For One Designer and Innovator, Human Connection Begins With a Simple Tool

Every gift my mom gave me from the time I was about 30 years old onward was something I had left at her house when I moved out. She called it "shopping in the basement." All the things she’s given back have been meaningful, but one object was in particular—this Brown & Sharpe vernier caliper, which I use for precise measurements. I purchased it some 40 years ago when I wasa graduate student and teacher’s assistant in the engineering department at Stanford, and around that time, I built a custom walnut box for a class project.