International E-Waste Design Competition

Chris Newman

Materials Management Branch, U.S. EPA Region 5

Chris Newman is an Environmental Scientist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regional office in Chicago, and works on electronic scrap issues and sustainability in the federal government. Much of Chris' electronics-related work has focused on outreach and developing tools and information to help improve the management of used electronics. He has been part of the team that developed the Federal Electronics Challenge, a voluntary lifecycle management program for federal facilities, noteworthy because as the world's largest IT purchaser changes at the federal level can have a large impact in the marketplace. Other electronics projects that Chris is involved in include the Electronics Environmental Benefits Calculator that quantifies the benefits of “green” electronics lifecycle management, EPA’s Plug-In to eCycling program and efforts to increase communication between regional states on electronic scrap issues.

Bill Olson

Director, Office of Sustainability and Stewardship, Mobile Devices Business, Motorola, Inc.

Bill Olson is Director of the Office of Sustainability and Stewardship for Motorola Mobile Devices, leading a key corporate initiative named ECOMOTO. In his role, Bill drives go-to-market strategy for green mobile device products and technologies, and has championed the adoption of ECOMOTO principles across several Motorola business units. ECOMOTO focuses on the realization of environmentally sound, seamless Motorola mobile products and seeks to deliver sustained business impact through green materials and innovative ecodesign practices as can be found in the world's first carbon free phones built with post consumer recycled plastic: W233 RENEW and MOTOCUBO A45 ECO and the world's first "green" android phones introduced in 2010 - CITRUS and SPICE.

Bill started the ECOMOTO initiative during his previous role in Motorola Corporate Research, where he headed labs dedicated to International and Environmental Research. Bill's team in Europe conducted testing on hundreds of Motorola products to ensure they met environmental regulatory requirements of the EU (WEEE/RoHS), American and Asian markets. His lab in China worked closely with manufacturing, engineering and the supply chain to achieve improvements in factory productivity, yield and product reliability.

Bill first joined Motorola's automotive group in 1992, where he implemented the first VOC-free conformal coating for engine controls. He also drove a variety of cost reduction teams for the engine auto body/control businesses.

Bill graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry. Bill has 23 US patents and more than 40 technical publications.