9th European Innovation Summit

Blais, Marie-Josée

Assistant Deputy Minister, Science and Innovation, Ministry of the Economy, Science and Innovation, Government of Québec

Marie-Josée Blais was appointed in February 2016 as Assistant Deputy Minister for Science and Innovation. Her responsibilities include the development and implementation of Québec's research and innovation strategies. Previously, Marie-Josée held various strategic and management positions in public organizations both in Quebec and abroad. As Director of International Collaborations and Director of the Coordination for International Affairs (now Export Québec), Marie-Josée has participated in several government missions. From 1991 to 2001, she carried out various technology assessments in the United Kingdom and then in AETMIS. She is a member of the boards of directors of key partners in research and innovation (Fonds de recherche en santé du Québec, Génome Québec, Centre de recherche industrielle du Québec), and was recently appointed a member of the Commission de l’éthique en science et en technologie. She holds a Master's Degree in Public Health from the University of Montreal and a Certificate in Health Economics from the University of Aberdeen.

Child, Patrick

Deputy Director General, DG Research and Innovation

Legre, Yannick

Managing Director, EGI Foundation

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.

Roland Strauss

Managing Director, Knowledge4Innovation

Rettich, Thomas

Head of Research Coordination TRUMPF, Photonics21 EB member

Dr. Thomas Rettich is responsible for the Research and Science Coordination at TRUMPF and is an active member of VDMA, Photonics21 and other institutions. His background is electrical engineering, especially laser technology with a degree from RWTH Aachen. As a researcher he worked at the Fraunhofer‐Institute of Laser Technology in Aachen before moving to the TRUMPF group in 1994. Since 2010, he is responsible for the research and the science coordination of the TRUMPF group. He is well connected within the German and European research community and related industry, and he is active in relevant networks like VDMA and Photonics21. As chair of Photonics21 work group 2 on industrial manufacturing, he supported the multiannual strategic agenda process and the process to set up the recent Horizon 2020 work programmes.

Schulte, Bernd

Executive Board Member, President AIXTRON

Dr. Bernd Schulte was appointed member of the Executive Board of AIXTRON SE (Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer) in April 2002. Having joined AIXTRON SE as Project Manager in 1993, he assumed responsibility as Head of Product Management for Asia in 1997 and became Director of the Compound and Organic Semiconductor Business Units in 2001. On September 1, 2017, he was appointed President of AIXTRON SE. In addition to his function at AIXTRON, Dr. Schulte had the honor to serve as the President of the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC) from December 2003 until February 2007. In the course of its foundation in December 2005, Dr. Schulte was appointed Vice President of the Executive Board of the European Technology Platform “Photonics21”. Furthermore, he serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Fraunhofer Institute FEP in Dresden. Dr. Schulte holds a PhD in Physics (Dr. rer. nat.) of the Technical University of Darmstadt.

Becks, Bart

Executive Chairman, EURACTIV

Neppel, Clara

Senior Director, European Business Operations, IEEE European Public Policy Initiative

Oettinger, Günther H.

Commissioner for Budget & Human Resources

Günther H. Oettinger is European Commissioner for Budget & Human Resources since January 2017. From November 2014 to December 2016, he held office as European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society after being European Commissioner for Energy from February 2010 to October 2014 and lastly also Vice-President of the European Commission in 2014. From 2005-2010, he was Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg (Germany) and, since 1984, a member of the regional Parliament ("Landtag"). He was the leader of the CDU Landtag group from January 1991 to April 2005. A lawyer by training, Günther H. Oettinger became actively involved in politics during his adolescence. He is a member of the Federal Executive Committee and of the Steering Committee of the CDU Germany.

Oliveira, Carlos

Entrepreneur, CEO of ebankIT, President of InvestBraga and Startup Braga, Non-Executive Director of Pathena, Member of the European Innovation Council High-Level Group

Piccard, Bertrand

Explorer, Chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation

With his dual identity as a medical doctor and explorer, Bertrand Piccard has become an influential voice heard among the most distinguished institutions across the globe as a forward-thinking leader in progress and sustainability. He is independent, not affiliated to a particular party or lobbying group, and as such is a trusted adviser and influencer for the development of new societal solutions, and a very sought-after speaker for private and public audiences. It is in Bertrand’s DNA to go beyond the obvious and achieve the impossible, as he did with his two round-the-world flights, recently in a solar-powered airplane, and before that non-stop in a balloon. The ocean depths and the stratosphere attracted his father and grandfather; the challenges of our time fascinate him. Rather than new territories, he wants to discover new ways of doing and thinking, in particular in the field of clean technologies for a better quality of life. Bertrand is the initiator and visionary behind Solar Impulse, the very first airplane capable of flying perpetually without fuel. Taking turns at the controls with André Borschberg for the first flight around the world on solar power, his ambition is to leverage pioneering spirit for a useful contribution to the cause of renewable energies. This is why he spent the last 15 years bringing together the major partners providing technologies and funds for this adventure. Together with his wife Michèle, he conceived the Solar Impulse project as a now widely recognized platform to raise public awareness and encourage political actions in favour of clean technologies and energy efficiency, the next stage of which includes the establishment to this end of the World Alliance for Efficient Solutions under the aegis of the Solar Impulse Foundation The inspiration he received from other explorers and pioneers during his childhood gave him the desire to inspire young generations in return.

Porrino, Fabrizio

Senior Vice President, Global Public Affairs, FacilityLive

Aué, Jan-Jaap

Dean Centre of Expertise Energy, Hanze University of Applied Sciences

Jan-jaap Aué worked as a PhD student at the University of Groningen from 1991-1997. Hereafter, working at KNP Research from 1997 – 2002 and at TNO from 2003 – 2009, he became interested in innovation management and bringing research to business in new products and services. In 2009 he joined Hanze University of Applied Sciences, in Groningen, as Dean of Life Sciences and Engineering, creating a Research and innovation Centre on Energy. Within this centre a unique Open Innovation Facility on Energy was created in close cooperation with industry: EnTranCe http://en-tran-ce.org/. In April 2015 he was appointed Dean of the Centre of Expertise Energy at Hanze UAS. Jan-jaap. Aué holds a PhD In Materials Sciences form the University of Groningen.

Noorman, Klaas Jan

Professor of Energy Transition, Hanze University of Applied Sciences

Klaas Jan Noorman (1964), originally trained as a biologist, has a PhD in environmental sciences of the University of Groningen (1995). From 1990 to 1994 he was affiliated as a research fellow at the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies (IVEM) of the University of Groningen. From 1995 to 2000 he was a staff member of IVEM. During this period his major areas of research interest were natural capital accounting and energy analysis studies. In 2000 he was one of the two founders and co-director of KNN Milieu, a research and consultancy firm on energy and sustainability issues. He was mainly involved in energy and climate projects and projects aimed at including sustainability principles in policy making. In 2009 he started proDO Consult B.V. As director and senior consultant he was involved in many energy-related projects. From 2012 to 2014 he was employed at the Energy Valley Foundation as a senior manager Research and Education and seconded to the Energy Academy Europe. At the Energy Academy Europe he was manager Research and Education and responsible for setting up new research and educational programs for energy. He had -among other- special responsibility for the development of hotspots for vocational training in the North of the Netherlands, for organizing Transition Debates at an academic level about the new energy future and for developing new training methods. In 2009 he was founder and Director of ProDO Consult. Research & Consultancy Company on Energy Transition Issues. Since then he has been involved in many energy projects as researcher, consultant, project leader and interim programme manager. In 2017 he started as a professor Energy Innovation at the Centre of Expertise Energy of the Hanze University of Applied Sciences (Hanze UAS) in Groningen. Hanze UAS is the leader in applied research into renewable energy. It is one of the universities of applied sciences where students from various disciplines are trained in energy education and are involved in research into energy matters. As part of the Centre of Expertise Energy, the Energy Transition Centre (EnTranCe) plays a key role as a testing ground for applied sciences and innovations. EnTranCe is the hotspot of applied sciences for businesses and innovations. It has the facilities, technologies and the best possible network to develop plans into the energy products and services the energy market demands.

van Gemert, Wim

Professor of Energy Innovation, Hanze University of Applied Sciences

Barthélemy, Pierre

Executive Director Innovation, Cefic

Pierre Barthélemy obtained his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Liège, Belgium, in 1987, in the field of lanthanide coordination chemistry, followed by one year of postdoctoral research at Florida State University. He joined Solvay in 1988 in Brussels, Belgium, and moved to various R&D, management and senior leadership roles. He worked successively in the field of fluorocarbons, peptide pharmaceutical ingredients, and materials for the emerging market of organic electronics. Since June 2014, he has been seconded to Cefic (European Chemical Industry Council) and is now the Executive Director Research and Innovation at Cefic, leading the Research and Innovation program in collaboration with Cefic member companies, representing the priorities of the chemical industry toward the EU-institutions for innovation-related aspects. He is a member of the board of SusChem (www.suschem.org) and A.SPIRE (www.spire2030.eu)

Hua, Ling

Senior Vice President, Head of Group Biotechnology, Clariant

Dr. Hua obtained her Ph.D. from Rice University in Houston, Texas. She joined BioCatalytics, Inc., a startup company in Southern California, where she and her team developed and commercialized more than 50 enzymes (biocatalysts) as screening kits for pharmaceutical companies. She then joined the faculty of the Chemistry Department at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas as Harold Jeskey Assistant Professor. She spent 3 years at SMU, teaching and doing research in enzyme catalysis. She authored more than 40 research papers, book chapters, and she is the inventor of several dozens of issued patents. She joined Danisco, Genencor Division in 2007, found its China Research Center, which then became DuPont Industrial Biosciences China Research Center. Under her leadership, her team developed numerous new products, generating millions dollars of revenues each year. She moved back to the US in 2013 to lead DuPont Industrial Biosciences R&D in Wilmington, and was responsible for its Biofuel, Bioactives and Biomaterials portfolio. Dr. Hua joined Clariant as head of Group Biotechnology in May of 2017, responsible for the future of Biotechnology at Clariant.

Porter, Martin

Executive Director, i2-4c

Dr. Martin Porter has been the Executive Director for Industrial Innovation and EU Affairs of the European Climate Foundation (ECF) and a member of its Executive Management Team since 2014. He has lead the establishment of its Industrial Innovation for Competitiveness initiative (i24c), which works in partnership with business, political and civil society leaders to play a thought-leadership role on how Europe can best secure competitive advantage in the transition to a new clean economy. Martin is a member of the EESC’s Consultative Committee on Industrial Change, an advisor to the European Commission’s H2020 Societal Challenge 5 Advisory Group on Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials, a Senior Associate for the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, and a member of the Advisory Board of UCL’s European Institute. Martin has over two decades of experience in EU affairs: he was a co-founder of Brussels’ first ‘think-do tank’, The Centre, and joined the ECF from Edelman, where he was Chair of the European Public Affairs Practice and General Manager of the Brussels office.

Savonen, Stefan

Vice President Energy & Climate, LKAB

Stefan has more than 20 years of experience from the field of energy and environment, including at least ten years of them in the mining industry. Stefan has published several articles concerning the use of energy in mining industry and is also an inventor of patented technology to reduce NOx in pelletising plants. After studies on Master’s level in energy at Mid Sweden University, Stefan worked as a university lecturer and ended up as a director of education in energy and electrical engineering, Stefan have also experience from energy production at different management levels and is a former CEO for an energy producing company. At LKAB Stefan started an R&D department in energy end emissions and during the last years Stefan have been responsible at group level for energy & climate. Stefan lives in the village of Svappavaara, in the Swedish ore fields, 150 km north of the Arctic Circle.

Schröder, Robert

Member of Cabinet, Commissioner Moedas

Robert Schröder is Member of the Cabinet of Commissioner Moedas for Research, Science and Innovation. Within the Cabinet, he is responsible for Environment, Climate Action, Energy and Agriculture, as well as regulatory innovation, programming of Horizon 2020 and synergies with the Structural Funds. Before Joining the Cabinet, Robert worked in the European Commission in DG Research and Innovation and in DG Environment. Before joining the European Commission, Robert represented the Dutch water sector in Brussels and worked in the European Parliament as policy advisor.

Vandeputte, Kurt

Senior Vice President Umicore - Rechargeable Battery Materials

Juha Heikkilä

Head of Unit Robotics and Artificial Intelligencem DG CONNECT

Since 2014 Juha Heikkilä has been the Head of the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence unit in the European Commission Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, which develops the Commission policy and activities in Artificial Intelligence. The Commission has been funding a multidisciplinary programme on Cognitive Systems, Robotics and AI since 2004, focusing on smart robots and artificial systems, and in 2014 it set up a Public-Private Partnership in Robotics. Previously, Juha Heikkilä was involved in computational and corpus linguistic research at the University of Helsinki, and he has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Cambridge.

Siewiorek, Robert

Technology Issues Journalist, Gazeta Wyborcza

Robert Siewiorek – PhD, literary scholar, journalist, feature writer and science popularizer interested in influence of digital technologies on humanity. An author of many popular science articles and few books. Writes for „Gazeta Wyborcza”.

Wisse, Martin

Professor, TU Delft

Dr Martijn Wisse (1976) started a Mechanical Engineering programme at TU Delft in 1994 and has been active in robotics since 2000. He originally worked with humanoid walking robots, for which he was awarded a Veni grant in 2004 after obtaining his PhD. In 2010, he was also awarded a Vidi grant for his research on natural movement in robots. Since 2012, he has been leading the European Factory in a Day consortium, which develops ‘Plug & Work’ robot solutions for the SME sector. He also co-founded two companies: Lacquey, specialist in food-handling robots and robot systems integrator Delft Robotics. Wisse is co-founder of the TU Delft Robotics Institute and is closely involved in regional development activities, such as the establishment of the Robo Service Centre in Delft and the launch of the International Robotics Master Class ‘Robotics for Future Presidents’.