Jury Alumni

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  Vincent Sin

  Executive Head, Industrial Design & Product Development, Secretlab

  2023 Gaming Accessories Jury Captain

  With over 12 years of experience in industrial design, Vincent is focused on bringing to life products that sit at the nexus of engineering and art, combining both elegant form and supreme functionality. He now leads all design at Secretlab, heading the development of the award-winning Secretlab TITAN Evo, MAGNUS desks, monitor arms, and more.
  
  Looking to the future for inspiration, he believes in constantly pushing the boundaries of design and engineering for Secretlab’s next generation of products. Today, Secretlab is at the vanguard of fast and evolving design trends in the gaming industry, leading the way with a relentless focus on improving performance through thoughtful design."
  

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  Nkhensani Mkhari

  Director, See Fair Technologies

  2024 Speculative Design Jury Member

  Visionary designer adept at bridging ancestral wisdom with cutting-edge innovation. Expertise in graphic and experience design, specializing in colorimetric research, exhibition curation, and speculative design for post-planetary futures. Proven track record of success in luxury brands, architectural studios, and art institutions. Passionate about sustainability, minimalism, and community-driven design

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  Joe Hebenstreit

  CEO, Shaper

  2018 Commercial Equipment Jury Captain

  Joe Hebenstreit is the CEO of Shaper, a human-involved robotics company focused on dissolving barriers between human intuition and machine tool automation. Shaper’s Origin is a handheld CNC router that employs computer vision and real-time positional motor control to auto-correct for imprecise hand movements and enable entirely new fabrication possibilities. Prior to Shaper, Joe led the Product Design & Engineering team responsible for Glass hardware development at Google X. He began his engineering career in the automotive industry before earning his product development stripes at frog while tackling projects across a wide range of industries including medical devices, wearables, home appliances, industrial equipment and consumer electronics. His reputation for shepherding new technology out of the prototyping lab and into consumer products led him to Amazon’s Lab126 in its earliest days of hardware development. At Amazon, he helped usher enabling technologies like touch interfaces and front-lighting to generations of Kindle e-readers.

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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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  Farai Madzima

  UX Manager, Shopify

  2023 Interaction Jury Member

  Born in Zimbabwe, Farai was going to be a doctor but didn’t get the grades. Now he’s a designer. Make of that what you will.
  Using words, scribbles, and pixels he’s spent the last 14 years helping design and build products and teams in the UK, South Africa, and Canada.
  Today, he makes a living designing interactions and leading a team as a UX Manager at Shopify in Ottawa.
  In South Africa, Farai designed banking apps used by many across the continent. He grappled with unique design challenges because most internet users have never used a laptop or desktop. And some buy data by the megabyte.
  Farai enjoys speaking about bridging knowledge gaps between designers. He’s appeared at events worldwide, including IXDA Interaction and IASummit.
  He organizes Pixel Up!, a series of UX and design conferences and meetups in South Africa. These events connect designers and developers in Africa with their peers around the world.
  Also, he adores verbiage, in all languages, township jazz, nerdy hip-hop, and the number 127.
  

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  Jonathan Kim

  Senior Industrial Designer, Shopify

  2021 Commercial Equipment Jury Member

  Jonathan is a Senior Industrial Designer based in Toronto, Ontario. After 5 years of working in San Francisco as a core part of frog's industrial design team, Jonathan moved to Canada in early 2020 to pursue a new adventure with e-commerce powerhouse, Shopify. His experience as a design consultant spans across leading brands and start-ups in the tech, retail, automotive, government, and healthcare industries. As a part of Shopify’s budding hardware division, Jonathan works at the forefront of commerce innovation, bridging the gap between digital and physical in the retail arena.
  
  Born and raised in the Northern Virginia/ DC area, Jonathan is an east-coast creative looking to make lasting, meaningful products and experiences. Though his expertise lies in physical products, he believes that excellent, culture-shifting design comes from the convergence of multiple disciplines and diverse perspectives.

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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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  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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  Signe Hytte

  Furniture & Product Designer, Signe Hytte

  2019 Furniture & Lighting Jury Member

  Signe Hytte is a Copenhagen-based furniture and product designer. The essence of her work is simplicity, aiming to create honest and functional objects that improve everyday life. Her goal is the most challenging and rewarding aspect of designing: reducing a piece to its core.
  
  Apart from working with brands like New Works and Menu, she is Head of Design at the Danish furniture and lighting company & tradition. Her work is a regular fixture at the Stockholm, Milan and Cologne furniture fairs, and she has been featured in design and art exhibitions globally.
  
  She has studied Aesthetics and Culture at the University of Aarhus, and she graduated from the Design + Business school TEKO in 2012.

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  Sal Agosta

  Vice President of Architecture and Design, SimEx Iwerks

  2024 Built Environment Jury Member

  With over 25 years of experience at SimEx-Iwerks, Sal has honed his expertise in architecture and design to perfection. He is Vice President of Architecture and Design, Responsible for crafting captivating attractions found in top theme parks, museums, zoos, and aquariums globally, Sal’s drive for innovation and commitment to quality has positioned them as a respected leader in the industry. Based in Toronto, Sal finds inspiration in the city's vibrant atmosphere and thriving creative community.
  
  "Design aficionado who finds inspiration in every corner of the globe. Whether it's a unique architecture or a simple piece of street art, I am always seeking new ways to incorporate creativity into my work. When not immersed in design, you can find me hitting the pavement on my bike or going for a run."

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  John Siczewicz

  Lighting & Compositing Artist, Skydance Animation

  2023 Emerging Technologies Jury Member

  An early adopter of digital content creation, John was at the forefront of technology in the late 1980s and 1990s. Utilizing platforms such as Quantel Paintbox and Kodak Cineon for high-end image manipulation, and soon embraced Discreet Logic’s (now Autodesk) Flame and Inferno systems.
  John found a home at the CGI pioneer Blue Sky Studios. Starting there with just a small handful of wildly creative thinkers and stayed on for twenty-six years until the studio’s closure in April of 2021.
  With close to 40 credits over the years, mostly in animated feature films, John has contributed to many of the family favorites that have entertained millions. He currently continues this path as a lighting and compositing artist at Skydance Animation.
  Always with an eye toward the future, he feels it’s essential to remain informed about emerging technologies and how they’ll affect and influence what we’re exposed to, and how we chose to access them.

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  Buzz Pearce

  Global Head of Design, Skyscanner

  2017 Service Design Jury Member

  Steve has the mind of an engineer, the eyes and hands of an artist, and a heart for people.
  Since the dawn of internet economy companies, he’s lovingly crafted products and services, that people actually use and enjoy on a daily basis, some have become verbs in global society.
  Steve (or Buzz, it’s a long story!) is a Design Leader and knows what it takes to create products and brands with soul. He’s had the fortune of working with some of the best designers and engineers around, and together they’ve been instrumental in designing some of the most loved products on the planet.
  Buzz is now leading the wonderful design team at Skyscanner, where he’s scaling the design team to take the product and brand to becoming a household name globally.
  Always wanting to share stories and learnings, Buzz teaches at many of the leading design schools in the UK and Europe, and is a regular public speaker.

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  Carly Mick

  Director of Manufacturing Innovation, Skyscrape

  2022 Sports & Recreation Jury Member

  Carly Mick specializes in manufacturing innovation for soft-goods including on-demand manufacturing. Currently she is leading the fabric development team as the Director of Manufacturing innovation at Skyscrape, a company that created the first of its kind thermally adaptive insulation. Also, a textile addict who spends her free time dyeing yarn and weaving rugs.

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  Maria Gonzalez

  Senior Communications Designer, Slack

  2019 Visual Communication Jury Member

  Maria is a Senior Communications Designer at Slack. She is an award winning designer and illustrator with experience working at startups and advertising agencies. Her work has been featured in Print Magazine, Lurzer’s Archive, Interface Lovers and has won a D&AD Impact Award, Gold Effie, Silver Addy, and more. She has a diverse skill set ranging from web and app development, UI, TV, print, social, illustration, art direction and brand identity design.

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  Kristy Tillman

  Head of Global Experience Design, Slack

  2019 Visual Communication Jury Captain

  Kristy Tillman currently serves as the Head of Global Experience Design at Slack. As the first in the first in the role, she is building a vision and a team whose mission it is to lead the transformation of branded and built environments, workplace experience and culture, and their integrated services and programs through the use of design and technology to make Slack employees, partners and visitors’ lives more pleasant and productive.
  
  Prior to this role, Kristy lead and built Slack’s first Communication Design team, as the Head of Communication Design. Where was lead the design of Slack’s first user conference, marketing website’s first overhaul, and the creative direction of several brand marketing campaigns.
  
  Before Slack, Kristy was the Design Director at Society of Grownups— where she lead design teams dedicated to crafting exceptional experiences across both brand and product. She also worked as a designer at IDEO, an award-winning global design consultancy where she helped solve design problems across a variety of industries including consumer product goods, finance, education, and healthcare.
  
  Kristy believes in a future where design is a tool that aids underserved communities in solving sociocultural problems. As the co-founder of the Detroit Water Project and founder of Tomorrow Looks Bright, Kristy has a strong commitment to furthering the accessibility of design.
  
  She is an alumna of Florida A&M University.

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  Joana Kelly

  COO, Small Planet

  2018 Interaction Jury Captain

  Joana Kelly is the COO at Small Planet, where she helps teams create award-winning mobile products for clients like Disney, NPD Group, and Planned Parenthood.
  
  Her work has earned the Communication Arts Magazine​ Award of Excellence and the Fast​ Company Innovation By Design Award, been featured on the App Store and Google Play, and ​ been downloaded millions of times.
  
  Joana has guest lectured at the School of Visual Arts and taught at Parsons The New School for Design. She received her undergraduate degree from New York University and holds an MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons The New School for Design.