JUDGES



 Brian Heidsiek
Principal
Sandbox Innovation Studio
Seattle		 Brian Heidsiek has been generating new opportunities and innovation for clients, including Hewlett Packard Development Co., Moog Music, Motorola Inc., Nissan North America, Lowe’s Co's. Inc., and Yamaha Motor Corp. for 25 years. His talent as an industrial designer and innovator has been recognized with national and international design awards and media attention.

Twelve years ago, he founded Sandbox Innovation Studio to help companies create what consumers want. His personal drive to fulfill the needs and desires of not only his clients, but of the people who use the products and services Sandbox helps create, inspires every project. Heidsiek has taught design at the Art Center College of Design and California State University, Northridge. He is a member of the Industrial Designers Society of America, Design Management Institute, Product Development Management Association, University of Washington’s Student Advisory Committee for their Industrial Design program, and the Golden Key National Honors Society.







Stephen Hooper
President and CEO
Elemental8 Inc.
San Jose, CA		 Stephen Hooper is president and CEO of Elemental8 Inc., formerly Designafairs USA. The firm offers turnkey product-development leadership from product definition to production release. Services include industrial design, user-interface design, branding, design research, design strategy, and design-management consulting.

Hooper drives his award-winning teams with a focus on creating inspired new brand identities and innovative products that achieve client goals, thereby improving people's lives. Industries range from consumer electronics and enterprise solutions, to household products and soft goods, to industrial equipment and medical devices. His designs have been recognized with several patents, as well as numerous awards from BusinessWeek/IDEA, ID Magazine, Good Design, iF/Hannover, MDDI, etc. He is a graduate of Western Washington University, where he now serves on the advisory board of the design school.







Kyle Swen
-founder, Vice President
of design/partner,
Astro Studios
San Francisco		 Kyle Swen is the co-founder and creative spark at Astro Studios, a design powerhouse he helped launch in 1994. Since its inception, Astro has become a prominent international design studio by creating industry-leading products and brands like Nike Inc.’s original Triax Watch Series and the Xbox 360 for Microsoft Corp. Companies like Hewlett-Packard Development Co. LP, Alienware Corp., Samsung Group, Herman Miller Inc., Callaway Golf Co., and many more have all benefited from Astro’s point of view.

In the past decade, Swen and Astro have won numerous design and industry awards, including multiple BusinessWeek/IDSA Design of the Decade Awards. Prior to joining Astro, Swen received his BS in Design from San Jose State University and designed at Lunar and Tandem Computers (now HP).





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