Andrew Kner	Mr. Kner has worked for Print Magazine as an Art Director, the New York Times as Executive Promotion and Advertising Art Director and as an instructor for Parsons School of Design, Communications Design Department, and Time, Inc., as a designer for the book division. He has won six gold medals from the Art Directors Club of New York, plus over 127 awards from the AIGA. He is a graduate of Yale University, MFA program.
Susan Adamo Baumbach	Ms. Baumbach is the Vice President of Research and Development, Pressman Toy Corporation, in New York City. She has worked at CBS, Toy Division, was Managing Editor for Video Games Magazine, Managing Editor for Starlog Magazine, and a Financial Reporter for Fairchild Publications. She recently developed the Napoleon Dynamite It's Pretty Much My Favorite Animal Game and Hello Kitty Happy Seasons Game. She was recently featured in the Voice of America News and has been published in numerous trade publications. Ms. Baumbach is also an active member and regular speaker at the Toy and Game Inventor's Forum (TGIF). She holds a Bachelor of Arts from New York University. susanab@pressmantoy.com
Tony Boczkowski	Mr. Boczkowski received a BFA from Notre Dame University, and a BS in industrial design from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Working as a senior designer for Architect Michael Graves in Princeton, New Jersey, he developed housewares for domestic and European markets and helped launch Target’s exclusive line of Graves products. Mr. Boczkowski developed several collections, most notably the flagship line of Black and Decker kitchen appliances, including the award-winning “Pop-Art” Toaster, blender, and can opener.
Paul Calabro	After 12 years of employment at Ideal Toy Company as Creative Director/Product Manager, Mr. Calabro opened his own design firm, Direct Current Design in NYC supporting creative design and manufacturing to the Toy and Giftware industries. He has formed a partnership designing, manufacturing and importing specialty Pet products. He actively consults in Industrial Design to the toy product and giftware industries.
Judy Ellis	Judy Ellis is the founder and chair of the nation’s first baccalaureate program in Toy Design, launched at the Fashion Institute of Technology in 1989. A graduate of Parsons School of Design with a BFA in Communication Design, Ms. Ellis’ career has been rich with educational and professional experience. As a designer at Chermayeff and Geismar, Ms. Ellis designed an award-winning permanent bicentennial exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution and large-scale murals for IBM. She provides students with an environment emphasizing an ethical design approach and commitment to community. Ms. Ellis has received two SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching and Excellence in Faculty Service; an award from the National Women In Toys organization for outstanding contribution to the industry. She has been invited to speak about children and design at events including: The Yale University Inter-Disciplinary Bio-ethics program, the ITRA World Toy Congress, and The Smithsonian Institute Museum of American History Invention and Play exhibition, among others. judith_ellis@fitnyc.edu
Warren Frederick	Mr. Frederick came to FIT aftedr graduating with his first Bachelors of Fine Arts with a concentration in Drawing and Painting from SUNY New Paltz. He is an FIT Toy Design Alumni, a Designer at Mattels’ Fisher-Price Brands. Several of His designs have earned reputable industry awards, including the Toy of The Year Award for Dora's Talking Kitchen. WarrenPFJr@Mac.com
John Koerner	John Koerner is a freelance toy designer for leading toy companies such as Fisher-Price and Hasbro. He has over ten years experience in the toy industry. He earned a BS (Industrial Design) from the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning at the University of Cincinnati. JOHN_KOERNER@fitnyc.edu
Sherman Lo	Sherman Lo is senior-level design professional with over 25 years of successful results-oriented product development and brand management experience for both Fortune 500 and mid-market companies. Orchestrated high-impact, powerful integrated product development and marketing initiatives that contributed to domestic and international revenue growth. A strong team motivator with leadership skills to drive marketable ideas and products from both internal design team and external creative partners. Sherman Lo has spent the last seven years at Toys R Us serving as the Director of Design and Development. Mr. Lo holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Pratt and a Master's Degree in Business from Baruch College. los@toysrus.com
David Reina	David Reina studied fine arts and art education at SUNY New Paltz, and the University Alliente in Urbino Italy. Having a strong interest in industrial design as well as fine arts, he found a career which met both these interests in toy design and the hand papermaking field. Over the past 30 years he developed and built prototypes for the inventing firm of Mel Appel, and was the director of R&D for the Buddy L toy company. Through his own prototype development company, David Reina Designs, he manufactures quality papermaking equipment such as Hollander beaters which have equipped paper studios throughout the world. reinadesigns@aol.com
Freddy Tutiven	Mr. Freddy Tutiven is an alumnus of the class of 1996 FIT Toy Design Department. He has spent the last seven years running his own design consulting business, Scribble Design Group, where he provides toy and character design services for major manufacturers including Fisher Price, Equity Marketing, Veraflex and Disney. Prior to working on his own, he worked for several major manufacturers including Applause, Tyco Toys and Mattel where he designed Skateboard Shannon, the first remote-controlled doll. He is currently also working as a character artist for Sesame Workshop.
Katherine Scalere	Katie Scalere is an FIT Toy Design Alumni with a background in General Illustration. Katie is a Project Design Manager at Mattel where she has worked for 9 years. At Mattel, she has worked on numerous brands including Sesame Street, Blues Clues and Go Diego Go and Dora the Explorer on many key items. Katie teaches a class in Doll Design for the Toy Design Program. KatiDrew@yahoo.com
Mark Zeller	Mr. Zeller holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial design from the Cleveland Institute of Art as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from the University of Akron. He began his career in toy design 15 years ago working at Hasbro and is now currently a Vice-President of Design at Fisher-Price in New York. In his career as a design professional he as worked on a wide variety of product categories including infant, preschool, girls, boy’s, learning, and licensed toys. Awards include the Great American Toy Test, American Baby Magazine, LIMA Toy of the Year, Toy the Year, and Toy Wishes Holiday All Star. mark.zeller@mattel.com
Jonathan Becker	Mr. Becker is General Counsel, Partner for Anjar Co. which is a major international new product developer and licensor of toys and games. Over 500 licensed products throughout the world, including many well-known and award winning toys and games. He holds Professional Memberships with the Toy Industry Association, Connecticut Bar Association; American Bar Association. He holds a Bachelor's degree from New York University. jsb@anjar.com
Ms. Lauren Flood
Mohammed Riza