David Muyres is an experienced innovation and

product development leader with a global technical

and creative perspective. He has held functional and executive management positions in Asia, Europe and North America. In addition to his broad corporate experience, he has also held leadership positions in academia, started non-profits, and served as a partner

in a consulting firm in Washington, DC, focused on sustainable transportation. He is passionate about

the role design and design thinking can play in transforming business, especially within the automotive and new mobility industries.

 

Most recently, Mr. Muyres led the global product innovation, consumer research and advanced

technology teams at Yanfeng Automotive Interiors

(YFAI), a joint venture between Adient (formerly

Johnson Controls, Inc) and Yanfeng. YFAI, a

$10 billion company, is the largest automotive

interior supplier in the world. In this role, he was responsible for three regional development teams

located in Holland, Michigan, Neuss, Germany and Shanghai, China, as well as an advanced    development satellite in Silicon Valley.

 

Prior to this, he was a Director at the Corporate Innovation Center at the Johnson Controls (JCI) global headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The focus of

the Innovation Center was to identify large-scale

business opportunities across the company’s diverse building and automotive business units. Mr. Muyres worked at JCI for more than 20 years, in roles

including Vice President of Design and Consumer Research in Europe, as well as Vice President and General Manager of Product and Business

Development in Japan. In these roles, he directed all aspects of product and business development,

managed a $25 million budget and more than

200 employees. He also received six patents during    his tenure with the company.

 

Mr. Muyres also served as Vice President, Educational Initiatives, for the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, the world's leading automotive design school. In this capacity, he was responsible for developing new strategic offerings for the college. He also created and facilitated the Art Center’s Summits,

a series of annual events focused on sustainable

mobility and the future of how people move around

the planet.

 

Through a multitude of unique learning experiences,    Mr. Muyres gained leadership insight. He helped   launch the NewNorth Center for Design in Business, located in western Michigan, whose mission was to teach business leaders about the value of design and  the creative process. Mr. Muyres joined forces with HuntGreen LLC, in Washington, DC, to further    integrate sustainable solutions into newly emerging national policy. He also helped launch the non-profit organization, Operation Wheels of Freedom  Foundation, whose mission is to honor, entertain        and educate the men and woman of the United States military, while addressing a serious rise in motor 

vehicle accidents following deployments.

 

Mr. Muyres has a passion for bringing the best and brightest minds together to re-envision the transportation industry. He believes that human-centered design and having the right product solution can play a key role in motivating people to embrace change and build excitement for new, sustainable mobility systems. Throughout his career, his multi-cultural experiences   have enabled him to build strong creative teams    within corporate environments. He also has a long    track record of attracting, retaining and growing talent into impactful, empowered, passionate teams.

 

His vision and passion have resulted in speaking engagements at a variety of design and innovation events in eight different countries. In December 2008, Mr. Muyres was asked to testify on the future of the automotive industry to Representative Edward Markey’s House Select Committee on  Energy Independence and Global Warming in Washington DC.

 

Mr. Muyres grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota.       

He studied mechanical engineering and philosophy      at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York,   and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Transportation Design from Art Center College of 

Design in Pasadena, California.

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