Derek Campbell

Senior Director of Research & Development, Vista Outdoor

Representing corporate partner CamelBak

Derek has been a leader in product innovation in the Outdoor and Sporting Goods industry for 20 years.  His passion is for finding product solutions that solve persistent consumer problems in the most sustainable way possible.  He is currently the head of product development at CamelBak Products and Jimmy Styks paddleboards.  His role encompasses design, engineering, product development, manufacturing, and testing for their global lines of boards, hydration packs and bottles.  Previously, he held the role of Director of Global Product Innovation at The North Face where he created a standalone product innovation team that integrated into the corporate innovation structure.  Prior to that he was the Sr. Manager of Advanced Concepts at Brooks Sports, where he focused on high performance footwear and apparel innovations for the specialty run market.

He is experienced in creating pathways for cutting-edge University research to influence product design, especially at the intersection of human physiology and performance.  Successful partnerships include sports performance (University of Connecticut, MIT), biomechanics (University of Massachusetts, Loughborough University, German Sport University – Cologne) and extreme environment physiology (the Mayo Clinic).

Derek has Masters and Bachelor degrees in Chemical Engineering (from Colorado State and University of Washington, respectively).   At University he specialized in environmental, biochemical, and materials engineering.