Interior Motives Student Design Awards 2009

Alfonso Albaisa was previously at Nissan's design centre in Atsugi, Japan, where he was product chief designer for a next-generation compact car. Albaisa started his career at Nissan Design America (NDA) in 1988 and was appointed director of the North American design studio in 2005. During his tenure there, he oversaw all NDA design activities.
He took up his present position in April 2007.

Ralph V. Gilles oversees all activities of the Product Design Office for Chrysler Group LLC.

Gilles has led design teams of the award-winning Chrysler 300C and 2005 Dodge Charger, Magnum and Viper SRT10 coupe. Most recently, Gilles oversaw the design of the all-new 2009 Dodge Ram and 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Gilles also leads Mopar Underground, a group of enthusiasts that create niche concept vehicles for specialty shows.

Vice president, Director of Design at Geely Automotive Research Institute was educated at Jilin University of Technology and Beijing Aerodynamic Institute in China where he gained a BSc and MSc in automotive engineering (in 1982 and 1988 respectively).
He then became Associate Professor at the College of Automotive Engineering, Jilin University, China between 1988 and 1995 before joining Imperial College London in the UK as a doctoral researcher. In 1999 he gained a PhD, DIC, in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College before moving to the US in 2000 to become a Product Development Engineer for Chrysler Tech Centre, Michigan.
He moved back to China in 2007 spending a brief period with Nanjing Automotive Technical Institute as a CTO until July 2008 when he joined Geely.

In 1993, Flavio Manzoni joined Lancia in Italy as a designer, and in 1995 was promoted to chief of interior design with the carmaker.
Manzoni moved to SEAT in Spain as chief of interior design in 1999 and two years later, was appointed Director of the Lancia Design Centre in Italy.
He was promoted to Design Director of brands Fiat, Lancia, LCV in 2004 and took up his current post in 2007.

Adriana Monk, transportation interior designer for land, sea and air. Her most recent work includes power boats and sailing yachts.
She received her degree in product design from Art Center College of Design and began her career in 1995 at Designworks/USA, a BMW subsidiary.
Adriana has played a major role in the design of luxury marques including Rolls- Royce, Lincoln, Jaguar, Land Rover and Wally Yachts.

Having contributed to Interior Motives almost since its inception in 2002, Euan Sey took over the role of Editor in 2006 and was appointed Editor in Chief of Car Design News in 2008. Euan has been writing about car design for over a decade and has had articles published in Car, Auto Express, Top Gear, Intersection, Autocar, the Daily Telegraph and the Independent. He is chair of the Interior Motives Design Awards judging panel.

John Puskar has been director of interior design for GM Europe since October 2005 and is responsible for all Opel, Saab and Vauxhall interior design. Since joining General Motors in 1999, the former Ford designer and Cleveland Institute of Art graduate has supported the interior development of such models as the Cadillac XLR, Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Cadillac Escalade and a range of upcoming mid-size SUVs.

Born in Port Lyautey, Morocco Frank Stephenson attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. After completing his studies he worked at Ford, BMW, MINI, Ferrari, Maserati, Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo. Currently he is the Design Director at McLaren Automotive, based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England.

Wolfgang Muller-Pietralla studied biology at the University of Hanover, focusing on models and simulations of ecologic systems.
In 1992 he joined Volkswagen where he introduced a sustainable environmental management system. During the EXPO 2000, Mr. Muller-Pietralla was Volkswagen's project manager and stage-managed both the Autostadt and the rain-forest house. Since 2003 he is head of Volkswagen's future affairs department within the Volkswagen Group Research, which is analyzing future developments and deducting future mobility and vehicle concepts.
From April 2009 on Mr.Muller-Pietralla is visiting professor at the Braunschweig University of Art.

Mike is responsible for JCI’s Automotive Seating, Interiors and Electronics Design Studios as well as the Marketing and Advanced Sales teams in North America. He is passionate about integrating the creative process with new business development as demonstrated in the Frankfurt (IAA) debut of the re3 concept. Mike is a graduate of Art Center College of Design and lives in Holland, Michigan, USA with his wife and three children.