Jury Alumni

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  Nichole Rouillac

  Founder + Creative Director, level

  2024 Sports & Outdoors Jury Member

  Nichole is Founder and Creative Director of level, a West Coast, women-led industrial design shop based in San Francisco. The level studio is on a mission to create a global positive and progressive influence through smart, thoughtful design.
  
  Nichole’s work at level has helped create new industry categories and propelled products into the global spotlight. The studio’s portfolio encompasses the likes of Microsoft, Google, Logitech, FitBit, North, HTC, AliveCor, Tempo and Nex.
  
  level’s work has garnered wide recognition, including design awards such as FastCo., IDEA, Red Dot, iF and Spark. Notably, level was recognized as #03 in FastCompany’s Most Innovative Design Companies of 2021.
  
  Nichole remains committed to creating a diverse, inclusive industry. She has dedicated her career to balancing motherhood and empowering the next generation of female designers through mentorship, having served as chair of IDSA’s Women in Design from 2017-2021. level are active members of the Diversity in Design (DID) Collaborative, initiated in June 2021 to foster systemic change by increasing diversity and improving conditions for Black creatives across the design industry.

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  Melissa Ruhl

  Emerging Mobility Researcher, Ford

  2020 Transportation 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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  Bryce Rutter

  Head of Consulting Services | UX, HF, ID, Noble Aptar Pharma

  2024 Health & Wellness Jury Member

  Dr. Rutter is Head of Consulting Services for Nobel, and Aptar Pharma company. He is a worldwide expert in the research, ergonomics and design of handheld medical devices, products, and packaging. Aptar acquired Metaphase, a design consultancy specializing in research, human factors, and industrial design founded by Dr. Rutter in 1991. His leadership and vision has consistently delivered award-winning, innovative breakthrough designs for several of the world’s most prestigious and influential Fortune 500 brands having earned 120+ Global Design Excellence Awards, 115+ patents, 2 products included the Museum of Modern Art, several designs in the Chicago Athenaeum’s Good Design Museum Collection, 2 Edison Innovation Awards, and a Design of the Decade Award. Dr. Rutter has been profiled, an invited guest, and interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, CNN, CTV, IdeaCity, CityTV, The Chicago Tribune, The Ottawa Citizen, The Globe & Mail and Business 2.0. Dr Rutter holds a Bachelor of Industrial Design from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Master Degree in Industrial Design and Ph.D. in Kinesiology, specializing in motor hand function, both from the University of Illinois.

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  Pascale Sablan

  Associate Principal, Adjaye Associates

  2019 Design for Social Impact Jury Member

  Pascale Sablan, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP, With over eleven years of experience, she has been on the design team for a variety of mixed-use, commercial, cultural & residential projects in the U.S., Saudi Arabia, India, Azerbaijan, Japan, & UAE. Pascale is the 315th living African American female architect in the United States to attain her architectural license.
  
  She is the Founder and Executive Director of Beyond the Built Environment, LLC, positioned to uniquely address the inequitable disparities in architecture by providing a holistic platform aimed to support numerous stages of the architecture pipeline. Beyond the Built Environment, elevates the identities and contributions of minority architects and designers through exhibitions, curated lectures, and documentaries that testify to the provided value of their built work and its spatial impact. Pascale was recently appointed to American Institute of Architects New York Board of Director and American Institute of Architects National Strategic Planning Committee Member to set a 2020-2024 strategic plan for the organization.
  
  She has been recognized for her contributions to the industry with several awards, including the 2018 Pratt Alumni Achievement Award, Emerging New York Architect Merit Award and the NOMA Prize for Excellence in Design. Pascale was selected as one of 2018 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Young Architects Award Recipient and was featured in the Council of Tall Building & Urban Habitat Research Paper, in the same company as Jeanne Gang and Zaha Hadid. She was named Building Design + Construction 40 Under 40 and was featured on the Cover of the September 2017 issue of their magazine.

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  Monish Sabnani

  Co-founder, Courant

  2021 Personal Accessory Jury Member

  Monish Sabnani is the Co-Founder of Courant, a design-driven electronics brand focused on wireless charging for the home. Courant products are widely distributed online and in-store at retailers including West Elm, Nordstrom, CB2, and Bloomingdales, and have been recipients of recognition including several Red Dot Product Design Awards and Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies. Monish graduated with a degree in Finance and Entrepreneurship from Georgetown University, and was selected as part of Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2021.

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  Robert Sachon

  Head of Design, BSH

  2016 Commercial Equipment Jury Member

  Robert Sachon has studied free arts, product design and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School´s General Management Program (GMP). He can look back on a long design career in the household appliance sector. Among other things, he worked as a designer for the Siemens brand and was responsible for the design of the regional brands in Southern Europe and South America belonging to the BSH Group portfolio. Since 2005 he has shaped the Bosch brand as Global Design Director. His holistic design approach has been acknowledged with numerous international design awards. Only recently, Sachon and the Bosch Home Appliances Design Team were awarded the honorary title of “Red Dot: Designteam of the Year 2015“.

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  Milena Sadée

  Design Director, Airbnb

  2022 Consumer Technology Jury Member

  Milena Sadée is a Director of Design for Workshop at Airbnb. Prior to this role, she led a 30 person, multidisciplinary team within Amazon Devices that focused on early concept ideation and development across Echo Products, Alexa AI, Emerging Devices and more. Previously she led the interactive team at 2x4, an award winning global design studio with clients such as Prada, MoMA and Nike. There she focused on retail, event, exhibition, and installation design.

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  Bruno Saint-Jalmes

  Head of Creative Design and Concepts, Airbus

  2016 Commercial Equipment Jury Member

  In October 2013 Bruno was appointed Chief Designer of Airbus Group. Airbus Group management charged Bruno with giving the Airbus Group range a more emotional design language. On this basis, Bruno set up future vehicle products, new ideas, future initiatives and technology strategy as a guideline for future Airbus Group innovations – some examples of the major innovations he delivered are the A350XWB cabin, cockpit design and the Concept Plane Vision 2050, both resulting in a new passenger comfort & service experience as well as a higher airline efficiency.
  
  He oversees the Airbus Industrial Design Group and also provides leadership and direction for industrial designer teams across the company, as well as to foster a design excellence culture within Airbus Group. He is based in Munich, Germany.
  
  Previously Bruno was the Head of Design and Advanced Design at the Airbus Commercial Design Centre in Toulouse, France, from 1994 to 2013. His mission was to develop all the aircraft products, differentiating their individuality, and creating a seductive interior of cabins and cockpits.
  
  Prior to that he was in charge of car and product design at Renault-Matra's design studios from 1988 to 1993.
  
  Bruno began his career at French automaker Peugeot, where he was responsible for driving the style of small and mid-size cars.
  
  Bruno graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle with an MA in Industrial Design/Product Design

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  Marisa Sanchez-Dunning

  Strategic Planner, Guacamole Airplane

  2021 Packaging Jury Captain

  After working with Thompson Brand Partners in the United Kingdom, Marisa Sanchez-Dunning joined Guacamole Airplane to focus on business development and design direction. Combined with her 3 years of agency experience, she also brings 3 years of client side experience from her time working with craft breweries in the United Kingdom and the Bay Area.

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  Peder Sandqvist

  Creative Technologist and Head of VR & AR, DigitasLBi

  2017 Interaction Jury Member

  Peder Sandqvist is Creative Technologist and Head of VR & AR at DigitasLBi Nordics.
  
  As the founder of the DigitasLBi VR Lab (www.dlbivrlab.com), he works together with a diverse team of experts in different areas of technology, visual- and immersive communication to challenge conventions, invent new ways to communicate and create value for both the agency’s clients and end users.
  
  Growing up, he spent those famous tens of thousands of hours drawing and building worlds with Lego. Finding out that the skill set he gained could be used to create some truly amazing 3D content he spent fifteen years as a 3D artist producing state of the art visual effects. As it turns out experience in 3D creation and visual communication is essential in the creation of quality virtual- and augmented reality content.
  
  The past four years he has been exploring and challenging the world of VR & AR, with a singular focus on creating spotless magic moments that have a lasting impact.
  
  His work includes the multi award winning VR experience for the global launch campaign for Volvo XC90, Husqvarna Limberjack on SteamVR and ‘The Loop’ for OnePlus.

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  Shani Sandy

  VP, Experience Design, IBM

  2024 Lifestyle Accessories Jury Member

  Shani Sandy is an artist, multidisciplinary designer, and executive who believes in the transformative power of design. Shani serves as VP, Experience Design at IBM leading design-driven innovation. Her mission is advancing human-centered design with an emphasis on crafting desirable and usable products, services, and experiences alongside cultivating the design culture. Prior to joining IBM, Shani was the Executive Creative Director at S&P Global, where she led the enterprise-wide creative agency, and the creative strategy, communication design, and ux practice areas. From launching her independent design studio in 2002, to present day, Shani continues to explore the many possibilities of a creative calling.
  
  Shani holds a BA in Art History and BFA in Painting and Computer Art from Tufts University along with an MBA from the Berlin School of Creative Leadership. She also attended AIGA & Yale School of Management, Business Perspectives for Creative Leaders.
  
  Shani is actively engaged in the creative and design community, speaking, teaching, and mentoring others and has a passion for nurturing emerging talent. She has been honored by several design institutions including GDUSA and the Design Management Institute and has served as a juror for AIGA, the Service Design College, and America by Design. Her work appears in Stanford University’s Black Graphic Design History Collections.
  
  Shani resides in Brooklyn, NY.

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  Shani Sandy

  VP, Experience Design, IBM

  2024 Tools Jury Member

  Shani Sandy is an artist, multidisciplinary designer, and executive who believes in the transformative power of design. Shani serves as VP, Experience Design at IBM leading design-driven innovation. Her mission is advancing human-centered design with an emphasis on crafting desirable and usable products, services, and experiences alongside cultivating the design culture. Prior to joining IBM, Shani was the Executive Creative Director at S&P Global, where she led the enterprise-wide creative agency, and the creative strategy, communication design, and ux practice areas. From launching her independent design studio in 2002, to present day, Shani continues to explore the many possibilities of a creative calling.
  
  Shani holds a BA in Art History and BFA in Painting and Computer Art from Tufts University along with an MBA from the Berlin School of Creative Leadership. She also attended AIGA & Yale School of Management, Business Perspectives for Creative Leaders.
  
  Shani is actively engaged in the creative and design community, speaking, teaching, and mentoring others and has a passion for nurturing emerging talent. She has been honored by several design institutions including GDUSA and the Design Management Institute and has served as a juror for AIGA, the Service Design College, and America by Design. Her work appears in Stanford University’s Black Graphic Design History Collections.
  
  Shani resides in Brooklyn, NY.

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  Fumi Sasada

  President and CEO, Bravis

  2016 Packaging Jury Member

  Fumi Sasada was born in western Japan, but attended high school and university in Los Angeles, USA. After graduating from the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena as a graphic and packaging major in 1975, Sasada joined the headquarters of Landor Associates. He returned to Japan as creative director of their Tokyo office in 1983 and was responsible for major corporate identity projects including JAL, Mizuno, Tokyo Gas, NEC, the Nagano Olympics and many others. He was appointed Japan representative and deputy president of Landor Associates, Tokyo in 1992 and established Bravis International in June 1996. With an in-depth knowledge of branding and design issues based on 30 years experience as a designer and a design director in the US, Japan and Asia.
  
  From 2006 to 2014, President of the Japan Package Design Association (JPDA). From 2015, member of the selection committee for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

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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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  Raja Schaar

  Program Director and Associate Professor of Product Design, Drexel University Product Design

  2022 Health & Wellness Jury Member

  Raja Schaar, IDSA (she/her) is Director and Associate Professor of the Product Design Program at Drexel University Westphal Collage of Media Arts and Design. She co-chairs IDSA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council is the past Education Director for the organization. Raja studies the ethical implications of design and technology through the lenses of speculative design and climate change. Her current projects address biases maternal health through wearable technology and participatory design; community-based co-design for engaging black girls and underrepresented minorities in STEM/STEAM; and generating frameworks and tools to embed Afrofuturism, biomimicry, sustainability, and climate justice into Design praxis.