Established professionals
from the Design World

Design and Interaction Director

Studio Volpi

Patrizio Cionfoli

Patrizio Cionfoli, Director of Design and Interaction at Studio Volpi started his career at Whirlpool as a product designer for home appliances as category head of the design team. His washing machine concept BioLogic was exhibited at the Triennale di Milano, Louvre in Paris, and at the Design Museum in Beijing. His works have won many international design awards. Designer of the first iconic capsule coffee machine ‘a Modo Mio’, for Lavazza, and the KitchenAid Iconic Fridge. In 2022, he was part of the IF Award Jury panel for the Kitchen category and ADI commission member for the “Work” category. Patrizio is an international speaker, both in conferences on innovation and design and in various European universities.

Design Historian & Curator

EDIT Napoli

Domitilla Dardi

Design historian and curator, since 2010 Domitilla Dardi has been curator for the design of MAXXI in Rome and since 2022 she has become Senior Curator. She teaches – Bachelor Degree and Masters – at IED (Istituto Europeo del Design) in Rome. She has been visiting professor in various institutions, including the Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona, ​​the Abadir Academy in Catania and the MADE Program in Syracuse. Domitilla is also co-founder and curator of the EDIT Napoli design fair. She writes for various trade magazines and is the author of numerous monographs and essays; the last ones published are “Herbaria” (24Ore Cultura) and “Playgrounding” (Corraini).

Designer, Ph.D. researcher

MIT AgeLab

Sheng-Hung Lee

Sheng-Hung Lee is inspired by multiple domains of knowledge and perspectives, and he thrives on creating new value for clients on multi-disciplinary teams while working at IDEO and Continuum. He is trained as an industrial designer and electrical engineer, and his approach to problem solving is influenced by his passion for how design and technology impact and can be integrated into society. He has been invited to be a jury member for multiple international design competitions including International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), Spark Design Award, IDA Award, Golden Pin Design Award, and A’ Design Award and Competition. His work has won prestigious awards including IDEA (Gold), iF Award (Gold), Braun Prize, Core77 Design Award, Red Dot (Best of the Best), Spark Design Award, and European Product Design Award (Gold). His works have also been showcased in Dubai Design Week, Venice Design Week, Cooper Hewitt Museum, and MIT Wiesner Student Art Gallery.

Founder & Designer

Nichetto Studio

Luca Nichetto

In 2006, Luca Nichetto founded his eponymous multidisciplinary design practice in Venice, Italy, specialising in industrial design, product design and design consultancy. Over the years, Luca has served as art director for many international design brands and gained a reputation as a multidisciplinary designer. He has lectured and led workshops at several universities, including serving as a professor of design at the IUAV, and has sat on juries for various international design competitions. His work is often featured in prestigious exhibitions worldwide and has been the subject of retrospectives in cities including London, New York and Beijing. His highly researched, innovative projects have earned him an impressive array of international awards for designs that range from products, accessories and furniture to architecture, exhibition design and branding.

Founding Producer

Design Pavilion and Design Talks NYC

Ilene Shaw

Ilene Shaw has devoted her career to the advocacy and promotion of great design. She began as an industrial designer and in time, evolved as an innovator of international trade and public design shows, conferences, curated exhibitions, awards and educational programs, showcasing notable architects, designers and artists. She is the founding producer of Design Pavilion, the largest public design activation in the world viewed by millions of visitors annually around New York City. Shaw produces the Design Talks, offering thought-leadership by insightful creative minds. She conceived of and co-developed the ICFF: International Contemporary Furniture Fair. As a lifelong champion of public art and design, she serves as a senior advisor to CODAworx, the resource hub of the commissioned art economy, and co-spearheaded its internationally renowned CODAawards. Shaw also serves on the Board of Trustees of NYCxDESIGN, New York City’s official design festival. As a series regular, presenter and judge on the TV series America By Design on CBS nationwide, Shaw presents international highlights and starchitect spotlights. In our increasingly challenged world, Shaw believes that art and design is more important now than ever. Through her work, she encourages creatives to reach beyond themselves with courage and unbounded imagination.

Founder & Managing Director

Tatic Designstudio

Aleks Tatic

German-born product-designer Aleks Tatic is the founder of Tatic Designstudio, an international industrial-design agency in Milan, Italy. In 1998 he co-founded the multiple award-winning, Italian design-studio Attivo Creative Resource, leading the agency for 12 years. Since 2011 he directs an agency under his own name. Aleks Tatic’s strategic product-innovation and design for brands in such diverse product segments as Sports- and Lifestyle products, Power-Tools, FMCGs, capital goods, consumer electronics and Yachts has won international acclaim through design prizes and awards. Since 2001 they have come to include over 35 Red Dot Design Awards, including three Best-of-the Best Awards, IF and Golden IF-Awards, Good Design, G-Mark and the German Design Award. He has been appointed member of several design award juries, including the Jury of the Red Dot Design Award since 2014.