The Jury

Manuel has 15 years’ experience working in the railway sector making interiors for high-speed trains. An industrial design engineer, Manuel describes himself as passionate about user experience and the search for new solutions to improve the passenger experience.

Christiane Bausback is CEO of N+P Innovation Design, a strategic innovation and design agency, based in Munich, Vienna and Atlanta. She works with a broad range of companies from start-ups to global players while focusing on holistic solutions that build businesses and transform industries. Over the years, she has garnered numerous awards including IDSA, Good Design, Red Dot, and iF. She served as a juror for several awards such as the renowned iF Award, EPD Award,  as well as for the Cannes Lions. Parallel to her professional activities, she lectures in Germany and Switzerland and regularly presents keynote speeches, joins panel discussions, and is a mentor at innovation accelerators.

Nicole Michel is the design domain manager in A&CD (Advanced &Creative Design Team) of Alstom. Improvement of the Alstom product design culture and implementation of design approaches and innovations is part of her daily business.

She has been leading the Design in numerous large projects such as train “Västtrafik” for Sweden,  High speed train “Zefiro” China,   Metro Singapore, “Downtown line” and Sprinter Light train for Netherlands.

Parallel to her professional activities, she lectures at different universities. She studied at the University of Illinois at Chicago- School art and design, and earnt her diploma as designer from - Fachhochschule für Gestaltung in Pforzheim

Previously, Nicole worked as a Team Leader Industrial Design - Interior  / Senior Expert for Bombardier. Nicole’s moto is “Believe in your dreams and visions! Look at them from different point of views. Listen – Communicate - Decide –be active!”

Kirsty is the Managing Director of PriestmanGoode. She has been with the consultancy since 2001, following work with the Design Council and the British Council, promoting British design to international markets. Kirsty has been instrumental in developing PriestmanGoode concepts on the future of transport and establishing the company as thought leaders in design and innovation. She has recently led key projects in the rail and travel industry including new trains for OBB, on the Cityjet and Nightjet services and innovative concept work to increase capacity in urban transport.

Christian Harbeke studied mechanical engineering at ETH Zurich and industrial design at Zurich University of Applied Sciences. In 1991 he founded Nose Design Experience with two partners, where he assumed responsibility for the industrial design department.

Nose Design Experience is one of the largest and most renowned design agencies in Switzerland. With corporate, graphic, industrial, interaction, interior and exhibition design, Nose covers a wide range of competencies. The interdisciplinary team combines user-centered design with strategic thinking and technical expertise. Nose is today one of the leading and most innovative specialists in railway design in Europe. They advise transport companies, manufacturers or suppliers on the development of concepts for trains, trams and metros and accompany the entire development process from the vision, through the comprehensive conception to the standard-compliant, technical implementation.

Weiwei is an innovative designer and strategist who has worked across a wide range of industries from consumer electronics and retail strategy to automotive, rail and aircraft cabin interiors. This cross-sector experience has enabled Weiwei to build knowledge and develop a specialism for innovation in the mobility sector, delivering programme management to clients at board level. During two decades at tangerine Weiwei has worked on over 20 rail projects. She now heads up the rail team at the studio, a position that has enabled her to form key partnerships with high-profile clients such as Volkswagen, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles, Talgo and Heathrow Express.

Editor of Railway Interiors International since 2011, Izzy is also the editor of Business Jet Interiors International and Auditoria. Other titles she has edited in the past include Business Airport International, Vision Zero International (a magazine about automotive safety technologies), Autonomous Vehicle International and Airline Catering International. She previously held the role of assistant editor on titles including Aircraft Interiors International and Stadia, and started her publishing career as editorial assistant on Crisis Response Journal. Izzy earned her BA in English language and literature at King’s College London.

Birte Jürgensen is the founder, director and partner of zweigrad Design. Based on her work in interior design at Volkswagen AG, she founded her company in 2002, which she still manages today with two other partners. She perceives technological developments and social trends as impetus for new strategies and visions. With her expertise as an industrial designer and mechanical engineer and her experience from twenty years of management, she develops precisely these and is responsible for zweigrad’s corporate development.

Birte Jürgensen has been an awards jury member several times, has experience as a substitute professor, is a member of Hamburg Aviation as well as a member of the advisory board of Hamburg Investment and Development Bank (IFB). Her work has received various awards.

Karsten’s career has largely been honed at Stadler, the German having joined 2003 as Head of Interior Group, Engineering, and progressed to his current role as CTO Mainline Vehicles. Before joining the rail OEM, Karsten worked at Carrosserie HESS AG as Technical Project Manager of Buses.

Jim Mathews is President and CEO of the Rail Passengers Association, a non-profit organisation that advocates for improved transportation safety and accessibility. He serves on six U.S. Federal government advisory panels and testifying before Congressional committees and regulatory agencies.

Previous achievements include serving four years at the US Dept. of Transportation's National Advisory Committee on Travel & Tourism Infrastructure where Mathews was the principal drafter of the NACTTI’s final report for Congress and DOT in 2020.

Prior to joining the Association in 2014, the Harvard graduate enjoyed a successful 26-year-long career with Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine and he worked as a firefighter/medic in Fairfax County, Virginia, for 13 years until enrolling in the Emergency Pre-Hospital Medicine programme at George Washington University in 2002.

Daisy is the Innovation Manager at East West Rail with a passion for transport transformation, accessibility, sustainability and inclusion. Her aim is to make rail better, safer, accessible and enjoyable for all customers. She is also the Vice Chair of ITS UK's Inclusive Mobility Forum, and a Board member for the Community Rail Network.

Elizabeth Jordan is the new editor of Global Railway Review, formerly known as European Railway Review, one of the leading sources of information and analysis in the rail sector since 1994. Elizabeth has over five years’ editorial experience and an ongoing passion for interior design.

Ray King is editor of Railwatch magazine, published by Railfuture, a national British voluntary organisation which campaigns for a bigger, better railway for the benefit of all rail users. He has been editor of Railwatch since 1989.

He worked for the national Daily Express newspaper for 35 years up to 2009.

A history graduate of King’s College, London University, he has also worked for the London Evening News, Financial Weekly, Evening Echo (Hemel Hempstead) and Evening Mail (Slough). He trained as a journalist on the Luton News and the Bedfordshire Times. 

Before becoming a journalist, he worked for three years at Redland Transport.

His personal interests include travel (train, cycling, walking) as well as camping and photography.

Dean has been with the railway since 2008, following a 15-year career in Pricing & Revenue Management field with Air Canada.

Dean has been instrumental in developing and implementing VIA’s vision with regards to on-board products and services, optimizing crew space, and developing the passenger’s environment including the launch of VIA’s recently introduced intercity VENTURE fleet in the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor.