Jury Alumni

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  Kilian Schindler

  Founder, Bureau Kilian Schindler

  2019 Furniture & Lighting Jury Member

  Kilian Schindler studied product design in Germany and France. Werner Aisslinger, James Irvine, and Stefan Diez amongst others have overseen his projects. Since setting up his multi-disciplinary design bureau he has realized commissioned projects for internationally renowned companies in different fields: from product design to furniture as well as exhibition design.
  
  Since 2014 Kilian Schindler is doing the creative direction for TOLIX, France. His works have been recognized with coveted design awards, including German Design Award (gold), IF Product Design Award (gold) as well as the Red Dot Design Award. His designs were exhibited and published worldwide.
  
  Kilian Schindler has been teaching as visiting professor in the Product Design department at -Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung- (University of Arts and Design) in Karlsruhe, Germany.

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  Pumla Maswanganyi

  Founding Director, by lue.

  2024 Speculative Design Jury Member

  My practice is multi-disciplinary.
  Using my background as an artist and development practitioner by training, I design experiences, products and futures that center often overlooked narratives.
  
  I am a director and partner at by lue. and MM+co, two visionary African woman founded design agencies that use art and design as tools to elevate experience building in the Global South.
  At by lue. we use our creative approach to advance arts and culture with a focus on honouring heritage; and at MM+co we are leaders in African Life Centered Design and infuse our principles of indigenous knowledge into the design process.
  
  Through my work as a creator, speaker and advisor; I have partnered with African Union, Soho House, MTN, the Clinton Foundation, Roddenberry Foundation, and Roche to name a few.
  
  Overall, my TL;DR is that I am driven to ensure that the aesthetic realm is recognised for its importance in shaping socio-economic outcomes in a tangible way.

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  Leslie Dann

  Associate Partner, C&G Partners

  2018 Interaction Jury Member

  At the digital forefront for 25 years, Leslie started in information architecture at Nicholson NY, collaborating on award-winning CD-ROMs, museum kiosks, and early websites. Later, living in Madrid, she was a UX consultant for European technology giant Indra, on e-commerce and e-government projects.
  
  As a former Assistant Director of User Experience at digital agency MRY, Leslie developed experience strategies and designed numerous user-centered interfaces for large websites and mobile platforms. Clients included Mass General Hospital, National Grid, Penguin, Google, Nestlé, MasterCard, Moleskine, and Johnson & Johnson.
  
  Leslie is currently an Associate Partner at C&G Partners, leading experience design and media production for interactives, exhibits, and websites for museums, educational institutions, and non-profits. Her focus on user-centered design, human-interest stories, history, and culture motivate both her professions as a UX specialist and video producer, giving her the variety she loves in life. Leslie holds a bachelor's degree in graphic design, summa cum laude, from the University of Cincinnati.

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  Shalini Agrawal

  Associate Professor, Critical Ethnic Studies, California College of the Arts

  2022 Design Education Initiative Jury Member

  Shalini Agrawal is trained as an architect and brings over 25 years of experience in community-engaged practice. She is Founder & Principal of Public Design for Equity, a practice that re-envisions and activates new systems towards equity-driven outcomes, and Director of Pathways to Equity, a leadership experience for ethical community-engaged design. She is an award-winning educator at California College of the Arts as Associate Professor in Critical Ethnic Studies, Individualized, Interdisciplinary Design Studios and the Decolonial School. Shalini’s research and practice focuses on revealing the historical legacies of colonization in architecture and design and dismantling its lasting impacts.

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  Helen Maria Nugent

  Dean of Design, California College of the Arts (CCA)

  2023 Commercial Equipment Jury Member

  Helen Maria Nugent has been leading progressive innovation in art and design education for over 25 years. Currently, she is the Dean of Design at California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco where she oversees 9 graduate and undergraduate design programs including an MBA in Design Strategy. She envisions the Design Division at CCA as a sanctuary for those with radical curiosity, where wonder and imagination are amplified through rigor and craft.
  Previously she was a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she founded the Designed Objects programs that cultivate a reciprocal relationship between products and humanity. In the way-back machine, she was the co-director of the transformative and aptly named, Workshop for Art Research and Practice (WARP), a radical foundation program for artists and designers at the University of Florida.
  
  Helen Maria is also the co-founder of Haelo Design, an interdisciplinary research-oriented design studio that is undertaking the transition from object design to strategic futuring.
  

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  Afshin Mehin

  Lead Designer, Card79

  2024 Commercial Equipment Jury Captain

  Afshin Mehin is the founder of Card79, a creative studio based in San Francisco. The studio focuses on tackling complex and future-facing projects, working on everything from Brain Computer Interfaces to Autonomous Vehicles for agile Startups like Postmates as well as large companies like Amazon and Lululemon. Afshin’s experience blends the old and new, having worked for traditional furniture designers like BarberOsgerby and Terence Conran as well as futuristics institutions such as M.I.T. ’s Media Lab Europe and Elon Musk’s Neuralink.

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  Afshin Mehin

  Chief Creative Officer, Card79

  2024 Robotics Jury Captain

  Afshin Mehin is the founder of Card79, a creative studio based in San Francisco. The studio focuses on tackling complex and future-facing projects, working on everything from Brain Computer Interfaces to Autonomous Vehicles for agile Startups like Postmates as well as large companies like Amazon and Lululemon. Afshin’s experience blends the old and new, having worked for traditional furniture designers like BarberOsgerby and Terence Conran as well as futuristics institutions such as M.I.T. 's Media Lab Europe and Elon Musk’s Neuralink.

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  Charles Johnson

  Assistant Professor, Carnegie Mellon University

  2023 Sports & Outdoors Jury Member

  For nearly three decades Charles has worked within the context of sports, fashion, and active lifestyle products for leading global brands such as Adidas, Puma, Converse, and Ralph Lauren. With a design degree from Carnegie Mellon, his professional starting point as a product designer has transformed to executive-level leadership shaping vision, teams, product experiences, and global strategies. Charles’ ambition to combine a humanistic design approach with digital technology informs his work.
  
  His consulting business, Driven By Charles, services a range of industries helping startups navigate their vision, corporate product engines shape new experiences, and venture capitalists and incubators in need of expert insight to help guide their investment decision.

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  Christina N. Harrington, Ph.D.

  Assistant Professor, HCI Institute, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University

  2022 Health & Wellness Jury Captain

  Christina Harrington (she/her) is a designer and qualitative researcher who works at the intersection of interaction design and health and racial equity. She combines her background in electrical engineering and industrial design to focus on inclusive approaches to support historically excluded groups such as Black communities, older adults, and individuals with differing abilities in areas of health, wellness, and community building. She looks to methods such as design justice and community collectivism to broaden and amplify participation in design as a universal language of communication and knowledge. Dr. Harrington is the Director of the Equity and Health Innovations Design Research Lab at Carnegie Mellon University.

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  Patricio Hernandez-Ysasi

  Co-Founder, Casa Ysasi

  2023 Furniture & Lighting Jury Member

  Patricio “Pato” Ysasi is a co-founder at Casa Ysasi; a Los Angeles-based creative studio with an emphasis on light. Patricio is a Los Angeles-based art director and filmmaker whose work explores the intersection of photography, film, and text. Since graduating from Cornell University, Patricio has worked in collaboration with Farm League, MACRO, and Tortoise.

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  Inigo Hernandez-Ysasi

  Co-Founder, Casa Ysasi

  2023 Furniture & Lighting Jury Member

  Iñigo Ysasi is a co-founder at Casa Ysasi; a Los Angeles-based creative studio with an emphasis on light.
  Iñigo self-taught designer constantly experimenting with new mediums from wood to neon all the way to concrete. He is driven by curiosity and the combination of nontraditional materials in new formats. He moved to LA back in 2016 to join a large technology company while simultaneously pursuing a creative profession in his free time. He worked for a furniture company before co-founding Casa Ysasi with his brother Patricio Ysasi in 2020.
  

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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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  Heather Fleming

  Founder and CEO, Catapult Design

  2017 Design for Social Impact Jury Member

  Heather Fleming is the CEO and co-founder of Catapult Design, a product and service design firm with an expertise in human-centered design for marginalized communities. Catapult partners with organizations to develop sustainable solutions that address technology and social issues such as: rural electrification, water purification and transport, food security, and improved health. Before starting Catapult, Heather was a product design consultant in Silicon Valley, designing products for a diverse range of corporate clients and an Adjunct Lecturer at Stanford University and California Academy of the Arts. In 2005, she co-founded and led a volunteer group, the Appropriate Technology Design Team (ATDT), focused on social impact design work through a professional chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) in San Francisco. Heather was named a Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellow and World Economic Forum Young Global Leader for her work with EWB and Catapult Design. She is also a Board member for the Navajo Chamber of Commerce and serves on ASME’s Engineering and Global Development committee, chairing an initiative to create standardized evaluation metrics and design guidelines for products distributed in impoverished communities.

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  Cathy Huang

  Co-Founder, CBi China Bridge

  2015 Service Design Jury Captain

  Cathy founded CBi China Bridge in 2003, the first insight-based innovation consulting firm in China. Most recently, she co-founded Successful Design, a social enterprise aiming to amplifying the value of design.
  
  Having broad influence both socially and on the global design industry, Cathy is frequently invited to conferences in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. She enjoys adventures; from crossing the Gobi desert in Dunhuang to bungee jumping in New Zealand. Her continued dedication to challenging the limits fuels her creativity for both business and design.

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  Kristin Kreppner

  Senior Project Manager, CBRE

  2024 Built Environment Jury Member

  Kristin Kreppner is a Senior Project Manager with CBRE’s Project Management team in Atlanta, GA. Ms. Kreppner utilizes her twelve years of experience in the architectural and interior design industry to consult some of the most notable owners and occupiers in the Atlanta area as well as nationally including Cox Enterprises, Nike, and Google. Her understanding of experiential design, as well as her attention to detail and client service, brings tremendous value to her clients throughout the region. Before joining CBRE, Ms. Kreppner practiced interior design and project management at both Gensler and, most recently, Interior Architects (IA). As an interior designer, Ms. Kreppner has been involved in large-scale projects, experiential and exhibition design, and branded environments that focus on the end-user and visitor experience. This includes the renovation of approximately 2.3M SF of Coca-Cola’s headquarters Campus. With a special focus on leading the storytelling and showcasing the replica of Robert Woodroof’s office and display of his innovative thought leadership in the Central Reception Building (CRB). In addition, she has also managed the design and construction of multiple production studios and innovation labs for Nike, Papa Johns, and Cox Enterprises. She had led efforts on interior renovations for Cobo Hall Convention Center and Ritz Carlton Japan Lobby and amenity spaces. Kristin has led several large headquarters assignments in the Atlanta Metro area and multimarket accounts. Most recently, Ms. Kreppner served as the design team lead for Brown Forman’s Immersive visitor experience center and renovation of a historically registered barrel warehousing facility showcasing their vast amount of products, local distilling process, company history, and tasting room.

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  Alex Center

  Founder, CENTER

  2019 Packaging Jury Member

  Alex Center is a Brooklyn-based designer and founder of the branding company CENTER. Prior to launching his own studio, he spent 11 years working for the global beverage leader Coca-Cola where he led the strategy and design vision for the brands vitaminwater, smartwater & Powerade. Over his career, Alex has designed packaging that has been in the hands of millions, created award winning identity systems, given talks around the world and once met rapper 50 Cent who told him “You must think you're pretty special.” He got nervous and instantly started sweating. In his personal time he enjoys rooting for New York sports teams that wear orange & blue, eating and instagramming delicious meals and spending time with his wife Jacquelyn De Jesu and their zero kids and zero pets.