Kelly L. Boren, IDSA | The Boeing Company
Senior Industrial Designer
Philosophy
When I was a young boy I sat in the front seat of my dad’s car at a red light in a small town in South Dakota late one night. The light held my dad’s old Dodge dead in its tracks even though there was not another car within miles. While my dad patiently waited, I knew things had to change. I later learned that the power of creativity itself can help solve problems, break down barriers and lead to new discoveries and new technologies. For these reasons design has always been exciting for me both in practice and theory. Later in life I walked slowly along the Saturn V on static display in Huntsville, it was old by then, but still held its power for me. As I reached the tiny Command Module, tears began to form, and with a lump in my throat I thought to myself, who where these men who believed they could do this? What then, are we really capable of? Astonishing! Inspiring! For me the beauty found in form, the mystery of color and the need for higher function all jammed together with the nuts and bolts of how “stuff” really works and what’s really possible, this is the magic of design. For me the path of discovery is saying – “this is what I have seen, this has been my experience, this is what I think is possible, now you take it and run with it and see where it takes you!”
