We do great work and always finish well.

Joan is M3’s President and Co-Founder. From an early age, Joan was fascinated with technology, largely thanks to Star Trek. She has always been mechanically and analytically minded, and her thorough commitment to managing the everyday demands of running a business has been foundational in the continued success of our company.

Early in her career, Joan lived in the Silicon Valley and worked in production control for a company that made silicon wafers. This role was instrumental in shaping Joan’s appreciation for process. It was also during this time she met and married Terry Branson. In her next job, Joan transitioned to an IT role at Tandem Computers. There, her interest in technology really flourished as she learned more and more about setting up and maintaining computer systems. After moving with Terry and their two daughters to Round Rock, TX, Joan started working as an office assistant for an accounting firm, where she learned the importance and integrity of accurate bookkeeping.

All these various work experiences set Joan up as a sort of ‘Jack of All Trades’ with collective knowledge of the many aspects needed to run a successful business. Although she didn’t know it at the time, the experience she was gaining all those years gave her the precise complimentary skill set she needed to help bring Terry’s vision for M3 Design to life. In the early days of M3, Joan quite literally kept the lights on, managing everything from the bookkeeping to the facilities to the technology. In the decades since, she has been instrumental in building and maintaining our company culture, and she truly represents the family-like feeling of M3. Joan served as M3’s office manager until Terry’s passing in 2023 when she assumed the role of President. Outside of M3, Joan enjoys cooking, woodworking, gardening, playing with her grandkids, and spending time at the Branson family ranch.

Connect with John

John is M3’s Director of Engineering and COO. He joined the M3 team in 2008, bringing with him extensive experience translating surgeons’ needs into successful orthopedic products. John has a stellar knack for selecting and prioritizing the details necessary to build towards the overarching strategic goals of M3 Design and their customer base. John is known for his incredible work ethic and passion for delivering products that are both functional and easy to use. He believes the first and last impression a product makes must be phenomenal, and he constantly pushes the team to consider every aspect of the product they are designing to make sure that happens. During his tenure at M3, John has led ongoing programs for strategic clients such as Stryker, DJO Surgical, Rockwell Collins, and Argon Medical.

Prior to joining the M3 team, John worked at Amedica and Sulzer Orthopedics leading R&D teams and development projects for Spine, Hip, and Knee implants and instrumentation. John has a Biomedical Engineering degree from Northwestern University and holds multiple patents. He has presented at national and regional conferences and written on various product development topics. When not working John is also known for having a good time and playing a practical joke or two on his colleagues. John makes sure the culture at M3 remains light-hearted and fun. In his spare time, John regularly competes in (and wins) BBQ competitions. His colleagues are grateful for the left overs he is kind enough to bring into the office.

Connect with Nathan

Nathan is the Director of M3’s design team. Nathan pushes himself and his team to promote design solutions for EVERY element of a user’s workflow and experience. With this philosophy, M3’s design team has tackled everything from groundbreaking surgical solutions, to IoT ecosystems, to designing entire environments that deliver phenomenal user experiences while under Nathan’s leadership. Prior to joining M3 Design, Nathan had a leadership position at Boston-based product development firm, Altitude. During his tenure there, Nathan opened their first satellite office in Los Angeles, where he forged strong relationships with key accounts on the West Coast. A native of the UK, Nathan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Industrial and Furniture Design from Nottingham Trent University. On the rare occasion when Nathan isn’t working, he enjoys doing “lad things” and drinking beer.

Connect with Kevin

Kevin is M3’s Director of Engineering. Kevin is a great team player, with a wealth of hands-on experience in product design, system integration, electro-mechanical systems, machine design, and more. He believes that creativity is the most underrated skill in an engineer’s toolbox, yet the most difficult to harness and cultivate.  He is always looking for ways to expand his own creative thinking and that of his team. 

Prior to joining M3, Kevin worked for Xilix Systems and Bell Helicopter where he developed products ranging from automated manufacturing equipment to aircraft loading systems and even designed the hydraulics system for Boston Dynamic’s L3 AlphaDog. Kevin holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin. In his spare time, he enjoys tinkering on old BMWs, hiking, cycling, swimming, and spending time with his family. Kevin spent most of his 20s playing the guitar in a punk rock band and touring around the US and Europe, so everyone at M3 just has to accept that they will never be as cool as him. 

Connect with Casey

Casey is M3’s Director of Business Development and the gatekeeper of new business and critical growth planning. She is passionate about identifying opportunities where M3’s strategic team of designers and engineers can have the greatest impact on the project at hand in order to lay the foundation for a select number of mutually beneficial, long-term relationships. Experienced with various business models, Casey thrives on integrating design and innovation into a company to increase its overall value. 

Casey has been at M3 for over 15 years and is largely responsible for the growth and evolution of our business model over the years. She also boasts to be M3’s first janitor as she spent many years cleaning the office toilets back in her middle school days after her father first founded the company. Casey holds a Bachelors Degree in Marketing from Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business. She also took as many fashion courses as she could during her tenure there. During and after college, Casey provided marketing guidance for a few Austin area startups, and eventually started dipping her toe into the family business. Casey’s background in business strategy combined with her exposure to the R&D world, led to stint in Shanghai China where she let a group of cross functional international students to create growth strategies for high-tech startups on China. This further fueled Casey’s passion for innovation, the creative process, and the importance of bringing a variety of viewpoints together to solve problems.  

Outside of M3, Casey is either having impromptu dance parties with her daughter or taking-in Austin’s local music scene with her husband and friends. She also still has a passion for fashion and loves keeping tabs on the latest trends. 

Connect with Michele

Michele is M3’s Director of Finance. She believes that tightly and accurately managed financials pave the way for businesses to grow and improve year-over-year, and she puts these beliefs into action through ongoing collaboration with management and employees. Michele’s keen financial aptitude and insights have been indispensable in helping M3 grow into the business it is today. 

Before joining M3, Michele had a variety of financial experience in everything from public accounting to healthcare to non-profit industries. After starting her own accounting business, Michele grew a passion for accounting and financial reporting for small businesses, which ultimately led her to her role at M3. In her spare time, Michele loves to spoil her kids, cook and serve others. In fact, she’s highly regarded as one of M3’s best chefs.  

Connect with Gray

Gray is M3 Design’s CTO and fountain of useful advice and knowledge of EVERYTHING from engineering, technology trends and forecasting, business strategy, and all aspects of product development. Gray believes in being open minded when it comes to innovative solutions to problems, and tackling R&D and product development efforts in a way that can successfully feed into an overarching business objective. Gray has had a leadership role at M3 Design for over a decade, and has been the point person for some of M3’s largest accounts such as Emerson. He has also been the fulcrum that has helped some of M3’s late-stage technology start-ups become full-fledged businesses. Prior to joining M3, Gray led engineering, program, quality and design teams at such companies as Ford Motor, Texas Instruments, Compaq and Xyterra Computing as they created and delivered advanced products as diverse as fault-tolerant super computers, automated vehicle test systems and generations of personal computing devices.

Gray is a frequent contributor to the M3 Design’s blog, as well as publications such as MD&DI and has spoken at such events as South by Southwest and the Central Texas Digital Convergence Initiative. Gray’s colleagues appreciate his advice and guidance on pretty much everything (most of the time), his entertaining stories collected throughout his career (including being personally fired by Michael Dell in the late-1980s), Gray’s New York no BS attitude, and above all—his unwavering ethics. Gray holds a BSEE from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and an MBA from the University of Houston. In his spare time, Gray enjoys low-tech hobbies such as creating pottery and building character by watching N.Y. Mets baseball.