Douglas Laube
President / CEO

Douglas Laube is President, Founder and CEO of Ignition. With an academic background that included Business, Graphic Design, Architecture and Industrial Design, he spent several years working in each of these disciplines before deciding to branch out on his own.

In December, 1985, Douglas Laube Industrial Design was founded and set up offices in old downtown Plano, where the company experienced continual growth for the next decade.

In July of 1994, Mr. Laube changed his company’s name to Ignition, Inc., and in December of 1999 the company moved to its present location, a 27,000 square foot, award-winning facility in Plano, TX. Throughout its growth, the company has maintained Mr. Laube’s vision of design whose driving force is centered on user behavior. Ignition is passionate about great design and is dedicated to its clients’ success.

Ron Guillard
Principal / COO

Ron Guillard has been with Ignition since 1990, acting as Principal and COO. Ron is responsible for all areas of strategic product development, including research, product conception, mechanical development, industrial design and model making. Ron is a founding board member of the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) and holds that organization’s certification as a New Product Development Professional (NPDP).

Ron is a graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, with a B.S in Industrial Design, as well as Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, with an Executive MBA.

Jeff Garrett
Principal / CMO

Jeff Garrett specializes in product development, strategic marketing and market research. He has developed products, marketing plans, and business plans in the computer and consumer electronics industries for over sixteen years. He began his career at Texas Instruments in the Defense Systems Group and later in the Corporate Venture Projects and DLP Groups. In 1997, Jeff formed The Mercury Group, a Strategic Marketing Consultancy, with one other partner. There he provided market analysis and planning for clients including new startups, business expansions, and joint ventures involving Fortune 500 companies. Jeff joined Ignition in 2002 as Principal and Chief Marketing Officer.

Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Oklahoma State University and a Master of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Dallas.

Lawrence Weng
Director of Asia Operations

Lawrence Weng heads up the Ignition Asia Division as Director of Operations. His responsibilities include optimizing international product development processes and strategic business development. His base of operations is Taipei, but he also works in Hong Kong and ShenZhen. Mr. Weng has over 15 years of design experience and has also taught Industrial Design at the college level for over 14 years. He is an award-winning designer, being a recipient of the IF Industrie Forum Design Award in Germany, the Japan Award of Good Design and the Taiwan Award of National Design.

Mr. Weng has a BS in Product Design from the Art Center of Design in California and is currently working on his MS in Design Management at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology in Taipei, Taiwan.

Kevin Hodge
Vice-President of Product Development

Kevin Hodge has been a member of the Ignition team since 1995, and currently serves as its VP of Product Development. He began his professional career as a Mechanical Design Engineer at Texas Instruments. While there, he was responsible for the design of electronic educational toys, calculators and educational accessory items at the Dallas facility and as a supporting member of their notebook computer division in Temple, TX. Once joining Ignition, Kevin assisted in building the mechanical design competency within the company, provided creative design leadership, and established process standards in design and documentation phases of projects. He has been a key team member on all design projects, supporting the mechanical design activities.

Kevin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

Bryan Hynecek
Director of Design

Bryan Hynecek has been a member of the Ignition design team since 1998, beginning as a staff designer and then serving as both Visual Communications and Design Manager. He is currently the Director of Design, and is responsible for the supervision of the Industrial Design staff and the implementation of the overall design philosophy.

Bryan attended the University of North Texas, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He is a member of IDSA, the DSVC, DMI and CMG.

James Russell
Director of Design Planning

James Russell has over 10 years of experience in innovation strategy and research. His career began in the Advanced Products and Technologies Division at Motorola, where he created concepts and strategies for new wireless consumer products, services and businesses. In 1997, he joined Ernst & Young’s Corporate Innovation and Strategy team, where he helped the firm’s Senior Partners create new client services in E&Y’s core businesses, as well as developing strategy and service concepts for new practice areas in Intellectual Property, International Law, and eCommerce. Later, James launched his own consulting practice, serving clients such as Ernst & Young, Minolta Consumer Products Group, and McDonald’s, among others. He has taught Strategic Design Planning at the graduate level at the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology.

James has a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric from the University of Illinois at Champaign, and a Master of Design degree in Design Planning from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology.

Pat Clark
Director of Engineering

Pat Clark is Director of Engineering for Ignition. He began his professional career at Texas Instruments Defense and Electronics Group. While there he designed composite material molds and parts, antenna test range fixtures and antenna/microwave components. He worked briefly as Senior Mechanical Engineer at White Rock Networks, designing primarily telecom equipment, before coming to Ignition, where he has specialized in consumer electronics, toys, telecommunications and computer equipment.

Pat holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Jeff Pollard
Senior Design Planner

Jeff Pollard is a Senior Design Planner at Ignition. He has been working in the design, internet and consulting space for 15 years. His career began as an information designer shortly after the first Macintosh broke onto the publishing scene and he has been a strong advocate of strategic design (and Apple) ever since. Jeff has worked for both large and small firms, including Arthur Andersen, Doblin, VSA Partners, EFCO and now Ignition. His client list is just as diverse, including such firms as Intel Corporation, Lands' End, McDonald's, RadioShack, Rockwell Industries, PowerWay Inc., and the Chicago Historical Society.

Jeff's formal education began with a BFA in Graphic Design from Southwest Missouri State University. A design conference in Chicago introduced him to the Institute of Design, where he later received a Master's degree in Design Planning. However, Jeff continues to rely on a passion for learning which he employs to better understand insights and shape discoveries on every project.

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