Jury Alumni

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  Allison Dring

  CEO, Made of Air

  2023 Sustainability Jury Captain

  Allison Dring is CEO and Co-Founder of Made of Air, a company that produces carbon negative materials to actively reverse climate change. Made of Air was named the Falling Walls 2020 Science Start Up Breakthrough of the Year and listed in Norrskens’s top 100 impact companies, 2022. Allison is an experienced entrepreneur, initiating climate positive technologies and applying them to real world building applications. She is the 2022 recipient of AmCham Germany’s Female Founder Award. 
  
  Previously, as Founder of Elegant Embellishments, she co-invented and manufactured proslve370e, an award winning building product that reduces urban air pollution using only sunlight.
  
  She is a veteran speaker on topics involving technology and the environment, including a foundational TEDx Berlin talk entitled "Ornament & Climate", which launched the idea of storing atmospheric carbon in buildings. She is a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader, and serves as Advisory Board Member for the Falling Walls Foundation, Creating Urban Tech Berlin and the The Lifeboat Foundation.

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  Michelle Enright

  Director, Packaging Experience & Visual Design, Sonos, Incl

  2023 Packaging Jury Member

  As Director of Packaging Experience & Visual Design, Michelle is responsible for leading a world-class team of industrial and visual designers that crafts premium, sustainable packaging experiences. Michelle is a mom of three and often thinks about the world she will leave behind. She is passionate about making sustainability progress for Sonos’ packaging.
  
  Michelle led and directed efforts for our latest packaging design system updates, which launched with Sonos Roam. Prior to Sonos, she designed visual identity systems for packaging on the VIBE team at Dell in Austin, Texas. Michelle embraced everything she could learn at Dell and was inspired by the design team she was a part of. Prior to Dell, Michelle built & led an in-house design team for a sunglasses company, which is now part of Foster Grant.
  
  Michelle graduated from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Art & Design and is currently a Packaging Advisory Board member, Industrial Technology & Packaging at Cal Poly.

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  Karen Feder

  Head, MFA, Design for Play, Design School Kolding

  2023 Toys & Play Jury Member

  Karen Feder is the head of the world’s first international Design for Play Master’s Program at Design School Kolding, educating the next generation of play designers. The program recognizes the understanding of play as a prerequisite for designing high quality toy design. The curriculum is based on research within play and toy design qualified through dialogue with institutions around the world and in collaboration with experienced toy design companies.
  
  Karen is an assistant professor, in the LAB for Play & Design, where she does research in child-centered design for play and how to teach designers to design opportunities for play from a child-centered perspective. Her current research focusses on how taking the starting point in the children and their everyday lives, can lead to more relevant and meaningful design for children.
  

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  Felicia Ferrone

  Founder, f f e r r o n e design

  2023 Home & Living Jury Member

  Felicia Ferrone is an architect, designer, academic, and entrepreneur. Her international namesake design brand f f e r r o n e- based in Chicago and Milan- is known for delivering the unexpected through a seemingly simple gesture. Born in Chicago, Felicia graduated with a degree in architecture from Miami University, Ohio after which she moved to Italy. Ferrone’s expansive reach is informed by her early experience as an architect in Milan, where she was first taught to “blur boundaries” in design.
  
  Ferrone's award-winning designs have been widely exhibited, published internationally, and featured in numerous films and TV series. Several of her works are included in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Permanent Collection. In 2022 she was named Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago’s Creator of the Year for her contribution to the field through her design and utility patents. Felicia was also included in Woman Made: Great Women Designs, published by Phaidon, recognized as 1 of 200 women who have shaped the history of design.
  
  In addition to producing and distributing her own designs under her brand, Felicia is the director of Undergraduate Studies in Industrial Design and a Clinical Associate Professor atthe University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Previously she was the Director of Graduate Studies from 2015-2022 and a lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) for many years at the beginning of her academic career.

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  Dan Formosa, Ph.D

  Founder, ThinkActHuman

  2023 Commercial Equipment Jury Member

  Dan consults with companies worldwide on design and innovation. An early proponent of “design for all” (a.k.a. Inclusive Design), he also lectures internationally on research and the future of design. He is the recipient of numerous design awards and has appeared in several documentary films.
  Dan holds degrees in product design, ergonomics and biomechanics. He recently established ThinkActHuman, a consultancy named to reflect his goal, design for a better world. He also co-founded 4B Collective, focused on design and gender, and co-founded the Masters in Branding program at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
  In other work, he co-authored / co-illustrated the Baseball Field Guide, a bestselling book using principles of information design to explain the complex rules of baseball. He’s host of the successful YouTube series “Well Equipped,” produced by Epicurious for Condé Nast, critiquing in a less-than-serious way the usability of various odd kitchen gadgets.
  

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  Nicholas Fulcher

  Art Director & Designer, Atlantic Records

  2023 Visual Communication Jury Member

  NickyChulo (Nicholas Fulcher) is an Art Director & Designer from Northern Virginia who currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Learning how to draw at an early age, Nicholas was drawn to graffiti, comic books, and video games. He continued to harness his combined love of art & design and attended numerous design classes in high school. Teachers quickly began to take notice and started to encourage his growth which helped cultivate his passion for visual communication. In 2010, Nicholas began freelancing in Washington D.C. and his primary focus was album art and apparel design. From 2013-2014 he attended Savannah College of Art & Design (Atlanta) studying towards his BFA in Graphic Design. After studying a few years, honing his craft, Nicholas made the move to New York City where he actualized his passion by becoming an Art Director at Atlantic records. He has carefully navigated his way through the industry and has grown into one of the most sought out visual artists.

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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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  Christine Gaspar

  Community-Engaged Designer & Nonprofit Leader

  2023 Design for Social Impact Jury Captain

  Christine Gaspar is a designer and planner with over fifteen years of experience in community-engaged design practice. She was the Executive Director of the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) from 2009 to 2022. CUP is a New York-based nonprofit whose mission is to use the power of design and art to increase meaningful civic engagement in partnership with historically marginalized communities. Prior to that, she was Assistant Director of the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio in Biloxi, Mississippi, where she provided architectural design and community planning services to low-income communities of color recovering from Hurricane Katrina. She is a founding member of the Design Futures Student Leadership Forum Advisory Board, and holds Masters in Architecture and in Urban Planning from MIT, and Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from Brown University. Her work is driven by a belief that design can be a powerful tool, particularly when it’s used to support community-led visions for change.

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  Pepin Gelardi

  Co-Founder, Tomorrow Lab

  2023 Commercial Equipment Jury Member

  Pepin Gelardi works at the intersection of purpose and possibility, exploring the role of entrepreneurship and technology in solving future-facing problems. He has cultivated a skill set deep in idea development, user insights, concept visualization, form development, hardware prototyping, mechanism design and manufacturing.
  As a teenager, Pepin developed products for his family’s injection molding business. He holds a BSME from Columbia University, New York and a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Industrial Design from Scuola Politecnica di Design, Milan, Italy.
  
  He Co-founded Tomorrow Lab® in 2010 and leads the Industrial Design and Mechanical Engineering teams to invent and develop new, impactful hardware products. Prior to Tomorrow Lab®, he developed new CPG ideas, products, and brands at Fahrenheit 212 and Procter & Gamble.
  
  After hours, Pepin teaches workshops in design, creates costumes and toys with his twin children, and creates site-specific art with his wife Teresa.
  

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  Nishita Gill

  Founder & Creative Principal, Treemouse

  2023 Consumer Technology Jury Member

  Nishita Gill is the founder of Treemouse, an award-winning strategic consultancy that applies design-led problem-solving techniques to uncharted areas. Over a decade, they’ve been fundamental in scaling design to areas like building systems that help people feel comfortable about seeking treatment for virulent diseases like tuberculosis and hepatitis C, building product feature sets that increase acceptance of digital applications, and enhancing ways to build more resilient and people-centric public systems that reach 1.3bn people in India.
  
  Nishita is passionate about adapting niche concepts and novel approaches for mass adoption and frequently advises startups on building feature-sets that scale. She lives in London and is always searching for the next best flavor of tea.
  

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  Rebecca Goesling

  Design Director, Goesling Group

  2023 Home & Living Jury Member

  Rebecca is the Director of Design for Goesling Group. She works at the intersection of forecasting, branding, and color material finish design to create visions for independent startups to Fortune 500 companies. Her experience spans from home appliances to activewear and decor to consumer electronics. In addition to her applied practice, she produces illustrations for culinary, fashion, and furnishing clients. She holds a BFA in Industrial Design from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign where she cultivated skills in research, artistic development, and technical application.

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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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  Zeeshan Hakkim

  Senior Industrial Designer, Minimal

  2023 Home & Living Jury Member

  Zeeshan Hakkim is an Industrial designer born and raised in India based in Chicago, Illinois at MNML. He completed his master’s degree in Product Design Management at ISD Rubika. His passion for design stems from an obsession towards creative problem solving by using, learning and adapting new tools into an ever-evolving design process. He believes that good design resides at the intersection of empathy and craft. Over the last 6 years he has had the opportunity to collaborate with small startups as well as fortune 500 companies to bring to life products from lifestyle brands, medical products, consumer electronics and furniture to name a few. Zeeshan’s skill sets span across multiple disciplines that include industrial design, product development, mechanical engineering, graphic design, packaging design, and branding.

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  Dee Halligan

  Director, Forth

  2023 Sustainability Jury Member

  Dee Halligan is an accomplished creative strategist with expertise in new models for creative engagement and learning. As the co-founder and Managing Director of Forth, a London-based Community Interest Company, Halligan leads a team that researches and prototypes new ways to promote social and environmental sustainability through creative engagement. Her creative consultancy From Now On, founded in 2009, built a portfolio of forward-thinking community engagement projects with clients such as the National Trust, Marks & Spencer, and Google. In 2016 she co-founded FixEd, a non-profit think-and-do-tank concerned with reimagining creative education for a new generation, winning multiple awards and European Commission research funding. In 2021 a merger produced Forth as a vehicle for an increasingly urgent agenda around engagement, learning, and skills for climate response. Her dedication to sustainability, innovation, and creativity has earned her recognition from the design and education communities, including most recently the Misha Black Award for Innovation in Design Education.

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  Stuart Harvey Lee

  Founder, Prime Studio

  2023 Commercial Equipment Jury Captain

  Stuart Harvey Lee is the Founder of Prime Studio, a Product + Brand design consultancy based in NYC. He started his career as a Mechanical Engineer working in a steelworks before discovering his passion for Industrial Design whilst earning his Masters Degree at the Royal College of Art.
  
  He moved to New York in 1991 and cut his teeth working at both Smart Design and Able Design before founding Prime Studio in 1998. At Prime, Stuart is fortunate to work with a wide range of clients from global companies like Unilever and Bayer to startups like Harry’s and Welly. Most importantly he relishes designing products which make a meaningful difference to people’s lives.
  
  When he’s not designing Stuart can either be found challenging himself to ride the hills of the Hudson Valley on his favorite bike or desperately trying to cultivate his asparagus bed.

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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.