Taiei is a product design engineer, leading Proximity Designs’ design and development of low-cost high-impact products for smallholder Myanmar farmers. Trained at Stanford’s d.school, Taiei is passionate about applying design while embedded in the local context of end users. His all-Myanmar team has brought multiple novel products to market over the last 8 years. The team is engaged in the complete product design process, beginning with empathy building and needfinding, product design and development, co-design with customers, all the way to design for manufacturability. Most recently Taiei has been working on Proximity’s digital initiatives, designing new services and communication channels to meet the changing needs of Myanmar farmers. Taiei grew up in Japan and the US, loves biking and skiing, and is always on the lookout for delicious foods to eat.