Maral Koohestanian
Founding Curator
Maral is the founding curator of the Stuttgart hub. As a research associate at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO Stuttgart her focus is set on smart and sustainable cities. She has an academic background in architecture and development studies. Fluent in seven languages, she also works as an interpreter and translator in diverse professional spheres.
Email me: maral.kooh@gmail.com
Philipp Rathjen
Founding Vice-Curator
Philipp is an entrepreneur, founder of the B2B venture Prospeum based in Stuttgart and Munich, focusing on the development of AI powered procurement technology. Prior to this, Philipp studied economics and technology management in Mexico City, Mannheim, Munich and New York. His passions include renewable energy, technology and building an inclusive society.
Email me: philipp.rathjen@outlook.com
Sophie Mok
Founding Shaper
Sophie has a background in environmental sciences and bioeconomy and works as researcher and project manager at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO). Her work focuses on how green and nature-based solutions can help cities to become more resilient and adapt to climate change. Originally from Stuttgart, she returned after living in different cities such as Milan, Freiburg, Kaohsiung and Christchurch. Sophie loves cooking, yoga and urban gardening.
Email me: sophie@mok.de
Nikita Shetty
Founding Shaper
Nikita is a Consultant at BABLE UG, a spin-off from the Fraunhofer Institute. She works with municipalities, private sector and academia to improve urban life using technology and data. The advancements in technology have a huge potential to tackle our global and urban challenges.
Email me: nikitashetty08@gmail.com
Raoul Schönhof
WEF Global Shaper
Raoul is an engineer, passionate about AI Systems, particularly their application in product design, juggling legal, ethical, and technological constraints and implications. He is actively involved in diverse local institutions, working towards a Stuttgart the works together in a more altruistic manner and embodies a technology Eldorado.
Email me: rschonhof@icloud.com
Ibrahim Yazgan
WEF Global Shaper
Ibrahim is passionate about transformation – especially by leveraging his expertise in strategy and finance. He worked for 7+ years at Daimler AG where he started as a cooperative academy student before moving into corporate venture capital, M&A and performance improvement roles. His interests include local as well as global issues such as the real estate market, social mobility, international relations and politics. Ibrahim loves powerlifting and would probably never admit that he is still a fan of his childhood series “Avatar – lord of the elements”.
Email me: ibrahim_yazgan@hotmail.de
David Schneider
WEF Global Shaper
David enjoys learning about a broad range of sectors, industries and cultures. He is particularly passionate about entrepreneurship, education, international development and environmental issues. He currently works for a contemporary art organization focused on bringing together artists and scientists to develop research, exhibitions, public programming and education that inspires people to care for the oceans. Previously, he worked for an NGO that reignites intrinsic motivation in teachers and officials across education systems in East Africa, India and Indonesia.
Email me: d.schneider@bwa-deutschland.de
Mehdi Saied
WEF Global Shaper
Driven by his passion for sustainability and technology, Mehdi is working on the development of future mobility solutions as part of the Junior Managers Program at Robert Bosch GmbH. He is particularly interested in the intersection of innovation and sustainability in a triple bottom line business context. Mehdi is involved in many initiatives and projects aimed at reimagining cultural integration as well as public policy in Europe and Africa.
Email me: msaied@outlook.com
Yasemin Bayrak
WEF Global Shaper
After completing her studies in Business Administration at the University of Mannheim and the University of Technology in Sydney, she is now pursuing a German-French Master´s degree in European Management. She is enthusiastic about private-public relationships and is currently an intern at the European Investment Bank. Being fluent in 5 languages and having lived in Turkey, Germany, Australia and France, she is driven by her fascination to engage in initiatives related to intercultural dialogue. Furthermore, she is experienced in projects related to inclusive education and the development of mentoring programs for children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Email me: yasemin.bayrak12.08@hotmail.de
Tom Jetter
WEF Global Shaper
Tom is a researcher and adventurer who works on future-oriented technologies. Since March 2017, Tom works at Daimler so far his journey took him from developing connected car services for smart to the Urban Mobility Solutions at Mercedes-Benz. Although Tom originally devoted himself to the study of engineering, aesthetics is the real leitmotif of his life. As a young Person with Passion, his primary goal is to creatively push the envelope. After focusing on the production of digital media, he is now concentrating on urban mobility and its challenges. It’s an exciting mixture of his work at Aalen University, where he worked on research for brain-computer interfaces for coma patients and holding lectures about human-machine interaction, and his work at Mercedes-Benz. At the Global Shapers he is happy to be part of a young inspired group of people to drive a change within his local area.
Email me: tom.jetter@citizencommunity.org
