ISPO Award Juries 2016

Sun Bin has been a member of the Chinese national climbing team since 2000. He was also a member of the Beijing Olympic Committee and the torch relay project leader at Mt. Everest, which he climbed in 2007. After the Games, he became a mountain guide for the Seven Summits. As president of the Summit Outdoor School, he organizes free mountain trainings for local guides and students. Sun Bin is also president of the Tibet Outdoors Association.

Expert for: Hardgoods, Backpacks & Mountaineering

„Vorsprung durch Technik“. Audi’s Head of Trade Shows, Events and Sportsmarketing, Clemens Lee has been responsible for keeping Audi omnipresent in the global sport marketing platform. For over 15 years, he has taken inspiring marketing content and progressive promotional techniques, blended it with Audi’s crux of sports, technology and precision, creating phenomenal growth for Audi in the sporting arena. Prior to his stint in the role in Ingolstadt, Clemens headed the Audi office in Beijing as the General Manager.

Daniel Ying has 12 years experience as a salesman in the Chinese outdoor industry. He has worked for Vaude, La Sportiva and Mammut. Ran Ying has always taken pride in his work and has passionately studied each and every product which he has sold. He believes that a fine product deserves to be brought to the fore in the market. As an enthusiastic climber he has spent the large majority of his last sixteen years on the rocks and on indoor climbing walls.

Dr. Jun-Yan Hu is Chief Technology Officer at Best Pacific International Holdings Limited, Technical committee member of the Standardization Administration of China and External Ph. D. Student Supervisor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests cover functional products development and performance evaluation, standard development and technology transfer. Jun-Yan is listed as inventor in 38 patents granted around the world and received various innovative products awards. Since 2011, he is also a member of several National Technical Committees on Textiles and Material Characterization, which is part of the standardization administration committee in China.

For Max, being a jury member is not just part of the job. For him, it’s rather a privilege, being able to support the leading international sports trade show for retailers and sports experts in finding the best products of the year. It’s a privilege that makes him, his publisher and his team very proud.

Beatriz has been working for the Public CatalanTelevision for seven years specializing in sports communications. She has run endurance races around the world and is the first Spanish woman to finish the 4deserts races, named one of the Top 10 endurance competitions in the world by TIME magazine. Loving the mountains, she went to the Everest base camp with a Spanish expedition in September 2012.

In 2012, Ilka was named „Runner of the Year“ by the German Athletics Association (DLV) and laufen.de together with Jan Fitschen and Anna Hahner. Since 2013, she is an asics Frontrunner and the face of various running event series (Deutsche Post Ladies Run, Urbanian Run, etc.). She is also working as a running coach on AIDA cruise ships and for brands including mymuelsi, BASE, Unilever, etc. In addition to being a personal trainer, she also holds lectures on running and works as an editor and running expert for several magazines and contributes and speaks for the Runtastic Story Runs. In 2015, Ilka completed her Bachelor of Arts in sports at the Hamburg University as well as her coaching licenses (C license and TRX training). Also in 2015, she realized her dream of running the New York marathon.

Nick Hamilton is a Principal Research Fellow within the internationally renowned Centre for Sports Engineering Research, at Sheffield Hallam University. Nick has worked as a consultant to the sports industry for 15 years and is the lead designer of the creative and consultancy team focusing on sports product design, innovation, analysis and manufacture. He leads the Sports Equipment Mechanics research group delivering world class applied research. He is also vice chair of the Outdoor Recreation Research Group, a unique multidisciplinary unit focused on delivering interdisciplinary consultancy and research in the outdoor sector; his personal passion.CSER is the largest research centre in the world focussing on sports engineering with 20 staff, 15 Phd and 20 Msc students as well as consultant for sports companies such as Nike, adidas, Ping, Puma, Reebok, Cervelo and Speedo; developing innovations and analysing product performance.

Beate is very well known in the German sport journalists’ scene. For 20 years, she has been covering product developments, tests and trends in the sporting goods industry both for several b2b and consumer magazines. Beate has a Master’s degree in Sports and German Philology. She is also a certified ski, volleyball and tennis trainer and won some trophies on a national level in track and field and tennis competitions.

Dr. Jun-Yan Hu is Chief Technology Officer at Best Pacific International Holdings Limited, Technical committee member of the Standardization Administration of China and External Ph. D. Student Supervisor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests cover functional products development and performance evaluation, standard development and technology transfer. Jun-Yan is listed as inventor in 38 patents granted around the world and received various innovative products awards. Since 2011, he is also a member of several National Technical Committees on Textiles and Material Characterization, which is part of the standardization administration committee in China.

Michael started his career as an industrial designer for the Siemens AG, later on being responsible for the design of all Gigaset products. Since 2007, he is co-owner and managing director of designaffairs. Michael, himself winner of several design awards like IF gold or red dot, regularly gives speeches and is a jury member of several design awards. Some of his designs are part of the permanent exhibition of the “Neue Sammlung” in Munich.

Urs Weber competed in numerous races, ran more than 50 marathons, short-distance and Ironman triathlon events, has been testing running shoes and equipment for over 20 years and has been working as an editor for specialty equipment at Runner's World Germany for more than ten years.

"The ISPO Award is the litmus test for the sporting goods industry. Whoever succeeds here is probably also successful on the market. Developments in the sports industry have shown that the winners are highly relevant in their respective sub-markets – as technological pioneers, design icons or trend products.“

Jost Wiebelhaus is the owner of the Frankfurt running shop in Frankfurt am Main. The 49-year-old banker and economics graduate is a passionate runner (5 km to marathon) and cyclist and has been running the specialist running shop since 2001, which has also been the official running shop of the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon for 11 years. In 2007 he also opened the FALKE Sportshop in Frankfurt. He has been a member of the merchandise commission of the running professionals (Sport 2000) for 13 years and has been a member of the advisory board of Sport 2000 since 2015.
"The specialist sports trade thrives on innovative new sports products. Therefore, I am very excited about the submitted products and look forward to judging and evaluating them with various experts from different perspectives."

Edith has been writing for magazines in Germany and Austria for almost ten years. Her main focus is on running, which is also her biggest passion. She created a global women’s running network (261 Fearless) and is head of the organization. As a runner and outdoor athlete, she understands the athletes’ needs. As a journalist, she knows the latest trends in the outdoor scene. “I feel honored being part of the Jury again and help evaluating new ideas and products. It’s always exciting seeing the development in the industry.”

Sun Bin has been a member of the Chinese national climbing team since 2000. He was also a member of the Beijing Olympic Committee and the torch relay project leader at Mt. Everest, which he climbed in 2007. After the Games, he became a mountain guide for the Seven Summits. As president of the Summit Outdoor School, he organizes free mountain trainings for local guides and students. Sun Bin is also president of the Tibet Outdoors Association.

Expert for: Hardgoods, Backpacks & Mountaineering

With over 30 years of experience in the outdoor industry and a career that has involved senior positions at major companies, including Lowe Alpine, Mammut Sport Group and Berghaus, Mark Held was one of the founders of the European Outdoor Group (EOG) in 2003, which had the clear objective of uniting the fragmented outdoor industry by encouraging and facilitating collaboration on projects for the good of the whole sector. The EOG’s agenda covers key areas such as research, events, sustainability, responsibility, outreach, product safety and the promotion of participation in outdoor activities. In 2005, Mark agreed to take on the management of the EOG and became General Secretary, a role he has fulfilled ever since. Mark is actively involved in all areas of the sector and in addition to being the EOG General Secretary, he is also a Vice President of the Federation of European Outdoor Sporting Goods Industries (FESI) and acting Chairman of Fair Wear Foundation.   

“I always look forward to the Awards Jury meeting, partly due to the excitement seeing what new products are being launched, but also because the people, the place and the organization make the event a really positive thing to be part of.”

With Fjällräven, Lundhågs and the Swedish B2B Magazine Sportfack listed in his CV, Jonas is simply perfect for the position of Head of Marketing and Communication at SOG. He is also a great fan of real outdoor adventures, a passionate trekker and hunter and enjoys serious survival training.

Starting June 1st, 2015 he began his new position as Business area manager Outdoor, Fishing and Hunting at Swedish sports retail chain, Sportringen.

With a strong interest in materials and new technologies, Kuno Prey has been working as a technical consultant and product designer in the industry since finishing his studies in Art & Design. Due to several awards he gained international recognition. Kuno was involved in the foundation and development  of the faculty of Design at the Bauhaus University in Weimar before returning to his home country where he is now setting up the faculty of Design & Art at the University in Bozen.

“I love being outdoors where I especially enjoy the sparkling mountain air. As a design professor, I try to draw the students' attention to what is superfluous. The focal points of design are pleasure, comfort and safety as well as high aesthetic values, whilst ecology and social relevance form the basis of every design process. I see the ISPO Award as an ideal aid for orientation in the sporting goods market.“

Daniel Ying has 12 years experience as a salesman in the Chinese outdoor industry. He has worked for Vaude, La Sportiva and Mammut. Ran Ying has always taken pride in his work and has passionately studied each and every product which he has sold. He believes that a fine product deserves to be brought to the fore in the market. As an enthusiastic climber he has spent the large majority of his last sixteen years on the rocks and on indoor climbing walls.

Christine Waeber is working as a public relations manager for bluesign technologies ag since the foundation in the year 2000. She has studied economics in Switzerland and France. Furthermore studies and teaching in performing arts (dance/musical), physiological motion and fitness sports.

Christine is actively involved in all forms of healthy living (nutrition, biota, clothing, sports activities, homeopathy etc.) since decades.

Furthermore he is a passionate snowboarder, PADI rescue diver and downhill biker.

"The core system partners from bluesign technologies, where I started with my husband 15 years ago, are outdoor brands. My experience proofs that such brands have to be creative constantly to be successful and meet the customer’s and outdoor activist’s rising expectations. Without the outdoor brands we wouldn’t have exciting new developments that influence also the fashion industry. In this relation the ISPO OUTDOOR AWARD can have an important signal effect beyond the outdoor business. It’s a hard job to judge and select the best products since most of them deserve an award. However, for me as an outdoor lover and enthusiast it’s a great honor to be member of this jury award and it’s my great pleasure to contribute with my experience and expertise to the selection of the right product."

For Max, being a jury member is not just part of the job. For him, it’s rather a privilege, being able to support the leading international sports trade show for retailers and sports experts in finding the best products of the year. It’s a privilege that makes him, his publisher and his team very proud.

Beatriz has been working for the Public CatalanTelevision for seven years specializing in sports communications. She has run endurance races around the world and is the first Spanish woman to finish the 4deserts races, named one of the Top 10 endurance competitions in the world by TIME magazine. Loving the mountains, she went to the Everest base camp with a Spanish expedition in September 2012.

In 2012, Ilka was named „Runner of the Year“ by the German Athletics Association (DLV) and laufen.de together with Jan Fitschen and Anna Hahner. Since 2013, she is an asics Frontrunner and the face of various running event series (Deutsche Post Ladies Run, Urbanian Run, etc.). She is also working as a running coach on AIDA cruise ships and for brands including mymuelsi, BASE, Unilever, etc. In addition to being a personal trainer, she also holds lectures on running and works as an editor and running expert for several magazines and contributes and speaks for the Runtastic Story Runs. In 2015, Ilka completed her Bachelor of Arts in sports at the Hamburg University as well as her coaching licenses (C license and TRX training). Also in 2015, she realized her dream of running the New York marathon.

Nick Hamilton is a Principal Research Fellow within the internationally renowned Centre for Sports Engineering Research, at Sheffield Hallam University. Nick has worked as a consultant to the sports industry for 15 years and is the lead designer of the creative and consultancy team focusing on sports product design, innovation, analysis and manufacture. He leads the Sports Equipment Mechanics research group delivering world class applied research. He is also vice chair of the Outdoor Recreation Research Group, a unique multidisciplinary unit focused on delivering interdisciplinary consultancy and research in the outdoor sector; his personal passion.CSER is the largest research centre in the world focussing on sports engineering with 20 staff, 15 Phd and 20 Msc students as well as consultant for sports companies such as Nike, adidas, Ping, Puma, Reebok, Cervelo and Speedo; developing innovations and analysing product performance.

Beate is very well known in the German sport journalists’ scene. For 20 years, she has been covering product developments, tests and trends in the sporting goods industry both for several b2b and consumer magazines. Beate has a Master’s degree in Sports and German Philology. She is also a certified ski, volleyball and tennis trainer and won some trophies on a national level in track and field and tennis competitions.

Dr. Jun-Yan Hu is Chief Technology Officer at Best Pacific International Holdings Limited, Technical committee member of the Standardization Administration of China and External Ph. D. Student Supervisor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests cover functional products development and performance evaluation, standard development and technology transfer. Jun-Yan is listed as inventor in 38 patents granted around the world and received various innovative products awards. Since 2011, he is also a member of several National Technical Committees on Textiles and Material Characterization, which is part of the standardization administration committee in China.

Michael started his career as an industrial designer for the Siemens AG, later on being responsible for the design of all Gigaset products. Since 2007, he is co-owner and managing director of designaffairs. Michael, himself winner of several design awards like IF gold or red dot, regularly gives speeches and is a jury member of several design awards. Some of his designs are part of the permanent exhibition of the “Neue Sammlung” in Munich.

Urs Weber competed in numerous races, ran more than 50 marathons, short-distance and Ironman triathlon events, has been testing running shoes and equipment for over 20 years and has been working as an editor for specialty equipment at Runner's World Germany for more than ten years.

"The ISPO Award is the litmus test for the sporting goods industry. Whoever succeeds here is probably also successful on the market. Developments in the sports industry have shown that the winners are highly relevant in their respective sub-markets – as technological pioneers, design icons or trend products.“

Jost Wiebelhaus is the owner of the Frankfurt running shop in Frankfurt am Main. The 49-year-old banker and economics graduate is a passionate runner (5 km to marathon) and cyclist and has been running the specialist running shop since 2001, which has also been the official running shop of the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon for 11 years. In 2007 he also opened the FALKE Sportshop in Frankfurt. He has been a member of the merchandise commission of the running professionals (Sport 2000) for 13 years and has been a member of the advisory board of Sport 2000 since 2015.
"The specialist sports trade thrives on innovative new sports products. Therefore, I am very excited about the submitted products and look forward to judging and evaluating them with various experts from different perspectives."

Edith has been writing for magazines in Germany and Austria for almost ten years. Her main focus is on running, which is also her biggest passion. She created a global women’s running network (261 Fearless) and is head of the organization. As a runner and outdoor athlete, she understands the athletes’ needs. As a journalist, she knows the latest trends in the outdoor scene. “I feel honored being part of the Jury again and help evaluating new ideas and products. It’s always exciting seeing the development in the industry.”

After many years of design experience in the fashion industry, Alexa Dehmel decided to make use of her passion for sports and become a freelance designer for functional clothing in 1996, followed by the foundation of her own agency with employees in 2005. Even today, it is still a positive challenge for her and her team to develop good products and collections for the mountain, water, fitness and performance sports and workwear sectors. A further milestone is planned for 2020: A globally unique innovation, competence and training center for functional clothing in the Munich area.

Interview with Alexa Dehmel: "Munich to get a unique expertise center for functional clothing"

In February 2006, Robin participated in his first cross-country ski race, the König Ludwig Lauf’s “Mini Kini”. That spring, he joined the Hochvogel Munich ski club and began training on a regular basis. Starting with regional competitions, Robin worked his way up to the German Cup and finally to the German Championships. In 2011, he decided to turn his hobby into a career and joined the mountain infantry in Berchtesgaden. With the start of his military service in July 2011, Robin also began training at the Olympic Training Center in Ruhpolding. For the upcoming season, he set himself an entirely new goal: to compete in the world’s longest cross-country ski race.

For over 20 years, Wolfgang has been involved in sports and travel journalism. He is currently publisher of German SkiPresse (skipresse.de) and the new digital travel magazine RoadTrip (roadtrip.cc). In the past, he has worked for as well as published several B2B magazines and consumer magazines. Wolfgang has been involved with the ISPO Awards since the beginning of ISPO’s “European Ski Awards” over ten years ago.

Mathieu was editor of a major online portal for several years before joining Éditions Nivéales, France's largest action sports media company: Éditions Nivéales publishes magazines such as Snowsurf, Ski Magazine, Skieur Magazine, Grimper, Montagnes, and Vertical. Although he started snowboarding relatively late at the age of 15, Mathieu has tested more than 500 different skis and snowboards in the past 20 years.

Stéphane studied mechanical engineering and has been working at the European Patent Office in Munich as a patent examiner for the past 15 years. First covering footwear for eight years, he is now responsible for ski/snowboard/bindings/skates/wheels/climbing gear. His work includes the assessment of innovations in regards to the current state of the art and granting the patent provided a product meets the requirements. Stéphane grew up in Bourg St Maurice / Les Arc in France. Competing in ski contests at a very early age, he switched to snowboarding in the early 1990s and joined the ISF and FIS circuit for four years. When the carving skis were introduced to the market, he switched back to skiing. Nowadays, he loves to go ski touring, and his preferred skis are telemark skis. In the summer, Stéphane is a passionate climber, mountaineer, and mountain biker.

“I feel honored that I was asked to join the ISPO Award Jury. Skiing is my way of life and everything connected with skiing is my passion. I deal every single day with patent applications on paper. To see the actual innovations is highly motivating. I can’t wait to see what the ski world has come up with this year to make our lives better.”

As long as Martin McFly Winkler can remember he was riding off piste, during his very young years in Schröcken, Austria, now all over the world. During his studies he worked as a ski instructor and got quite successful in the skiing competition circus. He organizes the Austrian Open and travels the world for photo and film shootings. In 2006 he also worked together with film maker Warren Miller for "Off-the-Grid".