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Meet our speakers
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Greg Archer is Director of the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP), a UK multi-stakeholder partnership of over 285 organisations. LowCVP works to accelerate the shift to low carbon vehicles and fuels and generate opportunity for UK businesses through facilitating action by businesses, Government and the public. Under Greg’s direction since 2004, LowCVP has doubled in size and delivered an array of successful projects including the introduction of a UK-wide voluntary car-efficiency labelling scheme; managing the establishment of Cenex, a new public-private centre of excellence for low Carbon and fuel-cell technology and the development of the worlds first national carbon and sustainability reporting scheme for biofuels. In addition to his role at LowCVP Greg is a member of the Board of Cenex and the UK’s Renewable Fuels Agency. He is a Chartered Chemist with wide ranging experience in environmental: policy, research, businesses and programme management.
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Chief Engineer of Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Technologies,
Lotus Engineering
Phil Barker has been in the automotive industry for 19 years, predominantly in the field of vehicle and chassis engineering, but more recently, as Chief Engineer of Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Technologies, in response to the increasing amount of consultancy work undertaken by Lotus Engineering in this field. His expertise lies in the vehicle integration and feasibility of electric and hybrid technologies into existing and all-new platforms. He also has experience in the creation of vehicle concepts using present and future technologies.
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Managing Director, UK,
THINK
Mr Blundell has over 20 years of broad, diverse senior executive management and consulting experience in the global, environmental services and technology sectors. He holds a BSc in Geology from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the International Management Institute, Geneva (now IMD, Lausanne). Mr. Blundell is currently a member of the executive committee and the SVP of International Business Development at Think Global AS. He is responsible for developing global sales & distribution channels and car assembly operations with a focus in Europe and Asia, as well as leading the UK and China operations. Think Global AS is a Norwegian company and the world’s first producer of a fully homologated electric vehicle in commercial volumes. For more information, please visit Think’s website at http://www.think.no. Mr. Blundell led Laidlaw Inc’s expansion into Europe in the early 1990’s as Director of Business Development. From 1992-1995 and subsequently from 2002-2004, Mr. Blundell led SGS’ global Environmental Services Division. In the 1990’s, he aggressively expanded the business from its concentrated geographic base in Europe into new markets in Asia, Africa and South America. In his second period of engagement at SGS, he focused largely on improving profitability, while driving top line growth. Mr. Blundell moved to Asia in 1995 with Hagemeyer-Cosa Liebermann to lead two new business units and be a member of a small executive team driving cultural change in the business. He spearheaded HCL’s expansion into the environment and energy businesses. Mr. Blundell followed HCL with senior roles at two early-stage companies, as President of Fluobor International (1998-2002), and CMO and CEO of Askair Technologies (2004-2006). Mr. Blundell has served on several Boards of Directors over the past 20 years and currently serves on the Advisory Boards of the following early stage companies: Suning Srl (Milan), Water Capital Inc. (Toronto), PureSense Environmental Inc. (Oakland, CA) and SNIF Labs (Boston).
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Chief Marketing Officer,
DuraCar
Guido is a business consultant, specialised in strategy, marketing and business development, who works mostly for innovative newcomers to the market and who has a preference for parties introducing disruptive technologies. In his role as C.M.O. for DuraCar Holding he is responsible for marketing, communication, business development and shaping the distribution model. Formerly Guido worked for large corporations like Coca-Cola and Vodafone in several B2B as well as B2C mainly marketing functions. Guido holds an MBA degree from Tias Business School (University of Tilburg) and Krannert Business School (University of Purdue).
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Mr Christopher Borroni-Bird, Director of Advanced Technology Vehicle Concepts,
General Motors
Dr. Christopher Borroni-Bird is currently Director of Advanced Technology Vehicle Concepts at General Motors. He is one of the world’s leading fuel cell vehicle experts and joined General Motors in 2000 as director of Design and Technology Fusion with responsibility for fostering collaboration between Design, Research and Engineering in support of future vehicle programs. Chris Borroni-Bird is the driving force behind GM’s “Reinvention of the Automobile” program, which includes the Autonomy, Hy-wire and Sequel concept vehicles. These are the first vehicles designed from a clean sheet around a hydrogen fuel cell propulsion system and the first to combine fuel cells with wheel motors and by-wire technology, which allows steering, braking and other vehicle systems to be controlled electronically rather than mechanically. AUTOnomy was unveiled at the 2002 North American International Auto Show, Hy-wire was unveiled at the Paris Motors Show in September 2002 and Sequel was unveiled at the 2005 North American International Auto Show. In May 2007 Sequel drove into the history books by becoming the first zero emissions vehicle to drive 300 miles non-stop on public roads without refueling or recharging. Prior to joining General Motors, Chris Borroni-Bird was in technology management at DaimlerChrysler and led an effort to develop fuel cell vehicles that run on gasoline. He was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame as a Young Leader in 2000.
A native of Liverpool, England, Chris Borroni-Bird earned a First-Class B.A and an M.A degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge (King’s College). He then started his Ph.D in Surface Science at University of Liverpool and completed it at the University of Cambridge (King’s College). He continued his studies on reaction heats and heterogeneous catalysts during a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Tokyo’s Institute for Solid State Physics.
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Business Writer,
The Economist and co-author of ZOOM the global race to fuel the car of the future
Iain Carson is a Business Writer at The Economist. Previously he was the Europe Business Editor 2006-2008. Before that he was Industry Editor from 1994, after rejoining the paper from BBC TV, where had been Business Correspondent. Earlier he was presenter and chief reporter for two Channel Four TV business programmes. He is a former business editor of The Observer. In his early career he worked in Paris for a Euro-magazine and, with McGraw-Hill and The Economist, in London
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Founder & CEO,
ZENN Motor Company
Ian Clifford is the Chief Executive Officer of ZENN Motor Company which he founded in 2001 as Feel Good Cars, Inc. He is responsible for leading ZENN Motor Company and inspiring the ongoing development of its vision, mission, goals and the corresponding strategies. In his role as CEO Ian also is the key spokesperson for ZMC.
The ZENN™ (Zero Emission No Noise) provides a complete, no-compromise transportation solution for environmentally conscious drivers who want to dramatically reduce their operating costs, and free themselves from dependence on oil. The current ZENN low speed vehicle is perfect for urban commuters and commercial fleets such as resorts, gated communities, airports, college and business campuses, municipalities, and parks. The current ZENN is sold through a network of retailers across the United States.
The planned commercialization and implementation of the ultra capacitor being developed by ZENN Motor Company’s strategic partner, EEStor Inc. for future ZENN vehicles is expected to enable future ZMC vehicles to travel at greater speeds and distances, just like a traditional car but at a fraction of the cost and with zero emissions!
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Head of Automotive Research,
Credit Suisse
Arndt began his career with Audi AG in 1998, where he worked on a key project within the supply department, analysing the relationship between suppliers and carmakers. Arndt subsequently joined the Volkswagen junior management program, working on a variety of projects at various locations throughout the VW group. At the beginning of 2000, Arndt joined WestLB Panmure as an equity analyst, initially covering European automotive stocks before assuming the role of Head of Automotive and Engineering research. In April 2004 Arndt joined Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, tasked with building a leading automotive equity research team. During his time at Dresdner Kleinwort, Arndt managed to establish himself and his team within the top-3 of European Automotive research team. Since the beginning of July 2007, Arndt is heading the European Automotive Research team at Credit-Suisse based in London.
Arndt has a degree in Business Economics from the University of Osnabrueck, Germany.
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Robert Evans is Chief Executive Officer of Cenex, the UK national Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell Technologies.
Cenex is a government funded agency established in 2005 to assist the UK motor industry supply chain development in the area of low carbon vehicles. Cenex manages programmes and projects with a particular focus on small fleet demonstration and knowledge transfer.
Robert has c15 years of experience in developing markets for environmental and automotive technologies for the transport sector, including those for low carbon vehicles, vehicle emissions control technologies and fuel cells.
Robert holds post graduate qualifications from both Imperial College London and Leeds University.
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Managing Partner,
Venture Select
Stefan Graber is the co-founder of Venture Select GmbH which was established end of 1998. He is founding partner of Venture Select Alpha-Fonds in 1999 and the Venture Select Beta-Fonds in year 2000. Both funds have successfully invested in mid-size technology companies in Europe and in the U.S. One of the portfolio companies was the geo-intermediate layer specialist Endoxon, Switzerland, which has been acquired by Google Inc. end of 2006. Accuray Inc. with its CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System, a portfolio company of the Venture Select Alpha-Fonds, has made its IPO at Nasdaq (NASDAQ: ARAY) in February, 2007. Prior to founding Venture Select, Stefan has worked for 15 years in leading German banks with private and corporate clients.
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Automotive Analyst,
Deutsche Bank
Eric Heymann is a Senior Economist at Deutsche Bank Research in Frankfurt/Germany. Deutsche Bank Research is the bank’s think tank for trends in business, society and the financial markets. Eric was born in 1973 in Limburg/Germany. He studied economics at the Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen (degree: Diplom-Ökonom). Eric works for the sector research department at Deutsche Bank Research since 1998 and is responsible for the transport and traffic sector, the automotive industry, environmental issues, and consumer goods.
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Monique Hitchings has been with Hart Energy Publishing since January 2000. Prior to joining FUEL full time in January 2008, she was the magazine’s editor as well as corporate director of custom publishing. Hitchings produced commemorative publications, special projects and supplements for E&P, PipeLine and Gas Technology and Oil and Gas Investor magazines as well as the newsletter division. Hitchings previously was a newspaper reporter for Texas’ Galveston Country Daily News and Lubbock Avalanche Journal. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism with honors and a BA in English from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
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Keith is a social sciences graduate interested in what influences attitudes and behaviour from a commercial perspective. Too many companies start with the product or service rather than the consumer, thinking the question is ‘How do I sell this?’ rather than ‘Who am I helping’ and ‘What problem am I solving’? Twenty years in advertising and marketing communications agencies in the UK, Europe and Asia and five start-up businesses have helped to provide insights in to consumers in general and brands in particular. As Managing Director or CEO Keith has completed five start-ups, two mergers, one sale and one IPO, learning that a brand is so much more than the product and that in today’s connected world, fast and smart can disrupt established and big in just about any market. Keith’s other passion is the environment. His most recent venture was GoinGreen, where as MD he launched the world’s first commercially successful electric car and established London as the EV capital of Europe.. The G-Wiz quickly became the world’s best selling EV (electric vehicle) and GoinGreen the recipient of more than 25 awards and accolades including Business Start-up of the Year in 2004 and Global Top 40 Low Carbon Pioneer in 2006. Keith’s personal recognition includes BT Essence of the Entrepreneur in 2006 and Top 10 Ecopreneur in 2008. In March 2008 Keith took charge of global brand development and European operations for the manufacturer of the G-Wiz, the REVA Electric Car Company, with a plan to launch one new EV every year from 2009. REVA as the brand is now known, is based in Bangalore, India and is backed by US VCs including Global Environment Fund and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
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Vice-Chancellor,
Aston University
Julia King is an engineer with experience in both industry and academia. After 16 years at Cambridge University, she moved to Rolls-Royce where she held a range of senior executive positions including Managing Director of the Fan Systems business and Director of Advanced Engineering for the Industrial Businesses. She returned to academia as Principal of the Engineering Faculty at Imperial College and in December 2007 became Vice-Chancellor of Aston University in Birmingham. Julia is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and was made a CBE for ‘Services to Materials Engineering’ in July 1999. She works closely with Government as a non-executive director of the Technology Strategy Board and the DIUS Strategic Board, and a member of the Ministerial Group on Manufacturing. She has recently been invited to join the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on the Future of Mobility. Julia was appointed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, in March 2007 to lead an independent review of low carbon vehicle and fuel technologies that, over the next 25 years, could help to reduce carbon emissions from road transport. In March 2008, alongside the Budget, Part 2 of the King Review of Low Carbon Cars: ‘Recommendations for action’ was published by HM Treasury.
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CEO,
Obvio ! Automotoveiculos S.A.
In May 2001, Ricardo started the OEM “Obvio ! Automotoveiculos S.P.C. Ltda.”, a Special Purpose Company (SPC), with focus over the niche market of “microsport cars”, with innovative designs, full carbon-neutral development, excellent safety features and high-performance engines. Two car models are going to be developed: the 828 and the 012 by the Brazilian designer Anisio Campos, after identified a business niche for a family of "green" cars - eco-flex fuels or electric models - compacts and with high-performance cars, produced in Brasil, with unique styles, ecological, high-safety features and fun to drive.
Obvio ! have focus in microsport city cars who runs with tri-flex-fuels - ethanol, NCG or gasoline – or electric version - combining Brasilian Design and international technological standards of high-security, high-performance and ultra low / zero pollution, based on “project-finance” over pre-paid + long-term exclusive distributor agreements, with a “100% outsourced” production by suppliers.
In September 2005, Obvio! started an important partnership with ZAP – short of ZERO AIR POLLUTION - a publicly traded company – OTC BB:ZAAP - a Californian company and distributor of advanced technology and fuel-efficient vehicles. Under the terms of the agreement, ZAP is the exclusive distributor of Obvio !’s cars for 21 years for the USA market, with a scheduled firm order of pre-sold production of 50.000 cars in three years, in a firm-order contract of US$700 million, already registered in the Central Bank of Brasil.
Today, ZAP is moving forward with an aggressive campaign to stay at the forefront of fuel-efficient transportation, being dedicated to high technology research and development, and owning many patents and trademarks.
Obvio ! is also entering into other markets and it is already negotiating with candidates for “Exclusive Distributors”, based in long-term, pre-paid firm order contracts for 70.000 units/year to the European market, 30.000 units/year to the Asian markets and 7.000 units/year to Latin America markets, thru Mexico, for they new “pure electric version”.
Obvio!’s prototypes 828 and 012 were first launched at the San Francisco Auto Show in November 2005. The models were also showcased at the NADA Show in February 2006, at the New York Auto Show on April 2006, at The Rat Fink Party in July 2006 and 2007, again at the San Francisco Auto Show in November 2006 and at NADA Show in February 2007. The company’s e web site is located at www.obviousa.com.
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Project Manager,
Hybrid Development Center, A Cooperation between Chrysler LLC and Daimler AG
Mr. Metzner has developed his broad knowledge of alternative powertrain technologies through many years of experience within the Daimler organization. His vast experience includes viability studies and strategic planning for numerous innovative products and services such as fuel cell, hybrid, and other powertrain technologies. Mr. Metzner has been part of the founding managing team of the Hybrid Development Center in Troy, Michigan – a Cooperation between GM, BMW Group, Chrysler LLC and Daimler AG. Mr. Metzner currently manages the Strategy and Communications Group for Daimler within the Hybrid Development Center. Mr. Metzner joined the company in1996 as a Researcher working in Daimler’s Society and Technology Research Group and has since held a variety of positions of responsibility in corporate research and product development. Significant elements of his professional and academic background include: Manager Strategy & Communications, Hybrid Development Center, 2005; Project Manager DaimlerChrysler Research, 2000; Program Manager Clean Energy Partnership - Mobility Group, 2000; Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany, 1995. Metzner was born April 18, 1971in St. Petersburg, Russia.
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Founder & CEO,
CleanPower Generation GmbH
“What if my three daughters asked me at some point in the future, whether I had been aware in the past about the imminent changes to the environment and their living conditions? I had to become active.” Marcus Miller started CleanPower Generation in May 2007, with the express goal to promote and market CO2 neutral power generation technology to industrial, commercial and public customers. The concept of decentralizing power plants, generating power at its point of consumption and thus eliminating much of the loss during transport and transformation has been at the center of his focus since 2005 and lead to the development of a CO2 neutral infrastructure solution for electric cars. The system assures clean, convenient and efficient charging time while being very economic in implementation and operation. Marcus thus became deeply involved with the issue of combining economic value with ecological investments, which resulted in the development of the CleanPower Calculator® a powerful economic analysis and simulation tool for solar power projects. In the past 21 years Marcus has been working for the high-tech industry in the Silicon Valley and in Germany in various management positions. The past seven years he spent as a managing director and partner of a consultancy to the automotive industry in Germany. He is part of the SIEMENS alumni where he spent 5 years of his professional career. Marcus Miller is specialized in strategy, business development and marketing. He holds a degree in Communication and Business Administration from Pepperdine University. For further information please refer to http://www.clean-power-generation.eu.
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Corporate Strategy Director,
Morgan Motor Company
Charles Morgan is the Corporate Strategy Director for Morgan Motor Company.
After joining the Morgan Motor Company, Charles Morgan spent three years completing a part time MBA in manufacturing management at Coventry University.
Broadly, his work at the company has involved initiating quality improvements to the range of products and the services the company provides. The addition of new technology and of new models, notably the Aero 8, is essential to this process. The future of the company depends on the development and training of the workforce and the links with the best suppliers to maintain the process of continuous improvement throughout the company.
Charles Morgan led the team that developed the Aero 8 - the first completely new Morgan for thirty years. The car is Europe’s first AIV (aluminium intensive vehicle) and is 20% lighter than comparable vehicles.
MMC has been voted Specialist Manufacturer of the year 2000 by Autocar magazine, won the Guild of Coachmakers annual motor industry award for 2000 and for 2001, collected the Sir Henry Royce Award from the Guild of Carmen. In 2002, the Morgan Motor Company was voted one of the UK’s 100 most visionary organisations by British Telecom.
Charles is a member of “Celebrity Speakers Limited” and is invited regularly to speak at functions, giving a huge variety of people from all walks of life, the benefit of his knowledge and experience as head of the “First and Last” Family owned sports car company in existence, which is presently approaching its Centenary celebrations in 2009.
Most recently Charles has made headlines as the driving force behind the “Aeromax” Coupé, a one-off build for a private customer in Geneva, which is based on the company’s successful Aero 8 model. He has also been appointed Director of the consortium formed for “The LIFECar Project”, which aims to make Morgan the first sports car manufacturer of a zero emissions, fuel celled car, being both ecologically and economically efficient. The project is due to launch a prototype vehicle at the Geneva Autoshow in March 2008.
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Ken has been with Proterra LLC, a designer and manufacturer of ultra-fuel efficient buses and trucks since October of 2007 and has over 18 years of supply chain, financial management and product development experience within the military, beverage, retail and financial services areas. Ken was a nuclear Trained Submarine Officer in the United States Navy, where he was responsible for the operation and maintenance of nuclear propulsion systems. He has held several senior manager level positions at Welch Foods including both manufacturing operations and supply chain strategy. As the VP of Finance and Merchandising Operations for Waldo’s Dollar Mart de Mexico, Ken was largely responsible for banking relationships, procurement and distribution strategic management. He also managed supply chain optimization projects as an engagement manager for McKinsey & Co. Ken has also held executive level financial management and product development position at Advance America, Inc and Wachovia Bank. Ken holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Colorado State University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
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Guido Rivolta has extensive experience in the automotive and environmental sectors. He was General Manager of Pirelli Ambiente Eco Technology (Pirelli group) from 1997 to 2007. The Company, is active, in Italy and abroad, in the clean technology sector. The turnover in 2006 was more than €70m. The Company has developed, produces and sells: i) an alternative fuel - branded with the name “Gecam – the white diesel”; a diesel/water emulsion that reduces by 40% the particulate emissions from diesel engines. ii) a diesel particulate filter system DPF that, installed as retrofit on heavy duty vehicles, reduces the particulate emissions by over 95%. During this experience he acquired a deep knowledge in analysing technologies to reduce pollution from engines, heating and power plants. He has analysed all alternative fuels (bio-diesel, bio-ethanol, vegetable oils, etc) and all types of energy conversion devices (fuel cell, micro turbines, hybrid drivelines, etc). Prior to this he worked for McKinsey as a consultant for a year and for a decade in the automotive sector. He worked for Piaggio as engines plant manager and for the clutches division of Valeo in England and in France. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano.
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General Manager,
Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik
Jörg Schindler was born 1943 in Augsburg. He is married and has four children.
He studied Business Economics at the University of Munich and aquired the degree of a Diplomkaufmann in 1968.
In the following years he had been employed in various industrial companies in Munich. He worked in research and development in the area of transport planning and systems analysis for new transport systems.
In 1984 he joined the Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik GmbH (LBST) in Ottobrunn. Since 1992 he has been Managing Director of the Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik GmbH.
With LBST he was involved with projects addressing the following topics: Studies on renewable energy sources; Studies on alternative fuels and propulsion systems for transport; Life-cycle analyses; Studies on future availability of fossil and nuclear energy sources; Energy scenarios.
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Quality, Environment and Risk-Management, H & S,
University of Applied Science & VWI
Stefan Schmidt, Quality-, Environment- and Risk Management, H & S, University of Applied Science &VWI. He has Dipl.-Ing. Feinwerktechnik (mechanical and electrical engineering) and Dipl.-Ing. Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen (industrial engineering and management, Berlin). Assistant Professor and author.
Since 1984 he has worked in industrial planning, as a project leader in logistics, on material handling design, strategy, LCC in R&D and quality management, before employment in Japan and USA and as research associate at Dortmund University in material handling systems.
He has been assistant Professor at technical colleges at Munich, Weihenstephan and Neu-Ulm, referent at Centre of Technological Co-operation in Berlin and CoC Munich.
He is also the author of numerous articles in professional journals and newspapers.
He has been a speaker and chairman at international conferences (Germany, United Kingdom, Europe, VR China, USA, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Korea, India, Singapore, Uruguay, Canada, Turkey, Lithuania, Taiwan, Egypt, Thailand, Israel, Kyrgyzstan).
He is also the publisher of business books.
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VP of European Sales & Marketing,
Lithium Force
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Founder & CEO,
Liberty Electric Cars
Barry Shrier is a visionary pioneer; with a successful track record in launching new businesses that solve consumer needs with leading-edge technology innovations.
Focussing since 2007 on addressing Global Warming / Climate Change, his current venture is Liberty Electric Cars. Liberty designs and markets zero-emission cars - based on iconic British marques like the Range Rover re-engineered with highly-innovative electric motors and state-of-the-art nanotechnology batteries. Liberty transforms world famous, gorgeous British luxury cars – expertly upgraded into high performance cars with zero carbon footprint.
“Our customers – businesses and individuals alike - will want to leave a better world for all our children.”
Barry is also the founder of The Zero-Emission Vehicle Foundation. The Foundation seeks sponsorship funds and in-kind support from large organisations, and creates a forum for companies involved in the zero emission space to exchange ideas and form partnerships, and compete more effectively for funding. The Foundation thus accelerates the growth and success of the electric car sector; stimulating a major reduction in greenhouse gases, and the transition to a sustainable economy.
Previously, Barry Shrier founded and managed two businesses, and a Deutsche Bank subsidiary, and brings substantial experience including full profit responsibility, cost control & credit management, budgeting and forecasting, personnel management and motivation, managing investor relations, negotiation, etc.
Barry was hired by Deutsche Bank to launch Paybox, the world’s first international mobile payment system. He was Managing Director for the UK and European spokesman for Paybox and a leading speaker on Mobile commerce.
Prior to Deutsche Bank, Barry worked for several strategic marketing consultancies where he developed his expertise in the application of cognitive psychology to understand consumer behaviour. He managed various international projects for Unilever, Guinness, Procter & Gamble, Mars and Nestle.
Barry speaks regularly at international events in Europe and North America on the subjects of the future of the auto industry, commercialising technology innovations, and consumer behaviour. He is recognised as a charismatic and admired public speaker known for delivering informative, entertaining, and provocative speeches, lecturing to MBA level and often being voted ‘Best Speaker’.
Barry was also the author of the published market research report ‘Wireless in London - Observations in 2002 on the status of high-speed Public Access WLAN’s’.
Barry is also a Non-Executive Director of the Washington DC based Leo Terra LLC; launching the world’s first global mobile broadband satellite network. As an active member of the Institute of Directors (I.O.D), Barry is a passionate promoter of entrepreneurial innovation.
Barry has an MSc in Philosophy from the London School of Economics, and a BA in Politics from Middlebury College, Vermont, USA.
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British entrepreneur-engineer Hugo Spowers is the originator and driving force behind RiverSimple, a company that is developing a technology demonstration�of a viable hydrogen fuel cell urban car, for launch in 2009, that not only meets current demands for environmental sustainability but will exceed existing industry standards. �Spowers designed racing cars for many years before moving into hydrogen fuel cell technology and realising that a new architecture was necessary, built around the possibilities of fuel-cell technology, and new business models appropriate to the technology � including leasing, rather than selling, the cars themselves and creating an open-source platform from which cars may be adapted to different continents. �Just as with the vehicle architecture, Spowers believes that existing business strategies are optimised around internal combustion engines, and will only stand in the way of releasing this potential. �Based on these assumptions, RiverSimple LLP is now developing a two-seat urban car in conjunction with�Cranfield and Oxford Universities which will cruise at 80kph on hydrogen with an energy efficiency equivalent to consuming 1 ltr/100km of petrol in the urban cycle.
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Strategic Operations,
Better Place
Sven Thesen manages strategic operations for Project Better Place, a venture-backed company that aims to reduce global dependency on oil through the creation of a market-based transportation infrastructure that supports electric vehicles. In his role, Sven leverages his deep technical expertise in bringing electric vehicles to the utility grid and his passion for evangelizing the Better Place business model.
Prior to joining Project Better Place, Sven was the Electric Drive supervisor in Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s Clean Air Transportation Department. Under his direction, PG&E’s Electric Drive Group became the first utility to demonstrate Vehicle to Grid (V2G), taking a leadership position in utility-based electric vehicle initiatives. Sven also managed the PG&E sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) emission reduction team and assisted the United Nations in revising the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. As a result of his contributions to the IPCC, he along with the other IPCC engineers and scientists were awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
Sven received his bachelor of science in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University and has been recognized by the Schwarzenegger administration with the 2006 Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award.
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Matt Trevithick is a partner at Venrock, focused on energy and nanotechnology investments. He is involved with Venrock’s portfolio companies including: Transonic Combustion, Inc., Boston-Power, ORECon Ltd. and Twofish. Matt joined Venrock in 2004 after a 4-year investigation of energy-related applications of nanotechnology. Matt previously co-founded and sold two software companies - LiquidMarket, a product search and comparison shopping service, acquired by NBC Internet in 1999 and Flash Communications, a developer of instant messaging technology, acquired by Microsoft in 1998. In addition to his entrepreneurial efforts, Matt worked in project finance and currency trading in Tokyo, London, Singapore and New York. He earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and his M.S. in Management, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Mr Michael Valentine-Urbschat, Principal - Automotive Competence Center,
Roland Berger Strategy Consultancy
Michael Valentine-Urbschat is currently a Principal at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. He focuses on the automobile, heavy machinery and telecommunication industries with consulting competence in strategy development, process optimication, R & D organisation and due diligence process.
Some of his key consulting projects include, efficiency improvement in R & D, R & D strategy, R & D project management, vehicle development process analysis, advanced engineering strategies, due diligence process and start-up companies.
Prior to working at Roland Berger he founded a VC company, worked for BMW in several positions, including Head of the following: R & D strategy, concept development for special vehicles, AE transmissions and engine programmes.
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Stephen Voller founded Voller Energy in 2002 with Mike Clarke to focus on the manufacturing of fuel cell systems for use as battery chargers and mobile generators. The Company received two UK Government development grants before floating on the London Stock Exchange in February 2005. Previously Stephen was Managing Director of Netscape UK and a Sales Manager at IBM. Stephen has a degree in Data Processing from the University of Leeds, is a Chartered Engineer, a Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a member of the Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group (PRASEG) and an independent member of PITCOM - the UK Parliamentary IT Committee. Stephen was a finalist in the 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards.
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Director,
NICE Car Company
Julian started his career as a jet engine aerodynamicist at Rolls Royce before switching to discovering new reserves for the upstream oil and gas industry. So having developed a very significant carbon footprint Julian is now on a personal offset mission to bring electric vehicles to the mainstream car market as co--founder of NICE (that’s No Internal Combustion Engine). NICE are one of the leading retailers of electric vehicles in the UK. Julian has also been the Director of Group Strategy for Aviva plc, the £28billion revenue insurance giant. He holds a Physics degree from Manchester University and an MBA from INSEAD
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Europe Business Development,
Better Place
Amit Yudan works closely with strategic partners, energy companies, governments and investors in a joint effort to establish and operate Better Place in Germany and other European countries.
Amit brings more than 22 years of management experience in strategic planning, business development, network operations and technology rollouts, in a variety of fields such as telecommunications networks, deployment of smart grid and automatic metering platforms, as well as semiconductors. He has personally lead numerous projects from conceptual design to mass market deployment in a variety of European countries.
Before joining Better Place, Amit spent six years as acting COO and VP of Business Development for MainNet Communications, a company developing and deploying broadband and smart grid metering networks. Prior to working with MainNet, Amit managed the Munich subsidiary of Tefen Ltd (TASE:TEFN), a Managing Consultancy firm focused on operational efficiency in the electronic and semiconductor sectors.
Amit received a degree of B.Sc in Industrial Management Engineering from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology and an MBA from the European University in Munich and Geneva.
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Head,
Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Network NRW
Dr. Andreas Ziolek is the Head of Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Network Nordrhein-Westfalen State Initiative on Future Energies Nordrhein-Westfalen
He studied the basic Studies of Mechanical Engineering Ruhr-University of Bochum and then the Main Course of Studies of Mechanical Engineering Ruhr-University of Bochum Focus: Energy Technologies, System Engineering, Environmental Technologies Graduation: Graduate Engineer
He has held a variety of positions including:
Head of Group „Energy Efficiency“ Research Section „Substainable Energy Economies“ Department of Nuclear and Renewable Energy Technologies Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Ruhr-University of Bochum
Head of Section „Substainable Energy Economies“ Department of Nuclear and Renewable Energy Technologies Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Ruhr-University of Bochum
Technical consultant at infas enermetric AG Greven Section „Industrial Energy Technologies“
He has also been the Head of Working Group “Marketing“ Fuel Cell Network Nordrein-Westfalen and Assistant Professor for “Future Energies” Technical University of Applied Science Goerg Agricola of Bochum.
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Mr Iain Carson
Business Writer
The Economist and co-author of ZOOM the global race to fuel the car of the future
Dr Christopher Boronni-Bird
General Motors
Mr Andre Metzner
Hybrid Development Center, A Cooperation between Chrysler LLC and Daimler AG
Mr Richard Blundell
THINK
Mr Keith Johnston
REVA Europe
(formerly MD GoinGreen)
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Creating a new industry...
reinventing the automobile...
making alternative vehicles sexy...
investing in a whole new clean green industry...
hybrid...
electric...
hydrogen...
cooperative constellations...
distrubitions...
connecting with customers...
productions and supply chain innovation...
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