10 to Watch: Patrick McEneany

Associate Director, Creative Consulting
BMW Group DesignworksUSA
www.designworksusa.com

You’ve probably interacted with one of the many things designed by Patrick McEneany and you don’t even know it. From a new line of chairs to telepresence systems to airline seating, he has left his mark on an increasingly large swath of products and environments that form our daily lives—and he’s done it all in little more than seven years with BMW Group DesignworksUSA.

McEneany, who began his career in the architectural world, stumbled onto the world of industrial design—and DesignworksUSA in particular—while working on a competition for BMW’s Leipzig Administration building. “Seeing teams of designers move fluidly from complex surfacing to 5-axis milling machines and back to the sanding table to hand-shape prototypes brought all of my prior experience in sculpture, design and fabrication into focus,” he recalls.

McEneany has since developed a growing practice in environmental design and has led projects for global powerhouses. His broad experience base and humble approach (“Credit the people you work with,” he says when asked about his career mantra) have earned him lots of fans, but it’s his focus on collaboration helped him make our list.

“Our studio practices cross-fertilization in every program we pursue. That means I have the opportunity to work with designers who are experts and enthusiasts in different fields every day,” he says. “I can work with a team on table computers, office seating, a business jet interior and strategies for global expansion of a company all in one week. It’s hard to not be excited about that frenzy of creative engagements.”