Jury Alumni

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  Eric Noble

  Professor, Vehicle Technology, Art Center College of Design

  2016 Transportation & Mobility 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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  Sabine Pannetrat

  Founder, Furiously Sustainable

  2024 Transportation & Mobility Jury Member

  Sabine Pannetrat, founder of "Furiously Sustainable", is a creative expert in Color, Materials and Finishes (CMF) Design and Sustainability. She possesses a dual educational background in both materials engineering and industrial design, having received training in France and Canada.
  
  In over 20 years of international automotive design experience, she has worked for Renault, Citroen, Toyota, Lexus, Aston Martin and for over a decade at DS Automobiles - a young French luxury automotive brand part of Stellantis.
  
  She managed the creative CMF design aspects for a wide range of concept and production cars. Additionally, she served as the Creative Director for the DS Automobiles Brand identity during its initial years, overseeing flagship stores, showrooms, artwork, lifestyle products, co-branding, and more. Later, she took on the position of CMF Design Director at DS Automobiles.
  
  Also assigned the task of focusing on sustainable design for DS Automobiles, she spearheaded the development of the DS "SustainObility" design strategy alongside her team. Her passion lies notably in Sustainability in Materials & Design, as well as in broader areas such as collective intelligence and organizational transformation. She was one of the inaugural Collective Intelligence Leaders for Stellantis, contributing to efforts aimed at breaking silos and enhancing the company's performance.
  
  Whether within a company or as a consultant, her (furiously) passionate commitment lies in assisting companies with their Sustainable Design transformation. She eagerly lends support in researching innovative and sustainable CMF, crafting comprehensive global sustainable design strategies, and fostering organizational evolution to streamline the implementation of sustainable design projects. Very knowledgeable about traditional & avant-garde manufacturing processes of materials, she also campaigns for greater recognition of craft as a sustainable value.
  
  On a personal note, she loves learning new languages and indulging in bikepacking.

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  Francis Pollara

  Director, Strategy and Development, Urban Movement Labs

  2022 Transportation & Mobility Jury Member

  Francis Pollara is a strategy and innovation executive known for leading transformative work for industry-leading organizations spanning across the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Prior to co-founding Urban Movement Labs, he joined Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office as the entrepreneur-in-residence tasked with establishing a model and organization that could augment city governing authority to design and deploy transportation tech solutions in real urban conditions. Francis is an investor and four-time founder with expertise in scaling organizations commercializing products, and establishing structure in startup and core corporate management functions. Francis holds an MBA from USC’s Marshall School of Business and a Bachelor of Fine Arts double major in Product Design and Digital Media from Art Center College of Design.

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  Melissa Ruhl

  Emerging Mobility Researcher, Ford

  2020 Transportation & Mobility Jury Captain

  Melissa Ruhl is an Emerging Mobility Researcher with Ford’s Research and Advanced Engineering division in Palo Alto. Her research focuses on new and emerging transportation trends, such as micromobility, microtransit, and autonomous vehicles initiatives. Previously, Melissa was a senior planner for Arup in San Francisco where she managed projects on transportation innovation. She regularly speaks in California and nationally on autonomous vehicles and the future of cities. She has published a number of articles on future mobility and most recently co-authored a chapter on mobility as a service in the recently published Disruptive Transport: Driverless Cars, Transport Innovation and the Sustainable City of Tomorrow. In 2019, Melissa was recognized on the "40 under 40" Mass Transit Magazine list.

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  Jens Martin Skibsted

  VP, Mobility & Foresight, Manyone

  2021 Transportation & Mobility Jury Captain

  Jens Martin Skibsted is VP of Mobility at Manyone. He is a multiple award-winning designer, entrepreneur, & design philosopher and part of the “Davos” think tanks. Known for his urban mobility designs for Biomega, & collab with Bjarke Ingels. His designs live in the collections at the MoMA, SFMOMA and many more. A published author, and expert blogger.

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  Michael Steiner

  Senior Designer, Infrastructure & Charging, JUMP Hardware

  2019 Transportation & Mobility Jury Member

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  Eric Stoddard

  Design Manager, Ford Motor Company

  2015 Transportation & Mobility Jury Member

  Eric Stoddard is an accomplished automotive, transportation and product designer, with 17 years experience at major automotive OEMs including Ford, Hyundai and Chrysler.At Ford, Eric is responsible for mid-size passenger car exterior design, including Taurus and Fusion. He played a key role in establishing an all-new advanced design team in Detroit. Advanced programs include the next generation Fiesta, Focus, Mustang, Expedition and Navigator.At Hyundai, production automotive designs included the 2013 Santa Fe, 2011 Elantra, Genesis Coupe, Tucson, Equus, HCD9 Talus concept (2006), and 2007 Elantra. At Chrysler he conceived and led the exterior design of the Crossfire (concept and production), Pacifica and the Dodge SRT-4. In addition to his automotive work, Eric consults in product design as founder of SpeedStudio Design. He has a passion for bicycle design and alternative transportation, having won awards for bicycle design concepts at Red Dot and the Taipei International Bicycle Show. He actively participates in design education, having taught courses and held demos at Cleveland Institute of Art, College for Creative Studies, Lawrence Technological University and Art Center College of Design. Eric holds Bachelor Fine Art from Cleveland Institute of Art, Class of 1998.

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  James Thomas

  Industrial Designer, JCT.design and BicycleDesign.net

  2015 Transportation & Mobility Jury Captain

  Industrial designer, cyclist, photographer, husband, & father...not necessarily in that order. Find me online at JCT.design and BicycleDesign.net

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  La Shirl Turner

  Head of Exterior and Interior Color and Materials, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

  2018 Transportation & Mobility Jury Captain

  La Shirl Turner is currently the Head of the Exterior and Interior Color and Materials team at FCA US LLC. She is responsible for the inspiration, research, development and coordination for all exterior and interior color and materials found in all FCA US vehicles. She has worked on vehicles such as the performance-driven 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, the iconic Jeep® Wrangler and the innovative Chrysler Pacifica minivan. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a focus on Fiber and Textile design from the College for Creative Studies.
  
  

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  Robert Walker

  Director of Design, Advanced Mobility and Experience Studio (AMES), General Motors

  2022 Transportation & Mobility Jury Member

  Robert Walker is a global automotive design and team leader. He has worked in the automotive design industry for 24 years as a designer, design manager, chief designer, and design director within multiple global automakers.
  
  Walker is currently the Director of Design of the Advanced Mobility and Experience Design Studio at General Motors Design Center, based in Warren, Michigan. As a global advanced design leader, he guides his team in developing what’s next - future automotive and new mobility projects positioned far outside the scope of existing vehicle programs. Prior to joining GM, Walker held the position of Director of Product Design at D-Ford, Ford’s Global Human-centered Design & Innovation LAB, leading the team in both physical and digital product/vehicle design. They challenged assumptions and questioned the status quo, translating human insights into near and far product concepts for the Ford and Lincoln brands.
  
  He also loves mentoring the next generation of automotive designers. As an adjunct professor at the College for Creative Studies (CCS), he teaches multiple automotive/new mobility and design theory courses.