Jury Alumni

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  Ara Acle

  Senior Industrial Designer, Casper

  2021 Commercial Equipment Jury Member

  Ara Acle is a Bay Area native currently based in Oakland, CA. After graduating from San Jose State University, Ara spent time at many of the top San Francisco design consultancies. For 4 years he was an Industrial Designer at Frog where he led projects for clients in sectors ranging from consumer electronics, AR experiences, medical products, and environmental installations. Ara is currently a Senior Industrial Designer at Casper where he is helping the brand build sleep products that bring a sense of joy and comfort to consumers.

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  Stephanie Szarwark

  Senior Visual Designer, Enlisted Design

  2021 Commercial Equipment Jury Member

  Stephanie is a Senior Visual Designer at Enlisted Design, a visual and industrial design agency based in Oakland, CA where she brings brands to life through tangible visual design. Previously, she was a freelance brand designer, working with small Bay Area startups and large companies such as: Clif Bar, Nestlé, Ancestry, and Waymo (Alphabet). These projects ranged from packaging design to digital product illustrations to copywriting and art direction. Her diverse experience led her to specialize in helping clients hone their brand stories to better resonate with customers. Stephanie is particularly passionate about bridging the gaps between design and business strategy, and helping more people engage their own creative thinking.

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  Alejandra Castelao

  Industrial Design Lead, Fjord

  2021 Commercial Equipment Jury Member

  Alejandra is an Industrial Design Lead based out of the San Francisco Bay Area, currently working at Fjord - part of Accenture Interactive. Born and raised in Mexico City, she holds a BA in Industrial Design and an MFA in Interdisciplinary Design. Alejandra has over 10 years experience working with multiple Fortune 500 companies, as well as early stage startups, helping them transform ideas into reality. She specializes in designing solutions that take place at the intersection of digital and physical. Over the years she's worked on a variety of projects that range from design research, usability testing and alignment workshop facilitation all the way to end-to-end design and shipping of full-fledged, consumer-facing experiences and products.
  
  Prior to joining Fjord she worked for other design consultancies such as frog design. Most recently, she had the opportunity to lead the physical experience design, interior architecture and custom tech solutions of concierge-style medical facilities for Forward, an innovative Healthcare startup named one of Time Magazine's best 25 inventions.

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  Jonathan Kim

  Senior Industrial Designer, Shopify

  2021 Commercial Equipment Jury Member

  Jonathan is a Senior Industrial Designer based in Toronto, Ontario. After 5 years of working in San Francisco as a core part of frog's industrial design team, Jonathan moved to Canada in early 2020 to pursue a new adventure with e-commerce powerhouse, Shopify. His experience as a design consultant spans across leading brands and start-ups in the tech, retail, automotive, government, and healthcare industries. As a part of Shopify’s budding hardware division, Jonathan works at the forefront of commerce innovation, bridging the gap between digital and physical in the retail arena.
  
  Born and raised in the Northern Virginia/ DC area, Jonathan is an east-coast creative looking to make lasting, meaningful products and experiences. Though his expertise lies in physical products, he believes that excellent, culture-shifting design comes from the convergence of multiple disciplines and diverse perspectives.

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  Jon Grossman

  Senior Industrial Designer, Verily Life Sciences

  2021 Commercial Equipment Jury Captain

  Jon is a senior industrial designer at Verily, Alphabet's healthcare & technology company, where he leads design and UX for a range of medical devices and their connected services. He collaborates with scientists, engineers, clinical experts, designers, and researchers to break technology out of the lab, and productize cutting edge innovations to help people live healthier lives.
  
  Previously, he was an industrial designer at frog in San Francisco, where he consulted with startups and corporations to turn research insights into product opportunities.