I'm Mihai — a Chicago-based industrial designer and innovation strategist with 15+ years taking physical products from early concept through manufacturing. I've led design for connected medical devices, consumer electronics, kitchen appliances, wearables, and smart home systems for companies including Philips, Cricut, Williams-Sonoma, and Wahoo Fitness.

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I also know what it's like to be on the other side of the table: I co-founded and led design for Pepper, a connected nutrition startup that raised pre-seed funding and went through Techstars and Brinc IoT. That combination of large-company discipline and startup reality is what I bring to ambitious teams. 

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I take on select work, embedded or project-based, focused on:

• Connected health & medical devices

• Consumer & connected hardware (IoT, smart home)

• Fractional or interim design leadership for early-stage teams

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Outside work, I'm a husband and father based in Evanston, IL, and I spend the rest of my time cooking, playing drums, and losing the occasional battle with my garden.