Expand - Engadget

Speakers

Don't miss these amazing speakers! We have put together a lineup of who's who in the technology world. We made it easy to follow them and the presenting companies during the event. Just go to: https://twitter.com/EngadgetExpand/expand-speakers

Here is who will be joining us:

Victor Agreda, Jr., Editor-in-Chief, The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Victor got his first Apple computer in 1978 and has been hooked ever since. He's previously managed DIY Life and Download Squad for AOL before taking over the EiC spot on TUAW.
Russ Angold, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Ekso Bionics

Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Russ Angold, P.E. works closely with Lockheed Martin Corporation, which, under a licensing agreement with Ekso Bionics, is further developing the HULC™ exoskeleton for military use. In his former role as the Vice President of Engineering, Russ provided many of the concepts and industrial designs utilized for the company’s current human exoskeletons. His designs for lower-power devices led to the eventual development of the ExoHiker™, ExoClimber™ and HULC.

Russ held various engineering positions at Rain Bird Corporation, Berkeley Process Control and the Irrigation Training and Research Center in San Luis Obispo, Calif. He has a B.S. degree in bioresource and agricultural engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He is a California-registered Professional Mechanical Engineer, and has two granted patents and another seven pending.
Veronica Belmont, Co-Host, Tekzilla

Veronica is a technology and gaming-centric video host based out of San Francisco. Currently her projects include Qore (a monthly interactive magazine about the PS3 for Sony) and Tekzilla (a weekly tech help and how-to show on Revision3.com). She has also written for Slate, DoubleX, MaximumPC and PC Gamer. Veronica initially made her mark as a producer and on-air talent for CNET Networks (now CBS Interactive). She worked on such shows as Buzz Out Loud, MP3 Insider, Crave and Prizefight. In 2007, she left CNET to host the eclectic video show Mahalo Daily, which was named one of the top new podcasts in 2008 on iTunes.
Walter De Brouwer, CEO and Founder, Scanadu

Walter De Brouwer is the founder and CEO of Scanadu. Founded in 2010 and located at the NASA Ames Research Park, Scanadu is using mobile, sensor and social technology to ensure this is the last generation to know so little about their health. An Internet and technology entrepreneur, futurist, academic and scientist, De Brouwer served as the CEO of One Laptop Per Child Europe, aiming to empower the world's poorest children through education. Before that, he was the founder of Starlab, which specialized in blue skies, deep future and BANG (Bits, Atoms, Neurons and Genes) research.

Throughout his career, De Brouwer has worked in telecom, banking, research labs, academia and publishing. De Brouwer is a senior member of TED and curator of TEDxBrussels. He is also currently an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Judge Business School, Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning at the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Idan Cohen, CPO and Co-Founder, Boxee, Inc.

As a Co-Founder and CPO of Boxee, Cohen is responsible for innovating and expanding the capabilities of Boxee’s products. Idan conceives the vision of the product and the design of Boxee's critically acclaimed user experience. His goal, in line with Boxee's own philosophy, is to create an intuitive product that merges the simplicity of TV with the richness of the Internet.

Prior to Boxee, Cohen pioneered the Innovation Lab at Comverse, establishing the company as a leader in telecom software and services. This unique initiative helped the company innovate across multiple business segments through experimentation with cutting-edge telecom and Internet technology. Cohen has always been a craftsman at heart. When he is not conceiving the design of Boxee's critically acclaimed user experience, you can find him focusing on photography or masterfully preparing his own signature dishes.
Steve Cousins, CEO, Willow Garage

Steve Cousins is leading the charge at Willow Garage to accelerate the personal robot revolution. He oversees all business aspects at Willow Garage, including development of robot hardware platforms, expansion of the acclaimed open-source robot operating system ROS and the research initiatives to understand the implications of personal robotics. A seasoned executive and entrepreneur, Steve brings a strong track record of bringing innovations to market.

Prior to joining Willow Garage, Steve was the Senior Manager of the User-Focused Systems Research Group at the IBM Almaden Research Center, one of the top human-computer interaction research groups in the world. Earlier, Steve managed the Advanced Systems Development Laboratory at the Xerox PARC. Steve has a Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University and a B.S. and M.S. from Washington University.
Scott Croyle, Vice President of Design, HTC

Scott Croyle is Vice President of Design at HTC. Scott guides both the industrial design and user experience teams, striving to make sure that HTC products strike an emotional connection with consumers. Scott believes that outstanding product design stems from a combination of research and intuition with designers encouraged to trust their creativity, in order to bring a unique perspective and emotion to products that resonate with consumers.

Drawing on this approach, Scott has helped to drive successful projects for companies including Kodak, Nike, K2 Snowboards and HTC.

Prior to joining HTC, Scott served as a principal at One & Co., sharing the management responsibilities for the 18-person industrial design agency alongside Jonah Becker and Claude Zellweger. He has also worked in a variety of roles at Moto Development Group, Telespree and Design Edge. Scott received his mechanical engineering degree from the University of Texas.
Jim Denney, Vice President, General Manager, Product Marketing TiVo Inc

As Vice President of Product Marketing at TiVo, Jim Denney is responsible for defining TiVo's hardware platform and service direction, strategy and requirements. During his tenure at TiVo, he and his team have defined and launched innovative products ranging from multi-tuner DVRs and client devices to mobile and online experiences including scheduling, co-viewing and media management. Mr. Denney represents TiVo in public events and corporate announcements ranging from product and industry forums to testifying before Congress on the issue of fair use of content.

Prior to joining TiVo, Mr. Denney held leadership positions in product marketing at iBEAM Broadcasting/WilTel Communications and SGI, focusing on the creation of distribution networks for streaming media and media production tools for both enterprise and entertainment applications.
He was involved in 3D animation at FTI Corporation and started his career as a Systems Consultant at Andersen Consulting. Mr. Denney has a degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University. He also received an Emmy from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his contributions to the development of the TiVo service.
Ujesh Desai, Vice President, Product Marketing, NVIDIA

Ujesh Desai serves as NVIDIA's Vice President of Corporate Marketing, with global responsibility for campaigns, PR, Web, creative and events around the company's four product lines. These include GeForce, for gaming; Quadro, for enterprise professionals; Tesla, for high-performance computing; and Tegra, for mobile devices. He is based in the company's Santa Clara, Calif., headquarters.

Desai joined NVIDIA in 2001 and has held a variety of roles, including General Manager of Desktop GPUs, which is the company's single largest business, as well as General Manager of Software and Multimedia Products. Previously, he spent six years at Silicon Graphics, where he held a variety of management positions in the professional workstation division. Desai received a bachelor's degree in marketing communications from Trenton State College, in New Jersey.
Ariel Garten, CEO, InteraXon

If there ever was a gap between science, art, business and technology, Ariel has closed it. Her work converts the workings of the mind into tangible solutions. Ariel has researched at the Krembil Neuroscience Institute studying hippocampal neurogenesis, displayed work at the Art Gallery of Ontario, DeLeon White Gallery and opened Toronto Fashion Week. In 2007, Ariel co-founded InteraXon, one of the world's leading companies creating brainwave-controlled products and experiences. Muse, InteraXon’s brain-sensing headband, just one example of this innovation, allows consumers to interact with their smartphone and tablet using the power of their mind.
Alexandra Hall, Senior Director, Google Lunar X PRIZE, X PRIZE Foundation

In 2011, Alex was appointed to lead the Google Lunar X PRIZE, the largest incentive prize of all time, with a $30 million prize purse. No stranger to unusual endeavors, Alex bought zeppelin airships back to the USA as Co-Founder and CEO of Airship Ventures, using airships for passenger travel, media work and scientific research. Prior to Airship Ventures, Alex served as the Executive Director and CEO of the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, Calif., where she managed fundraising efforts, developed exhibitions and led major programs.

Before crossing the Atlantic, Alex was a key member of the team that conceived, fundraised and built the National Space Centre, the UK’s premier visitor attraction on space and astronomy. Alex has authored several books for children and adults about space and hosted BBC Television's Final Frontier. She holds a degree in astrophysics from the University of Leicester in the UK.
Bob Heddle, Director, Kinect for Windows, Microsoft

Bob Heddle leads the Kinect for Windows team in the Interactive Entertainment Business (IEB) Group at Microsoft. Heddle is responsible for the overall Kinect for Windows business, including planning, marketing, business development and developer/customer engagement. His team provides businesses and developers with the hardware, software, programs and tools needed to build and scale next-generation Natural User Interface experiences on Windows computers, across a wide range of industries and scenarios.

Heddle first joined Microsoft in 1993 in the Windows division, building multimedia technologies and the DirectX gaming platform. Following time at a startup and then as technical director for America Online Inc[PP1] ., Heddle rejoined Microsoft in 2008 to design the Windows Phone application platform. He lives in the Seattle area with his family.
Dave Icke, CEO, MC10

Dave Icke joined MC10 as CEO in March 2009. Dave built his career growing and scaling businesses that solve customer problems with breakthrough technology. Dave understands semiconductor manufacturing, starting as a Process Engineer at Cypress Semiconductor then helping chipmakers worldwide quickly ramp their fabs in different leadership roles over 11 years at KLA-Tencor. He then led and grew several businesses in semiconductor test equipment at Teradyne.

In 2005, he took the plunge into the startup world with Advanced Electron Beams, a venture-backed clean-tech company with a disruptive platform technology serving multiple markets. MC10 offers a unique opportunity to combine Dave’s experiences in semiconductor manufacturing with breakthrough platform technology. Dave has a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from Stanford University and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School.
Michael Laine, President, LiftPort Group

Michael Laine is the President of LiftPort. Now being a president of a company sounds like a common job, however when you look at the company itself, one realizes this is not your average job. Having been called a troublemaker and never taking “No” for an answer has defined Michael. His motto is, “There is a profound difference between difficult, very, very hard and impossible!” As one can tell, he will never give up on his dream to build a space elevator.

When he worked with NASA, he was on the team that was looking into building an elevator and when the funding ran out, Michael was there with the money to back up his dream. Even with the crash of the stock market and LiftPort having to shut its doors, Michael carried on and has restarted LiftPort with a successful Kickstarter campaign and a small, but growing team.
Hod Lipson, Professor of Engineering, Cornell University

Hod Lipson is a Professor of Engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and a co-author of the recent book Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing. His work on self-aware and self-replicating robots, food printing and bio-printing has received widespread media coverage including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Time and NPR. Lipson has co-authored hundreds of papers and speaks frequently at high-profile venues such as TED and the National Academies. Hod directs the Creative Machines Lab, which pioneers new ways to make machines that create, and machines that are creative.
Maxim Lobovsky, Co-Founder, Formlabs

Maxim Lobovsky is a Co-Founder of Formlabs, a tech startup developing the first prosumer 3D printer. He holds a B.S. in applied and engineering physics from Cornell University, where he led the Fab@Home open-source 3D printer project and developed a novel metal 3D-printing process in Professor Hod Lipson's Creative Machines Lab. He earned his M.S. degree from the MIT Media Lab, where he was a researcher in Professor Neil Gershenfeld's Center of Bits and Atoms and engaged in the FabLab network. He has a broad range of interests and expertise, with patents and papers in areas including 3D printing, materials science, mechanical engineering, robotics and electromechanics.
Dennis Miloseski, Head of Design Studio, Samsung Design America

Dennis Miloseski is Head of the Design Studio for Samsung Design America, responsible for leading the overall studio strategy for mobile, personal computing, living room, digital appliance and emerging product categories at Samsung. Prior to Samsung, Mr. Miloseski was a Design Thought Leader at Google. As a Staff User Experience Manager, he joined Google in 2007 and managed the design teams responsible for launching end-to-end experiences for products such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Reader and Google Docs Enterprise, bringing delightful experiences to hundreds of millions of users.

Prior to Google, Mr. Miloseski was the Director of Design and User Experience at DivX, Inc. As one of the early startup members, he helped establish the global design strategy for the company, helping to lead DivX to its IPO in 2006. Mr. Miloseski earned degrees in design and interactive media from the Art Institutes International in Pittsburgh, Penn.
Nate Mitchell, Vice President, Product, Oculus VR

Nate Mitchell is a Software Engineer and a Product Developer. He was formerly a Lead Product Engineer at Scaleform, the leading user-interface solution for the video game industry, which was acquired by Autodesk. Nate specializes in business development and strategy for companies with software/hardware products in the video game industry.
Catherine Mohr, Director of Research, Intuitive Surgical

Dr. Catherine Mohr is the Director of Medical Research at Intuitive Surgical, manufacturer of the da Vinci® Surgical System, where she evaluates new technologies for incorporation into the next generation of surgical robots. In addition, she is a Consulting Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at Stanford School of Medicine where she works in the development of simulation-based curriculum for teaching clinical skills.

Dr. Mohr received her B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering from MIT, and her M.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine. She has been involved with numerous startup companies in the areas of alternative-energy transportation, computer-aided design software and medical devices.
Gene Munster, Research Analyst, Devices and Internet, Piper Jaffray

Gene Munster is a Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at Piper Jaffray, specializing in Internet. He joined Piper Jaffray in 1995. Munster’s Internet focus includes the US, Europe, China and Latin America. His coverage includes Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Baidu and MercadoLibre.

In addition, Munster has covered the Digital Media space since 1995, including Apple. He has authored several key industry reports on technology and is quoted frequently in key financial and technical news journals. Munster holds a bachelor’s degree in financial management and new venture strategies from the University of St. Thomas.
Jason Parrish, Director, Lenovo ThinkPad Strategy and Planning

Working in the future, Jason helps prepare the blueprints for years ahead for the next-generation ThinkPad notebook and tablet products. In managing the Lenovo ThinkPad strategy, Jason works closely with the research, design, engineering and development teams shaping the products yet to come. Jason bought his first ThinkPad (380XD) in 1997 while studying electrical engineering at NC State University, and has been a passionate user ever since.
Previously, Jason served in product marketing and program management roles across multiple Lenovo offerings. He also holds a master's degree in engineering management from the University of Colorado. Before joining Lenovo, Jason held engineering roles at Dell and Infineon Technologies.
Corinna Proctor, Senior Research Manager, Lenovo User Research Center

Corinna is a User Research Manager at Lenovo with 13 years of experience in human factors and design research in the consumer electronics industry, automotive infotainment systems and web application design. Corinna is an advocate of combining designers and researchers in mixed-method, user-centered design projects to identify insights that have direct impact on product design.

She was recently published in the Human Factors and Ergonomics Handbook in Consumer Product Design on translating design research into useful and desirable products. Corinna is a member of UXPA, HFES and holds several patents. She has an M.S. in cognitive psychology and human factors from North Carolina State University. Prior to joining Lenovo, she worked with a range of companies such as Samsung, Sony, Chrysler, Intel and Qualcomm.
Marc Raibert, President & Chief Robot Lover, Boston Dynamics

Marc Raibert is President and Founder of Boston Dynamics, a company that develops some of the world’s most advanced robots. The company specializes in dynamic robots that move with agility and athleticism normally found only in people and animals. Before starting Boston Dynamics, Raibert was Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, where his group laid the foundation for robots that move and balance like living things. Prior to that, he was Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Raibert is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering.
Avi Reichental, President and CEO, 3D Systems

Avi Reichental has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of 3D Systems since September 2003. Under Avi’s leadership, 3D Systems emerged as a global 3D content-to-print leader that is redefining and shaping how we design, produce, consume and live. Prior to joining 3D Systems, Avi served in various senior executive positions with Sealed Air Corporation, a leading provider of food safety and security, facility hygiene and product protection solutions worldwide, most recently as Corporate Officer, Vice President and General Manager of Sealed Air’s Shrink Packaging business.

Avi is the recipient of the Regional 2011 E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year award, two Innovator Awards and holds 25 US patents. His activities include several non-profit board memberships including NCOHF: America’s ToothFairy, frequent speaking engagements and participation in several Harvard Business School Case Studies. Avi currently serves as Faculty Co-Chair of the Additive Manufacturing Program at Singularity University.
Tom Rivellini, Principal Engineer for Entry Descent and Landing Systems, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Tom received his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Syracuse University in 1989 and his master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1991. He has been working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the last 22 years developing innovative landing systems for a variety of planetary landers.

Tom co-invented Mars Pathfinder and MER entry, descent and landing system architecture, and was the lead engineer for the airbag subsystem. Tom also co-invented the innovative skycrane landing system used to land the Curiosity rover on Mars in August 2012. Currently, Tom is the Chief Engineer for a technology development project developing advanced entry systems for future large-scale Mars entry systems.
Matt Rogers, Founder and VP of Engineering, Nest

Matt was responsible for iPod software development at Apple, from concept to production. He is passionate about mobile products, loves team-building and rapid productization. Matt earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Carnegie Mellon University.
John Scalzi, President, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

New York Times bestselling author of Redshirts and Old Man's War; Story Editor for the Morning Star video game from Industrial Toys; Creative Consultant for Stargate: Universe. Enjoys pie.
MG Siegler, Partner, CrunchFund

MG Siegler is a General Partner at CrunchFund and a columnist for TechCrunch, where he has been writing since 2009.
DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid, Artist, Writer and Musician

Paul D. Miller is a conceptual artist, writer and musician working in New York. His written work has appeared in The Village Voice, The Source, Artforum, Raygun, Rap Pages, Paper Magazine and a host of other periodicals. Miller is most well-known under the moniker of his “constructed persona” as “DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid.”

Miller has recorded a huge volume of music and has collaborated with a wide variety of musicians and composers such as Kool Keith aka Dr. Octagon, Killah Priest from Wu-Tang Clan, Steve Reich, Yoko Ono and Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth among many others.
Yancey Strickler, Co-Founder and Head of Communications, Kickstarter

Yancey Strickler is Co-Founder and Head of Communications at Kickstarter. Prior to Kickstarter, Yancey was a music journalist whose writing appeared in The Village Voice, New York Magazine, Pitchfork and other publications. He co-founded the eMusic Selects record label in 2007.
Ryan Sullivan, Director of Product Development, Sprint

Ryan Sullivan is responsible for Product Development and Delivery at Sprint Nextel. Ryan’s responsibilities encompass delivery and launch of all Sprint and Sprint partner devices including 3G and 4G handsets, pre-paid products, mobile broadband equipment, M2M equipment and tablets. His team is focused on product delivery, and execution of Sprint device configuration policies, end-to-end device development methodology, tools and resources. During his time at Sprint Nextel, Ryan has been integral in leading some of the most successful product and service launches in company history. Ryan is also personally responsible for the Apple portfolio at Sprint and led the development and delivery of Apple products within the Sprint portfolio.

Over the past few years, Ryan has implemented an improved methodology for product delivery at Sprint which has reduced product cycle times and saved the company millions of dollars annually in rework and development costs. Ryan is a native of Oklahoma, where he graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in business finance.

He also earned his master’s degree in project management from George Washington University and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Kansas. Ryan, his wife Katie and their three sons live in Overland Park, Kan., and are all local sports enthusiasts.
Raghu Tarra, SVP and General Manager, Sling Media, Inc.

Raghu is a founding member of Sling Media, and is responsible for formulating the company's overall vision and strategy necessary for Sling to continue its pace of rapid growth and expansion. Raghu joined Sling Media in 2004 as VP of Engineering, where he ran worldwide engineering from Foster City, Calif., to Bangalore, India. Raghu has more than 20 years of experience building and managing geographically distributed and cost-effective engineering teams, and he holds multiple patents in the video-streaming and networking domain. His career started at GEC ALSTHOM (now AREVA) in 1989, where he was responsible for the development and introduction of digital protection relays and switchgear for power system protection. In 1998, Raghu became one of the founding members of RealChip Communications, Inc., where he led the team that introduced a system-on-a-chip media processor to support voice and video over Internet Protocol applications.

In 2002, he joined Infineon Technologies North America Corp. as Director for Software Applications, leading their efforts in broadband access domain applications in the enterprise and consumer space. Raghu has an M.S. in electronics and control engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science and a B.E. in electrical and electronics engineering from Coimbatore Institute of Technology.
Julie Uhrman, Founder and CEO, OUYA

Julie Uhrman is a video game entrepreneur. She is Founder and CEO of OUYA – an innovative gaming console that enables any developer to publish a console game by bringing the mobile app model to the TV. Julie started in the game business 10 years ago. Before launching OUYA, she held several executive roles with video game companies such as GameFly, IGN (where she led digital distribution and business development) and Vivendi Universal. Julie loves to play games: she plays platformers, third-person shooters and she loves playing games on a TV.

By combining a classic console format with the ease-of-access of open mobile SDKs, Julie seeks to make OUYA the open pathway for all developers – AAA and indie alike – to bring their craft to the world.
John Wilson, Vice President, Systems Product Group, Razer

John Wilson is the Vice President of Systems Engineering at Razer USA. He started the Systems Business Unit at Razer and has lead designs that include the Razer Blade, Razer Edge, Razer Switchblade and Razer Hydra. He has previously led technical designs at Texas Instruments, Motorola and OQO. John Wilson grew up gaming and loves bringing products to the market that enable a better user experience.
Daniel H. Wilson, Bestselling author of Robopocalypse and Amped, Iron Cloud Entertainment

Daniel H. Wilson is the New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse, as well as titles such as How to Survive a Robot Uprising, Where's My Jetpack? and A Boy and His Bot. Wilson earned a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. His latest novel is Amped.
Tamar Yehoshua, Director, Product Management, Google

Tamar is a Product Management Director responsible for optimizing the Google Search experience for all platforms, devices, languages and locations. Since joining Google in 2010, Tamar worked on Google Translate and launched Conversation Mode, which enables you to translate speech back and forth between languages on Android, before joining the Search team in 2011.

Prior to Google, Tamar ran the advertising technology team at Amazon, served as VP of Engineering at a number of startups and worked at Intel on CAD programming and physical design layout.
Chris Anderson, CEO, 3D Robotics and former editor-in-chief, Wired

Chris Anderson is the founder of DIYDrones, an open source community with 12,000 people and three factories around the world. Chris has also founded 3DRobotics, a robotic manufacturing company that began as a GeekDad hobby with his children.

As Editor-in-chief of Wired, Chris led the magazine to two dozen National Magazine Award nominations, winning the prestigious top prize for general excellence in 2005, 2007 and 2009. Chris stepped down from his role at the magazine after an incredibly successful 12-year run to become CEO of 3DRobotics. He worked at The Economist for seven years in various positions and served as an editor at the two premier science journals, Science and Nature.
Sheldon Brown, Executive Program Manager – Product Development Office, Toyota Technical Center, USA, Inc.

In this position, Brown is the technical liaison for the interface between Toyota and Tesla Motors and is responsible for the overall project execution for the RAV4 EV including costs, timing and vehicle performance. Brown joined TTC in 1995 as a product development engineer for interior and upper body design. He became a senior engineer, interior trim for the 2000 Avalon and 2002 Camry, followed by a promotion to manager taking the lead on interior trim for the 2005 Avalon, the 2008 and 2011 Sienna and also was the interior liaison on the Lexus RX 330.

He continued his work with Sienna when he assumed the position of program manager for the 2011 Sienna and was the resident engineering leader at Toyota Motors Manufacturing, Indiana. He returned to TTC in 2010 to take on his current role. Brown is a board member of the Society Plastic Engineers and a Society of Automotive Engineers member. He is a founder of the Stella Foundation, a grassroots non-profit organization that supports local charities for children in southeast Michigan. He earned his bachelor of science engineering from the University of Michigan.
Peter Rojas, Founder, Engadget + gdgt

Peter Rojas is the co-founder of gdgt.com and the creator of Engadget, Gizmodo, Joystiq, and RCRD LBL.

Insert Coin Judges

Ryan Block, Co-Founder, gdgt

Ryan Block, Co-Founder of gdgt, a consumer electronics media startup (funded by True Ventures, Spark Capital and Betaworks, among others). He is also former Editor / Editor Emeritus of Engadget. As a technology critic and commentator, he has been quoted by the BBC, Business Week, Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Times and The Wall St. Journal.

He has also appeared on such networks as the BBC, CNN, NPR, PRI and G4. He was also named one of Forbes’ 2007 Web Celeb 25 and named one of Paper Magazine’s Beautiful People, 2006.
Gerard Furbershaw, Co-Founder and COO, LUNAR

As COO and Vice President of Licensing and Investments, Gerard oversees operations at LUNAR and ensures the success of its royalty and licensing programs and venture investments. Over his three-decade career, he has received recognition in numerous product design books as well as annual design competitions sponsored by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), I.D. Magazine, the Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA), the Chicago Athenaeum Museum and Appliance Manufacturer magazine.

He was also selected as the University of Southern California (USC) School of Architecture's 2012 Distinguished Alumnus. Gerard has contributed articles to the IDSA Innovation magazine, Machine Design, DesignBiz, Plastics Design Forum and the Society of Plastics Engineers PD3.
Jim Newton, Chairman, Founder, TechShop

Jim is an uber-DIYer and lifelong maker. A serial entrepreneur, Jim holds several design patents and created TechShop because he needed a place to build his own inventions. Before founding TechShop, Jim was a BattleBots competitor and former full-time Science Advisor on the Discovery Channel's hit show MythBusters.

Jim spends much of his time on-site at TechShop, and thoroughly enjoys helping TechShop members with their projects. He also enjoys baking sourdough bread, camping with his family and dreaming up new project ideas.
Danae Ringelmann, Co-Founder, Indiegogo

Danae Ringelmann co-founded Indiegogo - the largest global crowdfunding platform - to democratize fundraising. Fast Company recently named her one of the Top 50 Women Innovators in Technology, while AWNY recently awarded Danae the "No Apologies" Changemaker award.

Passionate about empowering artists, causes and entrepreneurs with the knowledge and confidence to bring ideas into reality, Danae speaks at conferences across the globe. Recent speaking engagements include DLD, US State Department, TEDx Dubai, SXSW, Dublin Web Summit, MAD Hong Kong and CeBIT.