A Bit of History

The Design Society is built on the foundations laid by the WDK (Workshop Design-Konstruktion) Society. WDK was an informally constituted international society based on a common interest in engineering design. WDK was founded in the early nineteen eighties on the inspiration of Professor Vladimir Hubka (†) and with two other founding members, Professor Mogens Myrup Andreasen and Professor Umberto Pighini (†). Under Professor Hubka's overall guidance and with the support of the founding members and Professor W. Ernst Eder (†), WDK grew to become the present truly international Design Society that has made major contributions to Design Science. WDK was responsible for establishing the International Conferences on Engineering Design (ICED series) and has supported an extensive range of publications. It was Professor Umberto Pighini who took the bold initiative to establish the first conference in the ICED series in Rome in 1981 (ICED 81). Subsequently, many dedicated individuals have contributed to the development of WDK and the ICED series of conferences.

The Design Society was formed in 2000 building upon WDK's foundation of 15 ICED conferences, 26 major publications and more than 60 workshops on a wide range of topics. At that time, the previous activities and responsibilities of WDK were turned over to the Design Society, including the right to continue the ICED conferences.

In order to initiate the Society, the Board of Management of WDK nominated the first Board of Management and Advisory Board for the period 2001-2003. By drawing lots, roughly one-third of the members of both Boards were replaced by democratically elected members in 2003, 2005 and 2007. Consequently, the start-up period of the Design Society ended after the General meeting at ICED07. The decision to create the Society took place at a gathering of the founding leadership on Rigi  Mountain in Switzerland. Since then the annual leadership gathering (Board of Management, Advisory Board, Chapter and SIG Leaders) is referred to as the "Rigi Meeting" although it takes place at various locations.

Past Boards of Management

2021 - 2023

• Tim McAloone, Copenhagen, Denmark (President)
• Gaetano Cascini, Milan, Italy (Vice-President)
• Kristin Paetzold, Germany (Secretary)
• Anja Maier, Glasgow, United Kingdom (Treasurer)
• Mario Štorga, Zagreb, Croatia

2019 - 2021

• Tim McAloone, Copenhagen, Denmark (President)
• Georges Fadel, Clemson, USA (Vice-President & Treasurer)
• Kristin Paetzold, Germany (Secretary)
• Claudia Eckert, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
• Gaetano Cascini, Milan, Italy

2017 - 2019

• Panos Papalambros, Ann Arbor, USA (President)
• Tim McAloone, Copenhagen, Denmark (Vice-President & Treasurer)
• Claudia Eckert, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom (Secretary)
• Georges Fadel, Clemson, USA
• Gaetano Cascini, Milan, Italy

2015 - 2017

• Dorian Marjanovic, Zagreb, Croatia (President)
• Panos Papalambros, Ann Arbor, USA (Vice-President)
• Georges Fadel, Clemson, USA (Secretary)
• Amaresh Chakrabarti, Bangalore, India
• Tim McAloone, Copenhagen, Denmark

2013 - 2015

• Dorian Marjanovic, Zagreb, Croatia (President)
• Panos Papalambros, Ann Arbor, USA (Vice-President)
• Georges Fadel, Clemson, USA (Secretary)
• Amaresh Chakrabarti, Bangalore, India
• Kristina Shea, Zurich, Switzerland

2011 - 2013

• Chris McMahon, Bath, United Kingdom (President)
• Dorian Marjanovic, Zagreb, Croatia (Vice-President)
• Christian Weber, Ilmenau, Germany (Secretary)
• Panos Papalambros, Ann Arbor, USA
• Kristina Shea, Zurich, Switzerland

2009 - 2011

• Chris McMahon, Bath, United Kingdom (Vice-President 2009-2010, President 2010-2011)
• Udo Lindemann, Munich, Germany (President 2009-2010, Vice-President 2010-2011)
• Christian Weber, Ilmenau, Germany (Secretary)
• Dorian Marjanovic, Zagreb, Croatia
• Margareta Norell, Stockholm, Sweden

2007-2009

• Udo Lindemann, Munich, Germany (President)
• Alex Duffy, Glasgow, United Kingdom (Vice-President)
• Christian Weber, Ilmenau, Germany (Secretary)
• Chris McMahon, Bath, United Kingdom
• Margareta Norell, Stockholm, Sweden

2005-2007

• Alex Duffy, Glasgow, United Kingdom (President)
• Udo Lindemann, Munich, Germany (Vice-President)
• Christian Weber, Saarbruecken, Germany (Secretary)
• Chris McMahon, Bath, United Kingdom
• Warren Seering, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

2003-2005

• Alex Duffy, Glasgow, United Kingdom (President)
• Lucienne Blessing, Berlin, Germany (Vice-President)
• Marco Cantamessa, Torino, Italy (Secretary)
• Udo Lindemann, Munich, Germany
• Warren Seering, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

2001-2003

• Herbert Birkhofer, Darmstadt, Germany (President)
• Alex Duffy, Glasgow, United Kingdom (Vice-President)
• Marco Cantamessa, Torino, Italy (Secretary)
• Lucienne Blessing, Berlin, Germany
• Kristin Wood, Austin, Texas, USA

Past Advisory Boards

2019 - 2023

Albert Albers (Germany), Benjamin Schleich (Germany), Benoît Eynard (France), Bernard Yannou (France), Carolyn Seepersad (United States), Claudia Eckert (United Kingdom), Daniela Pigosso (Denmark), Dieter Krause (Germany), Francesca Montagna (Italy), Harrison Kim (United States), Ian Whitfield (United Kingdom), Iris Gräßler (Germany), Joshua Summers (United States), Julie Stal-Le Cardinal (France), Kevin Otto (Finland), Kilian Gericke (Germany), Maria Yang (United States), Michael Kokkolaras (Canada), Monica Bordegoni (Italy), Ola Isaksson (Sweden), Panos Papalambros (United States), Peter Törlind (Sweden), Sandro Wartzack (Germany), Sophie Hallstedt (Sweden), Yong Se Kim (Finland), Yukari Nagai (Japan), Yvonne Eriksson (Sweden).

2019 - 2021

Albert Albers (Germany), Alex Duffy (United Kingdom), Anja Maier (Denmark), Bernard Yannou (France), Carolyn Seepersad (United States), Daniela Pigosso (Denmark), Dieter Krause (Germany), Harrison Kim (United States), Ian Whitfield (United Kingdom), Iris Gräßler (Germany), Joshua Summers (United States), Julie Stal-Le Cardinal (France), Kevin Otto (Finland), Kilian Gericke (Germany), Maria Yang (United States), Mario Štorga (Croatia), Michael Kokkolaras (Canada), Monica Bordegoni (Italy), Ola Isaksson (Sweden), Panos Papalambros (United States), Peter Törlind (Sweden), Sandro Wartzack (Germany), Sophie Hallstedt (Sweden), Yong Se Kim (Korea, Republic of), Yoram Reich (Israel), Yukari Nagai (Japan), Yvonne Eriksson (Sweden).

2017 - 2019

Albert Albers (Germany), Petra Badke-Schaub (Netherlands), Monica Bordegoni (Italy), Jean-François Boujut (France), Alex Duffy (United Kingdom), Steven Eppinger (United States), Yvonne Eriksson (Sweden), Kilian Gericke (Germany), William J. Ion (United Kingdom), Ola Isaksson (Sweden), Harrison Kim (United States), Yong Se Kim (Korea, Republic of), Dieter Krause (Germany), Anja Maier (Denmark), Chris McMahon (United Kingdom), Yukari Nagai (Japan), Kevin N. Otto (Finland), Kristin Paetzold (Germany), Yoram Reich (Israel), Carolyn Conner Seepersad (United States), Julie Stal-Le Cardinal (France), Mario Štorga (Croatia), Peter Törlind (Sweden), Yasushi Umeda (Japan), Sandro Wartzack (Germany), Maria Yang (United States), Bernard Yannou (France). 

2015 - 2017

Albert Albers (DE), Petra Badke-Schaub (NL), Lucienne Blessing (LU), Monica Bordegoni (IT), Jean-Francois Boujut (FR), Marco Cantamessa (IT), Gaetano Cascini (IT), Alex Duffy (UK), Claudia Eckert (UK), Steven Eppinger (US), Kilian Gericke (LX), Tom Howard (DK), Bill Ion (UK), Harrison Kim (US), Yong Se Kim (KR), Udo Lindemann (DE), Anja Maier (DK), Chris McMahon (UK), Yukari Nagai (JP), Kevin Otto (US), Yoram Reich (IL), Mario Storga (HR), Peter Torlind (SE), Yasushi Umeda (JP), Sandro Warzack (DE), Bernard Yannou (FR), Maria Yang (US)

2013 - 2015

Petra Badke-Schaub (NL), Herbert Birkhofer (DE), Lucienne Blessing (LU), Jean-Francois Boujut (FR), Marco Cantamessa (IT), Gaetano Cascini (IT), John Clarkson (UK), Steve Culley (UK), Alex Duffy (UK), Claudia Eckert (UK), Steven Eppinger (US), Tom Howard (DK), Bill Ion (UK), Yong Se Kim (KR), Udo Lindemann (DE), Anja Maier (DK), Tim McAloone (DK), Chris McMahon (UK), Yukari Nagai (JP), Kevin Otto (US), Yoram Reich (IL), Mario Storga (HR), Peter Torlind (SE), Yasushi Umeda (JP), Sandro Warzack (DE), Bernard Yannou (FR), Maria Yang (US)

2011 - 2013

Petra Badke-Schaub (NL), Herbert Birkhofer (DE), Lucienne Blessing (LU), Jean-Francois Boujut (FR), Marco Cantamessa (IT), Amaresh Chakrabarti (IN), Wei Chen (US), John Clarkson (UK), Steve Culley (UK), Alex Duffy (UK), Steven Eppinger (US), Geroges Fadel (US), Susan Finger (US), Bill Ion (UK), Yong Se Kim (KR), Udo Lindemann (DE), Anya Maier (DK), Tim McAloone (DK), Yukari Nagai (JP), Margareta Norell (SE), Kevin Otto (US), Yoram Reich (IL), Warren Seering (US), Mario Storga (HR), Toshiharu Taura (JP), Tetsuo Tomiyama (NL/UK), Bernard Yannou (FR)

2009 - 2011

Mogens Myrup Andreasen (DK), Erik Antonsson (US), Petra Badke-Schaub (NL), Herbert Birkhofer (DE), Lucienne Blessing (LU), Jean-Claude Bocquet (FR), Jean-Francois Boujut (FR), Jonathan Cagan (US), Marco Cantamessa (IT), Amaresh Chakrabarti (IN), Wei Chen (US), John Clarkson (UK), Steve Culley (UK), Alex Duffy (UK), Steven Eppinger (US), Susan Finger (US), Bill Ion (UK), Tim McAloone (DK), Panos Papalambros (US), Yoram Reich (IL), Asko Riitahuhta (FI), Norbert Roozenburg (NL), Warren Seering (US), Kristina Shea (DE), Toshiharu Taura (JP), Tetsuo Tomiyama (NL), Sándor Vajna (DE), Ken Wallace † (UK)

2007 - 2009

Mogens Myrup Andreasen (DK), Erik Antonsson (US), Eiji Arai (JP), Petra Badke-Schaub (NL), Herbert Birkhofer (DE), Lucienne Blessing (LU), Jean-Claude Bocquet (FR), Jean-Francois Boujut (FR), Jonathan Cagan (US), Marco Cantamessa (IT), Amaresh Chakrabarti (IN), Wei Chen (US), John Clarkson (UK), Steven Eppinger (US), Susan Finger (US), John Gero (AU), Tim McAloone (DK), Harald Meerkamm (DE), Dorian Marjanovic (HR), Asko Riitahuhta (FI), Norbert Roozenburg (NL), Warren Seering (US), Lily Shu (CA), Toshiharu Taura (JP), Tetsuo Tomiyama (NL), Sándor Vajna (DE), Ken Wallace † (UK)

2005 - 2007

Mogens Myrup Andreasen (DK), Eiji Arai (JP), Herbert Birkhofer (DE), Lucienne Blessing (DE), Jean-Claude Bocquet (FR), Jonathan Cagan (US), Marco Cantamessa (IT), Amaresh Chakrabarti (IN), John Clarkson (UK), Susan Finger (US), John Gero (AU), Stanislav Hosnedl (CZ), Harald Meerkamm (DE), Dorian Marjanovic (HR), Margareta Norell (SE), Asko Riitahuhta (FI), Norbert Roozenburg (NL), Derek Sheldon (UK), Lily Shu (CA), Tim Smithers (ES), Tetsuo Tomiyama (NL), Sándor Vajna (DE), Ken Wallace † (UK)

2003 - 2005

Mogens Myrup Andreasen (DK), Eiji Arai (J), Herbert Birkhofer (DE), Amaresh Chakrabarti (IN), John Clarkson (UK), Susan Finger (US), John Gero (AU), Stanislav Hosnedl (CZ), Harald Meerkamm (DE), Dorian Marjanovic (HR), Margareta Norell (SE), Asko Riitahuhta (FI), Ryszard Rohatynski (PL), Norbert Roozenburg (NL), Derek Sheldon (UK), Lily Shu (CA), Tim Smithers (ES), Tetsuo Tomiyama (NL), Sándor Vajna (DE), Ken Wallace † (UK), Christian Weber (DE)

2001 - 2003

Mogens Myrup Andreasen (DK), Pedro Ferreirinha (CH), Susan Finger (US), John Gero (AU), Crispin Hales (US), Stanislav Hosnedl (CZ), Udo Lindemann (DE), Harald Meerkamm (DE), Dorian Marjanovic (HR), Margareta Norell (SE), Umberto Pighini † (IT), Asko Riitahuhta (FI), Ryszard Rohatynski (PL), Norbert Roozenburg (NL), Andrew Samuel † (AU), Warren Seering (US), Derek Sheldon (UK), Tim Smithers (ES), Tetsuo Tomiyama (NL), Sándor Vajna (DE), Ken Wallace † (UK), Christian Weber (DE)