Speakers
Peter Vink has written more than 200 papers on participatory design. Some 27 in peer reviewed journals. Currently, the main topic of his publications concerns the design of products that contribute to better health, productivity and comfort. Peter is Head of the Department of Environmental Design at TNO in the Netherlands and a professor at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at the Delft University of Technology.
Anna Kirah’s passion is People-Centric Design and concept making.
Anna Kirah facilitates change within companies and organisations with a desire to approach the rapidly paced global world we live in. Working within most of the areas of concept development (or collaborating with those who do), Anna guides you through new ways of behaving in order to create meaningful, relevant, desirable products and services. A by-product of this process is often a change in mindset of individuals and organisations alike.
Anna Kirah served as the Senior Design Anthropologist for the Microsoft Corporation. Anna was responsible for global field research and participatory design both within the Windows division and MSN. Anna’s primary focus is on people-centred research, future product innovation, and global strategy. In 2004, she won the award for MSN Contributor of the Year. In 2006 she was recognised for her contributions to Microsoft’s geopolitical strategy. Anna also worked at Boeing as a research associate carrying out pre-concept research onboard commercial aircraft.
Anna sits on several boards (both in the public and private sector) including the Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority’s (EBST) Programme for User-Centred Innovation.
Her dreams: To be given the gift of one month to finish her book on the concept making mindset! To attend the inaugural ball of Barack Obama.
Matthew White is an independent design consultant with a background in engineering and design. His main client is B&Q plc, the world’s third largest DIY retailer. Working in many areas of the business, he has created products which are sold in the store, and he is currently working on many more. He has also helped develop a number of other products including the successful Sea-Doo SeaScooter and has experienced many levels of development from idea generation for toothpaste dispensing to design and engineering analysis of a folding bike frame. Other work involves self-generated innovations and associated IP.
Having studied Industrial Design Engineering at the Royal College of Art he went on to work as a research associate for the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre in 2000. This gave him the opportunity to begin work with B&Q researching the use of power tools for those with reduced strength and dexterity. The project produced four product concepts and 5 associated patent applications. Two of the projects developed by Matthew are the Sandbug and Gofer, two power tools currently on sale in B&Q stores and around the world. This pattern of a user-centred focus producing realistic innovation and design has continued as Matthew works in many areas within B&Q developing products. In the last two years, various products designed and developed by Matthew have been launched by B&Q in the UK market. These include Barbecues, fire pits and Laser levels.
Matthew works from his Sussex based studio where design and development are carried out. Matthew has also travelled to the Europe and the Far East and worked directly with manufacturers in developing products. His abilities allow him to generate commercially viable and innovative concepts and then develop them into well-engineered and well-designed products.
Kristel Van Ael is an associate at Namahn, where she develops the practice for intelligent products. At previous employers, she was specialised in interaction design and internet strategy and managed design teams. She’s a guest lecturer at Hogeschool Antwerpen and president of the Yellow Design Foundation, an interregional platform for research and information on design and visual communication. She is also involved in the establishment of The Egg, an innovation platform for the communication industry. Here experience ranges over the last twenty years.
Joannes Vandermeulen owns and manages Namahn. He was educated as an archaeologist and Oriental linguist. An extended stay in the United States in the 1980s introduced him to the discipline of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Over the last twenty years he has built up considerable expertise in Human Factors/Ergonomics, HCI and User Experience Design through client work and teaching.
He is experienced in a great variety of functional domains and has proven to be capable of quickly becoming familiar with new ones. He conducted international assignments in Switzerland, Turkey, Germany, the United States, France, and the Netherlands.
Prior to the above assignments, Mr Vandermeulen held assignments at Apple Computer (Brussels), AT&T International (New York City), Bristol-Myers International (New York City), Commission of the European Communities (Brussels), Linklaters, Lagae (Brussels), Gecosys (a partnership of Fortis, Brussels, and Cognitive Systems, New Haven), Gnosis (Antwerp), Honeywell Europe (Brussels), Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken (Leuven), Superclub (Aartselaar), Prodigy (at the time a partnership of IBM, CBS and Sears, White Plains, NY), Wang (Brussels), and the University Hospitals of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
Alexander Grots is Associate Partner of the IDEO. He is based in the office in Munich, Germany.
IDEO, a Silicon Valley based design company, is a world leader in User-Centred Design of products, services and environments. IDEO’s clients view innovation as the key to a competitive advantage. Our clients range from start-ups to Fortune 500 brands in almost all industries.
Before joining IDEO, Alexander co-founded and managed a high-tech company in the field of speech recognition. His past experiences stretch from being an administrative official for the German government, sales rep in the music industry, hotel management in several countries, through setting up and managing a call centre for the IT sector.
Alexander has been working on a wide range of projects for clients in the financial, communication and industrial and consumer products industries. He frequently gives lectures at conferences on the topic of innovation and design thinking.
Justin Knecht is currently Programme Manager at the Centre for Design Innovation in Ireland. The Centre for Design Innovation is the national centre of excellence for the research, understanding and promotion of the effective use of design and innovation. Justin is responsible for the creation of practical programmes to promote the effective use of design within the private and public sector. He recently developed the Innovation by Design programme, the first User-Centred Design programme of its kind for SMEs in Ireland. Previous to this Justin was Senior Manager of Creative Services for the Crayola® brand in the US, responsible for global branding, packaging development, POS and Internet services. He co-founded the web development firm AOV in Philadelphia; developing over 20 award-winning websites for a range of regional, national and international clients. He has worked as a freelance designer, writer, film editor, photographer, and has spoken at a number of design conferences, companies and events including HOW, Hallmark Cards, DMI, Thinking Creatively Conference, Oracle, the Macromedia User Conference and the Allaire Developers Conference.
Jan-Christoph Zoels is responsible for User Experience Design at Experientia, based in Turin, Italy. Until recently he was Senior Associate Professor at Interaction Design Institute Ivrea, where he ran the business innovation workshops called Applied Dreams.
In his work, Jan-Christoph focuses specifically on people’s experience of mobile services and applications, and on using information technology to support simplicity. He advocates a strategic integration of user experience modelling, design, prototyping and iterative testing to improve the desirability of products and services.
Previously he was Director of Information Architecture for Sapient (New York), and Senior Designer at Sony Design Center USA, responsible for strategic product development. He holds four patents. He has taught at Rhode Island School of Design, Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht, Samsung’s Innovative Design Laboratory in Seoul, and Domus Academy, Milan.
Mark Vanderbeeken is Experientia’s Senior Partner in charge of identity and strategic communications. He is a specialist in visioning, identity development and strategic communications. He has worked in Italy, Denmark, the USA and Belgium.
He was Communications Manager of Interaction Design Institute Ivrea (Ivrea, Italy), European Communications Coordinator for the World Wide Fund for Nature (or WWF, Copenhagen, Denmark), Marketing Director of Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects (New York, USA) and Chief Press Officer of Antwerp 93, Cultural Capital of Europe (Antwerp, Belgium).
He is the author of Experientia’s successful experience design blog Putting People First, has set up a professional blog on e-democracy, and writes for Core77, the well-known USA-based online design magazine, and for the website of Torino 2008 World Design Capital.
He studied Visual and Cognitive Psychology at the University of Leuven, Belgium and obtained a Master’s Degree in cognitive psychology at Columbia University, New York.
Jürgen Oskamp holds a Master’s Degree in Integral Product Development from the Higher Institute of Integrated Product Development Antwerp (Belgium).
He worked in several design studios: MH-Way Designstudio in Italy, Nissan Tokyo design studio (Creative Box)
Jürgen established Achilles Associates (www.achilles.be) in 1994 together with Koen Elsen.
The current location of Achilles Associates is Mechelen, Belgium.
Achilles Associates has grown into a multi-disciplinary design office working for international clients.
Tim Ruytjens holds a Master’s Degree in Integral Product Development from the Higher Institute of Integrated Product Development Antwerp (Belgium).
He started at Atlas Copco as a Product Developer and at Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing Europe as a Senior Project Engineer. He joined Achilles Associates in 2007.
Valerie L’heureux is Project Manager at Human Interface Group. She is an expert in designing user interfaces for highly complex business applications in a large number of industries (financial, pharmaceutical, public utility, consumer-electronics etc.). The assignments range from revolutionary desktop applications to top-notch touchscreen devices. She has worked for numerous national and international clients such as Elia, Toyota Motor Europe, Axa Bank, Electrabel, De Lijn, Corilus, Niko and Federale Politie.
Chris Baelus (°58) graduated in ’81 as an industrial designer in Antwerp. He worked for 15 years in industry before taking up a full engagement in education and research at the department design sciences of the University college of Antwerp. He is responsible for design methodology, coaches design projects in the Master years and is recently academic coordinator of the Bachelor and Master program in product development.