Lisa Yanz is an Industrial Designer at PDT in Chicago where she explores the connection between front-end research insights and how those "sparks" can be translated into meaningful design solutions. Since graduating from Carnegie Mellon University in 2004 she has gained experience in a variety of industries including medical, consumer products, house wares and soft goods both from a research and design viewpoint. With every new project she aims to bring a fresh perspective and to keep a pulse on what is really important and essential to the end user. She hopes to bring this message to design students through her frequent mentoring work in the Chicago high school and university communities.

Lisa has been awarded several international design awards including an IDEA Silver, a Spark Award and several Good Design Awards, as well has having work featured in publications such as Metropolis and New Design magazines. She is also a newly minted triathlete.