Andreas Wlasak's career in the automotive industry began in 1999 where he was responsible for building and then directing Johnson Controls' Advanced Design Studio Europe.

Wlasak started his working life as a product designer in various consultancies based in Germany and France, and then as design manager with Whirlpool in Italy, where he worked for six years. He joined Faurecia in September 2003

Gert's biography will be published shortly

Lou Tik has been General Manager and Design Director of the JAC Italy Design Centre since 2005. Since his appointment, he has been in charge of all the JAC passenger and commercial car product development.

Olivier Boulay began his career at Porsche AG in 1982. He then joined Mercedes-Benz in 1987 and, after establishing the Advanced Design Center of Japan in 1992, was appointed Vice President of the company's Design Center China in 2009 - a post he still holds today.

During his long career, Boulay has created many concept and production cars, including the Mercedes-Benz F400 and the 97 Maybach.

Richard Chung is responsible for Industrial design, consumer research and craftsmanship for Johnson Controls' Asia-Pacific operation. His six studios support a variety of carmakers' design and development programmes in the region. Prior to joining Johnson Controls in 2000, Chung spent 13 years at Ford Motor Company, Dearborn and Hiroshima, leading the North American Small Car design studio and Ford's Global Craftsmanship organization.

Shizuki's biography will be published shortly

Holder of a Masters Degree in Design from the Royal College of Art, Simon Loasby started his career at Rolls-Royce and Bentley in 1991. After the delivery phase of the Bentley Arnage and Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph, Volkswagen bought Bentley, and Simon's focus became the development of the new mid-size Bentley Continental GT. In 2001 Simon moved to the Volkswagen Group's headquarters in Wolfsburg, and in 2008 was asked to take up a new position of Director of Design for Volkswagen China – a role that gives him responsibility for all design activities undertaken by both of the company's joint ventures: Shanghai Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen.

Taiji's biography will be published shortly

Biography will be published shortly

Chinese Mongolian Wulin Gaowa graduated from Tsinghua University Beijing in 1999, before obtaining a Masters Degree in transportation design from Pforzheim University in Germany in 2003. Wulin was the first female Chinese automotive designer to work for Mercedes Technology Center in Sindelfingen, Germany and for Italdesign Giugiaro design studio in Italy. After many years of international experience she is one of the first automotive professionals to teach at CAFA University, Beijing. In September 2011 Wulin was appointed as advanced design director of GM China.

Daniel Darancou was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. His early years were spent racing and designing bicycles.

Darancou graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree from the Art Center College of Design in California, after which he took a design position at IDEA Institute in Turin, Italy to design for Fiat. He then joined General Motors Design and played a major role in the company's dealings with international partners Opel, Toyota, Isuzu and Suzuki. A project for China Expo led to his current role as Chief Designer, CH-Auto Beijing.

Demian's biography will be published shortly

Dean Molnar has held numerous senior positions in education and business that include serving as Director of Education at Art Center College of Design's European campus; Director of Design at the apparel firm Patagonia; and directorships at a number of design consulting firms in Australia and the US.

Additionally, he has consulted for clients that include Nokia, NCR, Volkswagen, BMW, the Ford Motor Company, Hyundai/Kia and Diamond Publishing in Japan.

Laura's biography will be published shortly

Nick's biography will be published shortly.

Philip Nemeth studied at Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, USA), graduating with a major in Transportation Design before going on to work for different yacht design agencies in France, where he settled as a freelance designer.

Philip then went on to teach Industrial Design in several schools in France, joining Strate College in 2002. In 2004 he became their head of Transportation and Mobility Design. Today his tasks involve teaching design in the transportation field and developing the college's industrial network.

A graduate of Art Center College of Design, Samuel Chuffart spent eight years at Nissan Europe and USA, during which time he designed the Crossbow, Evalia and Micra C+C concept, among others. Chuffart subsequently became senior designer at Range Rover, then Chief Designer at Stile Bertone before taking up the position of Director of Design at Icona Shanghai.