About Juliet
Intersections of Industrial Design, Technology, and The Outdoors
Juliet Mandell is a research-driven and production-focused Industrial Designer in the Portland, OR area. She is a 2021 graduate (Summa Cum Laude & Recipient of The Gorman Award) of The University of Michigan’s Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, with a focus in Outdoor Product Design and Digital Fabrication. There, she conducted several years of digital fabrication & interdisciplinary materials research with Prof. Sophia Brueckner and performed in the University of Michigan Marching Band Drumline & Hockey Band. Juliet also worked as the Head Design Research Assistant at Howland Research during her sophomore, junior, and senior years of college.
Currently, Juliet is a Footwear Test Engineer II at Nike’s Mechanics & Materials lab, where she performs global, Beaverton, and custom tests on experimental materials & products; reviews and analyzes data; and distills findings into digestible reports for performance sports categories. Here, she leverages her passion for creative problem-solving and her athletic background to incorporate athlete insights into designing innovative and accessible footwear.
Earlier in 2025, Juliet served as the Fabrication Manager at Satis&Fy, an innovative scenic and spatial design company specializing in custom fabrication for product launches and corporate activations. There, she was responsible for managing the Fabrication department scheduling, organizing, and execution of in-house elements; advising Production Managers on fabrication techniques, material choices, and installation expectations for high-profile projects (considering CNC and shop fabrication); performing construction analysis and technical drawing review for all in-house build elements; and finalizing CAD on design/build methods.
Juliet previously pursued a Concept Creation & Engineering apprenticeship in Nike’s Bowerman Footwear Lab. She implemented various hands-on and digital fabrication prototyping methods for footwear manufacturing and concepting. In this mentorship program, she followed projects through the entirety of their concepting process, from initial ideation, through several rounds of iteration, to a final prototype; studied pattern engineering and how to translate abstract design goals into a manufacturable shoe; and was able to design, prototype, and manufacture one-off Nike footwear.
Aside from pursuing freelance design, footwear concepting, and consulting work, Juliet enjoys spending her time gravel cycling, rock climbing at local crags, playing board games with her friends, foraging for mushrooms, woodworking, practicing leatherwork & photography, and playing drums. She has also been a sponsored athlete for Organic Climbing since 2022.
A resume, PDF portfolio, and creative statement are available upon request.
