Karl D.D. Willis Email & Phone Number

San Francisco, Ca, Us

I lead research projects in collaboration with industry and academia to solve difficult problems related to design, machine learning, and advanced manufacturing. Most recently we have focused on applying deep learning to solid models, the pervasive CAD format used to design almost all manufactured objects. Together with collaborators from MIT, Brown University, and UCL we published numerous papers on this topic at CVPR, ICML, and SIGGRAPH. Our hope is to enhance future CAD tools with predictive capabilities that free designers from mundane tasks and support creative exploration.Previously we collaborated with NASA JPL to design and manufacture an interplanetary lander to aid in the search for life beyond earth. Numerous media outlets covered the story, including Fast Company, which called our lander design 'the most complex generative design ever made'.

San Francisco, Ca, Us

Contributed to the overall design, engineering, and product research for a new additive manufacturing technology that raised $12M and was subsequently spun out of Autodesk. Highlights include:- Named inventor on the original patent- Market research to identify product-market fit and identify early customers that aided in successfully raising venture capital- Designed and implemented a user interface and analytics system to track manufactured parts and related data

Voxel8 is an early stage startup that develops advanced materials for additive manufacturing. My role as VP of Product Development was to lead the discovery of applications enabled by Voxel8 technology and define/manage product requirements. Notable accomplishments include:- Signed the first revenue-generating joint development agreement with an industrial partner- Awarded an R&D 100 Award for the Voxel8 Developer's Kit- Performed extensive market research to inform the company pivot towards industrial applications

At Addimation we developed a data analytics service to improve production efficiency in additive manufacturing (AM). By capturing key AM production metrics in real-time we enabled a new level of transparency and understanding of events happening on the production floor.In addition to duties as CEO, I worked on the front-end for the analytics webapp (HTML, Javascript, Angular) as well as a desktop app (HTML, node.js, nw.js) that would aggregate data from network packets and logs and send to the cloud. Our data analytics service was acquired by FATHOM in November 2015.

San Francisco, Ca, Us

At Autodesk I was a founding member of the hardware team responsible for Autodesk's move into the 3D printing hardware and materials space. I lead a team as Project Manager developing 'Project Wire', a design tool for creating freeform 3D circuitry using a 3D printed electronics platform developed at Harvard University and commercialized by startup Voxel8. Announced in January 2015, the project was cited as one of the '9 Best Ideas from CES 2015' by Fast Company.

Los Angeles, Ca, Us

I was a member of the Interaction Group at Disney Research Pittsburgh. I developed new interfaces for gestural interaction with mobile projectors and fabrication techniques for 3D printing interactive displays, sensors, and lighting. I pursued projects from the ideation stage, through development, and onto commercialization. My work at Disney won numerous awards and featured frequently in the press such as Wired, New Scientist, and BBC.

Redmond, Washington, Us

I worked with Andy Wilson in the Natural Interaction Group at Microsoft Research to develop 'InfraStructs', material-based passive tags that embed machine-readable information in the interior of digitally fabricated objects.

As a research assistant at the JST Erato Design Interface Project my work focused on developing computational systems that cultivate creativity and support self-expression. In particular, how digital media could be combined with digital fabrication tools to design and create real-world objects.

Tokyo, Jp

Together with Ivan Poupyrev, I developed '12Pixels', an innovative interface, mobile phone application, and web service that allows people to draw and share pixel based imagery using only the keys of a standard mobile phone. I worked with Sony Marketing Japan and Imaginative Inc on the official Japanese release. This work won a Tokyo Interactive Ad Award and was later released by Sony Ericsson internationally as a pre-installed application on numerous phones.

Interaction, graphic, and software interface design for clients in New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, and Japan.

Tallinn, Estonia, Ee

Interaction design projects for an award-winning multinational studio focused on online innovation.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Computational Design

Master Of Design, Product Design

Bachelor Of Digital Media (Honours), Interaction Design

Bachelor Of Computer Graphic Design, Time Based Media