International Design Competition | Spark Awards

TOM MATANO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN, ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY

Tom has thirty years of experience in the automotive design industry. Prior to joining the faculty at the Academy of Art, he held design positions at General Motors Design in Michigan, GM Holden’s in Australia, and BMW in Germany. In 1983, he became a Chief Designer at Mazda North America, rising to become VP of the Design Division, Executive VP of Western Operations for Mazda R&D North America, and Executive Designer & Director of Mazda North American Operations. From 1999 to 2002, Tom worked with Mazda Headquarters in Japan, as an Executive Designer in the Global Advance Studio and the General Manager of Mazda Design. He managed the Chief Designers group that creates the entire Mazda car line designs, as well as the European and North American studios. Tom's accomplishments at Mazda include the MPV, MX 5, RX 7, Miata “M-Coupe” concept car, Miata “M-Speedster” concept car and many other projects by the design teams he managed and created. Mr. Matano is committed to becoming an educator, and has used his diverse knowledge and experience to enhance the Industrial Design program at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, since 2002.