The tech industry drew in Andrew Sanderson from England to Austin.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where success is made,\u201d says Sanderson. \u201cI worked across Western Europe, Scandinavia, and the Middle East, but no other place had quite the same opportunities that I found waiting for me here in Austin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanderson\u2019s passion for industrial design and product development started at age 16 when he took a job with the Royal Air Force as a propulsion technician. By his mid-20s Sanderson started working on industrial gas turbines for General Electric. All along he kept tinkering with product designs of his own. While on vacation two years ago he came up with an idea for a product to help kite surfers save luggage space while traveling. He took his engineering skills and developed the X3 Kite Compression Kit. It went to market and Sanderson\u2019s career path took a turn.<\/p>\n
When he moved to Austin, he enrolled at Austin Community College to pursue an architectural engineering degree<\/a> and expects to graduate in fall 2015.<\/p>\n One night, while working on a class project, he came up with another new product, a mechanical pencil that will last a lifetime.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s made from a solid piece of metal. I had no intention to take it public. I made it because I wanted it myself, but people started asking me for one of their own. They wanted to know where I got it,\u201d says Sanderson. \u201cI made a rule that if more than five people told me they wanted one of these pencils then I\u2019d take the design public. That happened in less than a month.\u201d<\/p>\n Sanderson launched a Kickstarter campaign<\/a> in December to help him refine the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n \u201cI looked into how much it would cost to make and asked how much people would pay for it,\u201d says Sanderson. \u201cI wanted to prove that I could do it. I didn\u2019t realize it was going to be so big.\u201d<\/p>\n He set a relatively low funding goal of $4,000. He\u2019s received more than $138,000.<\/p>\n \u201cThere have been 1,600 orders,\u201d says Sanderson. \u201cIt\u2019s really kind of incredible actually.\u201d<\/p>\n Sanderson\u2019s design won the 2015 Student Notable Design Award\u00a0from Core77, a nationally published industrial design magazine.<\/p>\n He\u2019s since founded his own design company, Modern Fuel Design, where he works with clients to bring their product ideas to life.<\/p>\n \u201cI moved here with a bold vision,\u201d says Sanderson. \u201cI was prepared for small steps. This is putting me leaps ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n Learn more ACC\u2019s architectural and engineering design program at austincc.edu\/info\/cad<\/a>. Find out how to get started at austincc.edu\/enroll<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The tech industry drew in Andrew Sanderson from England to Austin. \u201cThis is where success is made,\u201d says Sanderson. \u201cI worked across Western Europe, Scandinavia, and the Middle East, but no other place had quite … Continue reading \n
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