Insightium, based in Santa Cruz, California, is brought to you by Cliff Jue, a specialist in the tools, processes and cultures of innovation. A brief history of interesting experiences:

Early Years

• A Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University
• A Master's Degree in Product Design from Stanford University
• Joined Intermec, a pioneer in the area of barcode printing & scanning
• Led the mechanical design of Intermec's first on-demand thermal barcode printers, innovating a number of architectural elements that are still visible in the company's products today
• First dealings with the US Patent Office, where an application for a high-speed, shape and weight optimized electronic cutter design was compared to a decades old machete design with a lead weight on the end, cited as prior art.

Engineering-centric Years

• Joined Seagate Technology, at the time, a rapidly expanding company involved in the design and manufacture of computer memory disk drives (now, a world leader)
• As a director of new product development and as a technology specialist, led numerous time-to-market development programs involving high-volume manufacturing, rapid technical problem solving, robust design demands, cost control, risk management and complex program scheduling and management
• For the more geeky readers among you, also gained extensive hands-on design and lab-based testing expertise in the specialized fields of acoustics, shock and vibration, structural dynamics, thermal management, contamination control, Statistical Process Control (SPC), Design For Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA), Finite Element Analysis (FEA), GD&T, Monte Carlo simulations and Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
• Transferred products into full production (overseas), performing numerous root-cause analyses and yield improvement exercises along the way
• Better patent attorneys, more patents

Strategic, User-centric, Business-centric Years

• Followed an invitation from founder David Kelley to join the innovation and design consulting firm IDEO
• Jumped from the design-for-manufacturing engineering world of measurable goals and high tech hurdles to IDEO's soft, front-end world of user-centric thinking
• Led and/or contributed to over 200 client projects, largely in the consumer and medical spaces, discovering latent user needs and addressing them through the development of new products, services and systems
• Collaborated closely with notables ranging from startups such as Pacific Biosciences, to large, iconic organizations such as Apple, Intuitive Surgical, GM, Nellcor Puritan Bennett, Philips/Optiva, Johnson & Johnson, Steelcase, Proctor & Gamble, McDonald's Corporation and the Rockefeller Foundation
• Client-side contributions included both strategic and conceptual work as well as the development of unique intellectual property
• Headed IDEO Engineering before IDEO's post-discipline era began, introducing the use of rapid prototyping capabilities such as Fused Deposition Modeling and laser machining to increase client value
• As a leader in IDEO's Health and Technology groups, guided device development programs and pioneered the unique adaptation of sophisticated data analysis and simulation tools for rapid, non-traditional use as generators of insights. Managed key client relationships and new business development.
• Client patent attorneys, more patents