Invited Speakers

Mr. Akiya was born in Toyota City in Aichi Prefecture in 1967. After graduating from Aichi University of Education Graduate School in 1992, he joined the design division of Araco Corporation where he was involved in the development of exterior and interior styling of vehicles. For four years starting in 1996, he was stationed at Toyota Europe Office of Creation in Belgium and was involved in the planning and commercialization of many new concepts. Starting in 2000, he was engaged in the development of exterior and interior designs of vehicles and development of vehicle seats. He developed fabrics in India, Brazil, Argentina, Indonesia, Thailand and South Africa for commercialization. Later, Araco Corporation (interior business) merged with Takanichi Co., Ltd. and Toyoda Boshoku Corporation in 2004 to become Toyota Boshoku Corporation. After the merger, he was appointed Group Leader in the Strategic and Advanced Design Department in the Design Division. In 2009, he was appointed as Manager of the Creative Studio Department in the Fabric Style Division and as a member of the Conference on the Future of Toyota Boshoku. In 2010, he concurrently assumed the post of Manager of the Department of Automotive Interior Space Planning in the Product Planning & Management Center.

Member, International Association for Universal Design (IAUD)
2007 Manager, Workshop WG, Research & Development Planning Division, IAUD
2009 Member, Promotion Committee, IAUD
Member of the Executive Committee for the IAUD Special Workshop “48-Hour Design Marathon” at the 2nd International Conference for Universal Design in Kyoto 2006