Heidi Kneller (highflung)

I always joke that my dad brainwashed me into being an engineer.  He was a math teacher and is a prolific tinkerer, fixerer, inventor, and brain puzzle addict. His favorite saying was always “You just wait, calculus will change your world” and I have a vivid memory of him trying to explain the math of pulley systems to my pre-kindergarten brain.  My mom is a musician who also tried brainwashing and I blame them both for my inquiring mind’s ADD.  I love to learn, to ask questions, to experience new things, to be uncomfortably surrounded by things I don’t yet understand, and to help others be challenged and grow. I think the single most important facet to nurture in oneself is the ability to wonder; both to do it regularly and to have it come upon you easily, often, and unexpectedly. Being constantly wonder-FULL also keeps you grateful, breeds reverence for our world, is contagious, and self-propagates.

 
I work for a research and development organisation of a large engineering company. We have the freedom to step out from under regulations, bend reality, and imagine the future.  We research technologies, experiment with different research methodologies, build proof-of-concept mock-ups, network and partner with other industries and academics, and interface directly with a wide range of customers. We have the opportunity to ask many questions and to constantly grow our arsenal of skills.  The truest challenge of our charter is to push the boundaries while continuing to speak the language of the production design world while providing compelling stories about our designs, research, and discoveries that show profound relevance.  To many, designing a product coming to market fifteen years from now that needs to continue being market relevant for 50+ years is unimaginable. We attempt to inspire while helping turn the essence of the unimaginable into plans, schedules, and drawings.

I like to travel, to take pictures, to climb/hike, scuba dive, play with words, read, and love the colour red. I grew up in Zimbabwe, hate Crest toothpaste, have a fascination for all things elephants, am a cheese-addicted vegetarian, like to blow glass, and just got my first motorcycle.

This is me, intrepid explorer and posing model, in Lochinvar National Park, Zambia examining animal droppings while lugging around some remnant from a fierce and wild beast. 1980ish I think.