Meet the Cognation team

What’s in a name?

Cognate: adj, closely related, of the same origin

All life is cognate – tied together by the planet that sustains us.

Cognation: n, a close relationship, as by blood.

Cognation Consulting was born of passion – the passion that all cyclists share for the sport we love. We may not be related by blood, but love of cycling courses through our veins and binds us together as a community. At Cognation Consulting, we recognize that all life is cognate and we are committed to developing sustainable product development and manufacturing practices throughout the industry. We turn the cogs of innovation to drive positive change, find creative solutions, and help ensure a healthy planet and engaged community now and into the future.

Founded and led by Jeremy Thompson, Cognation is a small, dedicated group of experienced engineers and designers with backgrounds in micro-mobility and sustainable product design and development. We have an extensive history working with people, companies, factories, standards committees, and lobbying groups in the US, Europe, and Asia. We apply our core values of curiosity, collaboration, and continuous improvement to everything we do. Our goal is to understand you and your customers’ needs to provide the highest quality products, most efficient processes, and best experience possible.

Jeremy Thompson

Jeremy has cycling in his blood. Growing up in the northeast US, he spent his childhood weekends hanging out in his mother’s bike shop, racing bikes, and hanging around the finish line, studying every facet of the fancy imported bikes that belonged to the older riders while he waited for his parents to finish their races. Those weekend races and fancy bikes sparked an interest in him that never faded. Fast forward to today and he now has 20 years of experience designing bikes and bike parts, and leading multi-faceted engineering teams that create the stuff of dreams for a new generation of kids like Jeremy. In addition to spearheading some of the most innovative product teams around, Jeremy has worked extensively with manufacturing partners, helping them develop the most efficient workflow, cutting-edge quality systems, and innovative manufacturing techniques. Along the way, he has forged many long-term relationships that have helped him create a vast network of top talent and service providers. He chaired several industry working group committees that successfully modernized the equipment rules in professional road racing. He has also led greenhouse gas assessment and lifecycle analysis work for products spanning carbon and aluminum frames, batteries, helmets and more. Jeremy cares passionately about the health of our planet and continually strives to create sustainable solutions and help slow climate change. Oh yeah, he also builds guitars when he’s not riding his bike or developing your next innovation.

Ian Durkin

Ian is a mechanical engineer, product designer, and bicycle framebuilder based in Boulder, CO. Raised near Rock Creek Park in Washington DC, Ian draws his inspiration from blending the natural world with industry and manufacturing. His insatiable curiosity and do-it-yourself mentality has allowed him to gain experience in a variety of different passions, from downhill racing, sewing messenger bags, to soldering guitar effect pedals. With this myriad of backgrounds, it was inevitable that he would dedicate his career to understanding how things are put together.

John Burnie

John is a Designer and 3D artist based in York, PA. With 15 years of Industrial design experience, John has served as a Project industrial Designer, Class A Surface Modeler, Global Training Resource, and Freelance CAD Professional, producing award-winning 3D designs for a multitude of globally recognized brands. John is an outdoor enthusiast with a passion for two wheels. A long-time BMX rider, mountain biker, and rock climber, John is a dedicated partner and father of two at home.

Russell Conway

Bio coming soon