THE PARTICIPANTS OF quot;SPINNING THE WHEEL quot;

RODRIGO ALMEIDA

Rodrigo is a Brazilian designer whose work has been exhibited in Brazil and abroad.
At 38 years old, he is an accomplished designer of international renown. He has participated in Milan Design Week and, more recently, Stilwerk Mall & Galerie Zeitlos in Berlin. His works, which focus on the creation of interior furnishings, are known for their vivid representation of the complex nature of Brazilian culture, which borrows elements from various countries. Almeida blends these elements into a single work. He loves to study the evolution of culture and is inspired to create new concepts and objects. He has been called the most brilliant rising star in the field of Brazilian design.
AGATA FELLUGA

Agata is a 32-year-old Italian chef who was trained and made her name working in France.
In a few weeks, she will become Head Chef at the restaurant Jour de Fête in Strasbourg. She previously worked for Pascal Barbot at Astrance (Michelin three-stars) and Inaki Aizpitarte at Chateaubriand, both in Paris. These experiences have made Agata a fast improviser who is skilled in using ingredients that are alien to her own food culture. In both restaurants she worked in various positions in the kitchen and this has allowed her to become familiar with all the different dishes. She has been interviewed by the "Corriere della Sera", "La Repubblica" and other daily newspapers.
SANDRA HOFMANN BOSS

Sandra Hofmann Boss, a 36-year-old Swiss biologist, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering of the Eindhoven University of Technology. She is also the head of the Skeletal Tissue Engineering Group at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. Her main area of interest is the engineering of skeletal tissue using mesenchymal stem cells. In 2013, she won the prestigious European Research Council Starting Grant for her work and, in 2007, she was awarded the silver medal at ETH Zurich for the excellence of her doctoral dissertation. Her research focuses on the study of bio-mechanical issues such as, for example, the mechanical loads applied and perceived by cells in a 3D context and how cells respond to these in terms of the production of matrices.
HEIDI PAULA LANGVAD

Heidi is a 36-year-old Danish fashion designer known for her dark, but feminine style and the use of traditional craftsmanship as well as local products. Her work has appeared on numerous fashion websites and blogs, including Vogue. In 2012, Vogue Talents named her Muuse's Most Promising Designer in addition to giving her the Young Vision Award in 2011. She was also named Best Emerging Designer in 2012 by Costume Awards.
LEI LEI

A 29-year-old Chinese animator and graphic artist, in 2010, his film "This Is Love" was named Best Narrative Short at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. In 2013, his film "Recycled" was selected by the Annecy Festival and was declared the Grand Prix Shorts - Non Narrative winner at the Holland International Animation Film Festival. Lei Lei founded the "Raydesign Studio" animation group when he was only 19 years old. He specializes in graphic design, multimedia, illustration, graffiti and even music. In addition to numerous video animation projects, he has created design projects using Fiat cars and Nike trainers and graffiti in various Chinese cities. His art is achieving international recognition.
JAIME MAGÉN

A 39-year-old Spanish architect, Jaime is among the founders of the Magén Arquitectos architectural studio and, in 2013, he was selected as one of the 40 most important emerging architects under the age of 40. His studio has won numerous awards, including the Giancarlo Ius Gold Medal in 2011 for an "innovative, sustainable and highly energy-efficient building" and an Honourable Mention at the XI Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism in 2011. His studio focuses on the integration of architecture, urban planning, renovation and interior design and he is in charge of a broad range of complex projects from large-scale public buildings to smaller works, including the Environmental Centre of Zaragoza, the Liceo Performing Arts Centre in Alcaniz and 68 social housing units in Zaragoza. He also won first prize at the Bauwelt Preis (Munich, 2007) and the SAIE Selection Prize (Bologna, 2010).
FERGUS MCAULIFFE

A 28-year-old Irish environmental scientist, Fergus studies the use of constructed wetlands in the sustainable treatment of wastewater. He has won numerous awards for his skill in communicating scientific projects to a non-scientific audience, including the FameLab International competition in 2013. FameLab is an international science competition focusing on communication, in which scientific concepts are explained to a non-specialist audience in three minutes or less without the use of media or presentation materials. He also won the Higher Education Authority/Irish Independent "Making an Impact" Award in 2012, and has spoken at TEDx Dublin 2013 demonstrating how the scientific community can interact with the public.
SANDIN PUCE

A 28-year-old Bosnian director, Sandin was trained at the prestigious Film Academy in Ludwigsburg, Germany. In 2013, he won the Young Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his film "Frenki”. He is co-founder of the Film Club and The Short Film Festival in Mostar, has worked on projects for various companies including Adidas, Johnnie Walker and Opel and has collaborated with the New York-based film critic Howard Feinstein.
FABIO SCIARRINO

A 36-year-old Italian, Fabio is Assistant Professor of Physics at La Sapienza University of Rome and a Junior Fellow at the Scuola Superiore di Studi Avanzati Sapienza. His research focuses on experimental quantum optics, quantum information and computation, and the foundations of Quantum Mechanics. His experiments have led to the development of new techniques in his field and have contributed to the understanding of the foundations of Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Information Theory. For his activities in Integrated Quantum Photonics, he was awarded the prestigious European Research Council Starting Grant. He has published over 100 articles in international scientific journals (including 10 articles published in the journal "Nature") and has made more than 100 presentations at national and international conferences.
JEAN SILVA

A 29-year-old Brazilian tenor, he is rapidly gaining attention in his country and abroad. He owes his fame to television appearances in Brazil in 2009, and in July 2013 he sang during the visit of Pope Francis to Brazil, where he was seen live by more than 3 million people from over 30 counties, and an estimated 40 million worldwide. In December of the same year he sang as a soloist at the Auditorium of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, with a repertoire of arias by JS Bach.