Jury Alumni

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  Sahar Madanat

  Founder & Creative Director, Twelve Degrees

  2024 Tools Jury Member

  Sahar Madanat is a Jordanian designer and the founder of Twelve Degrees Design. She is considered as one of the most acclaimed and awarded industrial designers in the Middle East. Having dedicated more than 20 years to the field she has been at the forefront earning recognition for her work showcased in numerous exhibitions around the world. Sahar’s curious nature has led her to approach design with a mindset focused on exploration and discovery.
  Her design work spans from healthcare, to wearable tech, lighting, bath and tableware as well as new concept furniture. She has worked with brands such as Nokia, OXO, Stelton and RAK ceramics. Sahar is also a design advocate at heart, she is passionate about supporting emerging talent and fostering design thinking. She actively delivers engaging talks, mentorship programs, workshops, and engages in community and governmental initiatives that leverage the transformative power of design.

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  Antonio García

  Head of Design, TXI

  2022 Visual Communication Jury Member

  Antonio García is Head of Design at TXI, and also the founder of Dadwell & Co. He serves as a Board Advisor to AIGA Chicago.
  
  In addition to design leadership, Antonio is a mentor, educator, and lecturer.
  
  If he’s not hard at work, Antonio is most likely DJing, drawing, or training for his next marathon.

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  Jacob Bouchard

  Senior Industrial Designer, JUMP Bikes, Uber

  2019 Transportation Jury Captain

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  Mollie D'Agostino

  Policy Director, 3 Revolutions Future Mobility Program, UC Davis

  2020 Transportation Jury Member

  Mollie Cohen D'Agostino's work focuses on the 3 Revolutions in Transportation: vehicle sharing, electrification and increased automation. These forces are profoundly changing how we travel and may cause unknown changes to traffic congestion, equity, air pollution, and energy use. Ms. D'Agostino leads the policy outreach component of the 3 Revolutions Future Mobility Program at UC Davis. Her work aims to convey academic research findings to inform policy makers and practitioners. She leads the annual 3 Revolutions Policy Conference, legislative briefings, and other outreach events, as well as leading in the publication of policy briefs and issue papers. She has also spoken at dozens of external events and conferences to represent the 3R Program and has provided expert testimony to the California Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.
  
  Her prior work spans several sectors and includes environmental policy, community development and transportation planning. She worked with the California League of Conservation Voters, the City of Oakland’s Department of Housing and Community Development and the Alameda County Transportation Commission. She carries a Master’s in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley, and a B.A. in Political Science and the Program for the Environment, from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Ms. D'Agostino has a dual position in the Policy Institute for Energy, Environment, and the Economy, and at UC Davis and the Institute of Transportation Studies, at UC Davis.

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  Gillian Rode

  Managing Director, Ueno

  2020 Tools & Work Jury Captain

  Gillian is a strategic leader focused on designing amazing customer experiences across the full journey of online and offline touch-points. She’s worked with dozens of different businesses from start-ups in South Asia to global Fortune 100 companies, giving her great insight into what it takes to innovate and find product/market fit. Currently Managing Director at the creative digital agency Ueno she is helping drive the next generation of digital experiences for clients like Google, Facebook, Venmo, and Walmart. Prior to Ueno, Gillian was leading teams at Fuseproject, MNML, and Cirque du Soleil.

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  Louise Downe

  Head of Design, UK Government

  2017 Service Design Jury Member

  Louse is Head of Design for the UK government, based at GDS where she leads a 600 strong team of designers working across government to transform services.
  
  Louise joined GDS in 2014 as the first service designer in government and has established the discipline since then. She is now programme director for the new Services authority at GDS.
  
  With a background in Art, Linguistics and Economics Louise started her career as a writer and producer at Tate, where she lead on digital audience development before working as a consultant in the re-design of large, recently privatised utilities like health, telecommunications, energy and finance.
  
  She’s a passionate believer in using design to solve complex problems and is a prominent protagonist in the design industry - redefining the practice of service design to be a practical, technically embedded profession.

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  Demian Horst

  Programme Director - MFA Transportation Design, Umeå Institute of Design

  2016 Transportation Jury Member

  Demian Horst is since 2009 Programme Director for Transportation Design at Umeå Institute of Design (UID), Umeå University, Sweden. UID provides one of the world’s most highly ranked design educations and Demian started in his current position as the youngest director for a masters programme in the history of the school. Prior to this he has worked several years at General Motors in Germany, had a strong cooperation with Saab Automobile during his master studies, developed applied research together with Volvo Truck Corporation and also dedicated a few years in his early career to designing busses and coaches. Demian holds an MA from UID in Sweden and a BA acquired in his native Brazil.
  
  At the Umeå Institute of Design he is also a member of the leadership group, holding strategic collaboration matters as his main responsibility. Being very aware of the importance that transportation has on quality of life, his task is to promote the generation of new knowledge on the subject and to continuously develop the best conditions to educate highly skilled, responsible and creative transportation designers for the industry of the future.

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  John Acevedo

  Principal: Design Ambassador & Creative Director: Innovation, Under Armour

  2022 Sports & Recreation Jury Member

  As Principal: Design Ambassador, John is the face and voice of design for footwear, apparel, and innovation at Under Armour (UA), focusing on recruitment, internal engagement, and cultivation of design culture. In his work, John is defining the next ten years of UA’s creative class; establishing a diverse and inclusive community that empowers individuals to reach their highest potential. As a Creative Director: Innovation, John provides strategic oversight in design, strategy, and development of footwear technologies & apparel innovation at UA with a focus on domestic manufacturing, digital experiences, automation, and wearable technology - working in categories such as running, cross-training, basketball, boxing, and space travel. John is a graduate Roger Williams University, where he received a Bachelor of Architecture.

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  Bryony Gomez-Palacio

  Co-founder, UnderConsideration

  2023 Visual Communication Jury Member

  Born and raised in Mexico City, Bryony Gomez-Palacio is co-founder of UnderConsideration, a graphic design firm generating its own projects, initiatives, and content while taking on limited client work. Over the last two decades Bryony has managed the behind-the-scenes of various blogs and design sites co-created with her husband and partner Armin Vit, including Brand New which is devoted to opinions on corporate and brand identity work.
  
  In 2010 the Brand New Conference, a two-day event on corporate and brand identity with some of today’s most active and influential practitioners from around the world, was created. In 2018, they conceived First Round, a one-day showcase of original presentations made to clients showing initial design explorations for logo, identity, and branding projects.
  
  When not hand-making materials for the Brand New Conference, organizing events, or working on client work Bryony can be found heading out of town where she loves to meet new people while conducting workshops, judging competitions, lecturing on all things design, or coaching others on all aspects of life and work.
  

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  Daanish Masood

  Innovation, Dept of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, United Nations

  2020 Design for Social Impact Jury Member

  Daanish Masood Alavi is an investigator at BeAnotherLab, a transnational interdisciplinary group that uses art, science, and technology to promote empathy and perspective taking among diverse communities; thereby facilitating shared civic action across identity fault lines. The group uses virtual reality and techniques derived from cognitive science research in developing critical applications in art, scientific research, social projects, healthcare and education, putting a strong emphasis on the impact of the work in people’s lives. BeAnotherLab’s work is based on an inclusive and distributed model of action-research and collaborative design. From 2014-2015, Daanish was a research affiliate at MIT’s Arts, Culture, and Technology program, which enlists science and technology in cultural production, critique, and dissemination at the civic scale.
  
  Daanish also serves at the United Nation’s Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, where he co-leads the Innovation Team, which focuses on collaboratively using human centered design, new tools and technology (AI and Machine Learning, satellite imagery, XR) to meet on-the-ground needs of UN peacemakers.

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  Yumi Endo

  Lead Designer, Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX), United Nations OCHA

  2018 Interaction Jury Member

  Yumi Endo is a Japanese native, New York-based designer with a passion for art, design and technology.
  
  She has previously worked as a design consultant at frog design in NYC, where she created meaningful product experiences for many internationally acclaimed clients including GE, Comcast, Nokia, Microsoft, Bloomberg, United Nations OCHA(Office for the coordination of humanitarian aids) and Rockefeller Foundation.
  
  She currently works for United Nations OCHA’s humanitarian data sharing platform as a lead designer.
  
  She is also an owner/creator of a jewelry brand, Cut by Yumi Endo which has been showcased in international art/design conventions including Maison et Objet in Paris, International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in NYC and Tokyo Design Week in Japan.
  
  Yumi often likes to integrate three-dimensional effects in her 2D designs, creating unique visual and tangible experience.
  
  Yumi holds a Master of Fine Arts in Design + Technology from Parsons the New School for Design and earned a Bachelor of Design with an honors degree in Product and Graphic Design from University of New South Wales, Australia.

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  Brian Gaffney

  Professional Artistry Team - Weta tools, Unity Technologies

  2023 Emerging Technologies Jury Member

  Brian Gaffney is a seasoned workflow specialist working alongside media and entertainment companies over the last 25 years, including Technicolor, PIX System, CODEX, Turbo Squid, and Autodesk in support of Visual Effects, Games Development, Content Management and real-time 3D virtual production. Brian is a creative technologist who assists artists and engineers in realizing their creative visions and currently works at Unity 3D with the Professional Artistry team.

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  Mark Smout

  Senior Lecturer, Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London

  2015 Built Environment Jury Captain

  Mark Smout and Laura Allen are Senior Lecturers at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. Their work takes two routes, architectural competitions, where the particular rigor of the competition brief, site and program provide the basis for new investigations and, conceptual design projects which test out the agenda and methodology of the design research practice. They focus on the dynamic relationship between the natural and the man made and how this can be revealed to enhance the experience of the architectural landscape.

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  Laura Allen

  Senior Lecturer, Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London

  2015 Built Environment Jury Captain

  Mark Smout and Laura Allen are Senior Lecturers at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. Their work takes two routes, architectural competitions, where the particular rigor of the competition brief, site and program provide the basis for new investigations and, conceptual design projects which test out the agenda and methodology of the design research practice. They focus on the dynamic relationship between the natural and the man made and how this can be revealed to enhance the experience of the architectural landscape.

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  Tom Maiorana

  Assistant Professor, University of California, Davis

  2018 Design Education Initiative Jury Member

  Tom Maiorana is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Design at UC Davis where he focuses on product design, design thinking, and prototyping. Tom’s research focuses on how low-resolution prototypes can help designers explore the human experience of interacting with complex systems. He is a Fellow at the John Muir Institute for the Environment where he uses design thinking methods to inform the strategy and development of the OneClimate initiative. Tom is also the founder of Red Cover Studios, which specializes in product development and innovation strategy and uses prototyping as a central practice in work ranging from interaction design to fashion to organizational change. Red Cover Studios helped to conceptualize and launch the Hive at the Claremont Colleges and Denison University’s forthcoming Design Lab. Tom regularly teaches at Stanford University’s d.school.
  
  Tom has an MFA in Design from Stanford University and a Bachelor of the Arts from Vassar College.
  

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  Julia Lohmann

  Professor for Design, University of Fine Arts, Hamburg (HFBK)

  2016 Speculative Concept Jury Member

  Maggots. Sheep stomachs. Seaweed. German-born designer and researcher Julia Lohmann investigates and critiques the ethical and material value systems underpinning our relationship with flora and fauna. She is Professor for Design at the University of Fine Arts, Hamburg (HFBK) and directs her eponymous London-based design practice. Julia studied at the Royal College of Art, where she has also taught and is currently engaged in an AHRC-funded collaborative PhD scholarship between the RCA and the Victoria & Albert Museum. As designer in residence at the V&A in 2013, she established the Department of Seaweed, a transdisciplinary community of practice exploring the marine plant’s potential as a design material. Julia Lohmann’s work is part of major public and private collections worldwide and has received awards, bursaries and support from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the British Council, Jerwood Contemporary Makers, D&AD, Stanley Picker Gallery, the Arts Foundation and the Wellcome Trust.