Speakers



Jeremy Offer, Volvo

Jeremy Offer

Global Head of Design - Volvo Cars

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Jeremy Offer is the Global Head of Design for Volvo Cars. He has over 35 years of design experience, most recently leading Arrival’s design team as Senior Vice President and Chief Design Officer working across vehicle programs, core components, brand and user experience. Prior to joining Arrival, Jeremy was Vice President of Industrial Design and part of the senior management team at global consulting firm EPAM where he helped bring service and industrial design to their wider consulting practice.


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Amko Leenarts

Design Director, Ford of Europe

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Amko Leenarts is director of Design for Ford of Europe, with responsibility for the exterior and interior design of vehicles developed by Ford of Europe including models for global markets.
Since 2017, Leenarts has led Ford of Europe’s Design team from the Ford Design Studio in Merkenich, Germany, and the company’s commercial vehicle design centre, located at the Dunton Campus in Essex, U.K. Sloping rooflines, sensual surfaces and athletic lines are among Leenarts’ design signatures that can be seen in Ford models including the all-new Mustang-inspired all-electric SUV, and the new Puma SUV-inspired compact crossover.
Previously, as director of Global Interior Design for Ford Motor Company, Leenarts was responsible for future interior design strategy for both the Ford and Lincoln brands worldwide.
Leenarts graduated from the Academy of Arts in Groningen, Netherlands, with a degree in Interior Architecture. With a passion for car design, Leenarts went on to study at the Royal College of Art in London, graduating with a Master’s degree in Vehicle Design.
Leenarts joined Peugeot, where he held several interior design positions, and also led the development of production and concept cars. He joined Ford in 2012.
A native of The Netherlands, Leenarts is married with five children. A long distance runner, Leenarts has also a passion for art, and is a keen amateur artist.


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Pierre Leclercq

Head of Design - Citroën

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A native of Belgium, Pierre Leclercq, 50 years old, studied Industrial Design for 4 years at the Saint-Luc de Liège Institute and studied at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California (USA). He earned a degree in transportation design in 1998. After a stint at Ford’s Ghia studio in Italy, he joined in 2000 the BMW group in California and Munich, and took the lead in 2011 in the design of BMW M, the high performance label of BMW. In 2013, he was named Design Director of the Chinese manufacturer Great Wall Motors, and in 2017, he was appointed Design Director of Kia Motors in South Korea. Since November 2018, Pierre Leclercq is Citroën Head of Design.


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Kimberley Harrington

Automotive Advanced Design Sales Manager - Ultrafabrics

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Kimberley Harrington, Automotive Advanced Design Sales Manager at Ultrafabrics, leverages a decade of experience in automotive textile solutions. Formerly with Sage Automotive Interiors, her diverse roles spanned design, engineering, and business development. A first-class honours graduate, Kimberley excels in crafting innovative, performance-driven materials for OEM design, ensuring both technical excellence and aesthetic appeal.



Derek Jenkins, Lucid

Derek Jenkins

Senior Vice President of Design and Brand - Lucid

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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.


Kris Tomasson, NIO

Kris Tomasson

Senior Vice President of Design, NIO

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Kris Tomasson, NIO's VP of Design, responsible for the EV brand's automotive products and corporate design since the brand’s inception in 2015. He holds a bachelor's degree with Honors in Transportation Design from the Art Center College of Design. Beginning his career at BMW's Munich design studio, Kris designed the Red Dot Award winning BMW C1. From Nike sunglasses to Coca-Cola bottles, to the exclusive Gulfstream business jets, Kris Tomasson’s creative vision breaks through conventional boundaries, and makes him not just a car designer, but a lifestyle creator.


Nick McKinley, Group Lotus

Nick McKinley

Operations Director Lotus Tech Creative Centre - Group Lotus

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Coming soon.


Amy Frascella, JLR

Amy Frascella

Materiality Director - Jaguar & Land Rover

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coming soon...


Olivier Denamur, Lynk & Co

Olivier Denamur

Design Director, Head of Exterior Design - Lynk & Co

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Coming soon...


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Andrew Lewis

Head of People Experience - Central Functions - Volvo Cars

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Andrew is Vice President, Head of People Experience (HR) for Central Functions at Volvo Cars. He leads a global team responsible for organisational design, change management, culture development, performance and leadership. Volvo Cars’ Design department falls within Andrew’s remit and he has been leading the HR strategy there since January 2022. Before transitioning into HR, Andrew worked in London as a City lawyer advising clients on labour and employment matters. He now lives by the sea in Gothenburg and enjoys gardening (when it’s not raining) and cooking for his partner and two children.


Thomas Samhuber

Thomas Samhuber

Director Design Operations - AVATR

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coming soon...


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Wayne J Burgess

Vice President - Design, OLA Electric UK

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Wayne J Burgess is a renowned Automotive Designer and Design Leader, with a career spanning 31 years in the industry.

Wayne has a wealth of international experience in Automotive Design, spending a large proportion of his earlier career working for British Premium Manufacturers, from Rolls Royce and Bentley through Aston Martin and Jaguar Landrover to Lotus. In more recent years Wayne has held Design Leadership roles for Chinese manufacturer Geely and, from April 2021, Indian manufacturer Ola Electric.

Notably, Wayne was Chief Designer for the Jaguar F-Type sportscar, which won ‘World Car Design of the Year’ in 2013, and then Studio Director for the Jaguar F-Pace SUV which won ‘World Car Design of the Year’, ‘World Car of the Year’ and ‘Women’s World Car of the Year’ in 2016.

Other vehicles which Wayne considers to be significant in his design career include the 2018 Jaguar I-Pace Electric SUV (Production Studio Director), 2008 Jaguar XF Saloon and XF Sportbrake (Chief Designer), 2003 Aston Martin DB9 (Chief Designer), 1998 Rolls Royce Seraph and Bentley Arnage (Senior Designer) and 1997 TX1 London Taxi (Designer).

Wayne is well known for his passion and enthusiasm for all things creative and, beyond Design, has enjoyed a ‘part time’ career making music, having played in rock bands for many years.

Wayne is a pragmatic, approachable leader who prioritises coaching, mentoring and encouragement to realise a team’s potential.


Andreas Kurbos

Andreas Kurbos

Founder & CEO studiokurbos GmbH

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Andreas Kurbos is a German-French designer and founder/CEO of studiokurbos GmbH, based in Stuttgart and Shanghai.
Raised in France, he apprenticed in textile design and studied at Instiuto Europeo di Design (IED), Turin. Andreas Kurbos designed at smart GmbH from 2003 and led at MBtech Group from 2005. In 2011, Silberform AG welcomed him as a management board member and design head. In 2013, he founded studiokurbos GmbH, realizing mobility, product, and UI/UX design projects with his global team. Andreas Kurbos is a German Design Council foundation member and aed e.V. advisory board, promoting Architecture, Engineering, and Design in Stuttgart.


Benoit Jacob

Benoit Jacob

Independant

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Benoit Jacob is an Art Center Europe graduate (1994) and brought numerous contributions as a  car designer for various EOMs and more recently start-ups. 
Moved in 2001 to VW group design center Europe in Sitges (Spain) working on several projects in the early phase, before joining BMW in 2004, where Benoit hold various design management roles in exterior design, before leading the project i design activities from 2010 (i3, i8 concepts and production), as well as leading BMW group advanced design and pre-development activities from 2014 onwards.  
Joined the start-up Byton in 2016 as a VP Design co-founder , responsible to set-up the design organization and develop the M-byte and K-byte concept and production vehicles. Joined NIO in 2021 in a VP function to set-up the global design organization and develop vehicles design for a undisclosed strategic project.
The nearly 30 years experience helped Benoit to develop a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of all car design faculties, from strategy to execution including the critical operational matters and challenges, bringing together innovation and creativity in an holistic and realistic approach with regards to a given context. 
Since March 2023, he is consulting for various companies, both for product and automotive design, including strategy, branding & processes alongside the core competence of creative input and execution. 


Carl Gotham

Carl Gotham

Advanced Design Director - AIC Design Advanced London

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coming soon...


Danila Giordano, Stellantis (Circle)

Danila Giordano

CMF Innovation manager, Stellantis

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Danila Giordano is CMF Innovation Manager for Stellantis with 18 years of experience in automotive industry. After her Industrial Design degree at Polytechnic of Turin she worked at first on interior design and graphic design projects, then specialized in automotive Color & Material Design. She took care of Italian brands as CMF Design Manager for a decade, such as Alfa Romeo and Maserati, working on Design Brand Strategy and CMF design projects as Maserati MC20 | Maserati Levante | Maserati Alfieri Concept car | Maserati Quattroporte | Maserati Ghibli | Maserati Kubang concept | Alfa Romeo Giulia | Alfa Romeo Stelvio. Then she was Strategy and Innovation Manager for Maserati Fuoriserie in 2020 and from 2015 she is strongly focused on CMF Innovation for FCA Italian brands working on CMF Innovation materials scouting, Trend Forecast Analysis and CMF Innovation projects as Fiat 500 Electric and among the latest concept cars Fiat CENTOVENTI and LANCIA Pu+Ra HPE. From 2021 she became CMF Concept and Innovation Manager for European brands of Stellantis, taking heed of cross industries Trend Forecast, new materials and technologies with an increasing focus on sustainability, to be applied on the next gen Stellantis cars. She is lecturer of CMF Design Course in Transportation Master at IED. She is a thinking forward designer with sensitivity in material thinking and experimentation, attentive to details and communication she is passionate for Material Research and Sustainability.


Claudia Braun, KH

Claudia Braun

Project Manager - Konzepthaus Consulting GmbH

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Claudia Braun is a Project Leader at Konzepthaus. She has nearly 20 years of experience in automotive CMF Design. Starting her career as CMF Designer at Smart 2004 and Porsche, 2005 - 2013, she then led the CMF Design team at Mercedes-Benz Cars, Mercedes-Benz Maybach, Smart, Daimler Trucks and Vans. 2019 -2021 Claudia served as Vice President CMF Design at Volvo Cars and Polestar to create the most attractive and sustainable colour and material design. Her time in Sweden changed her view on her own life, leadership and gender equality. She became a passionate supporter of young designers and the female design community. After her experience in Sweden, she led the CMF team of Rivian in 2021 and helped to build up the CMF process and increase the Creative CMF Team. She started her journey with Konzepthaus in 2022 to support the industrial leading automotive world with her excellent knowledge of CMF Design, CMF Design Processes, Design Strategy and Brand Strategy. Claudia has always been a passionate leader. She shares very openly her leadership principles within the automotive design world to support designers on their career paths. Her goal is to increase the number of leading female designers in the automotive design world and to help come to a diverse and creative automotive design world. She is listening to society, the industry and the people she supports. And she loves to drive creativity and visionary thinking.



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Maximilian Missoni

Design Director - Polestar

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Oliver Samson

Design Director - Changan

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Oliver Samson holds the position of Design Director, Changan DEEPAL. He received a Transportation Design degree from Pforzheim University and taught there. He once worked as the Creative Design Director at Mercedes-Benz, California and the Exterior Design Director at NIO, Munich. He designed several well-known cars, including Mercedes Maybach Six Coupe and Cabriolet, Mercedes AMG GT 6, Mercedes Maybach Six, Mercedes Vision Tokyo, as well as several production cars. At Nio he was responsible for the exterior design of NIO EC6, NIO ET5 and NIO ET7. Samson boasts extensive experience in the field of automotive design and excels in developing holistic product design strategies with exceptional insights. Furthermore, he has demonstrated excellent leadership skills and cross-cultural communication abilities. In 2022, he joined Changan Global Design Center in Europe. Ever since he took charge of innovation research and brand development projects, he has been guiding Changan Design towards a higher level of maturity. As the Design Director, Oliver Samson plays a crucial role in the development of the DEEPAL brand. Under his direction, the design team created captivating and globally competitive product designs, thereby driving the brand towards success in the market.


Armand Nowak, Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center GmbH

Armand Nowak

Manager, Planning and Strategy, European Design Centre - Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center GmbH

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Armand Nowak, born in Poland, with over 17 years of deep experience in strategy and project management gained in wide spectrum of automotive development areas from design, through engineering to production.
Throughout his career, he honed his management skills by leading multicultural teams in the key automotive brands like Hyundai and Toyota.
Last 8 years Armand dedicated to work directly with creative teams in a position of Planning and Strategy Manager at European Design Center of Hyundai in Germany, Rüsselsheim. His work and efforts are dedicated to management of wide aspects of the design studio operations and processes to help to create the organizational environment ideal for fostering the maximum of design teams creativity.
Not only internal design studio operations but also all the ­touchpoints between design, business, engineering is the area where Armand enjoys contributing with his analytical and strategic approach.


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Richard Chung

Chief Branding Officer - Toyota Boshoku

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With 35 years of experience in the automotive and aviation industry focusing on innovation and design, Richard has acquired diverse and rich experience working in 5 global companies (Ford, JCI, Yangfeng, Adient and Toyota Boshoku) in 6 countries (US, China, Japan, Korea, Germany and Italy) having led various organizations inclusing Design, Innovation, Marketing, Advanced Sales and Consumer Research throughout his career.
He is currently the Chief Branding Officer leading the advanced sales activity and corporate brand management and the Chief of the Interior Space Visioneering Field leading future innovation development at Toyota Boshoku Corporation in Japan.



Patrick Patrikios

Patrick Patrikios

Head of Sound Design - Music & Audio - Forseven

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Patrick Patrikios is a renowned sound designer in the automotive industry, specializing in creating immersive auditory experiences. His talents, however, extend far beyond revving engines and screeching tires. With a diverse portfolio, ranging from Britney Spears to Giorgio Moroder and Nicki Minaj, Patrick has played a pivotal role in shaping the sound of popular music. Currently, he holds the prestigious position of Head of Sound and Audio at FORSEVEN, where he continues to revolutionize the way we perceive sound.



Felix Kilbertus, Pininfarina

Felix Kilbertus

Chief Creative Officer - Pininfarina

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Coming soon...



Oliver Vogt, Konzepthaus Consulting Munich

Oliver Vogt

Partner - Konzepthaus Consulting GmbH

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For the last 3 years at Konzepthaus, Oliver and his colleagues built-up the consulting branch of Konzepthaus – focusing on the optimization of Automotive Design processes, re-organizing the respective teams and making them “Future-proof”.
Before that, Oliver ran the Design operations of the Chinese EV start-up Byton with studios near Munich and Shanghai. This included all digital and physical modelling, project management and budgeting. Dispatching tasks between the Design studios and the Tech Center in California was one of the biggest challenges.
Prior, in his role as Design Director of Semcon in Germany, his department processed large number surfacing projects for many European OEMs from concept to Class-A.
Therefore, moderating today´s panel, Oliver can rely on his own experience in that field.



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Nicola Fox

Lead CMF Designer, Envisage Group

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Nicky Fox joined the Envisage Group as Lead CMF Designer in 2022, responsible for material research, CMF innovation, trend reporting, and developing emerging CMF talent.  She also supports the diverse range of projects and clients at Envisage.  She has over 20 years’ experience in automotive and aviation CMF design and development.  Initially specialising in automotive textile design and development both in the UK and Australia, she has worked with global automotive studios, creating distinctive high-performance textile products for a multitude of applications and brands.
Nicky then kicked-off her career as a CMF designer at Volvo Trucks in Sweden, designing, developing, and delivering innovative colour and material solutions, creating spaces for professional drivers that levelled their need for working functionality and relaxed, premium living. On her return to the UK, she joined CMF teams at Nissan, Lotus, and McLaren before switching into aviation seating and materials.  She enjoys challenging preconceived ideas about transportation design to find new ways forward, combining creativity with technical knowledge. .


Christian Eckert, Chief Experience Officer, Icon Group

Christian Eckert

Chief Experience Officer - Icon Group

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For more than 20 years Christian has dedicated his career to realizing a new era of mobility through innovative experience design for the automotive industry’s biggest players.
Before joining icon group as Chief Experience Officer (CXO), Christian built and directed the Digital Product team at Faraday Future, which focused on creating a progressive new generation of integrated, user-centric and brand-forward mobility experience ecosystem.
Prior to that, Christian managed icon incar, co-functioning as CEO and Executive Creative Director, where he led the organization to become the world’s foremost automotive user experience design agency by delivering numerous award-winning automotive digital design projects, production vehicles and concept cars partnering with leading OEMs across the globe. Additionally, as the lead experience designer at BMW in Munich for many years, Christian defined MINI’s automotive brand experience and piloted production programs from start to finish.
Invested in developing the next generation of designers, Christian often shares his experience and insights as a guest lecturer at the Art Center College of Design and University of Applied Sciences Vorarlberg, and as an expert panelist at conferences around the world.



Dr. Frank J. Maile Schlenk Metallic Pigments GmbH

Dr. Frank J. Maile

Global Technical Director - Schlenk Metallic Pigments GmbH

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Dr. Frank J. Maile studied chemistry at the university of Stuttgart followed by a PhD at the Research Center of Pigments &amo; Paints (FPL e.V.) Stuttgart, Germany. In 1998 he received the Farbe+Lack award (Vincentz Network) and in 1999 he joined the pigments division of Merck KGaA in Darmstadt where he held several positions. In 2011 he joined Schlenk Metallic Pigments where presently he holds the position of a Global Technical Director. Dr. Maile is visiting professor for innovation management and focuses on Product Development & Design. Since 2015 he is a member of the advisory board of the Color Science Symposium (Smithers).



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Romain Chevalier

CEO - Technicon Design

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Romain Chevalier, native from France, 42 years old, graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole des Mines in Paris, started his carreer at Renault Design department as a quality validation pilot. Soon he is taking the technical lead on Concept Cars and will be also Design Manager for the 2016 Renault Scenic. He's moving from the famous OEM in 2015 to become General Manager of a small company, Estival, building mock ups and concept cars for Automotive OEMs in Paris Aera. After a short mission as Advanced Design Exterior Manager at Stellantis at the end of 2022, he's now CEO of the well-known design House Technicon Design.



Christoph Sieber

Christoph Sieber

Managing Director - KKN

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Christoph Sieber began his career journey at KKN Ingenieurbüro GmbH in 2001 in Zwickau, where he started in the role of a Strak (Class A) engineer for Volkswagen and BMW. His path led him to Munich in 2002, where he represented KKN as a liaison at BMW. Initially serving as the Class A lead for the company, he managed various BMW vehicle projects and initiated the establishment of KKN's Munich branch.
In 2008, he became a partner at KKN Ingenieurbüro & Co. KG, and from that point onwards, he built a team of 20 Class A / CAS Specialists in Munich. Assuming the role of CEO at KKN since 2017, he and his team have been accountable for over 50 percent of all exterior aspects for BMW AG, including diverse interior and motorcycle Class A projects in development and also marketing visualization.
From 2004 to 2019, Christoph held the position of Class A lead for all Rolls-Royce exterior projects, while also pioneering with his Team the Design-Technology Convergence Process for various companies. He played a pivotal role in establishing the Lighting Convergence Process for BMW AG as an external partner and directed various BMW special projects.
Motivated by his ongoing passion for design, he co-founded Muniq Design GmbH in 2019, alongside his partners. Their goal was to actively shape and influence the early stages of vehicle development. With his design and innovation team, he initiated the initial phases of forward-looking projects that will explore new perspectives and avenues in mobility.
Following the departure of the former founder of KKN and the merger of KKN and Muniq Design under Muniq Holding GmbH, Christoph Sieber has been the Co-Founder and CEO of the Muniq Group since June 2023, overseeing approximately 80 employees worldwide. The group encompasses Muniq Design GmbH Germany, Muniq Design Italia s.r.l., Muniq Design North America inc., and KKN Ingenieurbüro GmbH & Co. KG. Together, they oversee and guide the entire process of design-technology convergence under one umbrella.



Holger Hampf, BMW

Holger Hampf

President at Designworks - A BMW Group Company

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Holger is the head of Designworks, the innovation studio of the BMW Group and a global creative consultancy working for clients in diverse industries spanning Mobility and Digital Life.
Holger previously held the position of Head of Design User Experience for BMW Group (2014 – 2018) where he led the digitalization efforts for the design team, as well as user interface design for all brands in the Group. He has an extensive history with Designworks, where he worked from 1998 - 2010, from 2002 as the Director of Product Design. In 2010, he took over the position as Executive Creative Director for the global creative agency frog Design in Munich, before returning to BMW Group in 2014.
Holger´s experience in design is diverse, covering areas including Design Strategy & Context, Industrial Design, Digital Experiences and Identity & Brand, making him not only a designer but also a pioneer, consultant, valuable network partner and design ambassador alike. In his work, Holger draws on the spirit of two cultures and unites the rational German attitude "Less is more" with the emotional Californian attitude "Let's do it!"


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Pratap Bose

Executive Vice-President and Chief Design Officer, Mahindra Group

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Pratap Bose is a British Designer, born in Bombay, India. After completing his schooling at the Cathedral and John Connon School, Pratap graduated from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad with a Diploma in Industrial Design, specialising in Product Design He then moved to Piaggio & C. SpA, in Pontedera, Italy, where over a period of 3 years, he worked on the design of products for the world renown Vespa, Piaggio and Gilera brands. Having won a scholarship to study a Masters’ degree in Vehicle Design, at the prestigious Royal College of Art, Pratap moved to London in 2001. Following this, he moved to Japan to work as a designer at Mitsubishi Motors, Nagoya and finally at the Mercedes Benz Advanced Design Centre in Yokohama, Japan. Pratap then joined the newly formed TATA MOTORS EUROPEAN TECHNICAL CENTRE (TMETC) in 2007 as a Technical Specialist. He was a part of the team that established a UK Design presence for Tata Motors. Operating initially from rented design studios in Birmingham and Coventry, Pratap helped in the design and planning of the TMETC UK design studio at the NAIC, on the University of Warwick Campus in Coventry. The Design Studio in the UK became the epicentre of advanced product design projects for Tata Motors and has delivered some award winning and market leading products. This includes concept as well as production cars. Drawing heavily on the talent from the Birmingham and Coventry area, the UK Design studio is now an integral part of TATA MOTORS’ Global Design Studio network. Pratap and his team have received many awards for outstanding design from the motoring press, and other bodies in India and Overseas, including Auto Car magazine and the German Design Council. In 2018, Pratap was awarded the Chief Design Officer of the Year, by the China Industrial Design Association. In 2021, Pratap was shortlisted as one of five World Car Person of the Year awardees. In June 2021, Pratap joined Mahindra and Mahindra, as the Chief Design Officer, the first time such a role has existed at the Mahindra group. In this role, Pratap is responsible for the India, as well as UK based Advanced Design studio. Pratap and his team of over 100 design professionals work across a range of products from Tractors, Trucks, buses, pick-ups and SUV’s. Pratap is an avid modeller, and has a collection of over 65 World War 2, 1:72 scale plastic models, which he creates in his free time.


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Britta Morel

CMF Design Manager - Yanfeng Technology

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Britta Morel heads Yanfeng's European CMF department, focusing on material research, sustainability, and trend analysis. She also provides customers with advanced and creative designs from concept phase until production.

Within her 19 years of work experience Britta worked for several global operating companies such as Mitsubishi Motors, Johnson Controls, Deutsche Telekom, and led Hyundai's car development for over 11 years, overseeing the creation of production and concept cars. She gained a holistic overview of color and trim design processes, from advanced research and material development to production and quality control. Britta holds degrees from Hochschule Niederrhein and Heinrich-Heine-University in Germany.



Stéphane Janin, GAC Advanced Design Milan

Stéphane Janin

Design Director - GAC Advanced Design Milan

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Stéphane Janin a designer specialized in transportation design born in 1973 in France. He graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1997 in London. He has been working for brands such as Renault, Dacia, Alpine, Samsung Motors, Nissan and Infiniti during 24 years in France, Spain, South Korea and Japan. Now, Stephane has joined GAC and is the design director of GAC Advanced Design Milan. As a designer and, then, as a design director, Stephane has worked on more than 25 concept-cars projects. He has also led an exterior design production car team for many years that delivered numbers of models sold on the market. By being able to deal with exterior design, interior design, CMF design, graphic design and communication led him to create design strategy material for long term decision process.


Martin

Martin Groschwald

CEO - Konzepthaus Consulting GmbH

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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.


Paul Mijnen Color

Paul Mijnen

MBA MSc. – CEO Ink Invent BV

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Education: Aerospace Engineering, Technical University Delft & MBA, TIAS-NIMBAS

Career Experience: Business Consultancy, followed by Entrepreneurship. Built & sold several companies, the latter (prior to Ink Invent) being built around an innovative product in Medical Devices (Class III Medical Implants). Paul served as CFO/COO and Principal in negotiating the final exit deal to a global party.

Role with Ink Invent: CEO, Management Team: Executive Decision Making, Strategic Marketing, Patent Generation & Filing (in close cooperation with external support), Financial Management, Leading R&D efforts as a key (analytical) driver of efforts and priorities in output, Creative Problem Solver. Founded Ink Invent together with Jos Knoote in March 2018 (shortly after exit of previous company).

Fun Facts: 50% Kiwi (New Zealander), Gyrocopter Pilot, Wine & Food Enthusiast.



Prof. Lutz Fügener, Hof University

Prof. Lutz Fügener

Design & Mobility BA - Hof University

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Lutz Fügener completed a basic course in general mechanical engineering at the TU Dresden and a degree in industrial design at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design in Halle an der Saale.
He is co-owner of the design office StudioFT in Berlin, which specializes in vehicle design.
In 2000, Lutz Fügener was appointed to a professorship at Pforzheim University. Until August 2021 he was head of the BA program in Transportation Design.
In September 2021, Lutz Fügener moved to Hof University. He is in charge of the new Design & Mobility degree program that is currently being set up.
Lutz Fügener has been a permanent member of the jury for the Red Dot Award for product design in Essen since 2009 and on the jury for the Red Dot Concept Design Award in Singapore since 2013.
He is a member of the jury for other awards such as the Steel Innovation Prize and the Car Connectivity Award.
Lutz Fügener works as a journalist. He writes for various newspapers and magazines.


Paul Traynor Afry

Paul Traynor

Head of Light Bureau UK and International Business - AFRY Experience Studios

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Paul is the founder of UK-based Light Bureau which joined AFRY (then ÅF Lighting) in 2017, growing the team to about 100 lighting experts. The whole lighting design offer of AFRY later assumed the brand Light Bureau where Paul remains as head of the UK operation and develops the international brand further.
His extensive experience within the field, building on decades of practice he now brings his insights of the different cultures and territories to grow the business, clarify the internal design language and crystalize what sets the work of Light Bureau apart from other studios. Fundamental to his approach is designing in a lean way - using what brings value and no more.
Paul is an internationally recognized lighting designer with a proven track record in diverse applications from heritage to headquarters buildings. Knowledge-sharing and designing projects take equal priority in Paul's professional life. Having worked extensively internationally and as former President of the Professional Lighting Designer’s Association, he has been mentor and established faculty member at the Lighting Program in Wismar, Germany, where he teaches the new generation of upcoming lighting designers, as well as regular guest-lecturer on landscape design courses at Greenwich University and KLC in London.


Jakob_Lukosch, NIO

Jakob Lukosch

Senior CMF Designer - NIO

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BIO


Jakob Lukosch is a versatile CMF and industrial designer, adept in material and product development, design research, strategy, and art direction. His sharp analytical sense fuels the creation of purposeful products and materials tailored to human behaviors and needs.
With a master’s degree in industrial design & art direction, Jakob brings a wealth of diverse experience gained through his +10 years of work experience across Europe and the United States, collaborating with esteemed design studios and companies like BIG Architects, Urban Outfitters and Gaggenau.
Currently as a senior CMF designer at NIO, Munich, he specializes in automotive interior and concept development. Jakob's boundary-pushing designs span across electronics, furniture, and fashion design, driven by holistic simplicity, thoughtful use of materials, and attention to detail.


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Olivier Denamur

Design Director - Head of Exterior Design for Lynk&Co

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BIO


Olivier Denamur is a French car designer with nearly two decades of experience, graduated from the Strate School of Design in Paris. He started his career at General Motors Europe in Germany in 2005, where he spent his first year working on exterior design projects for Opel and Saab. In 2006, he became part of the Hyundai design team and made his mark on several production cars, including the Hyundai i40, i20, i20 Coupé, Hyundai Accent, and Genesis GV80. Olivier's journey led him to become the Head of Exterior Design at the Munich-based startup Byton in 2018. In 2020, he relocated to Sweden to join the Lynk&Co design headquarters in Gothenburg, where he currently oversees the exterior design team. ”The Next Day” concept car's striking exterior exemplified his team's contribution to Lynk&Co's new design philosophy. This last one was unveiled at the 2023 Shanghai Motor Show, alongside the all-new Lynk&Co 08 D-segment SUV production car also designed by Olivier’s team.


Rob Dolton Square

Rob Dolton

Head of Design - AFRY Experience Studios

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BIO


Rob’s experience includes being a lead member of the management team that built the Geely Design Studio in the UK while delivering the Lotus Eletre SUV. Before his time at Geely he was instrumental in creating the new approach to physical and interaction design at Jaguar Land Rover, leading a team of a-surface and digital design experts.
Rob was responsible for interaction and UX design in the Jaguar I-pace, F-type and F-pace as well as the new Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Land Rover Defender.
He now leads the AFRY design teams across five studios in Sweden, Denmark, the UK and Italy. His role within AFRY is to both set the creative direction for design and also to break down barriers between design disciplines and forge new perspectives on collaboration.


Pierre Authier, Technicon Design

Pierre Authier

Design Director - Technicon Design

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BIO


Coming soon...


Joann Jung

Joann Jung

Creative Director of Interior Design at Lucid Motors

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BIO


Joann Jung is a creative design professional with 20 years of automotive experience who leads interior design at Lucid Motors. As the Creative Director of Interior Design at Lucid Motors, she oversees development of vehicle interiors from concept strategy to volume production, with the overarching goal of designing the ultimate in-vehicle experiences for all occupants by creating a unique interior space concept. Prior to her role at Lucid, Joann led Global Advance Interior Design at Ford Motor Company, taking point on multiple advanced projects with a multi-disciplinary team. Before joining the Advance Interior team, she created concepts for all new 2015 Ford F150 interior and also spent years at the Lincoln studio, with designs that include the Lincoln MKT concept interior. Joann holds a B.S. from the Art Center College of Design in Transportation Design.  


Joaquin Garcia

Joaquin Garcia

Head of Design - ITALDESIGN

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BIO


Since March 1st, Joaquin Garcia is the Head of Design at ITALDESIGN, running the creative activities in both the car and product design areas.
Joaquin, 49 years old, obtained a master’s degree in Vehicle Design at the Royal College of Art in London, in 1998. Since then, he has held high-profile roles of increasing responsibility at RENAULT, FORD, ŠKODA and SEAT/CUPRA before joining NIO GmbH's European Design Center as Head of Studio.