Timothy Prestero

Brainstormer, Designer, Engineer, Entrepreneur, Parent, Potential employer, Project manager, Social entrepreneur, Startup

Timothy Prestero is the founder and CEO of Design that Matters (DtM), a nonprofit that designs medical devices for low-resource hospitals in low- and middle-income countries. DtM collaborates with international aid organizations and manufacturing partner MTTS in Vietnam. As of January 2026, DtM's Firefly phototherapy device has reached 49 countries and treated more than 1.1 million newborns. DtM's Otter Newborn Warmer received CE Mark approval in January 2026 and has been implemented in Vietnam, Zambia and the Philippines. Products that DtM has helped design and launch have treated more than 3.1 million patients in 84 countries. DtM is a Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Award winner, and Firefly is listed in the WHO Compendium of Innovative Health Technologies. Tim holds graduate degrees in mechanical and ocean engineering from MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Designing medical devices that are hard to use wrong — products where the best clinical outcome is also the easiest thing for the caregiver to do, especially in hospitals with limited training, unreliable electricity, and no budget for maintenance.

There's no such thing as a dumb user — only dumb products. Medical devices designed for wealthy hospitals routinely fail in the places that need them most, not because the staff are less capable, but because the devices were never designed for that context. Better design can close that gap.

Design, Human Factors Research, International Development, Medical Technology

My experience giving a TED talk showed me that creativity demands some element of performance that's missing when I'm staring at a blank page alone. It turns out I do my best thinking in conversation or in front of an audience. I'm grateful for the opportunity (and the deadline).

I've developed the ability to spot when the same structural patterns underlying "wicked problems" keep showing up in different costumes. The challenge of desiging a medical device for an African hospital isn't that different from the challenge of designing the control system for an airplane or a curriculum for a high school math class. What is the scarce resource (given that it usually isn't money)? What is the system's actual function, and how does that differ from the stated function? Between the designer, the manufacturer and the user, who should manage the most complex parts of delivering the outcome?