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Confirmed CDN Speakers



Klaus VW


Klaus Zyciora

Head of Volkswagen Group Design

Volkswagen Group


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BIO


Klaus Zyciora is Head of Volkswagen Group Design and in this capacity is responsible for the global design of the Group’s 10 brands. Previous milestones in his career include the Golf VI, Golf VII and Golf VIII, the Touareg, Tiguan and T-Roc SUV series and the vehicles in the ID. Family.


Nicholas David, Karma Automotive

Nicholas David

Sr. Design Director

Karma Automotive


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BIO


Nicholas David is an award-winning automotive designer with over 20 years of international experience and is the Senior Design Director at Karma Automotive. In his role, Nicholas oversees all aspects of design, including exterior, interior, CMF and UiUx at Karma. Nicholas graduated from the renowned Vehicle Design course at the Royal College of Art in London. Before joining Karma, Nicholas was the Chief Designer of Exteriors for GAC Advanced Design North America, where he was credited with developing the World Record-breaking aero EN0.146 EV Concept car and the more recent Enpulse EV sportscar. Prior to his time at GAC, Nicholas has held leadership roles at Aria Group, GM, Honda and Jaguar-LandRover. He was the lead/contributing designer on the Aria FXE Hyper car, Chevrolet TRU 140S, Jaguar XK-RS, Jaguar CX-75, Honda FC-Sport and Chevrolet Graphyte.


HakSooHa


Haksoo Ha

Design Director

Hyundai Motor Group

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BIO




Sue Neuhauser

Sue Neuhauser

Head of CMF Design

Faraday Future


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BIO


Sue Neuhauser is an entrepreneur and designer with more than 20 years of international experience in the automotive industry. In her current role as Senior Design Manager for CMF at Faraday Future, she leads a team that envisions, creates, and develops all colors, materials, and finishes for the brand’s vehicle lineup. As one of the first females in this segment, Sue graduated with a degree in Transportation Design at the University of Applied Science in Munich, Germany. Her career took her from the traditional European OEM worlds of Audi, Magna, BMW, and MAN Truck & Bus to California-based startups including Tesla and Neuron EV. As a member of the initial design teams at Tesla and Faraday Future, she was part of the creative teams that shaped the brand and product design language of both companies. On the Tesla Model X program, she set her mark on visionary and innovative show and prototype executions, including a successful production CMF design that set a new industry trend with her ultra white “vegan leather.” At Faraday Future, she received the German Design award in 2017 for the FFZER01 concept car. With her entrepreneurial spirit, Sue also founded her own business, NOVA Design Group, where she and her team worked on projects for DHL/ Dt Post, Streetscooter, FAW Group, and Hyzon Motors, and collaborated with ISIAH Thomas on a sustainable material project.


pontus fontaeus - website


Pontus Fontaeus

Executive Design Director GAC Advanced Design Los Angeles and Technical Director

GAC R&D Center China

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BIO


Pontus Fontaeus is a renowned Swedish Designer with more than 30 years of design experience in areas of Automotive, Transportation, Architecture, Product, and Graphic Design including Advertising & Illustration, as well as Art. Pontus holds an engineering diploma and a Bachelor of Science in Transportation from Art Center College of Design in Switzerland. He has lived and worked in more than 8 countries around the globe and speaks many languages. He loves taking on new challenges and says he is very comfortable being uncomfortable. But he believes action speaks louder than words. He is in this business for one thing and one thing only - to be a part of creating outstanding products and cutting-edge designs together with his peers. Pontus says it has been an absolute privilege to experience so many different cultures and inspirational people from all around the world. His long list of work experience includes companies such as Volkswagen Group, Renault, Kia, Volvo Cars, Ferrari, and Land Rover. Over the years, he also had a stint in various design opportunities, including Singapore Airlines New Business Class interior, Scania Next Gen truck interiors, Scuderia One Cabestan chronograph by Ferrari, watch for Tag Heuer, and the architectural development of the VW Design Studio in Berlin. In 2015, Pontus moved to the United States to serve as the Design Director for Faraday Future - responsible for the FFZERO1 and FF91 interiors as well as for creating the iconic FF logotype, and leading branding, UX/UI, CMF, Experiential Architecture, Industrial Design, Visualization, and the Movie teams. He was also responsible for the interior of the LeSee concept car. In 2017, Pontus took on a new challenge to establish GAC’s first international design studio and elevate the design and brand of GAC for the next generation and beyond, under the guidance of GAC VP of Design, Fan Zhang. He has overseen the development of award-winning concept cars such as the ENTRANZE, the EN0.146, and the ENPULSE. In addition, the team at GAC Advanced Design Los Angeles, under Pontus’s direction, has been a formidable member of GAC’s global design network, influencing GAC Design with visionary design strategies, design process as well as many production vehicle proposals. Pontus is currently the Executive Design Director for GAC Advanced Design Los Angeles and also serves as the Technical Director for GAC R&D in China. Pontus does not distinguish between work and play, and says everything is interlinked – outside of his daily duties, he is a passionate cook and a contemporary artist and often blurs the boundaries between his professional and personal life. “Because creativity has no boundaries.”


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David Lyon

Director of Design

VinFast


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BIO


David graduated from College for Creative Studies in 1990 with a degree in Transportation Design. From there, he joined General Motors Design, where he served in several leadership positions- including Executive Director of Asia-Pacific Design and Executive Director of Interior Design for North America. While in Asia, David led the teams responsible for Chevrolet’s global fuel-efficient vehicles, including the Spark, Sonic, and Cruze. Upon return, he helped elevate Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac’s interiors to world-class executions, including the material choices, brand strategy, and infotainment and HMI design. He founded Pocketsquare Design in 2013 to address opportunities which improve vehicles and driving using UX design. In 2017, David joined new Vietnamese Electric Vehicle start-up Vinfast, where he is responsible for the design of its portfolio of electric cars, SUVs, city buses, and scooters.


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Todd Towers

CEO

Farmboy

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BIO


Todd – the original ‘Farmboy’ – was raised on his family’s 6th generation farming and ranching homestead in Red Deer, Alberta. A Bachelor of Fine Arts student by day and hardworking farmhand by night, Todd started this eponymous company with pursuits to change lives with art by making art more accessible to others outside of gallery walls. Todd has received a number of accolades and industry recognition including on Top 40 Under 40 lists, sitting on Boards of art organizations across Canada, and exploring the future of art as CoFounder to ethos multiverse, an NFT platform that simplifies and facilitates rich experiences for brands. Todd serves as Farmboy's CEO, leading the vision and future direction for the company and contributing to the high-level strategy for Farmboy's robust client list including the global advisory work for Ford Motor Company and driving relationships with some of the world's top hospitality brands.


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David Muyres

Mobility Futurist, Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer

Streetscope


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BIO


David Muyres is an experienced innovation and product development leader with a passion for creatively solving new mobility challenges. He has held functional and executive management positions in Europe, Asia and North America across the automotive industry. In addition to his broad corporate experience, he has also held leadership positions in academia, started non-profits, and partnered in a consulting office in Washington, DC. David Muyres is currently the Chief Commercial Officer and Co-Founder of Streetscope, a start-up focused on safety in the new mobility world. Previously he was responsible for Global Product Innovation, Consumer Research and Advanced Technology teams at Yanfeng Automotive, a Director at the Global Corporate Innovation Center at Johnson Controls in Milwaukee, WI and the Vice President, Educational Initiatives, for Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. In December 2008, Mr. Muyres was asked to provide testimony on the future of the automotive industry to Rep. Ed Markey’s House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming in Washington, DC.


Kemal Curic Lincoln


Kemal Curic

Design Director

Lincoln



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BIO


Kemal Curic is design director for Lincoln, responsible for leading the long-term vision of the luxury brand.
Curic, a native of Sarajevo, grew up in Germany and Croatia. He’s been fascinated by vehicle design since he was a young child, captivated by the American muscle cars he would occasionally see on the streets and often drawing cars in his school notebooks. “I had no idea I could make my passion my job,” he said. “It’s truly a dream come true.”
Curic began his career at Ford of Europe in 2003 after earning a bachelor’s degree in industrial design and a master’s in transportation design in Germany. He went to work designing cars like the European-market Fiesta, Mondeo and Kuga, then transitioned to Ford’s Dearborn design team in 2010 to work on the 2015 Mustang.
In 2014, Curic became exterior design manager for Lincoln Continental, then went on to lead transformation of the Lincoln design framework and serve as chief designer for the all-new Aviator. Aviator, a three-row midsize SUV, expands Lincoln’s portfolio and represents the next step in the company’s design vision.
“Aviator is such an elegant, beautifully proportioned vehicle,” said Curic. “There are so many wonderful details. Everything in Aviator comes from a deep understanding of the client, and us meeting their discerning needs and expectations.”
He also served as lead exterior designer on the all-new Corsair, the brand’s newest SUV, which Curic considers one of Lincoln’s most expressive, dramatically designed vehicles.
With Lincoln now riding a wave of product momentum, Curic said he wants to continue to create things that are truly amazing. “We’re in such a unique place now,” he said. “We have the perfect opportunity to do that.” Curic resides in Irvine, California, with his family.


Scott Krugger, Dodge


Scott Krugger

Vice President, Dodge//SRT Exterior Design

Stellantis

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BIO


Scott Krugger was appointed vice president of Dodge//SRT exterior design in August 2022. In this position, he is responsible for managing all aspects of exterior design relating to Dodge and Dodge//SRT passenger car and utility vehicles for North America. He reports to reports to Chief Design Officer Ralph Gilles. Prior to this appointment, Krugger served as head of Alfa Romeo, Jeep® and user experience design at the company’s EMEA design studio. Krugger joined the company in 2001 and has held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility in the product design office. Krugger earned a Master of Business Administration from Michigan State University - Eli Broad College of Business Executive MBA Program (2015) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Cleveland Institute of Art with a major in industrial design, which includes automotive and product design (2001)


William Chergosky

William Chergosky

Chief Designer

CALTY Design Research, Inc


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BIO


William Chergosky has over 30 years of studio experience and is responsible for interior design at Toyota’s Newport Beach studio, Calty Design Research Inc, where he oversees advanced concept and design for Lexus and Toyota. He is responsible for leading various design projects for Calty, including the 2003 Toyota FJ Cruiser Concept/Production, 2007 Toyota FT-HS Concept, 2012 Lexus LF-LC Concept (LC500), 2013 Lexus GS, 2014 FT-1/Supra Concept, 2017 Concept-i, and current generation Camry, Prius, Highlander and Lexus RX. He received his BFA in Transportation Design from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Mich. Prior to joining CALTY in 2002, William worked 10-years with Chrysler/DCX. Interests include fitness, advanced technology, furniture design, architecture and spending time with his family.


Simon Loasby


Simon Loasby

Vice President Hyundai Styling Group

Hyundai Motor Group


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BIO


Simon was born & raised in the UK growing up in Warwickshire and Northern Ireland. From his parents he inherited both artistic and scientific genes. His father is an engineer in the Automotive industry which exposed Simon to wonderful cars and influenced him to decide to combine his art and scientific skills to target a career in automotive design. He first studied for a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial college, University of London and thereafter completed a Masters Degree in Vehicle Design at the Royal College of Art. Throughout his studies he was sponsored by the automotive industry. Firstly by Rover Group then by Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars where, after graduating at the RCA, he started his working career. Simon spent 10 years in Crewe at Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars which included a number of special "Brunei Projects", a brief spell with BMW in Munich and completing, with the team, the original Bentley Continental GT under the ownership of Volkswagen. Shortly after this in 2001 he moved to Germany to work for Volkswagen where he lived and worked for 7 years before taking up the role of Design Director Volkswagen China in 2008. After 9 years in China he moved from VW to become Vice President Design for Hyundai China to guide their future model programs for this hugely important market. After completing the first projects he then moved in 2019 to Seoul, South Korea to take up his current position. In the recent years he worked with the global and local teams to deliver the Ioniq5, SEVEN Concept car (Los Angeles 2021 premier), Ioniq6 (on its way) and many other local and global vehicles. He works closely with Sangyup Lee and Luc Donckerwolke plus together with the global Hyundai design teams - 6 studios in total: California, Germany, India, China, Japan and South Korea. In all the Hyundai design team globally numbers around 600 people.


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Tom Matano

Executive Director, School of Industrial Design

Academy of Art University, San Francisco

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BIO


Mr. Matano has almost 30 years of experience in the automotive industry, holding design positions at General Motors in Detroit, Michigan, GM Holden’s Ltd. in Melbourne, Australia, and BMW in Munich, Germany. In 1983, he joined Mazda’s North American studio as a Chief Designer. From there, he went on to become Executive Vice President of Western Operations for Mazda R&D North America, Inc., and Executive Designer & Director of Mazda North American Operations. From 1999 to 2002, Mr. Matano worked at Mazda’s headquarters in Japan as an Executive Designer in the Global Advance Studio, overseeing efforts for Japan, Europe, and North America; and eventually he was named General Manager of Mazda Design in charge of all Chief Designers. His accomplishments at Mazda include the 1993 RX-7 and Miata, in addition to many other projects produced by the design teams he built and managed. Since 2002, Mr. Matano has been committed to becoming an educator, using his diverse knowledge and experience to enhance the Industrial Design program at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA, now ranked among the top 10 in the Red Dot World Ranking of Industrial Design schools.


Martin Groschwald CEO of Konzepthaus Consulting

Martin Groschwald

CEO

Konzepthaus Consulting


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BIO


“Big-thinker; influencer; global design consultant; thought-leader; innovation driver. Martin Groschwald is the CEO & Co-founder of Konzepthaus group - an innovation consultancy that specialises in business transformation and finding the best pathways and people to fulfill their partners‘ visions through design & technological leaps. With over eight years of experience within the mobility design sector, Martin is positioned as an authority and design consultant who likes to challenge existing norms to create new ways of thinking about the design process. Highly networked with all leading global OEMs, Martin stays at the forefront of innovation helping to partner and drive new approaches throughout the industry. He works hard to elevate and innovate the industry, through his blogs, podcasts, community building events like Pistons & Pretzels and delivering new tools, such as Pathfinder to support new, upcoming designers into the industry. He’s also an avid Bayern München supporter, Aston Martin enthusiast and loves discovering the world.”


Clay Dean, UA


Clay Dean

Chief Innovation Officer

Under Armour


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BIO


Clay Dean has been the Chief Innovation Officer at Under Armour since March 2017 and is responsible for driving Under Armour’s global vision and strategy for innovation and cross functional collaboration with the company’s internal design, marketing, & product teams. He leads a diverse team of Innovation Footwear /Apparel Design, Material Innovation/Science, Manufacturing Innovation, BioMechaincs and Innovation Footwear Development & Engineering. Their work is focused on providing athletes with superior performance solutions and experiences while addressing key sutainability and circularity challenges in Performance Footwear and apparel that can be commercialized with production teams. Prior to Under Armour, Clay led the Global Advanced Design Teams at General Motors exploring & developing General Motors future mobility solutions and Brand Concepts. During his 28 years at General Motors, Clay was the Design Director for Cadillac, GM Small & Mid Sized cars, Chevy Truck and Hummer. His design portfolio included guiding the strategic and creative vision for several of General Motors production & concept cars, including the Cadillac Elmiraj & Ciel. Clay was also the Chief Designer that produced the HUMMER H2, H2 SUT and H3T and H3 programs. Clay is a graduate of Brigham Young University, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial /Transportation Design.


Troy Beetz-2 (1)


Troy Beetz

Chief Marketing Officer

DeLorean Motor Company


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BIO


Troy Beetz is the Chief Marketing Officer at DeLorean Motor Company, with over 24 years in the automotive industry. His strategy, innovation, and leadership have ignited Troy’s career in marketing and storytelling for top brands in the industry.Troy began his Automotive career with over 12 years of experience at Toyota Motor Company, rising within the company from his first position as New Product Interactive Marketing Analyst. After transitioning to Lexus for four years in the National Sales Incentives and Strategy sector, Troy moved into a Senior Product Manager for Global Development role at Lexus, where he spearheaded marketing strategy development, including piloting Lexus' Future of Retail initiatives through advertising, media, digital, engagement, and relationship marketing with a focus on creating a unique purchasing experience.After Lexus, Troy moved to the electric vehicle space, working first at NIO (NextEV) as Director of Global Product Planning where he oversaw all U.S. products from the strategic/initial phase to the normal product lifecycle stage. After NIO, Troy moved to Karma Automotive, where he led worldwide product planning and strategy efforts and later served as Vice President of Global Marketing and Partnerships.Troy maintains roles with J.D. Power as a contributor, on the University of California’s Advisory Board, Harvard Business Review’s Advisory Board, and as an Executive Board Member for Cause Confectionery.Troy received his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, his Master’s Degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he received his certificate for Leading Strategic Innovation in Organizations. Troy is originally from the United States and is fluent in English and Japanese.


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Derek Jenkins

Senior Vice President Of Design And Brand

Lucid


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BIO


Derek Jenkins is the senior vice president of design and brand at Lucid. In this role, Jenkins oversees all design developments, including exterior and interior design, user experience, color and material, accessories, and the overall design strategy. Jenkins also spearheads Lucid’s brand creative and brand strategy. Before joining Lucid, Jenkins was the director of design at Mazda North America Operations where he oversaw all design developments locally and globally. He was the lead or contributing designer to the 2016 MX-5 Miata, Shinari Concept, CX-5, Mazda6, Mazda3, and the 2017 CX-9. Prior to his tenure with Mazda, Jenkins spent nine years as the Chief Designer for Volkswagen North America, credited with the Scirocco concept, Ragster and the Microbus concept, Concept T.


Nick Gronenthal Head of Design USA | Volvo Cars

Nick Gronenthal

Head of Design USA

Volvo Cars


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BIO




Jennifer_Kolstad ford


Jennifer Kolstad

Global Design and Brand Director

Ford Motor Company


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BIO


Jennifer has dedicated her career to shattering paradigms. Mega-scale buildings, boutique business, and CX experiences equally share in human-scaled considerations impacting brand, our connection to place, and predictive user outcomes. Jennifer has expanded the practice of design to include social science, ecology, education, community building and other synergistic core competencies, and is forging opportunity for designers to THINK, MAKE, and TEST fusing applied research with the pursuit of design excellence. Decades of global experience in retail, luxury hospitality, healthcare, higher-education, national security, manufacturing, and workplace validate a collaborative model of practice where one typology advances another. As the 2020 American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) National Chair, Jennifer co-authored a strategic plan ensuring relevance, longevity, and our expanded value proposition as human-experience designers. Today, Jennifer is the Global Design & Brand Director at Ford Motor Company where she is evolving Ford’s iconic brand and culture. Rethinking retail for an electrified future, designing the future workplace for equity and inclusion, WELL prioritized manufacturing environments - these challenges advance notable population segments through design. Jennifer has appeared to Fortune’s 2022 Brainstorm, PBS Newshour, NBC News, and Microsoft Envision, speaking on the future of work. She is a member of the Health Advisory Council at the School of Design and Creative Technologies at Dell Medical School’s Design Institute for Health at UT Austin, has presented at the ANFA/Salk Annual Conference, IDEC’s Annual Conference, and The Design Museum Everywhere Innovation Summit. Jennifer has been an invited keynote, lecturer, and juror at the Darden School of Business, Utah State University, UT Austin, University of Michigan, and National ASID SCALE Conferences. Jennifer achieved a Master of Architecture degree from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and was a recipient of the SOM Graduate Fellowship. Prior to Ford she designed at SOM, Gensler, HKS, and ALDAR in the United Arab Emirates. She has been published in Metropolis, Interior Design Magazine, Architectural Digest, House and Garden, Great Lakes Design, D Home, PaperCity, and Healthcare Design.


Larry Erickson


Larry Erickson

Global Director of the Exteriors Design Group

Magna


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BIO


Larry Erickson, Global Director of the Exteriors Design Group Automotive designer Larry Erickson has more than 25 years of experience in production car design, working on an exciting and broad range of vehicles from early advanced designs to final production releases. A graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, Erickson began his career at General Motors as an exterior and interior designer. He joined Ford Motor Company in 1999 as a chief designer in Europe and North America, working on a number of programs, including the 2005 Mustang, which was named one of the “10 most significant Mustangs ever” by MSN Autos and “one of the 25 most significant cars of the past 20 years” by Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Erickson chaired the Transportation Department at the College for Creative Studies (CCS) from 2008 to 2011 and was Design Director at Rivian Automotive prior to joining Magna Exteriors in 2017. In addition to his work on production vehicles, Erickson has been recognized by car enthusiasts for his design and construction of custom cars and hot rods. He is especially well known for “Cadzzilla,” a custom Cadillac designed for ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons. Erickson is a recipient of the Automotive News All-Stars award for design, an inductee of the National Rod and Custom Car Hall of Fame, a member of the Grand National Roadster Show Hall of Fame and is a past member of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Board of Directors.


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Julien Montousse

VP of Innovation & Design

Archer


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BIO


Julien is VP of Innovation & Design at Archer where he leads technology innovation, aircraft design and customer experience development. Previously, Julien was heading Mazda Design Americas for seven years, focused on moving the company’s market position to premium by shepherding all expressions of the brand, ranging from automotive design to TV advertising to dealership architecture. Julien has also consulted with SPACEX Corp. to support the ongoing design development of the Dragon2 interior cabin and operating cockpit. He also has a longstanding passion for the ocean, rethinking the human-water interface to develop and patent a series of submersible vehicles with the goal of supporting the restoration of a healthy ecosystem through subaquatic exploration.


Czinger Chief Design Officer David O’Connell

David O’Connell

Chief Design Officer

Czinger

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BIO


A Los Angeles native, David O’Connell grew up surrounded and inspired by the visual vocabulary absorbed on the streets of Southern California. Some of his earliest design memories including riding in the back of the family station wagon and seeing a Jaguar E Type on La Brea Avenue, noticing how its shape stood out from everything else on the road. Graduating from ArtCenter College of Design, O’Connell jumped right away into the automotive world, starting his career with Peugeot Citroën and later opening the R & D center for Mitsubishi Motors, where he spent more than two decades creating production and concept cars for both North American and global markets. But it was a meeting with Kevin Czinger that led O’Connell to his position as Chief Design Officer for the brand. Czinger’s vision to fundamentally change the way cars are designed and built, removing the creative handcuffs and restrictions of tooling and cost, actually making the product better for the end user, resonated deeply with O’Connell. It was this vision that he described as “what designers dream of” and spurred his enthusiastic accepting of the position. It’s also what fuels his astute team of design stars, who are not only conceptualizing exterior, interior, CMF and computationally-developed designs, but also the direction of the Czinger brand, image and identity. O’Connell has overseen the design of the first Czinger concept car in 2017 through to the debut of the 21C at the Geneva Motor Show in 2020 and its subsequent two track records. It’s his original and iconic shape for the 21C married with the production and structural technology that has placed the model in the market as the leader amongst a very exclusive segment of ultra-performance cars.


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Clint Harper

Advanced Air Mobility Manager

Urban Movement Labs

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BIO


Clint's diverse 23-year aviation career began in the military with practical experiences in aviation planning, airport & heliport operations, uncrewed aerial vehicle facilities planning, airspace management, emergency management, and education & training. After military retirement, he pursued his passion for cities with a Master of City and Metropolitan Planning and a Graduate Certificate in Urban Design. His focus today is to link transportation and land use decisions to maximize infrastructure and create new opportunities through collaboration. As Los Angeles’ Advanced Air Mobility Fellow, Clint facilitates relationships to empower industry partners, non-aviation stakeholders, and city staff to make informed, holistic decisions around integrated Advanced Air Mobility technology.


Joshua Boyt


Joshua Boyt

Head of Business Development

Alpha Motor Corporation

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BIO


Joshua Boyt is Head of Business Development at Alpha Motor Corporation. Mr. Boyt carries over 20 years of sales and marketing experience in automotive, hospitality, and retail. Mr. Boyt is an expert in project management, events & activations, and brand/marketing strategy. “In order to accomplish our mission to Move Humanity we are committed to creating opportunities for discovery. We draw on the perspectives of our community to bring into full view the potential of our future.” Mr. Boyt’s Father was a talented automobile mechanic who built custom hot rod engines which was influential to Mr. Boyt’s passion for cars and the automotive industry.


Previous CDN Speakers



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David Woodhouse

Vice President

Nissan Design America


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BIO


David Woodhouse is Vice President, Nissan Design America (NDA), responsible for leading all Nissan and Infiniti design activities in North America since 2019. David’s formative years were spent growing up around his parent’s automotive business, he attended Art School, studied Industrial Design and later graduated from the Royal College of Art in the UK, one of the world’s most influential postgraduate institutions of art and design. His automotive experience extends 30 years, across four employers in locations from Coventry and London UK, to Munich, Detroit and California. In addition to Nissan and Infiniti, David’s work spans nearly 20 brands, including - Lincoln, Ford, Cadillac, Mini, Range Rover and BMW. David is an award-winning designer with expertise in total vehicle concept innovation, brand, strategy and team building, and a great passion for automotive design.


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Robin Page

Head of Design

Volvo Cars


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BIO


Born in Coventry, England, Robin Page started his career as a Design Engineer Apprentice at Jaguar Cars Ltd. He studied both engineering and fine art and then completed a BA (hons) degree in Transport Design in order to fulfill his boyhood dream to be a car designer. In 1995 he started work at Rolls-Royce and Bentley as a designer mainly creating one-off designs for individual wealthy costumers around the world. After the takeover of Bentley by the VW Group in 1998, Mr. Page competed for the interior of the new Continental GT and won the design. By 2001 he had shown his talent as a designer and was promoted to Head of Interior Design for Bentley. He then penned the design of the Continental GTC, Flying Spur and the interior for the State Limousine for Queen Elizabeth II. Mr. Page design managed the interiors for the Bentley Mulsanne range and the 2nd generation Continental range. With the success of the design of the new Bentley Flying Spur, he was asked by VW group to work on a future Bugatti Interiors (2011-2012). In 2013 Mr. Page accepted a new challenge offered to him by Volvo Cars Corporation to help fulfil their future vision of the company to achieve a more premium feel in their interior design. He led the interior design team in the creation of the award winning trio of concept cars and the final creation of the New 90 cluster, 60 cluster and new XC40, which have already symbolized a large step forward for a more premium feel for the future range of Volvo interiors. In 2015, he received the Interior designer of the year award as a symbol of his success of the new design work for Volvo. In 2017, Mr Page was promoted to Head of Volvo design to lead the team to create the next generation of Volvo cars and support the Polestar range. Since that promotion he has introduced the future vision of the full autonomous 360c Concept, model year updates for the full Volvo range and an introduction of the XC40 full electric car, aswell as creating the next generation of cars yet to be unveiled.


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Robert Gelardi

Chief interior designer

Lincoln


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BIO


Global Director of Exteriors at Magna, Larry Erickson has more than 25 years of experience in production car design, working on a broad range of vehicles from early advanced designs to final production releases. A graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, Erickson began his career at General Motors as an exterior and interior designer. He joined Ford Motor Company in 1999 as a chief designer in Europe and North America, working on a number of programmes, including the 2005 Mustang. Erickson chaired the Transportation Department at the College for Creative Studies (CCS) from 2008 to 2011 and was Design Director at Rivian Automotive prior to joining Magna Exteriors in 2017.


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Crystal Windham

Director of Design

Cadillac


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BIO


Responsible for leading the team to develop designs for Volvo interiors globally, Crystal Windham became the director of Cadillac Interior Design in January 2016. Since joining General Motors in 1994, her assignments have included multiple vehicle brands including special project work abroad. She became the first African-American female director in GM Design’s history in 2008 and spearheaded several award-winning interiors, including the 2016 Chevrolet Malibu and 2014 Chevrolet Impala. Windham encourages students to consider higher education and careers in art and design through GM Design’s You Make a Difference program. Her awards include Urban Wheel Designer of the Year, the Emerging Leader Award from the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and Automotive News 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry. Windham holds an industrial design degree from the College for Creative Studies (CCS), an MBA from the University of Detroit-Mercy and is a member of the school’s MBA alumni board.


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David Hilton

Head of Global Design

Karma Automotive


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BIO


David Hilton is head of global design at Karma Automotive where he oversees design strategy plus leads the design teams for exterior, interior and UI/UX. An accomplished designer, Hilton was previously director of advanced design in Shanghai and design strategy director for the GAC Group. Before GAC, Hilton had leadership roles at Changan Auto, China and NIO in Europe as well as with Bentley Motors UK and Ford Motor Company Europe.


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Vince Galante

Global Head of User Experience Design

Stellantis


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BIO


Vince Galante is responsible for global design development, coordination and alignment of the company’s user experience and Uconnect platform. Since joining the company in 2005, Galante has been responsible for interior and exterior design and the management and execution of various Stellantis products. His portfolio includes the recently introduced Chrysler Airflow concept, the all-new 2022 Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer and the Uconnect 5 platform. Galante earned a degree in transportation design from the College for Creative Studies and an executive MBA from Michigan State University.


Chris Bangle


Chris Bangle

Founder, Chairman And CEO of Chris Bangle Associates



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BIO


Despite leaving the industry to form his own design studio in 2009, designer Chris Bangle remains one of the most influential and controversial figures in automotive design. Beginning his career at Opel in Germany in 1981, Bangle progressed to Fiat before joining BMW as chief of design in 1999 – the first American to hold the position. Among the many models Bangle designed during his time at the German marque was the Z9 concept. Since founding his own studio, Chris Bangle Associates, the designer has worked with a variety of clients, including Hennessy and Swarovski and has also created short animated film.


Henrik Fisker - website


Henrik Fisker

Founder, Chairman And CEO

Fisker


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BIO


Henrik Fisker is the Founder, Chairman And CEO of Fisker. Founded in 2016, with the vision of a clean future for all, and a mission of “making the world’s most sustainable vehicles.” The Fisker Karma was the world’s first luxury plug-in hybrid, launched in 2011. As president and CEO of BMW Designworks USA, Fisker created the Z8 Roadster while his stints at Aston Martin as board member and design director resulted in the turnaround of Aston Martin through the famed DB9/V8 Vantage.


Ralph Gilles


Ralph Gilles

Chief Design Officer

Chrysler


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BIO


Ralph Gilles was appointed Chief Design Officer for the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep®, Ram, Maserati and Fiat (Latin America) brands in January 2021. He is also a member of Stellantis’ Top Executive Team. He is responsible for shaping and directing design across the brand’s portfolio. He is extremely active inside and outside of the company. Gilles serves as the executive sponsor of the Stellantis African Ancestry Network Diaspora (STAAND) in addition to playing a supporting role with the Stellantis Global Diversity Council. At his alma mater, College for Creative Studies (CCS) in Detroit, Gilles serves as a member of the CCS board of trustees.

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