Jarred Evans
Managing Director, PDR
Professor of Applied Design Innovation,
Cardiff Metropolitan University

Jarred Evans is Managing Director of PDR, a leading product and service design consultancy and academic design research centre based in the UK. He has over 30 years experience in applied, practical innovation and new product and service development. He is a regular speaker on design innovation and has acted as a design juror at leading global design competitions in Europe, the US and the Far East. Jarred has over 80 major global design awards himself, numerous patents and over 200 successful products in market

Working initially in numerous in-house manufacturing design leadership roles Jarred joined PDR in 2004 rising to lead the organisation in 2015. PDR has since grown to be a leading product and service design consultancy and research centre with a global client base across Government, Industry and not for profit sectors. PDR is ranked as the No1 design agency in the UK and in the top 5 across Europe and the USA by two of the worlds leading design authorities

Jarred has both an undergraduate and Masters degree in industrial design and later in his career secured both an MBA and a further postgraduate marketing qualifications alongside his design work. In 2019 he was awarded the title of Professor of Applied Design Innovation at Cardiff Metropolitan University where he contributes to design research and education alongside his full time PDR role.

Anna Merci
Architect & Designer
Principal of Anna Merci Architecture

Anna Merci is an Architect, Landscape Architect (IUAV), curator and educator specialized in Sustainable Design, founder of Anna Merci Architecture. In 2013 she won the New Italian Blood Award, which selects the top ten young Italian architects. After four years in Paris, in 2016 she becomes a membership of Renzo Piano G124, the Senator’s working group on Italian suburbs.

Informed by a strong material exploration, Anna Merci Architecture operates at a wide array of scales driven by the conviction that architectural design represents a crucial means to comment on social, political and environmental phenomena.

The studio’s output has won several international competitions and awards, the results have been published and shown in many exhibitions, all over the world, including Triennale Milano and Venice Biennale. In 2018 the firm won the Arquine International Competition for the Mextròpoli Pavilion in Mexico City, now permanently reconstructed in Huerto Roma Verde and included in the best Mexican Architecture of the XXI Century.

In 2022 Anna Merci Architecture was the only Italian firm among the winners of “40under40—The Best Emerging Architects in Europe” prize. Thanks to her experiences, Anna Merci is regularly invited to speak at conferences, and to take part in juries and workshops in Italy and abroad. Always attentive to sustainability, in 2022 she co-create an online platform to re-thinking functional design of industrial excess into everyday objects promoting a change towards a more ethical and sustainable economic model that reduces the pieces of waste.

Kim Herforth Nielsen
Senior Partner
3XN

Kim Herforth Nielsen is the Founder and a Senior Partner of 3XN. Kim has been the creative driving force for 3XN since the studio’s foundation in 1986 and has overall responsibility for the architectural quality of all the studio’s works from the idea to the final result.

Working closely with the competition department, Kim directs the group with a high degree of personal involvement in each project. He has been involved in all of the practice’s major works, including the Quay Quarter Tower, Copenhagen Arena, The Blue Planet, Museum of Liverpool, Ørestad College, IOC Headquarters, the UN City HQ in Co­penhagen and many more.

Kim is often called upon as a jury member in international architectural competi­tions and as a lecturer at universities around the world. From 2014-2017 he was appointed chairman of the architecture committee at the Danish Arts Foundation.

Leonardo Capelas Romeu
Global Design Manager
Teka Group Appliances

With over 24 years of experience in Design with more than 200 projects and pivotal roles at industry giants such as Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances (BSH), Hewlett Packard (HP), Mabe Appliances and currently as Global Design Manager at Teka Group Appliances in Madrid.

He has garnered more than 60 prestigious awards like IF Design, Good Design, Red Dot Design, European Design Awards, International Design Awards, Intelligence Design Award (China), etc.

Underscoring a career marked by excellence and impactful contributions to renowned brands worldwide.

Katherine Chia
Principal
Desai Chia Architecture PC.

Katherine Chia FAIA is a founding principal of Desai Chia Architecture. Since 1996, she and her partner & husband, Arjun Desai, have established the firm’s reputation for authentic design, creating inspiring environments expressive of light, materials, and spaces that foster collaboration.

In 2018, ARCHITECT Magazine ranked Desai Chia Architecture #19 in the nation for Design. The book “The Women Who Changed Architecture” by Princeton Architectural Press included Katherine and the work of her firm in the chapter titled “Raising the Roof.”

Katherine grew up in New York State and Belgium. She earned her Master of Architecture degree from M.I.T. and received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College. She is a board member at the Center for Architecture and the International Center of Photography, a trustee emerita of Amherst College, and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Stan Skolnik
OPEN HERE Werbeagentur GmbH.
IU International University


Prof. Dipl.- Des. Stan Skolnik is CEO and Creative Director of the design and communication agency OPEN HERE Ltd., he founded IN 2001. He is responsible for strategic design solutions for global financial brands and government organizations.

He is teaching professor for Media Studies and Design at the IU International University focused on Cross Media Communication. After earning his diploma in Communication Design at the University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Stan Skolnik started his professional career and worked in numerous international agencies and the design department of the Stern magazine as cover creative lead and designer.

Prof. Stan Skolnik has won numerous international awards including Art Directors Club Award and Clio Award and is jury member of famous international creative festivals. He has been an active member of various boards like European Union Institute for Innovation & Technology, German Founding Award and is also member of the D&AD London and the German Design Club (DDC).