Fall 2023 Colloquia
"Never let success get to your head; never let failure get to your heart.鈥
Speaker: Michealene Risley
Tuesday, December 12, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract: Michealene will share a few stories, and walk through the process of her new start-up- Imbibe lifestyles. Imbibe is a start-up that has worked for a number of years on creating a new line of pillows designed to get the body into Imbibation when at sleep. Imbibation allows for blood flow and nutrients to the spine and discs. 听Poor sleep is a global health crisis.听
鈥 62% of people worldwide have trouble sleeping.听
鈥 50-70 million Americans suffer from sleep Disorders
鈥 Many more experience the physical and mental toll lack of sleep can have on the Body and brain.
鈥 Insufficient sleep has an estimated economic impact of over $411 billion
Michealene will walk through the process of the start-up and what Imbibe will do to change the sleeping patterns of people worldwide.
Bio: Michealene Cristini Risley is an entrepreneur who has created some of the largest deals in the consumer products and entertainment industry. She has worked with a number of Fortune 100 companies such as Nike, Marvel, and the Walt Disney Company. With Adidas, Michealene launched Power of Two, the first-ever branded maternity line. As Vice President of Licensing and Character Development for Sega of America, she championed the Sega Girls Task Force and produced well over 100 episodes in animation. As an award-winning filmmaker, author, and serial entrepreneur, Michealene will share her latest start-up, Imbibe Lifestyles.听
Grindcore to Grand Prix: Nathan Martin on Founding Creative Tech Agency Deeplocal
Speaker: Nathan Martin
Tuesday, December 5, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract:听In the early 2000s, Nathan Martin was leading a collective called the Carbon Defense League and fronting a grindcore band called Creation is Crucifixion. He began collaborating with like-minded artists and engineers at the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University. Beginning as a spin-off of this art and technology lab, Deeplocal soon disrupted the industry with the first use of robotics in advertising 鈥 the Nike Chalkbot.听
Today,听 is an award-winning creative technology and experience design company headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA with employees based across North America. With expertise in engineering, design, and creative strategy, Deeplocal invents interactive experiences for global brands, helping them tell stories and connect with audiences in new and unexpected ways. Deeplocal鈥檚 work bridges the physical and digital worlds and has been featured in听Fast Company,听Wired,听The New York Times,听USA Today,听Good Morning America, and more. Select awards include Cannes Lion Grand Prix, One Show Golden Pencil, and Ad Age Creativity Innovators of the Year.听
Bio: Nathan Martin is the CEO of听, an internationally acclaimed innovation studio that is most known for building compelling experiences that link the real and online worlds and provoke conversation.
Lucid Fabrication
Speaker: Rundong Tian
Tuesday, November 28, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract: Digital fabrication tools, such as 3D printers and CNC routers, can accurately and automatically shape raw materials into complex physical objects. However, existing workflows for using these tools can introduce significant overhead鈥攂efore a new design can be fabricated, a maker must navigate a series of software packages to draft a digital model, devise a toolpath for manufacturing, and drive the fabrication machine itself.
I introduce three digital fabrication systems鈥擬atchSticks, Turn-by-Wire, and aDroid鈥攖hat embody complementary approaches to bypass conventional workflows. MatchSticks is a fabrication system for rapidly creating woodworking joinery, and allows users to work directly at the tool to specify the desired geometry. With Turn-by-Wire, users control a lathe by hand, but are supported by haptic feedback and interactions reminiscent of digital editing. Lastly, aDroid considers how these previous approaches can be incorporated into a generalizable system: using an industrial robot, makers can define and create virtual jigs and fixtures that facilitate the use of hand-held tools.
All of these approaches acknowledge and celebrate hands-on fabrication as a site of creative exploration and problem solving. With this framing, I demonstrate that not only can the capabilities of digital fabrication be realized outside of established workflows, but that hands-on fabrication itself can be imbued with the characteristics of digital editing.
Bio: Rundong 鈥楰evin鈥 Tian is a human-computer interaction researcher at Shaper Tools, where he is currently designing woodworking tools that empower craftspeople. Previously, he received his PhD in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. In his dissertation research, he explored new workflows and interactions for digital fabrication tools by building and evaluating interactive systems. Thematically, his work considers how technology might engage and extend human capabilities, illuminate tacit knowledge, support creative practices, and understand user workflows.
Accidental Entrepreneurship: Creating Things in Community
Speaker: Lenore Edman
Tuesday, November 14, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract: In this talk, I鈥檒l give a brief history of Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, which started as a project blog in 2006 and developed into an electronics kit business that now produces pen plotters. Many our our projects were created in collaboration with other makers or are modified or iterated in conversation with our customers. I鈥檒l discuss how open source tools and approaches have been integral to making things that can be evolved, altered and repurposed.
Bio: Lenore Edman is a co-founder at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, a family-run electronics company that has modernized the pen plotter for a new generation of artists, fabricators, and entrepreneurs. Lenore is an interdisciplinarian who has had recipes published in the New York Times, was a guest on Mythbusters Jr., and contributed to a book on LEDs. She鈥檚 a silver medalist in cocktail robotics, and has had works displayed at such places as the Explorataorium, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and Maison d鈥橝illeurs. For fun, she has cats, makes jam, and does astronomy outreach.
Navigating Creativity, Collaboration鈥 and Life: Owning How YOU Show Up
Speaker: Aaron Graham
Tuesday, November 7, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract: This energizing interactive discussion explores the challenges and opportunities of collaborating on complex creative projects. From uncertainty, fear and a lack of control, a lot can get in the way of a smooth experience.
By raising our awareness of how WE show up as individuals 鈥 noticing our own patterns and stress responses and taking ownership of our own behaviors 鈥 while shifting towards a more mindful, values-based experience, we open the door to smoother, more enjoyable and more successful collaborations.
Of course, the impact of such a powerful shift extends far beyond specific projects. As our consciousness grows, we develop more personal agency and capacity to show up intentionally in all areas of our life. Suddenly we鈥檙e in charge in a whole new way. We can envision more possibilities and take action to make the ideal real.
Bio: Aaron Graham, PCC, CPC, ELI-MP, is a certified life and leadership coach, workshop facilitator, content developer 鈥 and recovering actor. He is passionate about helping people thrive as the fully authentic, empowered, and creative humans that they are.
His coaching and training career spans diverse sectors from financial technology and banking to higher education and the arts. Aaron has worked with organizations such as Intuit Mint, Quickbooks and TurboTax, Capital One, Northwestern University鈥檚 McCormick School of Engineering, Broward College, and Chicago鈥檚 world-famous improv comedy school The Second City, where he was a faculty member for over a decade.
Aaron earned his BA from Cornell University and his coaching credentials from the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). Originally from Chicago, he now lives in 糖心Vlog破解版 and loves hiking, drawing, writing, NASA, making music and creating connections.
Carbon Dioxide, Climate Change, and Civilization
Speaker: Jim Butler
Tuesday, October 31, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract: The rapidity of the modern rise of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is unparalleled in geologic time and, consequently, we can anticipate that changes in climate will be much more rapid than in the past. For almost the entirety of human civilization, carbon dioxide and climate have been largely stable, allowing the development of agriculture which, in turn, freed up enough time for people to think, invent, do new things, and ultimately build civilization. Advances over the past century and a half, largely linked with the Industrial Revolution, have propelled humans to an unprecedented status on planet Earth, where our actions affect not only one another, but also threaten the ecosystems that support us. This presentation builds from a brief history of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and its ultimate influence on terrestrial and oceanic systems to describe Earth-system events and their consequences from almost a million years ago through the industrial age to the present day, where climate change and its impacts loom large and portend an uncertain future. How we respond to these changes and the anticipated changes in coming years will determine the success of civilization in coming decades. Solutions are available, can be effective, and will be discussed here, but the most important unknown is how society chooses to respond. Time is running short and the magnitude of the challenge only grows with time.
Bio: Dr. James Butler is a recently retired Earth-system scientist with over 50 years of experience studying the ocean, land, and atmosphere of our planet. He worked most recently as a climate scientist for 35 years at NOAA, studying the causes of climate change and ozone-depletion. As Laboratory Director for the latter 14 of those years, Dr. Butler oversaw the nation鈥檚 continuing measurements of atmospheric constituents that affect the world鈥檚 climate, including greenhouse and ozone-depleting gases, aerosols, and radiation at Earth鈥檚 surface. His published works address the distribution and cycling of gases in the atmosphere, their production and consumption by the ocean, their exchange across the air-sea interface, their distribution in polar snow, and their methods of analysis. He was a regular contributor to international documents on stratospheric ozone depletion, atmospheric chemistry, and global warming. In his retirement, Dr. Butler has served as an advisor to the White House Office of Science and Technology, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and other organizations. He continues to give presentations on climate change and what we can do about it to academic and lay audiences.
Hands Free: A History of Accessible Alt Ctrls
Speaker: Patrick LeMieux and Stephanie Boluk
Tuesday, October 24, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract:听VR headsets, dual thumbsticks, mice and keyboards, smartphone screens鈥攕tandard interfaces structure the way we design games and the way we play games, from the earliest project pitches to a product鈥檚 advertising platforms. But what if instead of 鈥渦niversal鈥 designs targeting generic technologies and normative players, games were made for specific people with specific bodies and specific ways of playing? This presentation begins with a brisk survey of the history of hands-free videogame interfaces鈥攆rom Reg Maling鈥檚 POSSUM in 1961 to Ken Yankelevitz鈥檚 QuadStick in 1981 to Microsoft鈥檚 Adaptive Controller in 2018鈥攂efore comparing and contrasting two devices that articulate two different design philosophies: the NES Hands Free and the Octopad. Rather than thinking about accessibility as a single-player problem, these controllers engage the social, political, and environmental aspects of videogames to change the way we play.听
Patrick LeMieux Bio:听Patrick LeMieux is a media artist, game designer, and associate professor in the Cinema and Digital Media Department at the University of California, Davis. His research and teaching engage game studies, media theory, and art practice to explore the material practices and community histories of play, from speedrunning and esports to installation art and alternative control. Alongside writing, his art and games have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, from the Smithsonian Museum of American Art and MoMA PS1 to Babycastles and BarSK. He is the producer of听Every Game in This City, a podcast on the Idle Thumbs Network, and is currently developing a series of small metagames like听Triforce, a topological transformation of听The Legend of Zelda, and the听Octopad, an eight-player controller for the Nintendo Entertainment System.听
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Stephanie Boluk Bio: Stephanie Boluk is an associate professor who plays, makes, and writes about games in the English Department and Cinema and Digital Media Department at University of California, Davis. Her work incorporates game studies, media theory, and political economy to explore the relationship between leisure and labor in the post-2008 global economy. She is the co-author of听Metagaming: Playing, Competing, Spectating, Trading, Making, and Breaking Videogames (2017) with Patrick LeMieux and co-editor of听The Electronic Literature Collection, Vol. 3 (2016). She has published articles in numerous venues ranging from听Digital Humanities Quarterly, ROMChip and听Leonardo Electronic Almanac to听Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies and听Extrapolation.
Sustainable Physical Intelligence: A piece of interactive material鈥檚 circular life鈥攄esign, use, dispose
Speaker: Tingyu Cheng
Tuesday, October 17, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract: The 21st-century computer should 鈥渨eave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it鈥, envisioned by Mark Weiser, which propelled the development of today鈥檚 computational devices that seamlessly blend into our surroundings. This vision, however, is overshadowed by a growing concern: the environmental impact of this rapid proliferation of devices. In our pursuit of the ubiquitous computing idea, the prevailing design paradigm centers on creating devices with optimal functionality and longevity, packing the most functionalities into the smallest foam factor, often overlooking considerations of recyclability. 听My research centers around adding 鈥渟ustainable physical intelligence鈥 into our built environment, which consists of "robotic materials", have the ability to sense the surroundings, exchange information, harvest ambient energy, produce shape outputs, and adapt to environmental changes. Meanwhile, these materials are designed with the capability to self-destruct or be recyclable for new device lives. Picture one day 3D printing chocolates may encode Wi-Fi access password and be securely disposed by simply eating; a vivid artificial flower made of completely bio-degradable shape changing materials can deliver emotional interactions; and a surface filled with expandable particles can convey sensible tactile information and meanwhile can be entirely recycled.
Bio: Tingyu Cheng is a final PhD candidate at Georgia Tech majoring in Human-Centered Computing, supervised by Professor Hyunjoo Oh and Gregory Abowd, under College of Computing. His main research interest and background lie in Solid Mechanics and Human-Computer Interaction fields to design, fabricate, and analyze novel-material based sensors and actuators and their interactions with us. Especially, He aim to add 鈥渟ustainable physical intelligence鈥 into our built environment, with not only allowing our environment to sense the different surrounding activities, actuate to indicate/deliver information or even communicate, but also paying attention to how this built-in materials intelligence can help them self-destruct or even further recycled as how our nature does. He published in major HCI venues (CHI, IMWUT, UIST) and scientific journals (Science Advances, npj Flexible Electronics, Smart Materials and Structures) and has won paper award (CHI 2023 honorable mention) and design award (core77 honorable mention/winner, fast company design award honorable mention/ finalist, Ars electronics honorable mention).
Designing Generative Design
Speaker: Jon Hiller
Tuesday, October 10, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract: When engineering part designs can be automatically generated to best balance all product requirements, generative design will be an essential tool in every engineering designer鈥檚 skill set. Many challenges remain before this highly efficient vision is achievable in the majority of design scenarios though. In this talk I will first define the long term vision driving generative design with examples of its current (early) state from an industry perspective. I will highlight successes and challenges with a candid look at Frustum鈥檚 journey from startup inception, through successful acquisition, to the present in PTC鈥檚 CAD portfolio. Finally, I will explore several underdeveloped computational ingredients that will be critical to achieving future engineering design paradigms.
Bio: Dr. Jon Hiller is an industry expert in generative design. With a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, he served as the founding CTO of Frustum until it was acquired by PTC where he worked as VP of Engineering in the Office of the CTO to further the vision of generative design through advanced research. His work today continues to focus on driving the shift from traditional CAD to functional generative design. His past research and experience includes robotics, additive manufacturing, and AI.
Transforming textiles: From flat to form
Speaker: Kathryn Walters
Tuesday, October 3, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract: Weaving is at least 20,000 years old, yet it has immense, largely untapped potential for producing transformative 3D textiles. In this talk Kathryn Walters will present her research on self-forming woven textiles and discuss developing research exploring natural fibres as smart materials with potential applications in soft robotics, architecture, wearables and fashion, and more.
Bio: Kathryn Walters is a PhD candidate in Textile Design at the Swedish School of Textiles, part of the University of Bor氓s, Sweden. She is currently a guest researcher and weaver in residence at the Unstable Design Lab. Her research explores how textile behaviour can arise from the combination of material properties and structures, in order to develop textiles which, while woven flat, self-assemble to take three-dimensional form.
The World is a Dream Killer: Don鈥檛 Let it Kill Yours
Speaker: Shane DeRolf
Tuesday, September 26, 11:30am - 12:30pm
Abstract: As a college dropout in 1976, I quickly experienced the realities of self sustainability. Specifically, how the heck was I going to come up with my 50% share of 听the $280/month rent, let alone food, gas, other necessities?
A classic case of sink or swim.
Problem #1: I also had a dream---to become a successful children鈥檚 book author and the creator of great children鈥檚 educational television shows.
Problem #2: In addition to being broke, 听I had no idea how to become either one of them.
That was almost 50 years ago---decades before the Internet---when there were only 5 major networks on television: ABC, CBS, NBC, Nickelodeon, and the upstart newcomer, FOX. In this talk, I will share my personal journey of some of the true, crazy (and often embarrassing), things I learned and experienced along the way.
At the conclusion of the talk, I will share the story about how I decided, after an agonizing year of deep introspection, to walk away from a very successful partnership in a mannequin company (yes, you read that right) to pursue my dream of writing children鈥檚 books and creating kids鈥 educational television shows.
Along the way, because I think I had something of value to share, worked hard, and never quit (as tempting as it often was), I鈥檓 fortunate to say that today, I am a children鈥檚 book author with sales of over 2 million children鈥檚 books worldwide, have won 11 Emmys (and have the scars to prove it), and am the Creator and Executive Producer of 3 original kids鈥 educational television series.
I hope you enjoy the talk and find that my successes, as well as failures, help you as you set off on your path to pursue your ideas, hopes, and dreams.
Bio: Shane DeRolf, Founder & CEO, Big Word Club Plus
Shane DeRolf brings more than 30 years of publishing, television, marketing, and executive management to his role as founder and Chief Executive Officer of Big Word Club Plus (BWC+). His unique talent for turning ideas into successful ventures has led to a powerful track record in creating and building a variety of successful start-ups. Shane鈥檚 latest venture, Big Word Club Plus, is an evidence-based, award-winning, digital learning company that uses books, songs, animation and dance to improve young kids鈥 vocabularies.
Big Word Club Plus was recently the focus of a 12-month MIT-funded randomized control trial implemented by the University of Chicago and the University of Toronto that proved its efficacy.
Prior to BWC+, Shane was the founder and CEO of Big Green RabbitTM, a four-time Emmy award-winning children鈥檚 preschool television series that aired on PBS in 2008-10. Prior to Big Green Rabbit, Shane served as the president of Random House Entertainment, where he wrote the popular children鈥檚 book, The Crayon Box that Talked, which has sold 2 million copies to date, and created and produced The Crayon Box, a preschool children鈥檚 television series in national syndication. Prior to that, Shane served as co-founder and Partner of World POG鈩 Federation, the marketing company that transformed an idea into an international toy phenomenon with sales of more than $175 million in two years.
Shane began his career in television by creating the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed Zazoo U for Fox Kids Network in 1991. As a result of his work on Zazoo U, Shane was asked to conceive and lead the branding effort for the young network that helped it become the #1 children鈥檚 television network in the world.
In addition to his passion for building successful companies, Shane鈥檚 zeal for social justice and education has led him to produce award-winning children鈥檚 television programming and PSA鈥檚 for the Ad Council and others, including the Emmy nominated Watts On Your Mind, the largest national children鈥檚 communications campaign in the history of the Ad Council and the EPA. His extensive body of work has caught the attention of such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe and U.S. News and World Report, which wrote that with Shane DeRolf, 鈥渁 single, eccentric imagination is clearly at work.鈥
Shane is the author of six children鈥檚 books and is an 11-time Emmy award-winning writer, producer, and director.
Mobile phone number: 303-550-7700听
How to design an intelligent Augmented Reality assistant?
Speaker: Yang-Ming Chiou
Tuesday, September 19, 11:30am -12:30pm MT
Abstract: In this talk, I will discuss the lessons we learned from the Perceptually-enabled Task Guidance (PTG) project. In PTG, we designed an intelligent augmented reality (AR) assistant in the cooking domain using the Microsoft HoloLens 2 augmented with other sensors to perceive and understand the user and environment. The AR assistant leverages the knowledge from the PTG core system to guide the user via the spatial computing user interface (UI) and voice-user interface (VUI) to finish the task.
Bio: Yan-Ming Chiou is a research scientist in PARC, he explores augmented reality and computer vision applied to AR assistance systems. Dr. Chiou holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Delaware and an M.S. degree in Communications Engineering from National Chung-Cheng University in Taiwan. His past research projects use innovative technologies, primarily augmented reality(AR) and social robots, to create educational applications.听
Mending the Seams Between the Disciplines: To Win In Physical Design
Speaker: Eric Monsef
Tuesday, September 12, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract:听I have enjoyed tackling deep hardware physical system integration challenges, and organically combining the strengths of the technology teams that have lead to real breakthrough engineering.听 I will share past experience(s) and lessons that I think are most applicable to forming and cultivating these teams both behaviorally and by best practices,听 and relate this to how at AtomLimbs we made the world's greatest "wearable robotic".
Bio:听Graduated听Santa Clara University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1990, and spent first five years at听HaL Computer Systems听designing the world's fastest 64-bit processor enabled modular computer system.听 While completing a graduate degree in Engineering Management in 1996, Eric was leading a small team at听Trimble Navigation developing a next generation line of GPS survey equipment with millimeter accuracy.听 In 1997, moved to Texas and joined Compaq's Presario division managing a team that designed consumer laptops where we crossed the $1000 price point and became #1 in market share.听 In 1999, moved back home to join听Apple as Sr. Director of Mobile Product Design responsible for product architecture and design of Apple鈥檚 MacBook and MacBook Pro products as well as overseeing Reliability, Interconnect Design, Antenna Design, Component Engineering, Environmental Technologies, and Wireless Product Design.听 Shipped 12 grounds-up laptop designs, ran the tablet team (pre-iphone).听 In 2009 moved into deep functional responsibility by forming/leading Apple's Core Hardware Team:听 providing technologies to Apple:听 Batteries (4$B spend) Interconnect, EE Validation, Fans. In 2014 left Apple to join听HP as VP of a new product category:听 Highly Immersive Systems which lead to development of desktop 3D scanning system:听 Sprout.听 In 2016 founded two startups and began a mission to help other teams and companies start from scratch and build lasting teams:听听Glydways, IncYou, PureVocal, CAN, and AtomLimbs听where I am currently the CTO (think "chief engineer")听 Taught leadership at听Santa Clara University for over 15 years:听 Relationship Management, and hold multiple design and utility patents.
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Towards the development of quantified and augmented makerspace
Speaker: Sohail Soomro
Tuesday, September 5, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract: 听Maker spaces are changing the way we ideate, create, materialize, and participate in the contemporary technological society. In maker spaces learners, designers and facilitators come together from various backgrounds and experiences to learn through making. Because of their versatility such spaces are becoming popular not only in higher educational institutes but also in primary, secondary, and STEM education. Besides education, makerspaces offer commercial services like CAD, CAM, PCB fabrication, and rapid prototyping, with literature highlighting their role in distributed manufacturing, the circular economy, and Digital Academic Entrepreneurship.
Recognizing the significance of makerspaces, we at the University of Oulu, Finland, conducted a series of studies as an effort to develop an augmented and quantified maker space, which not only helps in the management of human and non-human resources but also facilitates instructors to effectively implement open-ended and project-based learning in Maker spaces. In this session we will delve into the findings from these studies conducted using data from various sources, including project processes, prototypes, documentation, depth sensors, RGB cameras, and cutting-edge computer vision techniques. This multimode approach allowed us to dynamically capture and analyze a wide range of activities and interactions in maker space, in particular, human-machine-process-object interactions in complex scenarios while creating (making) in makerspaces.
Bio: Sohail Ahmed Soomro is a doctoral candidate (Computer science and engineering) at the Center for Ubiquitous Computing, University of Oulu, Finland. His research interest includes exploring maker space environments, creativity, and multimodal learning analytics. Mr. Soomro has extensive experience in prototype development using embedded systems programming, electronic circuit design, and digital fabrication technology.听
The change of work and workforce due to robot introductions - From a managerial perspective
Speaker: Jay Jones
Tuesday, August 1, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract: The digital transformation has had, and is carrying on having, a far-reaching impact on many aspects of life, not least on jobs, job profiles, and workplaces. Jay Jones will address the changes in jobs and job profiles caused by digitalization. The focus will be on the changes resulting from the introduction of robots. The topic will be viewed through a business administration lens that includes social backgrounds, and it will be highlighted how research is conducted in this area. In this way, the European approach to business administration research is brought to the foreground.
Bio: Jay Jones is a research associate and doctoral candidate at the Chair of Strategy, Innovation, and Cooperation at the University of Kaiserslautern-Landau. Years of experience in consulting activities as well as a period as Chief Financial Officer in a non-profit association have demanded strategic thinking from early on and still contribute to him helping SMEs to innovative business models today. Furthermore, he uses these strategic skills in a non-profit organization, namely the Social Innovation Center Kaiserslautern, in his position on the board of directors.