Mariana Amatullo
Mariana Amatullo is the director of the International Initiatives Department of Art Center College of Design and director of the college-wide initiative Designmatters. Through her leadership, Art Center has become the first design institution formally affiliated with the United Nations and has earned wide recognition as an exemplary effort uniting humanitarian, social and educational objectives. Ms. Amatullo oversees an innovative portfolio of public awareness campaigns, exhibitions, documentary films and publications. Currently, she is at the helm of “The Los Angeles Earthquake,” a cross-institutional initiative to improve communication outreach and earthquake preparedness in Southern California. She is a founding member of USC’s International Museum Institute, a think-tank promoting cross-cultural dialogue and best practices in museum leadership.

Randy Bartlett, IDSA
Randy began his design career with Syntex Dental Products. He moved from dental equipment design to designing home exercise equipment for Diversified Products, and then to the design of outdoor lighting fixtures for Cooper Lighting. During this corporate experience Randy has received 17 U.S. patents. For the past four years at the IDSA National Conferences he has partnered with RitaSue Siegel in the presentation of the Portfolio and Interviewing seminar. Randy also directs the Collaborative Travel Design Program, a ten-week international “studio abroad” program in the spring.

Fridolin T. Beisert
Fridolin Beisert is an instructor at the Art Center College of Design, sharing his rich experience with the designers of the future. Fridolin received his Bachelor of Science in both Product and Entertainment Design and was recognized with the title of “Distinction,” Art Center’s highest graduating honor. After graduation he worked for Sony Playstation in Tokyo, designing video game titles. He also started his own design consultancy, Red Thread, with clients including Designworks, Ford Motor Company, Mattel, Earthlink, Heineken, Phillips, Sony, and Biodesign. His work has been published in Graphis, BusinessWeek, Axis, Interni, and Stern.

David Bentley
David Bentley graduated in Industrial Design at Brigham Young University in 1997.  Since then he has worked at General Motors as a Creative Designer, a consultant at Chrysler design, a senior designer at Lear, and an instructor at the College for Creative Studios in Detroit, among other pursuits.  He now works at Autodesk with the global automotive group, where he focuses mainly on sketching/painting, concept modeling, and design visualization.

Mark Breitenberg
Mark Breitenberg is Dean of Undergraduate Education at Art Center College of Design. He holds a PhD in Literature and Critical Theory and has published widely on literary history, English literature, Shakespeare, and design education. He speaks frequently on interdisciplinary design education, creativity and the narrative power of design. He recently started a design research program and a collaboration between Art Center and the INSEAD business school. He has also worked as a story analyst and screenwriter in Hollywood. Dr. Breitenberg is a member of the Icsid Executive Board, where he serves as the Chair of Education and leads the Global Education Network.

Mark Dziersk                                                
Mark is VP of industrial Design at LAGA, an International Branding, Design and Innovation firm, where he's responsible for design and innovation management. Widely recognized as an expert in his field, Mark is quoted regularly in The Wall Street Journal and other national publications.  He has served as President of IDSA, Executive Editor of Innovation Magazine, and has received numerous awards for design excellence. Mark also holds over 100 US product design and engineering patents.

http://www.laga.com

Victor Fernandes, Natura, Brazil
Victor Fernandes is development director responsible for Natura's portfolio of cosmetics and personal care products and packaging, and a member of its Committee of Product, Innovation, Technology and Sustainability.

Tim Fletcher
Tim Fletcher is currently teaching industrial design at Hong Kong Polytechnic University after 17 years of industry experience in commercial electronics, infant products and sporting goods. Mr. Fletcher was previously design director for DAKA, a consumer electronics company in Hong Kong. He holds 14 design patents and 4 utility patents in both the US and Europe. A member of IDSA since 1989 and a former member of the board of directors, he currently serves as the Society’s International Liaison Officer – Asia.

Greg Fowler
Greg is the Technical Marketing Manager for the Alias Design products at Autodesk. He came to the world of design software through his work as an industrial designer at Kerr and Company, an award winning design consultancy in Toronto, Canada. Greg currently instructs at the Ontario College of Art and Design and himself holds degrees in Industrial Design and Religious Studies, often finding little distinction between the two.

Naomi Gornick
Naomi Gornick is a Design Management consultant in the UK specialising in higher education programme development and advanced in-house training programmes with clients including Nokia and Procter& Gamble. From 1989-2001 she developed advanced post-graduate programmes at the Royal College of Art and Brunel University and is now advising on new programme development in several UK universities. Graduates from her programmes are now in senior positions in international organisations. She is Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee and Visiting Senior Fellow at the Open University.

Ian Grout
Ian Grout, of Scotland & Sweden, researches creative methods for ethical design. He teaches Product Design at the Glasgow School of Art and initiated the international symposium 7x4x7, through the International Association of Universities & Colleges of Art, Design & Media and HDK Design School Göteborg.

W. Shaun Jackson – Professor, The University of Michigan, School of Art and Design, Taubman College of Architecture.
W. Shaun Jackson founded his first company, Eclipse Inc., in the early 1970s. Under his leadership as Design Director and CEO, this venture became a multimillion-dollar corporation with global distribution, and was selected as a case study for a National Endowment for the Arts research project investigating the role of design in American business. Jackson holds more than 30 patents and has won numerous national and international design awards. He is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Worldesign Foundation, has chaired both the IDEA and Catalyst Awards Juries and has lectured at business and design schools around the country.

Dr. Lorraine Justice
Dr. Lorraine Justice is currently the Swire Chair and Head of the School of Design at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She has served in higher education for the past 20 years, in the areas of design research, industrial design and computer interface design. Prior to joining Hong Kong Poly, Professor Justice was director of the ID program at Georgia Tech. She was awarded an NEA grant on the integration of technology and design, a SIGGRAPH Educator’s Grant and a team Smithsonian Award in Education for the “Mission to Mars” exhibition developed in cooperation with the National Science Foundation and Apple Computer. She is an IDSA Fellow and has consulted on design with corporations such as Apple, CompuServe, Chemical Abstracts, CheckFree, Hedworth, Microsoft, NCR and Lutron. Dr. Justice coordinated the First China-USA Industrial Design Conference in Beijing, and the first Doctoral Education in Design Conference in Ohio. She also serves on the advisory board of Design Issues and The Design Journal.

Peter Kossev
Peter has over  17 years of experience in Transportation and Consumer Electronics design and engineering. The highlights of the career are working on the Italian bullet train with Giugiaro in Italy, Aircraft interior design and engineering on Piaggio P180 Avanti and MD 10, 11 and Super80. In Asia developing advanced concepts for Ericsson. In USA working for frog and HP on consumer products.

Chris Lefteri
Chris Lefteri is an internationally recognized authority on materials and their application in design. Chris’s eight books on design and material innovation can be found in most design studios around the world. He has delivered white papers and curated museum exhibitions across Europe, North America and Asia. He is a regular contributor to international design magazines and a senior lecturer at Central St. Martins College of Art in London. Chris is also a visiting professor at LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts in Singapore. He received his MA in Industrial Design from the Royal College of Art.

Ezio Manzini
Ezio is Professor of Industrial design at Politecnico di Milano, and Director of the “Unit of Research DIS-Design and Innovation for Sustainability.” His research interests include strategic design, design for sustainability, and design for social innovation, with a focus on scenario building and solution development. He has published widely and worked to move design thinking forward around the world, with academic appointments in Hong Kong, Japan, and the Netherlands, as well as his native Italy, where he was Scientific Director and Vice President of Domus Academy from 1893 to 1995.

http://www.sustainable-everyday.net

Joshua Maruska
As the Principle Design Scientist at Teague, Joshua Maruska is responsible for ensuring the technical integrity of products and projects developed in the Teague Product Studio. Joshua also plays a pivotal role in cultivating the company’s creative culture; assisting diverse teams of talent in meeting core design objectives. Designing since 1993, Joshua has worked with some of the world’s leading brands including Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, Thomson, Nike, Panasonic, Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks and Samsung among others. His contributions to the industry have been recognized in numerous awards including Red Dot, iF Award and the Good Design Award.

Adam Peterson, Application Specialist, Dow Corning Corporation
Adam loves to learn and teach. But since learning and teaching generally don't pay well, he has made a living solving problems as an Application Specialist for Dow Corning. Adam has applied materials expertise in diverse areas including aerospace, non-woven fabrics, and personal care products. He has the unique ability to explain complex information in an entertaining and enthusiastic manner. Adam actively participates in his local community and with the help of his veterinarian wife, is turning his four kids into geeks just like their parents.

Kevin Reeder, IDSA
Kevin Reeder is an Associate Professor in the Industrial Design Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as the IDSA, Southern District Education Representative. Mr. Reeder has practiced Industrial Design in corporations, consulting organizations and in start-up companies. Prior to Georgia Tech, he has taught full and part-time at several universities and colleges, including Stanford University, California College of the Arts, Arizona State University, and The Ohio State University. Mr. Reeder’s work has been featured in magazines and articles, and in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institute.

Kevin Richards
Kevin began studying product and automotive design at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.  It was during his schooling that he found a passion for using Alias products as a design tool to tell stories, communication design, and interface with engineering and management.  Now located in San Francisco, he uses his design experience to present, inform, train and collect best practices from some of the top automotive and product design firms worldwide.

Joi L. Roberts, IDSA, Design Ambassador, Motorola, Consumer Experience Design
With a background in engineering, software development and user-centered design, thirteen years of experience in the Telecommunications industry, creative pursuits in photography and performance arts, and a lifelong commitment to teaching and mentoring, Joi is always looking for opportunities to connect technology, creativity, business and education.

Currently the Design Ambassador for Motorola’s Consumer Experience Design (CXD) team, Joi is responsible for driving strategic initiatives internally and externally around design education, industry contribution, talent growth and development, and design culture. Joi’s personal mission is to encourage aspiring designers, particularly those from underrepresented communities, to achieve their goals.

Chris Sams
Chris Sams is Director of Corporate Programs for Entertainment and Training at BATS, the Bay area’s favorite improv company. Chris began his improv career at the age of 8 and has worked since then in a wide variety of groups and settings. Teaching is a passion for Chris, and he delights in introducing improv activities to others. In addition to his instructing through BATS Improv School, Chris has taught improvisation skills and games to hundreds of participants in various corporate settings as a trainer/facilitator with BATS Improv's Training Wing. His professional background is in non-profit management.

Robert T. Schwartz, IDSA, Associate Director for Global Design Organization, Procter & Gamble
Robert Schwartz has more than 30 years of design and design management experience with both corporations and non-profit organizations. Bob served as Executive Director of IDSA from 1990 to 1999. He holds a Masters in Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design and supports design education through faculty appointments and advisory committees. He has served as a design ambassador on both a national and international scale; testifying before Congress; visiting the White House as an Official Delegate to the National Medal of Arts Ceremonies; and serving as the United Nations’ Senior Advisor for Industrial Design to the Peoples’ Republic of China.

RitaSue Siegel, IDSA
RitaSue Siegel, IDSA is an innovator and a pioneer. Her speaking and writing to general and design-related audiences has focused on how design can enhance life, championing the designer as the users' advocate and promoting design strategy as a critical function in support of business objectives. Always an outspoken critic, her work has helped raise the standards of design education.

Daniel Simon
Daniel is a transportation concept designer. After graduating from the University of Design in Pforzheim, Germany, he went to Barcelona and designed concept cars for Bugatti and Lamborghini, followed by 5 years in VW Group´s Advanced Design, where he supervised a show car. He has since returned to Berlin and founded Daniel Simon Studio where he is designing virtual vehicles. His first book, Cosmic Motors will be published soon. Daniel continues to design cars and is currently working on projects with a premium car manufacturer.

Craig M. Vogel
Craig M. Vogel is the director of the Center for Design Research and Innovation in the college of Design Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) at the University of Cincinnati. He is also a professor in the School of Design with an appointment in Industrial Design. Craig recently left Carnegie Mellon University where he has been a professor in the School of Design for the past 14 years. He is a Fellow, Past President Elect and Chair of the Board of IDSA. He is co-author (along with Professor Jonathan Cagan) of Creating Breakthrough Products, and one of three authors of Design of Things to Come.

Geoff Wardle
Geoff Wardle is Director of Advanced Mobility Research at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and part of the core team planning and delivering Art Center’s “Designing Sustainable Mobility” series. Educated as a vehicle engineer and as an automotive designer at the Royal College of Art, Geoff has had extensive experience as a professional designer across four continents and remains a passionate car enthusiast. Geoff has grown increasingly concerned about the future of the industry and personal mobility in general. Amongst various consultancy activities, Geoff particularly enjoys his relationship with TVS Motors, a large Indian motorcycle manufacturer. 

Xiangyang Xin, PhD
Xiangyang Xin, PhD is Assistant Professor, Deputy Program Leader, Master of Design, School of Design, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Xin has a terminal degree from Carnegie Mellon University, where he also received a master degree in Interaction Design. With a diverse education and a professional background in mechanical engineering, architecture, design, art and product development, Xin specializes in cultural product innovation, design theory, interaction and communication design. Xin grew up in mainland China and connects closely with Chinese universities and industries.