SIT AWARD - Key Persons
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- Studio Ivanova Executive Director Taiwan
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- Iosa Ghini Associates / Director of Milan Offices
Barbara Delucca was born in Milan, Italy. She is graduated in Architecture from Politecnico di Milano.
Since 1991 she cooperates with Iosa Ghini Associates as an architect and designer. In 1996 she becomes director of Iosa Ghini Associates offices in Milan.
After an initial experience in product design, she has focused on developing interiors, exhibits, and retail projects all over the world for internationally renowned brands. She is recently involved in residential projects for the USA market.
She gives international conferences to promote Italian design through Iosa Ghini Associates' works from industrial products to architecture, from small to big scale. Beauty and sustainability are the values always pursued in all design projects.
She is a council member of the Asia Pacific Designers Federation.
Job Titles:
- Senior Lecturer
- University of Derby Programme Leader Interior Design United Kingdom
Barend Slabbert is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for the BA (Hons) Interior Design programme at the University of Derby. He studied in Cape Town, South Africa where he completed both his BTech and MTech in Interior Design, specializing in the ‘Readaptation of Historical Interiors to contemporary exhibition venues'. Multi-functional furniture design and exhibition platforms has also formed part of his studies in the past, and is imbedded within the Interior Design Curricula at Derby.
His interest in furniture design stems from a young age, being introduced to manufacturing and prototyping already at school. This interest in the importance of ergonomically sound and well-crafted furniture pieces have been amplified through Interior Design, as furniture items play a significant role in spatial experience and identity. He has furthermore worked on and designed numerous set-stages for conferences and award ceremonies along with bespoke items for these, before moving to the UK to lead the Interior Design Programme at the University of Derby.
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- Kuuo Living Limited Creative Director & Founder Canada
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- Design Product and Interior Designer United States
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- Istituto Marangoni Milano Design Professor Italy
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- Artist and Designer
- Design Founder and Director Guatemala
- Fabrizio Constanza Design / Founder and Director
Fabrizio Constanza is a prominent artist and designer. Born in England, raised in Guatemala and educated in the United States, he has a multicultural approach for design. His body of work includes furniture, conceptual art, functional art, lighting, and interior architecture. His professional training is in industrial design, which he perceives as a creative process applicable to diverse industries. His design process has been applied in projects, which go from architecture and interior design to consulting in commercial and private projects. His work has been published in DM Design Magazine, Design Milk, Design You Trust, Yahoo News Business, ID Magazine and Architecture and Design Colorado, to mention a few.
With 18 international design awards to his name in the last 8 years and work in Europe, the US, and Central America, Fabrizio Constanza is a significant contributor to the multicultural design approach. His work has been selected and exhibited at venues like Pinta Miami, Paris Design Week, New York Design Week and Milan Design week.
Fabrizio is a believer in the importance of design education and the benefits of public art. He constantly collaborates with industrial design university departments as a guest speaker and feedback mentor at student's project presentations. Internationally, he has served as jury member multiple times at the A 'Design Award and Competition. Fabrizio has also exhibited artwork at the City of Guatemala Art festival, City of Bellevue Art festival, and Grand Rapids Michigan Art Prize. At the moment, he is developing a public art sculpture for the city of Guatemala.
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- Global Design Director Thailand
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- JUJU Studio Design Director United States
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- Design Institute of Spain ( DIOS ) President
Juan Mellen was born in Barcelona, Spain. He is Public Relations graduated from the University of Barcelona. He is President at the Design Institute of Spain (DIOS) based in Madrid since 2019. The mission of the Institute is to foster the recognition of design to increase business competitiveness and the positioning of the country's image.
Previously, he was founding member and CEO of the first non-profit making association of Spanish design companies (RED) with the aim to count on most of the contemporary design enterprises in any of its different sectors of interior design -commercial, hospitality and residential. His job was essentially translating the association strategy into reality. It is not just accomplishing a task or a goal, but also to achieve the underlying business objectives.
He is a lecturer in the Strategic Direction of a Master in Strategic Design program at the University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain, as well as a lecturer in the Business Model Strategy of a Master in Management of Fashion Design Brands program at the BAU Design School in Barcelona.
He gives conferences on the international promotion of design and brands from Spain, and he writes opinion pieces and Papers on design branding and communication policies in online and offline media.
Job Titles:
- AFD Contract Furniture / Director of Design
With a BFA, specializing in Design and an AAS in Interior Design, Leslie has been working in the design field for 20 years. Entering the Contract Furniture world 10 years ago, she has worked in every aspect of the job, from Design Specifier, Project Manager and Account Management positions, she enters the Director of Design position with extensive knowledge on the principles of design and construction as well as building regulations.
Leslie is responsible for assisting with development, implementing, and managing AFD's design strategy. She works closely with the project teams and is influential in managing design budget, product selection as well as researching and formulating successful solutions for specialized request and what is on-trend.
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- IFDM Publishing Coordinator Italy
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- Board Member of World Design Organization / Manager of CX Design Integration at Delta Airlines
- Board Member of World Design Organization Manager of CX Design Integration at Delta Airlines United States
Meghan is an instinctive translator traversing between complex details and big-picture ideas.
Meghan's passion to provide new paths for future generations to impact the world around them is becoming more of a reality with each new role she takes on. It was this passion that led her to become the youngest board member of the World Design Organization (WDO) in their 60-year history. Previously the United States female representative in WDO's inaugural Young Designers Circle, Meghan has worked with global communities to elevate design education and gender equality design initiatives. In the United Kingdom, she taught 12- to 18-year-olds how to merge design, engineering, user research, and business, while also mentoring them through different phases of life. Meghan's devotion to giving back has led her to volunteer and/or guest lecture within her favorite communities: Industrial Designers Society of America, SHiFT Design, Auburn University, Columbus College of Art and Design, Lehman College, Western Michigan University, and more.
After graduating from Savannah College of Art and Design with degrees in Service Design and Industrial Design, she gained experience in both consulting and corporate design roles. She spent a few years working as a Lead Design Research and Strategist at a design consultancy in Los Angeles where she had the opportunity to work through a variety of challenges with companies like LEGO, Boston Scientific, Hamilton Medical, BMW, Honda, and more. Working on large strategy problems from the outside, Meghan soon became interested in how she could potentially make a larger impact by working in-house. Her time at Ford enabled her to deeply understand customers and stakeholders through design research. This knowledge influenced how she would design new business models and service solutions as a Business Designer in Ford's commercial partner innovation lab.
Meghan is currently a Lead Business & Service Designer within IBM iX where she consults with clients to bring her wide digital ecosystem and sustainability expertise to a variety of industries.
Job Titles:
- Barbara Delucca Iosa Ghini Associate
- Design
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- Senior Lead Designer Austria
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- APDC Asia Pacific Design Center / Secretary - General
- APDC Asia Pacific Design Center Secretary - General China
Mr. Jason Wang is the leading figure in the Chinese design arena who had devoted himself to the design industry as a curator up to 2009. Wang is the Secretary-General of Asia Pacific Design Center (APDC) as well as the Secretary-General of the Organizing Committee for the APDC Asia Pacific Interior Design Awards for Elite.
In 2010, Mr. Jason Wang established the Asia Pacific Design Center (APDC) in Hong Kong, China. He also initiated the Asia Pacific Interior Design Awards for Elite with the theme ‘Celebrating Creativity', which has become one of the most important design awards in the Chinese community.
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- Bolshakova Interiors Founder and Lead Designer Ukraine, France
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- Studio Niko Kapa Design Director United Kingdom
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- KIOSKedia International Academy and Magazine Head of Industrial Design Department Turkey
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- Design Vice President of Sales India
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- Design Council Managing Director Belgium
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- Design / Assistant Professor
Stella Hernandez has been teaching in the Environmental Design and Public Programs departments at Art Center College of Design since 2014 and has led Designmatters studios, helping to create and implement social design award-winning projects. Her own "Safe Agua" system design for informal communities in Latin America is part of the permanent collection at the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in NY.
She received her first bachelor's degree in Industrial Design and worked for different companies within the furniture and hospitality design fields in South America. After moving to California and graduating with honors from Environmental Design at ArtCenter College of Design, she worked for prominent interior design firms, contributing to many high-profile luxury residential projects, from interior architecture design to furniture, lighting, and finishing details. She established her own studio in 2013, and her lighting and furniture pieces have been featured in leading interior design markets around the country. She also collaborates with other design studios developing branded commercial spaces for companies with a strong presence in Latin America.
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- KMUTT Bangkok Studio Creative Director Thailand
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- Fachschule Für Gestaltung Bern Und Biel Head of Studies Switzerland
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- Barbara Delucca Iosa Ghini Associate
- Beijing Zhijian Cultural Communication Co
Job Titles:
- Barbara Delucca Iosa Ghini Associate