Peter Jon Pearce, Principal of Pearce Research and Design, is a product designer specializing in high-performance design to create products of exceptional performance, material efficiency, long life, and enduring appearance. Pearce worked as a staff designer in the Office of Charles Eames, and he has taught at California State University at Northridge, University of Southern California and served as Dean of the School of Design at the California Institute of the Art. Steelcase, Inc. produces Pearce's chair design, Cachet, which embodies his high-performance design principles. Prior to that, Pearce was responsible for the design and manufacture of over 80 "state-of-the-art" architectural projects, including Biosphere 2, in Arizona; and Fremont Street, in Las Vegas. Peter is the author of Structure in Nature is a Strategy for Design (MIT Press). Currently, Peter is designing and developing a prototype net zero energy residence called the Pearce Ecohouse, which embodies new integrated product systems, including structural, space enclosing, floor system, and climate management components. This project is intended to further Pearce's goal of sustainability of the built environment through the implementation of a high-performance design ethic. Peter graduated from the Institute of Design of the Illinois Institute of Technology with a BS in Product Design. Susan Pearce has worked in the field of institutional advancement for over 38 years and has experience in all aspects of fundraising for non-profit organizations. She is currently Senior Vice President of Phillips & Associates, a fundraising- management firm. Prior to joining Phillips and Associates, she served as Vice President of the Unified Fund of the Music Center of Los Angeles County. Before that she was Vice President for College Advancement at Whittier College, and Director of Development at Caltech. Prior to her work Institutional Advancement, Susan worked as a research assistant School of Design at the California Institute of the Arts, after which she joined Peter Pearce at his company, Synestructics, Inc. In addition to her various management and design functions, she edited Structure in Nature Is a Strategy Design and constructed many of the models and helped execute many of the drawings that appear in that book. Susan graduated from UCLA with an A.B. in Zoology.