HLB has over 45 years of recognized excellence for its design and development of countless diverse and widely recognized products. Award–winning designs have included the Johnson & Johnson Embrace Heart Stabilizer, the Motorola NFL Coaches’ Headset, and the iRobot Roomba Discovery Floorvac. In 2007, products created for newly public Israeli firm Medgenics, Sears Craftsman, Braun, Westell and other clients earned HLB eight awards and media recognition.

Ann Kauth, Director of Research, will be based out of the firm’s Chicago headquarters. Prior to joining HLB, Kauth led research teams for Sapient, Avenue A-Razorfish and E-Lab.

Ms. Kauth brings 13 years of research expertise in understanding customers and end-user experiences to her role with HLB. She has helped companies like General Mills, BMW, McDonald’s, Urologix, Johnson & Johnson and Motorola understand their customers’ needs and helped create the stimulus, vision, and messaging for many valued products. Kauth received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Chicago.

Fred Keith, Director of Sales and Business Development, will work out of the Waltham, Massachusetts office. He will contribute to growth at HLB through acquisition of new customers as well as maintaining business relationships with existing customers.

Mr. Keith spent 22 years in sales in the R&D and enterprise software field, working primarily with engineering and product development teams, where he was engaged in product design, development and manufacturing business processes. Most recently, he held regional sales executive positions at Siemens PLM (formerly UGS), the start-up firm Aras Corporation, and Workgroup Technology Corporation. Keith earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University.

Mary Mikelk, Director of Business Strategy & Innovation, will work out of HLB’s Waltham Massachusetts office. With over 20 years of experience in leading businesses through strategic initiatives, Ms. Mikelk will help HLB’s clients formulate and plan their business innovation strategies by placing particular emphasis on achieving design solutions that are meaningful to the end user and relevant to the client brand. This will include market and competitive research, customer behavior studies, life-stage modeling, and customer relationship management strategies and execution.

Before joining HLB, Ms. Mikelk was a client executive at Boston-based Keane, Inc., and also served as Director of Business Consulting and Brand Consulting for Cambridge, MA-based Sapient Corporation, where she helped clients formulate and plan their business and cross-channel strategies. She also owned and operated a marketing company. Mikelk earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Karen Scanlan, Director of Research, will be based out of the firm’s Chicago headquarters. She adds more than 13 years of experience to an already strong HLB research team. Her expertise is in analyzing, synthesizing and translating research findings into actionable new health care and consumer products. She led cross-disciplinary, analysis-driven projects in alignment with project and strategic business objectives. Scanlan has helped companies like Unilever/Dove, Target, Kraft, McDonald Corporation, Motorola, Microsoft, Starbucks, LG, Kohler, BP, Navteq, JC Penny, Philips, General Motors, and the Department of Veteran's Affairs to create valued products and messages.

Before joining HLB, Scanlan was a senior researcher for Avenue A-Razorfish. Her earlier expertise was honed while working with Research International, Doblin Inc. and SonicRim. She also served as an instructor in the Illinois Institute of Technology’s renowned design curriculum. She received her BA in Psychology from the University of Illinois-Chicago and a Master of Design from the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology.

Andrew Macey, HLB chief operating officer and executive vice president, commented that “We are thrilled that seasoned professionals of this depth, experience and caliber, who really understand what is meaningful to our clients and their customers, are joining our already-strong team, and we will continue to build for a great future to accommodate our recent growth.”
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