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![]() | Jan ChipchaseNokia Research CenterKeynote |
Most of his time is spent in the field conducting research. This takes him out onto the streets and into people's homes to observe, document, and analyze the rich tapestry of everyday life. Recent projects include visiting Uganda to look at shared phone use, India to look at how design can make mobile devices more accessible to people with low or non-existent levels of literacy, and South Korea to look at how early adopters were reacting to mobile TV.
His research focuses on the future three to fifteen years from now—understanding today's base human motivations, detecting early signals of new trends and combining this knowledge with an understanding of where technology is heading. The research is used by the design team together with a suite of other tools to help inform and inspire the design of future products, features, applications, services, and platforms. In 2006 alone this took him to fifteen different countries, helping Nokia understand both the similarities and differences among cultures.
![]() | Stefan BehnischBehnisch Architekten |
Stefan Behnisch was the Eero Saarinen Chair visiting professor at Yale School of Architecture from 2005 to 2008. In 2007 he was nominated for the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture (one of five) and in 2008 named Honorary Fellow of the AIA - American Institute of Architects. Born 1957, he studied philosophy, economics and architecture in Munich and Karlsruhe, Germany.
![]() | Charlie CannonRISD |
![]() | Teddy CruzEstudio Teddy Cruz and University California, San Diego |
![]() | William DrenttelWinterhouse and Design Observer |
Bill is the Co-Founder of Design Observer, the widely-read blog about design and visual culture. He is also Co-Editor of Below the Fold:, a new journal of visual culture published by Winterhouse, and the Founder of the Polling Place Photo Project, an online election documentation project.
In 2006, Drenttel co-founded the Winterhouse Writing Awards: this $5000 prize for innovation in design writing seeks to develop new writers interested in design and cultural criticism. In 2008, Drenttel became a Senior Faculty Fellow at the Yale School of Management. Drenttel received a BA in European Cultural Studies from Princeton University.
![]() | Stuart HarshbargerJohns Hopkins University |
Stuart is also a part-time instructor at the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering graduate program for engineering professionals. There, he teaches neural prosthetics and digital telephony for the Electrical and Computer Engineering and Applied Biomedical Engineering programs. In prior positions and in recent assignments, he led a range of multi-disciplinary system integration efforts, including avionics subsystem developments, autonomous remote sensing and distributed networking applications, and medical monitoring systems.
![]() | Kigge HvidINDEX: |
The recipient of an honorary doctorate in 2006 by the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, Kigge brings to her direction of INDEX: a fluency in the related languages of designers and of social entrepreneurs. This is reflected in her frequent international appearances as one of the main proponents today of Design to Improve Life.
Kigge is a visual artist by profession. Prior to founding INDEX:, she was the first Director of Øksnehallen, an exhibition centre for the arts, commerce and culture in the heart of Copenhagen.
![]() | Jaime LernerInternational Union of Architects and JaimeLerner.com |
Considered the father of the innovative and cost-effective Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT), Jaime's vision and creativity toward urban planning start with his own dictum that "creativity starts when you cut a zero from your budget." Today Jaime works as an visiting professor of Urban and Regional Planning at numerous international universities while continuing to work to rethink the modern city as a consultant to civic leaders around the world
![]() | Vivian LoftnessCarnegie Mellon University |
Vivian has served on seven National Academy of Science panels, as well as the Academy's Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment. She has given three Congressional testimonies on sustainable design. Her work has influenced both national policy and building projects, including the Adaptable Workplace Lab at the US General Services Administration and the Laboratory for Cognition at Electricity de France.
Vivian has received numerous accolades as a result of her research, teaching, and professional consulting, including a 2003 Sacred Tree Award from the US Green Building Council. Vivian holds a BS and MArch from MIT. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a registered architect.
![]() | Emeka OkaforTED Africa and Maker Faire Africa |
In 2007, he directed the TEDGlobal conference in Arusha, Tanzania, and continues his role as TED Africa Director. In 2009, he directed the Maker Faire Africa in Accra, Ghana, to bring together grass-roots innovators throughout sub-Saharan Africa and discuss the role of technology in development. Passionately committed to sharing the issues and ideas guiding Africa's future, Emeka is the author Timbuktu Chronicles, a blog on African entrepreneurship, science, and technology, and Africa Unchained, a blog on African policy, education, culture and governance.
Emeka was born in the United Kingdom and grew up in Canada and Nigeria, earning a degree in Architecture from the University of Nigeria.
![]() | Emily PillotonProject H Design |
![]() | Anna RubboGlobal Studio and University of Sydney |
![]() | Nathan ShedroffCalifornia College of Arts |
In latest book, Design is the Problem: The Future of Design Must Be Sustainable, Nathan examines how the endemic culture of design often creates unsustainable solutions, and shows how designers can bake sustainability into their design processes in order to produce more sustainable solutions. It has been called "the definitive guidebook to the future of design practice" by Core77.
Nathan holds a BS in Industrial Design from the Art Center College of Design and an MBA in Sustainable Business from the Presidio School of Management.
![]() | Ken BanksKiwanjaUpdate |
His vision is to empower others to create social change, and he does this by developing and providing tools to mostly grassroots organizations who seek to better use technology in their work. In 2007 he hit headline news on the BBC when his text messaging application, FrontlineSMS, was used to help monitor the Nigerian Presidential elections. Since launch the software has been successfully implemented in over forty countries including Afghanistan, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, the Philippines and Pakistan.
![]() | Niti BhanEmerging Futures LabUpdate |
The Emerging Futures Lab is a small multidisciplinary team that aims to increase the understanding the people at the base of the pyramid across the developing world in order to improve the success rate of new ventures, products and services intended to serve this market in a holistically beneficial manner. A significant proportion of their primary and original research is published under the Creative Commons license. Recent clients include a global consumer electronics manufacturer, an energy giant and a leading mobile service provider.
![]() | Beto LopezIDEOUpdate |
Internally, Beto serves as a regional content guide, contributing to the way IDEO values design alternatives in the development of products and services by looking at the broader environmental and social context of their realization. Externally, he helps IDEO clients advance their social and environmental responsibility through design thinking that promotes positive impact in the made world. He regularly speaks and teaches on topics related to the intersection of design and sustainable development.
Beto came to IDEO in 2004 as an engineer, bringing experience from automotive design and research, architectural engineering and construction, and research in sustainable development. His portfolio spans work in both products and services ranging from the technical design of drug delivery devices to strategic thinking around the future of transportation.
Beto earned a BSME and an MS in Dynamic Systems and Control from the University of Texas at Austin.
![]() | Joe HaskettDistill StudioOpening |
Currently, Joe is working on a series of projects in Providence, RI, using new architectural media and innovative pre-fabrication techniques to redefine previously under-utilized urban sites. One such project, the Box Office, utilizes 32 recycled shipping containers to form multi-level, 12 unit office building—the first of its kind in the US. Other projects include Abode21, an affordable housing project researching the latest building technologies and techniques and the Hydro-Turbine Refurbishment Project at Slater Mill, the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution in Pawtucket, RI.
Joe teaches in the Department of Architecture at Rhode Island School of Design, is a member of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP).
![]() | John MaedaRISDClosing |
He has displayed his work at numerous exhibitions, lectured extensively worldwide, and has published several books featuring his graphic designs. Previously Associate Director of Research at the MIT Media Laboratory, where he managed relationships for a $32M laboratory, he is now the sixteenth president of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), the preeminent college of art and design in the United States.
He is the recipient of the highest career honors for design in the USA, Japan, and Germany, including the 2001 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award. He received both his BS and MS from MIT and earned his PhD in design from Tsukuba University Institute of Art and Design in Japan. He also holds an MBA from Arizona State University.
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