Mary Lempres
I design and lead the development of products that move from research to real-world deployment — translating complex technologies and systems into tangible, human-centered solutions.
My work sits at the intersection of innovation, entrepreneurialism, and design. Across startups, consultancies, and research labs, I’ve built interdisciplinary teams and guided ideas from early concept through prototyping, validation, and commercialization.
I focus on bridging strategy with making — using systems thinking and rapid iteration to turn emerging technologies into scalable products built for durability, sustainability, and measurable impact.
Notable Awards
UNC Entrepreneur of the Year in Climate Tech 2025
Biomimicry Institute’s Ray of Hope Prize 2024
MIT Solve Finalist 2024
What Design Can Do ReDesign Everything Award 2024
CSAA x OpenIDEO Climate Resiliency Challenge Innovator 2023
Method Product’s Changemaker Award, Renaissance Award 2022
Lexus Design Award 2022
Google Hardware Design Studio BioDesign Sprint Winner 2022
WM x Slow Factory Foundation Waste-Led Design Award 2021
Because design defines a product’s impact, I integrate frameworks to develop solutions that are not just sustainable, but deliver lasting value.
Nature Co-Design
Tapping into nature’s intelligence to create intuitive products that align with ecological limits—delivering solutions people want and businesses can sustain.
Transition Design
Ensuring today’s products evolve with tomorrow’s systems—embedding long-term resilience and value from the start.
Design for Circularity
Unlocking circular value by designing for modularity, reuse, regeneration, and thoughtful end-of-life strategies.
Ready to make an impact?
Press
“How can we harness the resilience of nature to protect our coastlines and promote marine biodiversity?”
Sustainably designed reefs are the future of the sea, Wired
“To these two innovators, waste is not waste. Waste is a primary source for design innovation in the future.”
Designers Creating Waste-Led Fashion for the WM Design Challenge, Forbes
“Replacing petroleum-based plastics in electronics with a carbon-capturing bioplastic made from agricultural waste.”
Can Food Waste Reduce Electronic Waste?, Issues in Science and Technology
“Reef Rockets are small and modular, and that’s all by design. You can install them off any harbour, along any coastline.”
Restoring New York City’s Reefs, What Design Can Do
“the designers say mealworms could eventually help to tackle two sustainable development goals at the same time, providing food security and fighting pollution.”
Doppelgänger Creates Polystyrene Substitute from Plastic-Eating Mealworms, Dezeen
“By utilizing an existing waste stream, we can reduce the negative lifecycle impact of water filtration”
Home Compostable Water Filters from Food Waste, Dezeen