Jury Alumni

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  Paul Gardien

  Vice President, Philips Design

  2016 Strategy & Research Jury Member

  Paul Gardien is Vice President of Philips Design and as member of the Philips Design Board responsible for both the strategic development of the global design function and the Design Research & Innovation program. In his strategy role, he has been instrumental in transforming Philips Design from a service unit into a global function. The Design Research & Innovation program creates new design competences, future visions and new propositions for Philips and has won numerous awards. The drive in the program is to create meaningful and relevant propositions based on a solid understanding of how these will evolve in the future, while ensuring that the propositions land in the various businesses increasing their hit rate of innovation.
  
  Paul has spent his entire professional career at Philips Design, working in many different areas ranging from product-, multimedia- and internet design, to different management and development functions. He is and has been a member of various boards, juried in multiple renowned design competitions. He’s also a frequent speaker at international design and innovation conferences. Paul studied industrial design engineering at the Delft University of Technology and holds a PhD in Design Innovation from the Eindhoven University of Technology.

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  Denis Weil

  Interim Chief Innovation Officer, Sanergy

  2016 Strategy & Research Jury Member

  Denis Weil is an Innovation Executive, Change Leader and “Social Creative” focused on propelling the impact of design and innovation in the social sector. As one of the private sector pioneers and thought-leaders in the field of service design, Denis is now applying his innovation leadership to social and civic innovation advising social and public organizations on how to reach impact at scale. He is currently a Senior Advisor for Innovation and New Services for Year Up, the leading workforce development social enterprise, and an Advisor for the Government Innovation team at Bloomberg Philanthropies.
  
  Denis’ passion is to advance the practice and impact of Design. In 2015 Denis was an Advanced Leadership Fellow at Harvard University where he researched new ways to cross-pollinate the practices of Social Science and Design. A long-time adjunct professor at the Institute of Design at IIT in Chicago, Denis teaches classes in Service Design and Social Innovation. He is also a frequent speaker at innovation and design conferences and his viewpoints about the value of design for innovation have been published in ID magazine and Business Week.

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  Eric Noble

  Professor, Vehicle Technology, Art Center College of Design

  2016 Transportation Jury Captain

  Eric is founder and president of The CARLAB, an advanced automotive consulting firm which helps manufacturers and suppliers plan and design new vehicles. Founded in 1999, it is the most influential auto product consultancy in North America, serving carmakers from Nissan to Ferrari, Toyota, VW, Honda and Subaru, in addition to industry suppliers such as Continental, global auto clubs and the energy industry.
  Eric is also Professor of Vehicle Technology at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where most of the world’s top car designers are trained.
  He is a frequent media commentator and analyst on the auto industry, and a member of the Motor Press Guild.
  In addition to his professional activities, Mr. Noble is a longtime environmental volunteer with the Sierra Club, and enjoys surfing and off-road camping with his wife and two sons.

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  Alex Alexiev

  Automotive Designer, McLaren

  2016 Transportation Jury Member

  Alex is a designer at McLaren Automotive in the UK since 2013. His work at McLaren includes, production, advanced and bespoke customer projects through McLaren Special Operations.
  
  Prior to joining McLaren he worked with a So-cal EV start-up to develop an electric platform for limited production in Newport Beach. He has worked in a variety of studios such as Polaris Industries, Volvo (VMCC), Toyota ADV Design (Tokyo), and Misha Design (LA) during his studies.
  Alex is a Graduate with Honors (12’) of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where most of the world’s top car designers are trained. Some of his work can be seen in the Petersen Automotive Museum, within the design process showcase. In addition to his professional activities, Alex is a outdoor fanatic, tennis player, and dedicated car enthusiast.

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  Anne Asensio

  Vice President Design Experience, Dassault Systèmes

  2016 Transportation Jury Member

  After 30 years in various executive and design management positions in the automotive industry, Global Executive Director at General Motors in charge of the Design of the group's eight brands, and Renault Design Director for the Twingo, Clio & Scénic programs, Anne ASENSIO joins Dassault Systèmes in 2008 as Vice President Design Experience. She created the "Design" discipline and design research department of Dassault Systèmes as well as the DESIGNStudio entity, bringing together a multidisciplinary team in innovation strategy through design, experience design, upstream thinking, design research, design management.
  
  Advocating a participatory approach with regard to new technologies and virtual universes, the DESIGNStudio supports Dassault Systèmes’ customers in fast-growing industrial sectors in their needs for transformation, digital and sustainable innovation, towards new business models for a circular economy, towards virtuous design processes, as a manifestation of their value proposition to their end customers. Anne collaborates with designers, artists, maverick thinkers, innovators in diverse industry and public sectors. Imagining alternatives strategies to transform the world we live in in a more sustainable and desirable one, Anne enables cross-thinking, colliding nature inspired and technological approaches through creation and ultimately leverage the value of design for users, citizens and humans’ well-being.

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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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  Mackey Saturday

  Principal, Mackey Saturday

  2016 Visual Communication Jury Captain

  Responsible for some of today’s most ever-present identities-like those for Instagram, Oculus, and Affirm - Mackey has spent his career helping brands of all sizes become iconic through idea-driven strategy, elegantly simple design, and a relentless pursuit of enduring visual principles. After nearly a decade running his own studios in San Francisco and Denver, he became a Principal at Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv—the design firm responsible for classic logos including NBC, National Geographic, and Chase Bank. He now runs his namesake studio based in Brooklyn, focused on creating impactful visual identities across an array of industries both locally and internationally.

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  Roanne Adams

  Founder, RoAndCo

  2016 Visual Communication Jury Member

  Roanne Adams is the Chief Creative Director and Founder of RoAndCo Studio. Established in 2006, RoAndCo serves as a visual thought leader for a range of forward-thinking fashion, beauty and lifestyle clients. Acting as both a strategic and creative resource for clients at every step of the branding experience, RoAndCo’s services include branding, art direction and interactive design.
  
  Roanne’s fresh, iconic and forward approach has been recognized throughout the design community and has garnered such honors as PRINT magazine’s “New Visual Artist (20 under 30),” ADC Young Guns 9, as well as one of six of the city’s most “outstanding up-and-coming design professionals” named by T Magazine. A current member of AIGA/NY’s Board of Directors, Roanne lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.

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  Ryan Essmaker

  Editorial and Creative Director, The Great Discontent

  2016 Visual Communication Jury Member

  Ryan Essmaker is an NYC-based creative director, designer, and photographer. He is a partner at the creative studio, Wayward Wild, and cofounder of The Great Discontent, a print and online magazine featuring timeless conversations with today’s artists, makers, and risk-takers. Launched as a digital-only magazine in 2011, TGD has grown to include film projects, events, and print. Prior to TGD, Ryan served as Creative Director and Head of Product at Crush & Lovely in NYC, and ran his own design and development studio in Michigan.

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  Lotta Nieminen

  Founder, Lotta Nieminen Studio

  2016 Visual Communication Jury Member

  Lotta Nieminen is an illustrator, graphic designer and art director from Helsinki, Finland. She has studied graphic design and illustration at the University of Art and Design Helsinki and the Rhode Island School of Design, and has worked as a freelancer in both fields since 2006 before starting her Brooklyn-based studio in 2012.
  
  In 2014, she was nominated for Forbes magazine’s annual 30 Under 30 list in the Art & Style category. In 2010, she received the Art Directors Club Young Guns award and was selected by Print magazine for its annual New Visual Artists review, highlighting 20 international rising designers under the age of 30. Lotta has given talks around the US and Europe. Her client list includes companies such as Facebook, Hermès, Google, New York Times, Volkswagen, IBM, International Herald Tribune, Monocle, Newsweek, Wired, New York Magazine, Vanity Fair and Bloomberg Businessweek.

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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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  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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  Will Hunter

  Founding Director, London School of Architecture

  2015 Built Environment Jury Member

  Will is the deputy editor of The Architectural Review, and is the founder of Alternative Routes of Architecture (ARFA), a think-tank exploring alternative educational models. He has previously been editor of the monthly magazines of The Architects' Journal (AJ) and Building Design (BD). He has taught architecture at both London Metropolitan University and the Royal College of Art; at the latter as a design unit master and chair of the architecture school's public lecture program.Will has judged numerous competitions, including the Global Architecture Graduate Awards(chair) and the RIBA President's Medals dissertation prize 2013. He has recently completed a report for RIBA Building Futures, and is currently working on a monograph of Peter Salter's Walmer Yard project in West London (AA Publications).

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  Vicky Richardson

  Director of Architecture, Design and Fashion, British Council

  2015 Built Environment Jury Member

  Vicky Richardson is Director of Architecture, Design and Fashion at the British Council. She organizes a busy international program of touring exhibitions, residencies, exchanges and talks and is Commissioner of the British Pavilion at Venice Architecture Biennale. Vicky studied at Central St Martins, Chelsea School of Art and the University of Westminster. Following a degree in architecture, she became an architectural journalist, and was Deputy Editor at the RIBA Journal before becoming Editor of design magazine Blueprint, from 2004 to 2010.Vicky is a co-director of the London Festival of Architecture and is an adviser to the Mayor on culture and creative industries as a member of the London Mayor's Cultural Strategy Group.Vicky has written several books including New Vernacular Architecture (Laurence King, 2002) and continues to write about architecture and design for a variety of publications, as well as the British Council design blog, Back of the Envelope.

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  Dan Harden

  President, CEO & Principal Designer, Whipsaw

  2015 Commercial Equipment Jury Captain

  Dan is President, CEO, Principal Designer and cofounder of Whipsaw Inc., a highly acclaimed design firm in Silicon Valley, California. Whipsaw designs products and experiences for companies around the world, from Fortune 100’s to startups.
  
  Dan is a hands-on designer and directs the strategic and conceptual direction of most client accounts. Throughout his prolific career Dan has designed hundreds of highly successful products ranging from baby bottles to supercomputers. Fast Company magazine selected Dan as one of “The 100 Most Creative People in Business 2014”, calling him “design’s secret weapon”. Fast Company also ranked Whipsaw among the ‘Top 5 design firms in the world’ in 2009 and they featured Dan as a ‘Master of Design’ in 2005.
  
  Dan frequently lectures on design topics at universities and conferences, including being keynote at the Australia Design Forum; keynote at the Wuxi Design Conference ; keynote and Chairman of the IDSA National Conference Collideoscope (’02), and he was a United Nations Design Delegate to China in ’98. Prior to cofounding Whipsaw in 1999, Dan was the President of Frogdesign where he designed many notable products and led the company for ten years. Before joining Frogdesign in 1989 he was a lead designer at Henry Dreyfuss Associates. In the early eighties Dan interned with design master George Nelson. He also interned at Hewlett Packard and Richardson Smith (later became Fitch). Dan graduated from the University of Cincinnati, College of Design, Architecture and Art in 1982.

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  Bill Evans

  Principal and Founder, Bridge Design

  2015 Commercial Equipment Jury Member

  Bill Evans founded and leads Bridge Design which has focused for more than two decades on designing medical and life sciences products from handheld to the purely virtual. His broad and deep industry perspective has resulted in powerful cross-pollination of ideas that often anticipate consumer and medical trends. He is a sought-after speaker on design and innovation at conferences and has written extensively for industry media. He has also been a guest lecturer and student mentor at UC Berkeley's and Stanford University's industrial and product design programs. Bill has served on a number of boards, including the Venture Advisory Board for Kimberly-Clark, and the Editorial Advisory Board of industry leading publication Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry (MD&DI). He has also been named among the '100 Notable People' in the medical device industry by that same organization. Bill owns multiple patents and holds two masters level degrees, awarded jointly: an MDes in Industrial Design Engineering from the UK's Royal College of Art, and a DIC in Engineering from its sister, Imperial College.