Carsten Astheimer, Design Manager, Pininfarina Extra
After receiving his B.Sc. in mechanical engineering from Leicester University in England, Carsten Astheimer studied transportation design at the Art Center College of Design in Switzerland and in Pasadena, USA. Since then he has been involved in and managed well-known automotive design projects at VW/Audi in California, USA and at the IDEA Institute in Turin. He has headed the product design activities at Pininfarina Extra s.r.l. in Cambiano, Italy since 1999. He also coordinates the masters program in transportation design at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Turin, Italy.
Marc Frehner, CEO, Cree; Managing Director, Bene Creative Resource
Marc Frehner is managing director of Bene Creative Resource, a leading Swiss industrial design studio, and CEO of Cree Ltd. After studying transportation design at the Art Center College of Design in Switzerland, he worked as an automobile designer for SMH (Smart). Marc Frehner is one of the creators of "SAM", a Swiss award-winning, patented zero-emission vehicle. His design-development for an eye-surgery device at Bene has been awarded with the IF design award in 2005.
Dr. Edgar Jochheim, Managing Director, Innologics
Dr. Edgar Jochheim is a leading expert on product conception, technology evaluation and intellectual capital management. After graduating from the RWTH Aachen with a master's degree and a PhD in mechanical engineering, Dr. Jochheim headed one of Siemens' development departments in the area of communication products. In 2002 he co-founded Innologics, an innovation think tank based at the German Space Center in Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich.
