Introduction to Making & Hardware Ventures

Cassandra (Cassie) Lowell is a Lecturer at MIT Sloan. Cassie is cofounder of Cosmosii, https://cosmosii.com/, a Delta V team centered around providing digital business tools to artists making custom goods to help them find new clients, manage their workflows, and allow them to spend more time doing what they love most: creating! Much of Cassie’s career to date has been focused around improving tools and protocols, enabling researchers, engineers, and creators to more easily reach their full potential. She has taken prototypes to production for both machines and materials in the 3D printing industry, built out database and customer service protocols for large warehouse operations, and enabled the use of handheld bio contaminant detection devices in the field. Her research and thesis work revolved around optimizing data collection for athletes using wearable devices. Additionally, Cassie has extensive experience in the garment and costume design space. She has competed in craftsmanship and design competitions for both needlework and armor designs on a national level, and traveled all over the US to both teach costuming and craft technique as well as judge competitions. Her design work has been featured in craft-centric publications and on multiple runways. Cassie graduated from Harvard with a BS in Engineering Sciences from Harvard, with a secondary in East Asian Studies. Additionally, she is a member of the Society of Women Engineers, and is a Lifetime Girl Scout (and regularly volunteers with the organization).

Macauley Kenney is an Entrepreneur in Residence and a lecturer at MIT Sloan and MIT D-Lab. Macauley is an executive leader at SurgiBox, a medical device venture creating novel surgical technologies. At SurgiBox, she oversaw the launch of the first ultraportable operating room, taking the product through the design for manufacturing process and into use on the battlefield in Ukraine. Macauley also served as the PI on a $2.5M SBIR P2 with US Air Force Special Operations Command, and as company liaison for DOD engagements. She is passionate about human-centered design and increasing the success of impact-based ventures, particularly in hardware. Macauley teaches manufacturing technologies, with a focus on adaptation within low-resource settings, at MIT’s D-Lab. She is also the author of two patents on OR technology. Prior to this she was an early joiner at a rapidly expanding consulting startup in Bogota, growing the company 4x in two years and overseeing the expansion into three new country offices: Kenya, Peru, and Morocco. A serial entrepreneur, Macauley has specialized in scaling organizations in emerging markets, and has led operational systems for ventures in the U.S., Rwanda, and Uganda. Additionally, she has studied early founding team dynamics and their impact on growth strategies. Her research has been featured in multiples news outlets, including Forbes and Engineering for Change. Macauley is an accomplished public speaker, winning the MIT Can Talk competition while at university, and the North American Present Around the World Competition. She frequently serves as a competition judge, and coaches public speaking with an emphasis on stage presence and narrative building. Macauley holds an MS in Technology and Policy from MIT, a Sustainability Certificate from MIT Sloan, and a BS in Biomedical Engineering from WPI. Outside of her work as an EIR she serves on the Council of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, an international professional engineering society.