Crystal Cabin Award - international award for excellence in aircraft interior innovation // Let your ideas take off. //

Marcio Gobato has more than 20 years of aviation experience working with Embraer.
His expertise is Cabin Systems and IFE&C. Throughout his career, from 1999 until 2012, he worked as product development engineer and also led engineering teams on the development, certification and product support of the Cabin Systems and IFE&C installed in Embraer commercial and executive jets. From 2013 until 2020 he was the manager in charge of Interiors, Noise and Vibration at the EMBRAER Core Engineering department. Since the beginning of 2021 he has transitioned to Interiors, Cabin systems and IFE&C senior product development engineering roles at the EMBRAER Core Engineering department.
Marcio holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a master’s degree in Control Engineering. He also holds PCP credentials (equivalent to FAA DER) with ANAC – local Brazilian certification authority – since 2005.

Dr Holger Friehmelt has more than 25 years of professional experience in the aviation industry. Beyond various research and technology positions both in Germany and the U.S. for several companies, Holger Friehmelt was in different management functions for project and product management at Recaro Aircraft Seating. He has been leading AAT Composites, an aerospace supplier based in Cape Town, South Africa, as managing director during the last years. He went back at Recaro Aircraft Seating as Senior Manager After Sales Projects, Customer Service until autumn 2017 and currently holds his position as Head of Institute of the Institute of Aviation at FH Joanneum Graz, Austria.

Marisa worked in the design, certification and manufacturing of aircraft interiors components and aviation safety equipment for sixteen years. She has been writing about the airline industry in leading trade and consumer publications since 2013, as well as on her own site FlightChic.com.     

Adam Gavine is the editor of Aircraft Interiors International, published by UKIP Media&Events, the founder of Aircraft Interiors Expo. The magazine is the industry's leading publication, providing its 12,000+ readers with the latest information on the most important new innovations, products, technologies and airline case studies, via its beautifully illustrated pages and sharply written articles. Adam is also editor of sister titles Airline Entertainment International and Airline Catering International.

As a business manager, Holger Hafner has been a passionate leader with more than 30 years of practical experience and know-how in the aviation industry. He has been with Diehl Aviation, an international, first tier supplier of avionics and cabin integration and a well-respected partner to the aviation industry, for 11 years.

Most recently, in his position as Senior Vice President, he has been the driving force to move forward the Retrofit business - respectively Upgrade Solutions -, by developing strategic business fields in the aftermarket. In 2011 until 2015 he acted as CEO at Diehl Comfort Modules.

Holger began his career as an industrial engineer in 1992 and the following 19 years held several important roles at Airbus in planning, programs, operations and central functions. In his final role at Airbus he was responsible as HO FAL A321/A319 in Hamburg.

Dr. Dierk Hickmann has more than 25 years of professional experience in the aviation industry, mainly as a consultant for cabin and cargo projects for civil, paramilitary and military aircraft and for aviation supplier audits.
He acquired his Ph.D. at the German Aerospace Center where he led a research project, dealing with air traffic control, satellite navigation and navigation aids. He has previous experience in the field of semiconductor development.

Zuzana Hrnkova has 22 years’ experience in aviation business. After graduating as engineer and private pilot in 1991 from the Air Transport University of Zilina, Slovakia and from the French School of Civil Aviation (ENAC) in Toulouse in 1994, Zuzana joined Airbus in 1994 as a trainee and then as Performance Engineer in the Product Marketing group. In 1998, she moved to the A330/A340 product marketing group where she supported the marketing and entry in service of the A340-500 and A340-600. During this period she discovered a passion for the cabin interior and that remains to the present day.
From 2003 to 2007, Zuzana was Payload Accommodation Manager responsible for explaining Airbus cabins to customers, as well as providing the cabin engineering team with customer and market requirements.  She continued her development as Aircraft Interiors Marketing Director from 2007 to 2011 responsible for supporting sales campaigns, as well as supporting cabin interiors developments and working on market strategy.
Her last assignment in Airbus was Head of Aircraft Interiors Marketing since 2011. She was responsible for leading the Aircraft Interiors Marketing team, covering all current and future Airbus cabins. One of her main tasks was to guide new cabin product developments in order to ensure that cabin design fulfills all passengers’ and airlines’ expectations.
Since 1st September 2015, Zuzana is appointed as Vice President Marketing in ATR, leading the team responsible for Market Strategy, Airline Marketing and Product Development.

Michael Kaye is Vice President Technical Operations at Austrian Airlines since 1rst May 2016. Before that, he has been Technical Director at Germanwings with two areas of responsability, nominated Postholder Maintainance of the CAMO since February 2007 and accountable Manager for the EASA145 Organization, which has started in May 2008.

Mary Kirby has covered the aviation industry for 18 years as both a journalist and an editor. After cutting her teeth at a weekly world airline newsletter Mary joined Flightglobal in 1999 as a reporter for its real-time news site Air Transport Intelligence. She was promoted to Deputy Editor, Americas in 2003 and later to US Editor. In 2007 Mary assumed the position of Senior Editor at Flightglobal’s weekly magazine title, Flight International, where she led coverage of inflight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) and aircraft interiors. During this time, she was also proprietor of the highly regarded Runway Girl blog, which focused on covering the passenger experience (#PaxEx) sector. In November 2013, Mary launched Runway Girl Network, which delivers news and intelligence about the airline passenger experience industry, promotes diversity and highlights the work and accomplishments of women in aviation. The award-winning site is completely transforming the traditional aviation B2B trade news model to encompass a B2B2C model that considers passengers’ needs and wants.

Joe Leader serves as the CEO of APEX / IFSA, a four-decade old leading global non-profit with every major airline and supplier in the world working to accelerating airline passenger experience and improve in-flight service.  As passenger experience becomes a growing profit center for airlines, Leader works with senior executives at all of the world’s leading airlines, top industry suppliers, government organizations, and major media groups. A forerunner in aviation and technology, Leader has been a leading executive for more than two decades across technology and aviation companies. Leader holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Emory University, MBA in technology management, and conducted his business Ph.D. research on accelerating technology adoption in aviation.

Quentin Munier leads the Programmes, Strategy, Research & Technology functions of the Seats activities of Safran.

Quentin started his career at the French Economy ministry where he steered the creation of the French public investment bank. He then joined Zodiac Aerospace, and then Safran, where he lead the SFE seats activities, in Issoudun, France, and then as CEO of Zodiac Seats California. He has 10 years of professional experience serving the aviation industry.

Wah Li has been with Singapore Airlines for more than 20 years.  She heads the cabin product innovation team in Singapore Airlines.  Her team is responsible for the design and development of new cabin and seating products, inflight entertainment, inflight connectivity, and digital solutions, to achieve a best-in-class experience for customers. 

Prior to this, Wah Li was responsible for the airline’s pilots and cabin crew manpower planning and scheduling, and has also held other portfolios in the areas of cabin branding and airport services development.  

Bernhard Randerath has more than 30 years of aviation experience working with leading aviation companies.

At Lufthansa Technik he was specialized in Trouble Shooting. In Airbus he was Head of Maintenance Systems Engineering.
In 2011 he joined Etihad Airways as Vice President Engineering and later he was as well responsible for Design, Engineering and Innovation.  

In July 2021 Bernhard Randerath was appointed as the CEO of the German Emirati Institute.
The institute centralizes, manages, and executes current and future technology projects into products with governmental and private interest between Germany and the United Arab Emirates.

Since August 2021 Bernhard is also Chairman of the technology company called `The Aviation AM Centre`, which is based in Germany, a 3D Printing company manufacturing and certifying complex parts for the aviation and automotive.

Bernhard holds a master’s degree in Aircraft Design, and he has been awarded several patents in Aircraft Design and Failure Detection.
He was also educated as a licensed aircraft technician.

Bernhard is an enthusiastic pilot and leads the aircraft owner association - European Bonanza Society- as a President.

Melissa Raudebaugh is a member of Delta Air Lines’ Customer Experience team and currently serves as General Manager – Aircraft Experience. In her role, Melissa leads the team responsible for defining and developing new products directly related to the cabin interior. During her 14 years at Delta, Melissa has held positions in Supply Chain, Interiors Engineering, Fleet Strategy and Aircraft Acquisitions. She has a Mechanical Engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master in Business Administration from Georgia State University. Prior to joining Delta, Melissa served as a test engineer at Rocketdyne.

Melissa Raudebaugh is also Chairwoman of the Crystal Cabin Award Judging Panel since November 2014. 

Jeff Roberts is Director for Airplane Cabin & Features Development within the Product Strategy and Future Airplane Development organization of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. His organization is responsible for development and implementation of innovative strategies, architectures, requirements, technologies and solutions that create sustainable value for airlines, passengers, Boeing and communities. This includes solutions to improve operational efficiency, enhance the flying experience, and strengthen the competitiveness of Boeing products and services.

Previously Roberts was senior manager of Navigation Services within the Boeing Commercial Aviation Services organization, with responsibility for leading the development and delivery of integrated solutions related to advanced airplane navigation capabilities including Performance-based Navigation using GPS technology.
 
As a strategic leader, Roberts has worked to define and implement business and technology solutions and business plans for both existing businesses and start-ups. A 28-year Boeing veteran, his resume also includes six years of strategic business and technology management consulting experience.
 
Roberts holds a Master’s of Science in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University.
 

Rolf Sellge continues his 35-year aviation career at Douglas, McDonnell Douglas, and Boeing with Super98. He has held various positions in liaison and electrical engineering including Director Twinjet Customer Engineering, Director Twinjet Derivative Development, Director 717 Program Integration and Product Marketing.

Mariya Stoyanova is a Director of Product Development at JetBlue. She oversees creation and development JetBlue’s onboard and ground experiences. She and her team are behind the award winning Mint Experience, the multi-screen experience including the first of its kind Fly-Fi product and most recently the newly launched Transatlantic onboard offering. Prior to that she has held several other roles within the JetBlue organization.

Mariya started her career in the aviation industry over 18 years ago with the regional European carrier Aegean Airlines and is a board member of the IFSA Foundation. Outside of aviation, she has experience in financial and BPO services.

Corinne Streichert is a celebrated and renowned Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFEC) expert, recognized for redefining and innovating customer experiences in the commercial aviation space. She is a multi-award winning IFEC veteran and global speaker, who has regularly presented at prominent industry events and served on the APEX Education Committee 2013. Corinne also has a strong foundation in the entertainment industry, having spearheaded projects in both video production and the music business.

With two decades of aviation and technology experience, aside from founding and running IFECtiv, Corinne’s career highlights include leading United Airlines to win its first ever Crystal Cabin Award for its state-of-the-art, feature-rich, seatback IFE system in 2019. This ground-breaking system pioneered the world’s most extensive suite of accessibility features on an embedded system, and continues to garner industry recognition and accolades. Corinne also worked for Qantas Airways where her contributions resulted in her being awarded the 2005 Qantas Innovation Award.

Paul Sweeney is currently the Program Manager for the Aircraft design & Projects Group at Qantas Airways managing the project management group responsible for new aircraft line fit cabin development and aircraft reconfigurations. Paul has 15 years’ experience in the aviation industry working across aircraft seating, cabin design and IFE. Paul’s background as an engineer has seen him participate in the development of leading edge technologies both technically and commercially.

Mark Vaughan leads the Cabin Experience strategic initiative for Interiors, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In this role, Mark is responsible for working across Interiors and Collins, focused on products and services that enhance the Cabin Experience.

Previously, Mark served in a variety of increasingly senior leadership positions within Collins, most recently leading the Aircraft Seating business segment.  Prior to that, Mark served as Vice President of Sales for Aircraft Seating, with progressive roles within Program Management and Customer Service.

Mark earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business Studies & Finance from De Montfort University.

Peter Vink is professor at the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, where he teaches, guides students (PhD and MSc) and conducts research. He has more than 200 publications in the field of participative design and comfort.

Ingo Wuggetzer, Vice President Cabin Innovation & Design, is responsible for the complete coverage of all Cabin Marketing activities – starting with Trend & Market Research to identify Future Customer Needs, up-to Customer campaign activities to create value added solutions by consumer centric approach. Therefore he also drives the relevant channels to promote cabin advantages, including fairs, exhibitions and the Sales mock-up centre.

In his former role as Vice President Strategy, Innovation & Design, Ingo established a consumer centric approach, covering key upstream services ‘trend and market research’. On this basis, Ingo set up a cabin product and technology strategy as a guideline for future cabin innovations – some examples of the major innovations he delivered are the A350XWB cabin design, the A350 XWB Customer Definition Centre and the Concept Cabin Vision 2050, both resulting in a new passenger comfort & service experience as well as a higher airline efficiency.
After studying both aeronautical engineering and business administration, Ingo worked for a top international management consultancy for three years. In 1996 Ingo joined Lufthansa for almost ten years and held several positions. As Senior Manager Corporate Strategy, he was responsible for fleet strategy decisions, business cycle management and the Aircraft Asset Management Team. In 1999 he became General Manager Cabin Development and Product Innovation for Lufthansa’s in-flight-products.

In addition to his role at Airbus, Ingo is board member of the APEX Board (Airline Passenger Experience Association) and is chairing the Marketing & Communication Committee. Furthermore he is member of the judging panel for the Crystal Cabin Award and in addition he is lecturing at different universities in Europe.