A discussion with Commissioner Gabriel on the European Innovation Area

Speakers for this event

• Bernd Schäfer

  Bernd Schäfer

  CEO, EIT RawMaterials

  Bernd Schäfer has extensive business experience. Prior to his recent role as CEO/Managing Director at apt Group, leading European supplier of extruded, anodised and processed aluminium products, he was the VP Commercial, Global Commercial Transportation and Industrial in Alcoa. His area of accountability included global market responsibility as well as execution of the innovation and technology roadmap in close cooperation with R&D. Mr Schäfer was a Board Member with the Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie (the trade association of the aluminium industry) and the Wirtschaftsvereinigung Metalle (the umbrella of metal producing companies in Germany) until 2020.

  CEO, EIT RawMaterials

• Maria da Graça Carvalho

  Maria da Graça Carvalho

  MEP, EPP, Portugal

  Maria da Graça Carvalho is currently member of the European Parliament (2019-2024). In the European Parliament she is a full Member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and a substitute Member on the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and substitute member on Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM). She follows as well the parliamentary Delegations for relations with the United States, for relations with the countries of Central America and Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly. As a MEP, she was appointed rapporteur of the Specific Programme Implementing HORIZON 2020 and of the report on Simplification of the Rules of Participation in the European Programs for Research and Innovation. In 2011, she was awarded the Prize for the best MEP in the area of Research and Innovation.

  MEP, EPP, Portugal

• Mariya Gabriel

  Mariya Gabriel

  EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth

  Mariya Ivanova Gabriel is a Bulgarian politician and a member of the GERB party serving as European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth since 2019. She was previously a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 to 2017. In the European Parliament, she served as Vice-President of the European People’s Party (EPP) group, Vice-President of EPP Women, and head of the Bulgarian EPP delegation. She was first appointed to the European Commission in 2017 as European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society to fill a spot left vacant by the departure of Kristalina Georgieva.

  EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth

• Robbert Fisher

  Robbert Fisher

  President, Knowledge4Innovation

  Robbert Fisher specializes in strategy and policy in the fields of R&D, technology transfer and innovation in general. His key focus is on ICT policy. Since 1st January 2020 he is principal associate investigator at the University de las Campinas in Sao Paolo Brazil, where he focuses on the further development of Big Data and AI for policy analysis, development and monitoring. Robbert is on the board of several start up companies, a trusted expert for the European Commission in the field of big data and AI, and since 2017 the president of K4I. From 2011 to 2019 Robbert was the managing director of the Joint Institute for Innovation Policy, a Brussels based think tank of four renowned RTO’s (TNO, VTT, Tecanalia and Joanneum Research). Prior to that he has founded two companies, from 1989 until 2000 he was a senior manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers. From 1991-1995 Robbert was seconded as an expert to the European Commission DG XIII (now DG CONNECT) in Luxembourg. Robbert received a Master’s degree Law, Leiden University, the Netherlands with special subjects Intellectual property, Information Systems and Business economics. He holds degrees in marketing and public relations. In addition, he is an alumnus of the PwC International Management Development Programme, and has followed executive courses at Darden Business School and Oxford Said Business School.

  President, Knowledge4Innovation

• Roland Strauss

  Roland Strauss

  Managing Director, Knowledge4Innovation

  Managing Director, Knowledge4Innovation

• Stef Denayer

  Stef Denayer

  Stakeholder Relations Manager for Pilots4U at Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant

  Is stakeholder relations manager for the European Pilots4U platform at BBEPP. Holds a master degree in industrial engineering chemistry (Leuven University Faculty of Engineering Technology Groep T 1992), specialised studies environmental management & technologies (KU Leuven 1993) and business to business marketing (Ehsal Brussels 1998). He has extensive knowledge about material upcycling, cradle to cradle and industrial symbiosis. Past experiences include triple helix cleantech cluster management and European collaboration projects with sustainability as focus area.

  Stakeholder Relations Manager for Pilots4U at Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant

• Stefan Drüssler

  Stefan Drüssler

  Chief Operating Officer, UnternehmerTUM

  Stefan Drüssler is Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of UnternehmerTUM. He supports the whole organization with ~250 employees to thrive for operational excellence, dedication to its strategy and determined cooperation of all departments. Besides others, he is responsible for UnternehmerTUM's education programs, the XPRENEURS Incubation Program and the Initiative for Industrial Innovators. Before joining UnternehmerTUM early in 2017, Stefan Drüssler has gained experience in strategy consulting at The Boston Consulting Group.

  Chief Operating Officer, UnternehmerTUM

• Tina Kleingarn

  Tina Kleingarn

  Founder, Westend Corporate Finance

  Partner at Westend Corporate Finance (Frankfurt, Germany), an advisory boutique dedicated to exit readiness for IPOs and sell sides Studied business administration and Japanese studies at Mannheim University (Germany) and Hitotsubashi University (Japan) Master degree (Dipl.-Kauffrau) with the main focus on banking/finance, organizational management and Japanese studies 12 years track record in Investment banking working for Goldmans Sachs and Barclays NED (non-executive directorships) in publicly listed corporations

  Founder, Westend Corporate Finance

• Ulrich Schuh

  Ulrich Schuh

  President, Eureka

  Ulrich Schuh is President of Eureka, the world largest public network for international cooperation in Research, Development and Innovation. Ulrich Schuh is also Director for Economic Policy at WPZ-Research in Vienna, he is member of the Austrian Fiscal Council and of the Austrian Financial Market Stability Board. Ulrich Schuh has been Head of the Department for Economics at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna between 2004-2011. From 2011 to 2016 he has been Scientific Manager at EcoAustria an economic research Institute in Vienna. From 2016-2018 Ulrich Schuh was Director General for Innovation and Economy at the Ministry for Economic Affairs. From July 1st 2017 to December 31st 2018 he was Chairman of the High Level Group for Competitiveness and Growth at the European Council in Brussels. Ulrich Schuh holds a PhD. in Economics from University of Vienna. His research areas are econometrics, labour economics, public finances, pensions systems, innovation and model building in economics.

  President, Eureka

• Willem Jonker

  Willem Jonker

  CEO , EIT Digital

  Prof. Willem Jonker (1962) has a broad background in ICT, both in industry as well as in academia. He studied mathematics and computer science at Groningen University, worked at Delft University of Technology, received his PhD from the University of Utrecht, and is a part-time full professor in computer science at Twente University. Willem Jonker's industrial experience covers telecommunications (KPN), IT (European Computer industry Research Centre, Munich) and consumer electronics (Philips). He held several positions as researcher, international project leader, department head, sector head, and account manager. In 2006 he was appointed Vice President Philips Research. Prof. Dr. Jonker has served European ICT research in various ways amongst others as project leader, reviewer, and advisor.

  CEO , EIT Digital