Kickr Design

06/23/2026

What can you build in 48 hours?

That's exactly what Make48 asked competitors at SkillsUSA in Atlanta.

5 enthusiastic high school teams had 48 hours to design a brand new product, and our team volunteered to help!

Bringing ideation, facilitation, and prototyping, our team had a blast watching young, aspiring engineers show off their talents.

06/22/2026

An AI tool told a product team that a specific chemical formula would keep skywriting smoke suspended for 10 minutes. Basic physics says that's impossible. A slight breeze makes it completely irrelevant.

The formula was detailed. It was confident. It was completely wrong.

Most people using these tools don't have the engineering background to tell the difference. And that gap is costing product teams real time and money.

We wrote about where AI actually helps in development: https://www.kickrdesign.com/the-honest-guide-to-ai-in-product-development/

What's the most confident-but-wrong thing you've seen AI generate in an engineering or product context?

AI tools can accelerate early-stage product development, but knowing where they help and where real engineering takes over is what separates a great render from a product you can actually build.

06/19/2026

Have you met Lee Farris?

He's one of the Mechanical Engineers here at Kickr. If your bold idea exists in the automotive, aerospace, robotics, industrial, or biomedical spaces, chances are, he will be one of your go-to experts.

⚙️ 9+ years at Kickr
⚙️ Bachelor’s Degree from Georgia Tech.
⚙️ 5+ yrs experience doing machine vision systems
⚙️ Traveled to 17 or 18 different countries
⚙️ Avid skydiver (300+ dives)
⚙️ Works on inventions in his home lab

Get to know more about Lee!
https://www.kickrdesign.com/team/ -721

06/18/2026

Meet the chemical-free, non-invasive, and easy-to-use sink unclogger: The Delamite! The Kickr engineering and design teams put this idea through these phases to bring the prototype to life:

→ General Concept
→ Custom Electronics
→ Mechanical Engineering
→ Prototype Fabrication

What solution have you thought of for a practical, everyday problem? Let’s bring it to life!

06/15/2026

Getting internal buy-in for outsourcing a hardware development project is a distinct challenge from the engineering work itself.

❌Finance wants to know the cost rationale
❌Legal or procurement has questions about IP
❌Leadership wants to know the risk profile
❌And don’t let the engineering team find out secondhand

We’ve got the resource to help you make your case and move the needle on essential product development: https://www.kickrdesign.com/how-to-build-an-internal-business-case-for-a-hardware-rd-partner/

You know your organization needs hardware R&D support. Getting internal approval is the harder part. A practical framework for making the case.

06/15/2026

Our team of engineers flipped the script on a boring function (monitoring PC performance) into a tool that’s bold, fun, and exciting.

We designed a USB-connected gauge that displays CPU usage, RAM, network speeds, and more in a fun, real-time format. Like the dashboard of a racecar.

Here’s where we came in:
→ Product design
→ Electrical & mechanical engineering
→ Software development
→ Prototyping

The result? A sleek, functional device with custom PCBs, LED backlighting, and precision manufacturing.

06/13/2026

AI accelerates ideation, but manufacturability still requires professional, experienced engineering judgment. From a human who knows what they're doing and what will work.

See our latest insights: https://www.kickrdesign.com/the-honest-guide-to-ai-in-product-development/

AI tools can accelerate early-stage product development, but knowing where they help and where real engineering takes over is what separates a great render from a product you can actually build.

06/11/2026

The Delamite was the answer to the question “How can we unclog sinks and plumbing using a vacuum and chemical-free, non-invasive methods?”

The Kickr engineering and design teams put this idea through these phases to bring the prototype to life:
→ General Concept
→ Custom Electronics
→ Mechanical Engineering
→ Prototype Fabrication

See the full case study: https://www.kickrdesign.com/projects/delamite/

06/04/2026

Meet a few of your Project Managers! These are the team members here at Kickr who will connect you with our mechanical, medical, industrial, and electrical engineering support and help you navigate the messy middle of product development.

Get to know them here: https://www.kickrdesign.com/team/

06/03/2026

We worked with on a fingerprint scanner to address a confusing, unintuitive lounge check‑in experience. All while working under tight timelines and without altering the existing electronics.

We conducted on‑site user research, reimagined the interface and form factor, and engineered a new scanner integration.

The result? A seamless, intuitive lounge entry system that improved user flow, avoided costly re‑certification, and delivered a polished, manufacturable prototype.

All on schedule!