for new product initiatives - Assisted, envisioned, and implemented new technology initiatives