Jury Alumni

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  Sheryl Leysner

  Founder, Sherylleysner Interior Architecture & Project Management

  2022 Built Environment Jury Member

  Sheryl Leysner holds a bachelor degree in interior architecture from the Willem de Kooning Acadamy in Rotterdam. She founded her own design and project management studio in 2011 after working for several leading interior design companies. Sheryl’s 22 years of experience, her professionalism and enthusiasm have led to many successful projects in the areas of Dynamic Office Design, Hospitality, Retail, Health Care Facilities and Private Houses. Her goal is to design functional spaces with a pleasant atmosphere that positively affect the mood and performance of the user, and uses recycled, bio based materials whenever possible. 
  
  Sheryl also founded her own label “Ruwe Bolster” for unique custom made artlights and furniture so she can offer her clients more creative solutions. 
  www.sherylleysner.com / www.ruwebolster.nu

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  Chris Lezama

  Experience Researcher, Adobe

  2022 Service Design Jury Member

  Chris Lezama is an experience researcher and former non-profit administrator with a deep interest/background in design research and social impact strategies.

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  Oscar Lhermitte

  Co-founder & Director, Sidekick Creatives

  2019 Crowdfunding Jury Captain

  Oscar Lhermitte is a French product designer, entrepreneur and public speaker. Having graduated from Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art, he now runs his own studio in London. His process questions the role of products in everyday life and results in multidisciplinary outcomes such as product design, consulting, photography, video, exhibition curation, set design and art direction. His work has been exhibited and sold in institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art New York, the Design Museum London, the Conran Shop and the Cité du Design Saint-Etienne.
  Since 2012, he is the co-founder and director of Sidekick Creatives LTD, a London-Berlin-Paris based creative agency providing the tools and expertise required to launch Kickstarter campaigns. Sidekick has been nominated Design Of The Year 2014 by the Design Museum London. In 2017, Oscar was appointed Kickstarter Thought Leader amongst 6 other creatives.
  
  He is a visiting tutor at the HEAD Geneva in MA Space and Communication and has previously taught at the Royal College of Art in MA Product Design.

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  Qin Li

  Vice President of Design, Fuseproject

  2024 A/V & Photography Equipment Jury Captain

  As the Vice President of Design at fuseproject, Qin Li leads the creative team, overseeing Industrial Design, Experience Design, Environments, Visual Design, and CMF. Harnessing her creativity and leadership, she takes a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to the team and design, and engaging all the disciplines within a fully informed, thorough, and integrated process.
  
  Qin's philosophy is rooted in a human-centered approach. She firmly believes that designers have the power to drive cultural change, enhance the quality of life, and address some of the world's most pressing issues. In her time at fuseproject, she has played a pivotal role in guiding designs to market for a diverse range of clients, spanning Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, non-profits, and entrepreneurs. These designs have encompassed various categories, including AI & robotics, health & wellness, wearable tech, consumer electronics, furniture, retail & exhibition, packaging & soft goods, among others.
  
  Qin’s work has been honored with global recognition and numerous awards, including Gold and a Special Award from IDEA for the Snoo bassinet and Ori Living, 100 Best Inventions of 2020 from TIME Magazine for a smart bot, Moxie, designed for Embodied, and 2023 Design Project of The Year Award from Dezeen for the Cionic Neural Sleeve. Qin is also the recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Academy of Art University.

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  Qin Li

  Vice President of Design, fuseproject

  2024 Consumer Technology Jury Captain

  As the Vice President of Design at fuseproject, Qin Li leads the creative team, overseeing Industrial Design, Experience Design, Environments, Visual Design, and CMF. Harnessing her creativity and leadership, she takes a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to the team and design, and engaging all the disciplines within a fully informed, thorough, and integrated process.
  
  Qin's philosophy is rooted in a human-centered approach. She firmly believes that designers have the power to drive cultural change, enhance the quality of life, and address some of the world's most pressing issues. In her time at fuseproject, she has played a pivotal role in guiding designs to market for a diverse range of clients, spanning Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, non-profits, and entrepreneurs. These designs have encompassed various categories, including AI & robotics, health & wellness, wearable tech, consumer electronics, furniture, retail & exhibition, packaging & soft goods, among others.
  
  Qin’s work has been honored with global recognition and numerous awards, including Gold and a Special Award from IDEA for the Snoo bassinet and Ori Living, 100 Best Inventions of 2020 from TIME Magazine for a smart bot, Moxie, designed for Embodied, and 2023 Design Project of The Year Award from Dezeen for the Cionic Neural Sleeve. Qin is also the recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Academy of Art University.

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  Donna Lichaw

  Independent Digital Product Strategist

  2016 Interaction Jury Member

  Donna Lichaw brings over 15 years of experience guiding startups, non-profits, and global brands in optimizing their digital products and services by providing them with a simplified way to drive user engagement through impactful storytelling. As a consultant, speaker, writer, and educator, she utilizes a ‘story first’ approach to help teams define their value proposition, transform their thinking, and better engage with their core customers.
  
  She began her career as a designer and user experience strategist for multiple startups and design agencies in New York and London, working with brands like Casio, Capitol Records, Sony Pictures, and Seamless. Prior to her career in technology, she refined her talent for storytelling and narrative development as an award-winning documentary filmmaker.
  
  Now recognized as a thought leader in storytelling and customer engagement strategies, she has presented as a keynote speaker at design and technology conferences in the US, Canada and Europe, and taught courses at New York University, Northwestern University, The School of Visual Arts, and Parsons the New School for Design. Her upcoming book – “The User’s Journey: Storymapping Products That People Love” is out now. You can find her on Twitter @dlichaw and on the web at www.donnalichaw.com.

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  Janet Lieberman-Lu

  Founder, TINKR

  2022 Personal Accessory Jury Captain

  Janet Lieberman-Lu has more than a decade of experience bringing products to market. As an MIT-educated mechanical engineer and entrepreneur, she's worked on everything from dustpans to 3D printers to bathmats. As the co-founder of Dame Products, she's been a key figure in originating the sextech industry, growing the company into an industry leader while managing the design, engineering, and manufacturing of their products. Her current project, TINKR, is still pre-launch.

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  Hyuntaik Lim

  Product Director, Samsung Design Europe

  2016 Consumer Product Jury Member

  Hyuntaik Lim is the director at Samsung Design Europe (SDE), a London-based creative design office that specialises in European, story-led industrial design, UI and UX.
  
  Hyuntaik established a design language with Samsung design centre when he was working in Samsung design HQ, Seoul. He accomplished many successful designs within the A/V cluster team and in the Mobile cluster as a team leader.
  
  Hyuntaik started working at Samsung in 1996. He took a sabbatical to work for Ideo in Palo Alto between 2003-2004. Whilst studying his Master’s degree at the Design Academy Eindhoven, he founded and ran a design studio with Korean government support. He then moved to London and joined SDE as creative lead in 2009. Moving on to product director, he now leads and develops projects across all categories of Samsung electronics.

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  Kiefer Limeback

  CEO, Limeback Group Inc, Limeback media, @toolaholic

  2018 Commercial Equipment Jury Member

  Early on, Kiefer started his career as a professional remodel contractor in Toronto, where he developed his skill using tools and equipment ranging from hand tools to large scale heavy machinery.
  
  When Instagram was in its infancy, he started a page (@toolaholic) where he could discuss tools and techniques amongst the community to better the industry. This quickly blossomed into more detailed media and articles, landing him partnerships with some of the largest names in the industry. He currently works with leaders in power tools and construction products such as Milwaukee, Dewalt, Festool, Fein, Makita, and many more, developing and testing new tools and jobsite solutions. He also writes for publications such as Fine homebuilding and Canadian contractor magazine.
  
  His media company serves an as outlet to show the world the latest in power tools, and also to product detailed content to help our younger generation learn more about tools and techniques.

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  Derrick Lin

  Founder, Packaging of the World

  2016 Packaging Jury Member

  Derrick Lin founded Packaging of the World in 2008 and has led the website to become one of the most prominent packaging design portals in the world. He is also the co-founder and Art Director of Mojo Red, a boutique creative company in Singapore.
  
  Packaging of the World has grown to become the daily inspiration website for designers from all around the world by publishing some of the most interesting and creative projects from large global agencies to students. The audience includes packaging designers, graphic designers, advertising agencies, students, manufacturers and suppliers, garnering over a million impressions every month. Through the website’s business directory, agencies and suppliers can now easily link up and create business opportunities.
  
  Today, Derrick Lin is always thinking of new innovative ideas to improve the packaging community as a whole. He is obsessed with, and passionate about, great packaging design.

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  Dan Lion

  Senior Director, Business Development + Sales, 3D, Shutterstock

  2023 Emerging Technologies Jury Captain

  A self-described “technology junkie”, Dan Lion works with major Brands to chart their transition into an immersive 3D future.
  
  Dan has held leadership roles with companies including Kodak, Autodesk, TurboSquid and Technicolor. He co-founded Creative Bridge, a digital location based post-production services business for feature film and television production. He currently serves on the management team for Shutterstock 3D.

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  David Lipkin

  Managing Director, North America, argodesign

  2022 Consumer Technology Jury Captain

  David Lipkin is Managing Director, North America at argodesign where he helps new and existing clients with their product strategies. Before joining argo, he co-founded Method, one of the first technology-led, integrated brand, product, and UX design firms. At Method, David's work focused on design of brands, products, and services across digital and analog platforms for clients like Comcast, McDonalds, Microsoft, Google, Gucci, and the TED conferences. This work has been influential on a global scale, setting standards for best practices in design, brand, and products and service design. David lives in Brooklyn with his wife, two daughters, in a creaky 1880s brownstone.

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  Ani Liu

  Designer, Experimental Artist & Speculative Technologist

  2018 Design Concept Jury Captain

  Ani Liu is a designer, experimental artist and speculative technologist working at the intersection of art & science. A recent member of MIT Media Lab, she creates research-based art that explores the social, cultural & emotional implications of emerging technologies.
  
  Ani's work has been presented at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Asian Art Museum, MIT Museum, MIT Media Lab, Wiesner Gallery, Harvard University, and media channels such as VICE, Gizmodo, TED, FOX and WIRED.
  
  In 2014-15 she lead the research program in Sensory Mediation at the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities, exploring how information visualization and augmented reality, can be harnessed to extend the human sensorium to redefine spatial experience. She taught as an Associate Instructor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she co-taught an advanced-level architectural studio called Architecture of Cultural Prosthetics: Tools for Communication and Expression in the Public Space with Krzysztof Wodiczko. She has served on numerous design panels at esteemed institutions including Dartmouth College, MIT, University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University.
  
  Ani has a B.A. from Dartmouth College, a Masters of Architecture degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and a Master of Science from MIT Media Lab. She is on the committee of Art Scholars at MIT. Ani continually seeks to discover the unexpected, through playful experimentation, intuition, and speculative storytelling. Her studio is based in New York City.

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  Anton Ljunggren

  Director of Global Design and Innovation, PepsiCo

  2020 Commercial Equipment Jury Member

  Anton Ljunggren is a Director of Global Design and Innovation at PepsiCo where he works on building new businesses to unlock behavior change in health and environmental sustainability. Prior to PepsiCo Anton was the head of design at, clean energy startup, BioLite, bringing electricity, lighting and clean air cooking to hundreds of thousands of users in emerging markets. He also worked at frog and Smart Design where he designed products and experiences for companies including Cisco, Disney, Google, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Nike, Panasonic and Skype. 

His work has garnered global recognition winning awards including from CES, Core77, FastCo, IDSA, IF, Spark and Red Dot.

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  Alexis Lloyd

  Creative Director, NY Times R&D Lab

  2016 Interaction Jury Captain

  Alexis Lloyd is the Creative Director of The New York Times Research & Development Lab, where she investigates emerging technologies and prototypes future concepts for news and media. Her work is focused on creating immersive and exploratory experiences through innovative physical-to-digital interactions, data visualization and screen-based interfaces.
  
  Before joining The New York Times Company in 2007, Ms. Lloyd designed award-winning projects for Columbia University, FOX, American Express, The New York Historical Society and PBS, among others. Additionally, her media artwork has been shown at international venues such as the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, SIGGRAPH, the Chelsea Art Museum and Symphony Space.
  
  Ms. Lloyd received her Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College and holds an MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons The New School for Design.

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  Inna Lobel

  Design Director, Head of Industrial Design for North America, frog

  2023 Lifestyle Accessories Jury Captain

  Inna is a design leader focused on designing thoughtful products and experiences. She is currently a Design Director at frog, and leads the North American Industrial Design and Product Design team, as well as the New York Ventures Practice (interim). Her work is cross-disciplinary, with clients ranging from pre-seed to Fortune 50 companies, and spans a broad range of industry verticals and product types, including consumer electronics, healthcare and transportation. In addition to working with clients, she teaches entrepreneurship and human-centered design at NYU. Before joining frog, Inna architected next-generation technologies and brought many products to market as a senior member of Apple’s Product Design team. She is an inventor on multiple patents and a graduate of the MIT Media Lab. She is the winner of the 2022 Women in Innovation Rising Star Award.