A riveting orator, Zayed Abbas is compelling in his passionate delivery of well-researched, analyzed and fact-based presentations. He joined RTA in September of 2007 as the Investment & Business Development Manager and is responsible for generating commercial revenues and initiating new commercial & investment opportunities. In his short while at RTA he has made a mark in the organization with his zeal & dedication. Mr. Abbas is spearheading the Naming Rights Initiative within RTA. The Naming Rights Project is the first of its kind worldwide in raising revenues from public transport infrastructure and is capable of improving transport services through a partnership funding created by Naming Rights initiative.

Kadhim A. Latif is employed with Ministry of Works as Chief, Traffic Planning & Studies Department in Roads Planning & Design Directorate. He is a master’s graduate in Transport Planning & Engineering from University of Leeds in United Kingdom, with Civil Engineering background. Mr. Kadhim started his career with Ministry of Works in 1988 and since then he was involved in major traffic & transport studies that have shaped the transport infrastructure for the Kingdom. He monitors traffic impact assessment studies, guides various traffic improvement programs and policy formulation strategies. He is the Project Manager for on-going public transport studies and was also in charge of the ‘Integrated Transport Strategy Study (ITSS)’ which had suggested the Public Transport Master Plan-2030 for the Kingdom of Bahrain. Mr. Kadhim also coordinates with GCC Railway Studies on behalf of the Ministry.

Abdul Redha Abu Al Hassan, the Director of the Rail Planning and Development of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is a vibrant, enthusiastic and approachable personality with superior managerial and organizational skills. Possessing these skills qualified him to be one of the main key personnel supervising and leading one of the most awaited prestigious projects in the Emirate of Dubai-the Metro.

Dr Aghdam is the Project Director of SAR Project and represents the Implementation Supervision Consultant which is a JV of the Louis Berger Group Inc., in association with CANARAL, SYSTRA and Khatib & Alami. He is employed by the Louis Berger Group Inc., as the Director of Rail and Metro and is responsible for the development and implementation of rail and metro projects in Europe and the Middle East. Dr. Aghdam has worked on various senior capacities on signature rail infrastructure projects in the UK and internationally. These included: • Budapest Metro Project in Hungary, • has served as a senior technical advisor for Ministries and Banks, • Kuala Lumpur LRTII in Malaysia, • Korea High Speed Rail and the Incheon Airport Rail-Link in Korea, • CTRL Phase II, Thameslink 2000 and Tubelines in the UK.

Bader Alqamzi is the Director of Integrated Planning in the department of transportation in Abu Dhabi. He was graduated with MSc. Degree in Civil Engineering from the Queensland University of technology, Australia. He is working on variety of planning, policy, development TIS and master plan projects. Bader has worked on Abu Dhabi Surface Transport Master plan; He worked in traffic engineering studies. He Lead several safety campaigns program.

Dr Abdulgader Amir assumes office since April 2007 as the Vice mayor for Urban Planning for the Municipality of Jeddah. Dr Amir worked as the chief planner in the municipality of Jeddah from August 2005 until April 2007. Dr Amir taught at King Fahd university of Petroleum and minerals at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia for over 10 years where he headed two major departments; the city planning department and the Architecture department.

Mr. Charles Ampofo is the founder of the group and have been its Chairman and CEO since its inception. Kampac Group is a multi-facet company founded in 1988 with main activities in the oil sector. But over the last 8 years, Mr. Ampofo have successfully diversified its activities covering Oil, Telecom, Infrastructure development and Property Development with turnover of over $3bn with a growth of more than 10% over the last 5 years. Today, the company is present in 15 countries with 17 offices around the world. Various divisions among the Kampac group are: Kampac Resources, Kampac Telecom, Kampac Properties. In August 2007 Kampac signed a 35-years railway concession agreement with the Government of Ghana. Currently, the company is in the negotiations for light rail projects in various countries in Africa. He serves on our various Institutional Boards and advisor to various business bodies.

Wael Attari has been Vossloh’s Regional Director for the Middle East since December 15, 2008. The graduate in electrical engineering holds an MBA from Capella University, USA. Before joining Vossloh he had most recently been employed by General Electric and OTIS Elevators. Wael Attari is closely familiar with the Middle East besides having worked in the USA for many years. He has years of experience gained from the rail industry.

En Suffian Baharuddin, aged 39, has been the Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of Rangkaian Pengangkutan Integrasi Deras Sdn Bhd (“RapidKL”) since 1 March 2008. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Accountancy from University of East Anglia, United Kingdom and is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), United Kingdom and member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) respectively. En Suffian Baharuddin began his career with Arab-Malaysian Merchant Bank Berhad in 1994 where his last posting was Assistant Manager, Corporate Finance before he joined Renong Berhad where his last position held in 1999 was Senior Manager, Finance. He then joined Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (“MAHB”) as Senior Manager (Finance) in 1999 and then became General Manager (Finance) where he was responsible for the areas of finance of the MAHB Group. Prior to being appointed as the CEO of RapidKL, En Suffian was attached with Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd as the General Manager, Corporate Planning from 2006 until early 2008.

Since July 2004 he’s been Managing Director for Roma Metropolitane S.r.l., the city-owned company responsible of the coordination and control of the whole enacting process of a 10 billion Euros works plan concerning the development, modernization and expansion of Rome’s subway network, public transport corridors and innovative transport systems, wire ones included, and every other intervention regarding public transportation with dedicated lanes, and connected and/or complementary works, to be realized in the City of Rome. He is Vice-Chairman of the Management Board of IGI Istituto Grandi Infrastrutture. Since 1997 to 2004, for S.T.A. Società Trasporti Automobilistici S.p.a., he leaded the Department of Legal and Corporate Affairs and Tenders and was Secretary of Board of Directors and Shareholders’ Meetings. He was charged with chairing the Tender Commissions for the procurement of works, services and supplies for a global amount of about 1,5 billion Euros. Since 1997 to 1998 he was Managing Director for S.T.A. Sistemi di Trasporto S.p.a., a company totally owned by S.T.A. S.p.a. and operating in the subway sector, charged with projecting the new Line C, the modernization of Line A and the extension of Line B of Rome’s subway. Then he cured and accomplished the merger by acquisition of the company by the parent S.T.A. S.p.a. Since 1994 to 1997 he worked in the Legal Affairs Departement for IRI – Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale S.p.a. Since 1993 to 1994 he was Manager of the Tenders, Contracts and Legal Affairs Sector for Servizi Tecnici S.p.a., IRI-FINTENCA Group. As proxy for the Managing Director, during this time he chaired the Tender Commissions for the procurement of works for a global amount of about 260 million Euros. Since 1987 to 1992 he was employee of ITALPOSTE S.p.a. IRI-ITALSTAT Group, in the Contracts and Tenders Office, stipulating agreements with public and private bodies as attorney-in-fact for the Managing Director. Since 2005 to 2007 he’s been Full Professor of Programming and Control at the Cassino University, Business College, Course of Corporate Business and Administration. Since 2005 to 2007 he’s been Professor at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Business College, Master of Innovative Management in Public Administration. Since 2005 to 2007 he’s been Contracted Professor of “Project management” at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Architecture College. He is Professor at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” of “Economic legislation”, Architecture College. He is Professor at the Cassino University of “Civil Law”, Case Law College.

Born in Stuttgart, Germany in 1966, Michael Clausecker began his professional career at Daimler-Benz upon completing his studies in business economics. Subsequently moving to the German Privatisation Office, in 1991 he helped privatise Diesel Engine Manufacturers. From 1993 onwards he was Managing Director at DWA Deutsche Waggonbau AG, later Bombardier Transportation resulting in it becoming the leading rail freight car manufacturer in Europe. 1999 saw Clausecker become Head of Division at Siemens AG in Erlangen and Munich with worldwide responsibility for locomotives. In 2001, he was appointed Managing Director of the German rail supply industry association – VDB and in early 2007, Clausecker was appointed Director-General of UNIFE. Michael Clausecker holds an MBA from the Open University in the United Kingdom.

Roger is Atkins’ Transport Planning Manager in Dubai. He has 20 years of transport planning experience in the UK, Europe, Asia and the Middle East working on a wide variety of planning, policy, development and masterplan projects. Roger has worked on a number of Strategic initiatives including Malaysia’s National Transport Study; lead a forecast study for a High Speed Rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore; responsible for developing a Service Performance Monitoring Regime for Kuala Lumpur’s Public Transport system; assisting in the early development of the rail network in Abu Dhabi and is currently working on the UAE National Transport Plan developing a new Transport Policy Blueprint for the Emirates. Roger’s presentation will consider the challenges that lie ahead in the developing suitable multi modal systems in the Middle East environment. The presentation will outline need for alternatives to the car and in particular the development of a sustainable multi modal approach vital for continued regional growth. The needs of the passengers will be highlighted; the need for greater cooperation between government, developers and transport operators will be raised as well as to outline some particular issues in multi modal development in the UAE. Roger will also describe case studies from around the region and the rest of the world and finally will look to challenge the conference with regards to the particular interventions that participants can have in developing appropriate multi modal systems to enhance city access and its environment both economically and physically going forward and to consider how best to serve the passenger.

Mr Martin Dunn is currently the General Manager – Procurement & Contracts of the Mass Transit Railway Company Limited. Martin joined the MTRCL in 1992 for the Airport Railway Project (LAR) from 1997 to 2005 he was responsible for all Operations Procurement and Extension Projects such as Disney Rail Link, Tsim Sha Tsui and Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car Project. In 2005 he assumed responsibility for all MTRCL procurement activities including the Merger transition and all of the new major extension projects. Prior to joining MTRCL, Martin spent 15 years as a Contract Specialist on Petro-Chemical Projects having started his career on Civil Engineering Projects. He has worked for Contractors, Project Management organisations and Client bodies. Martin was instrumental in bringing to Hong Kong the concept of Target Costs Contracts that have been successfully used on the Tsim Sha Tsui Station Modification Works and pioneered many of the new procurement processes introduced in the Corporation over the past 7 years.

Dr. Abdelgader Elshabani is the Project Manager for the Abu Dhabi Surface Transportation Master Plan. He has more than 25 years of professional experience in transportation planning studies, public transit studies and rail studies. His professional experience includes working with Government Institutions and the United Nations in the Countries of Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates(Dubai and Abu Dhabi), and Qatar.

Eran Gartner is President, Systems Division, at Bombardier Transportation, appointed on 1 July 2008. Mr. Gartner began his career in the railway transportation business by joining ABB Transportation Systems in Switzerland in 1992. He took on increasingly senior roles at ABB and later Adtranz. At Bombardier Transportation, Mr. Gartner was appointed Vice President Strategic Initiatives in 2001. He was subsequently promoted to Vice President Operations in the Propulsion & Controls Division in 2002 and in 2003, became President of the Metros Division. From 2004 – 2006, as Vice President Operations of the Mainline & Metros Division, Mr. Gartner led the Division's manufacturing network comprising 9 plants and 5000 employees in Europe as well as two joint ventures in China. Mr. Gartner was appointed Business Unit Head (Vice President) in the Mainline & Metros Division on 1 January 2007, with P&L responsibility for the Division’s activities in Belgium, France, and Switzerland. He has also been responsible for low-cost country manufacturing in the Czech Republic and Hungary. Mr. Gartner holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, USA (1988) and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Virginia, USA (1992).

Pankaj Gupta joined Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (Reliance ADAG) in 2006. He is responsible for implementation of Communication System & Network Infrastructure for Delhi Airport Metro Express, the first 22 kms. Airport Express line being built on Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) basis, under Public- Private-Partnership (PPP), in New Delhi.. He has also worked on Communication System for Mumbai Metro One earlier, the 11.7 kms. , elevated MRTS corridor, being implemented on PPP format, BOOT basis. Prior to the above assignment, he has worked with Siemens Ltd. for 32 km. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation -Line 3 and for Telecom Network roll-out in New Delhi, for Tata Teleservices Limited (a TATA Group Company). A post-graduate from Indian Institute of Technology- New Delhi, he has an experience of around 9 years in Telecom industry. By utilizing project and operations management, with technical expertise developed over the years, he is on the way to bridge the gap between technology and business.

Born on 24 Oct 1961, Mohsen HASHEMI was graduated with M Sc. Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Montreal, Canada. Mohsen Hashemi who is the Chairman and Managing Director of Tehran Urban & Suburban Railway Co. (metro) and Vice – Chairman of MENA UITP, has worked in different capacities including: - Head of Expediency Council Secretariat - Member of the BOD of Tehran Metro - Head of Presidential Special Inspectorate - Chairman of the Iranian Union of Urban Railways - Chairman of the Iranian Association of Rail Transport Engineering. He is fluent in English and French and has written the book “ Analysis of Injection Molding by Computer.

Nick Higton is a senior general and technical manager with over 30 years railway industry experience and a broad commercial and operational background. He has led major projects, engineering management, research, organisational change, service delivery and business management teams. He is also skilled in senior business development, and commercial management roles. His principal experience is in the UK heavy rail sector, supported by consultancy experience in light rail, metro, and high speed rail in the UK and Europe. He is the Europe Region Rail Business Leader, responsible for Arup’s £60m European rail consultancy, buildings and infrastructure business across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Neil Johnson is Architectural Manager for Parsons with responsibility for the design and management of Parsons’ mass transit schemes in the Middle East. His experience over 30 years is broad-based, encompassing commercial and residential buildings in the UAE, South East Asia and the UK, master-plans for new cities, and infrastructure. He has particular interest in the integration of public transportation systems into the fabric of cities, and sees this as vital to their successful development. Neil has extensive experience in this field, having been involved in the management of the briefing, design and implementation of numerous stations, interchanges and depots in the Singapore, Bangkok, Delhi and the UK. He was also responsible for the concept, design and implementation of the award winning integrated property development over Singapore’s largest interchange, and subsequently played a pivotal role in the evolution of integrated development initiatives elsewhere in Singapore above stations and depots.

Adrian is Atkins Principal Architect within the transportation section. He has over 11 years of rail experience from Asia and Australia. Since joining Atkins in 2006 Adrian has been leading the Architectural Team on the Dubai Metro Red and Green Line Above Ground Stations. Adrian is responsible for the management of the design, and delivery of the architectural documentation for this project. Adrian’s transportation experience is extensive covering underground and above ground stations, light rail, tram, monorail, and maglev projects, as well as station refurbishments. Recently Adrian led the design team responsible for the Concept Design of the RTA Abra and Waterbus Stations in Dubai Creek. He has also been involved with the Al Safooh Tram, working on the Concept Design proposals for the CAMP Bidding consortium. Prior to joining Atkins in 2006 Adrian was head of transportation projects for HASSELL in Sydney and was principally involved with the design development of four underground stations on the Epping to Chatswood Rail Line. This project consists of three generic stations and one interchange station with an existing Railcorp Station. In Asia, he worked on major rail projects in Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok, including MTR Corporation and Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation station projects, underground stations on the Marina and Circle Lines in Singapore, underground stations in Bangkok, as well as the Bangkok Overground Skytrain System. Adrian’s presentation will cover the future of Rail Architecture specifically focusing on carbon critical design issues, as well as key issues such as station planning and enlivening the passenger experience. The presentation will include a case study on the Dubai Metro Station footbridges, where Atkins re-design managed to save approximately 35% of the peak cooling load. The presentation will look at both overground and underground station design, with a particular focus on the future of rail Architecture in the Middle East.

An Advertising and Marketing Professional with over three decades of experience in India and the GCC, Girish Mehta started his career in the IT Industry when it was still in its infancy in India. After a stint of 5 years, he moved to Advertising and Marketing and there has been no looking back, since then. The potential and favorable business environment encouraged him to set up his own business in Advertising with just two people on board. Today the Adventure Group employs over 50 people from diverse skills and multicultural backgrounds. Apart from Advertising, Marketing and Digital signage, Mr. Mehta has diversified interests in turn-key IT solutions including Attendance Management, Access Control, Payroll Management, Digital Surveillance, High-End Servers, workstations, gaming PCs, Desktop Computers and Laptops. Girish is an active member of the Indian Businessmen & Professional Council. An avid Yoga practitioner and a perfect family man, he enjoys spending time with his wife and raising his two daughters in his home in Dubai.

Ian Ohan is a Regional Director in charge of Investment Transactions for Jones Lang LaSalle in the Middle East and North Africa. His focus is structuring and executing transactions on behalf of institutional and High Net Worth buyers and sellers having completed over $1 billion of transactions in the region. Ian has over 15 years of regional and international real estate investment experience and has an intimate knowledge of the regional real estate markets having worked on real estate projects across the GCC, North Africa and the Levant for the past ten years. His career is founded in investment working with the real estate groups of KPMG and Arthur Andersen based in North America, Dubai and Bahrain. Regionally, he has also served as a senior real estate executive responsible for over $1 billion of development for a major UAE-based development company.

Jane Pearce joined the Railway Gazette group on August 26 as Editor of Metro Report International. Previously Key Account Manager for Platform Screen Doors at Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems (UK) Ltd, Jane has built up an extensive knowledge of the metro market in Europe, South America and the Middle East. A linguist and chartered marketer, Jane has gained widespread experience of international marketing and sales in various industries including the transport sector. She recently completed an M.Sc. in Marketing at the University of Glamorgan, with a thesis on the effectiveness of advertising in metro stations.

Born in Madrid, Spain in 1953, Mr. Rojo Garrido began his professional career in BAZAN (Military naval constructions) in 1979 and as an engineer he was the responsible for Energy Research Projects. In 1981, he joined Madrid Metro and he assumed the responsibility for differents positions as Trains Service Manager, Customers Division Manager, Safety and Security Director, Director of Operations and Deputy Director to the Managing Direction. He was successfully as the Responsible for operational design criteria for 150 km of Madrid Metro Extension and 3 new light Rail Lines in Madrid. Since 2008 Mr. Rojo Garrido is Deputy Director of Madrid Metro, He is a national and international Project Coordinator and he is in charge of underground projects which Madrid Metro is currently working on in Seville (Spain), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Buenos Aires (Argentina), etc. In 2008 he was appointed Secretary General of ALAMYS (Latin American Association of Underground Metropolitan Railways and Subways) and coordinates all of activities of the light rail group and underground planning group. Besides in 2008 he was appointed First Vice-president of APICI (Fire Control Engineers Association). He is an Electrical Industrial Engineer (Madrid Polytechnic University) (E.T.S.I.I.) and graduated of Management in Business Administration (CEPADE-Madrid Polytechnic University). Mr. Rojo also was a Electrical Machines Professor from 1979 to 1983 in Superior Industrial Engineering School, (Madrid Polytechnic University, Madrid) (E.T.S.I.I.); an Electrical Rail Traction Professor in Superior Polytechnic School in Carlos III University, Madrid (1996-2000); a Fire protection Engineering Master Professor Superior Polytechnic School, Carlos III University, Madrid (2006-2007) and a Fire Protection Engineering Master Director in Engineering School Comillas University Madrid (2008-2009)

Jamshid Soheili is Scott Wilson Director (Middle East) for Transportation & Infrastructure Planning, based in Abu Dhabi. Jamshid is a Civil Engineer by training, with post-graduate qualifications in transportation engineering. He has over 22 years experience in the private sector, having contributed to transport related projects in the UK, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain, Albania, Kuwait, Cuba, Montenegro, Serbia, Ireland and Saudi Arabia. Jamshid has led regional and national transportation studies covering masterplanning, development plans, area-wide traffic models, traffic impact studies, public transport feasibility studies, implementation plans and traffic engineering & management. Throughout these studies, he has worked with and liaised with international architects, government departments, local councils, funding agencies, investment groups and private developers. Jamshid was Scott Wilson Project Director for the recent Qatar Transportation Masterplan-completed on behalf of UPDA, and is currently advising regional clients on various development and infrastructure proposals.

Michael Whitehouse is a senior partner at UK law firm Wragge & Co and regularly advises Government and the private sector on innovative transport infrastructure PPP projects.

His Excellency Dr. Eng. Habib M. Zein Al Abideen is a leading figure in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who has a CV full of achievements at both academic and practical fields. He has close to 100 scientific papers and four books in the areas of structural engineering. He is an authority in many branches of structural engg. including properties and durability of concrete, safety assessment of existing structures and construction management……etc. In the last twenty years he, under the overall direction of His Royal Highness The Minister of Public Works then of Municipal and Rural affairs, Prince Miteb Ibn Abdel Aziz, lead together the major developments of Makka Almukarrama, and the Holy Areas ( AlMashaer AlMuqadassa in Arabic) undertaken by the Government of Saudi Arabia. These developments made a tremendous difference in the ease with which pilgrims to Makka perform their religious rituals in safety and tranquility. The projects which totaled close to 40 billion Saudi Riyals (10 billion US $) included the new developed tents in Mina the largest Tent City in the World, Jamarat bridge also one of the world largest structures, many tunnels and bridges in the area and infrastructure projects. His Excellency Dr. Habib Zein-Alabideen is the Deputy Minister. Head, The Central Directorate for Development of Projects (CDDP), Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MOMRA). He is also the Secretary General of The Development Comission of Makka Almukarrama, Al Madina Almunawwara and Al Mashaer Al Muqqadasa (DCOMMM). In his second post as Secretary General of DCOMMM he supervises the global developments and the general plans for all the holy areas and the national impacts of these developments.