Product Development in Austin Texas

MAKO Design + Invent loves being part of a community that fosters innovation in product development. Each year there are thousands of new products launched and brought to market in the US and around the globe. Our Austin community is home to numerous businesses that bring innovative products to market such as Yeti Coolers, MEPSS, and Skymine.

Three of the Most Innovative Product Development

One company in Austin, TX that has made its mark on the product development market is Yeti coolers. Founded by two brothers in 2006, the Yeti ice chest was created to stand up to their rigorous outdoor use during hunting and fishing excursions. Designed to be used and abused in the outdoors, the ice chest can withstand abuse such as a man standing on top to cast a fishing pole, or as seen on their website, an invasion from a hungry grizzly bear! This product shows how careful design and materials selection can make all the difference in the quality of a product.

Nanshu Lu, assistant professor of aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics at the Cockrell School of Engineering at UT Austin, has created a bio integrated electronics wearable “tattoo” device. Similar to a temporary tattoo, the device is flexible, non-obtrusive, and can be designed to look how the wearer chooses. The technology has had implications in the medical field, through her proposed Multiparametric Epidermal Physiological Sensing System (MEPSS). The small device could measure data such as a person’s stress level, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation. Nanshu was recently awarded funding through the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Award to help with her product development over the next three years.

Carbon Dioxide emissions have become a major concern due to global warming. The Austin company Skyonic has created a new technology called Skymine to help reduce the impact of carbon emissions. The technology takes the waste gasses from industrial plants, and harvests them for product manufacturing, creating raw materials for things such as baking soda, glass manufacturing, paper whitening, and animal feed. Their first product launched in 2014 capturing 83,000 tons of CO2 from a cement plant in San Antonio, TX.

Every day, companies both small and large are hard at work in Austin creating the technology of the future. MAKO is passionate about contributing to Austin’s active community. It is a community that we love to call home.

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!