Speaker Biographies

Keynote speakers:

Confirmed Speakers

Siim Kallas

Vice-President & Commissioner for Transport, European Commission

Since February 2010: Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for transport
November 2004-February 2010: Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for administration, audit and anti-fraud
May 2004-November 2004: Member of European Commission
2003-2004: Member of Parliament and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament
2002-2003: Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia
1999-2002: Minister of Finance of the Republic of Estonia
1995-1999: Member of Parliament and the Defence Committee of the Parliament
1995-1996: Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia
1991-1995: President of the Bank of Estonia
1989-1991: Chairman of the Estonian Central Association of Trade Unions
1986-1989: Deputy Editor of the Estonian daily newspaper "Rahva Hääl"
1979-1986: Director of the Estonian Central Board of Savings Banks
1975-1979: Finance Ministry of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic

Dirk Sterckx

Member, European Parliament

Dirk Sterckx was born in Herent on 25 September 1946. He studied German philology at the University of Gent. After his studies he taught Dutch, English and German in various secondary schools in the Antwerp region.

From 1971 till 1972 Dirk Sterckx fulfilled his military service where he taught English and Dutch at the Sub-Lieutenant Preparatory School in Laken.

In 1975 he started his career as a journalist at the former public Belgian broadcasting company BRT where he became the EU-correspondent in 1980. Since 1986 he was in charge of the final editing of the BRT-news until 1994 when he took up the position of Chief Editor and became the Anchor of the news magazine "Ter Zake". Two years later, he became Head of News of the renamed public broadcasting company VRT.

On 13 June 1999 Dirk Sterckx was elected as a Member of the European Parliament.

Up to 13 June 2004 he followed the transport dossiers, environment dossiers and was a member of the Delegation with the United States. He was also vice-president of the European Liberals and Democrats.

From 16 February 2004 until the elections on 13 June 2004 Dirk Sterckx was president of VLD.

In the meantime, Dirk Sterckx was re-elected as a member of the European Parliament.

He continues his work in the Transport Committee. He will also follow the European Fisheries policy and is a substitute member in the Industry, Research and Energy Committee.

He is also Chairman of the Delegation with China.

On 7 June 2009, Dirk Sterckx gets re-elected as a member of the European Parliament. He starts his third parliamentary mandate on 14 July 2009.

Again, his lead Committee is the Committee for Transport and Tourism. He is a substitute member of the Committee for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Committee Employment and Social Affairs.

He is a member of the Delegation with Mexico.

Isabel Fernandez

Chief Commercial Officer, EMEA, GE Capital

Isabel Fernandez is Commercial leader for GE Capital EMEA’s sales, marketing & communications functions and is Business leader for some of GE Capital EMEA’s pan-european businesses (Aircraft, Commercial Distribution, Healthcare, Pan EU Fleet and Pan EU Equipment Finance) .

In her role she is involved both in the strategic direction of GE Capital EMEA as a whole and in the deals and customer contacts for specific lines of business. She joined GE in 2000 as VP origination in GE Capital’s structured finance group. In 2002, she took leadership of the Media, Communications & Entertainment team for Europe, providing debt and equity financing solutions to the European industry.

In December 2005 Isabel was appointed European Head of Enterprise Clients, a pan-European sales team responsible for Commercial Finance’s most important customers and prospects in Europe. Products ranged from lending and leasing to commercial real estate. Before joining GE she spent many years in banking, in jobs ranging from global relationship management to project finance.

Isabel holds a Master’s degree in corporate law from Leiden University, the Netherlands. She is married and has children aged 10, 7 and 4.

Akihito Tanke

Executive Advisor to the President, Toyota Motor Europe

Mr. Akihito Tanke has been Executive Advisor to the President of Toyota Motor Europe since 2009 and is responsible for the energy research group. He received a Masters in Mechanical Engineering in 1979 from the Nagoya Institute of Technology and started his career in Toyota Motor Corporation as an engineer in the engine development division. He has been engaged in L4 & L6 gasoline engine and L4 diesel engine development and in 2000 became Vice President of Toyota Technical Center in USA, responsible for Powertrain and Chassis development. From 2005-2009 he was General Manager of the Regulation and Certification Division in Japan.

Shai Agassi

Founder and CEO, Better Place

Shai Agassi is the founder and chief executive of Better Place, the leading electric vehicle services provider. He is focused on one of this century’s biggest challenges, moving the world from oil-based to sustainable transportation. Agassi works with government leaders, auto manufacturers, energy companies and others to make his vision—zero-emission vehicles powered by electricity from renewable sources—a reality in countries around the globe.

This vision was inspired by a profound question posed at the World Economic Forum in 2005, “How do you make the world a better place by 2020?” With a passion for tackling large-scale challenges, Agassi sought to answer this question with a pragmatic solution to free cars from oil, reduce harmful tailpipe emissions, and usher in an era of sustainable transportation.

Agassi founded Better Place and, in 2007, officially launched the company. In 2008, Israel became the first country—and Renault the first carmaker—to embrace the Better Place model of building open network infrastructure to enable mass adoption of electric vehicles and delivering transportation as a sustainable service. Denmark, Australia, California, Hawaii, and Ontario have followed suit. Today, Agassi and Better Place are in discussions with many countries, carmakers and other potential partners around the globe.

Agassi’s visionary leadership with the Better Place model has been recognized widely. TIME Magazine named him to the 2009 TIME 100, the world’s 100 most influential people, and one of TIME’s “Heroes of the Environment 2008.” Fast Company placed him third on its “100 Most Creative People in Business” list. Most recently, Scientific American Magazine named him to the 2009 Scientific American 10 and, most recently, Foreign Policy Magazine named him to its annual "Top 100 Global Thinkers" list.

Before founding Better Place, Agassi was president of the Products and Technology Group at SAP AG and a member of the software company’s executive board. He led global development of SAP’s product line and portfolio of industry-specific solutions.

Agassi remains an active member of the Forum of Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum, where he focuses on climate change, transportation and other key issues.

Harry van Dorenmalen

Chairman Europe, IBM

Harry van Dorenmalen was appointed chairman of IBM Europe on October 1, 2010. He represents IBM to European institutions and other authorities such as NATO and the European Defence Agency on issues of international public policy and business regulation. In this role he also oversees the company's corporate citizenship, environmental affairs, intellectual property, standards development, venture capital and university relations activities across the region.

Harry takes on this responsibility in addition to his role of Country General Manager, IBM Netherlands, a position he has held since 2005.

Harry started his career at IBM in 1982 as a programmer. Since then he has held a series of leadership positions including Vice President of IBM’s Industrial Sector business in EMEA, responsible for the Automotive and Electronics sector, and Managing Director for IBM’s business with Royal Philips Electronics. He has also been Director of IBM’s Service Delivery Organisation in Europe and has enjoyed spells in the company’s professional services, manufacturing, application development and consulting divisions.

Since December 2010, Harry has been Chairman of the Dutch IT industry association, ICT-Office.

Harry holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Delft. He is married and has two daughters.

João Dias

National Coordinator of the Program for Electric Mobility in Portugal, MOBI.E

João Dias (1975) National Coordinator of the Program for Electric Mobility in Portugal (MOBI.E). MSc Economic History (London School of Economics) and BSc Economics (Lisbon University), holds also a MSc and BSc in Psychology (Psychology Institute of Lisbon).

Jean-Luc di Paola-Galloni

Vice Chairman, ERTRAC, Group Corporate Vice-President Sustainable Development and External Affairs, Valeo

Born in 1970, Jean-Luc di Paola-Galloni is Group Corporate Vice-President Sustainable Development and External Affairs at Valeo, since October 2010. He was Valeo CEO’s Delegate since 2006. He joined the technological platform ERTRAC (European Road Transport Advisory Council) as Vice-Chairman in 2008 representing the automotive suppliers industry and reporting to Research Commissioner of European Union. Since October 2010, he is member of the Council for Automotive Industry of the World Economic Forum. Since January 2010: Valeo Board member to the Modernization Fund of Automotive Suppliers (belonging to French Sovereign Fund - FSI). He was previously advisor to the CEO of Gaz de France (2002-2004) and has a research experience in the field of defence, international relations at Harvard University and Ecole Normale Supérieure (in France). He was a research fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at the Harvard University (1998-2000). Since 2008 he is member of the advisory group of the OECD Transport Ministers' International Transport Forum.

Kulveer Ranger

Mayor's Environment Advisor & Digital London, Mayor of London

In April 2011, Kulveer was appointed as the Mayor’s Director of Environment & Digital
London, overseeing an expanded portfolio of responsibilities encompassing the environment, air quality and supporting the development of hi-tech businesses across the capital on behalf of the Mayor of London. He also retains responsibility for cycling, including London’s highly successful cycle hire scheme which he was instrumental in setting up.

Before joining the Mayor’s Office, Kulveer spent ten years in management consultancy with The Nichols Group; his clients included the Department for Transport, Network Rail and London Underground.

Kulveer is also a former Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party with responsibility for Cities and has been an advisor to the Shadow Secretary of State for the Dept of Trade & Industry, Alan Duncan MP and also advised the Shadow Home Secretary, Dominic Grieve MP, on matters of diversity.

Kulveer Ranger was born in Hammersmith in 1975. He graduated with honours from University College London in Architecture, and also has a business diploma from Kingston Business School.

Hugues Van Honacker

Policy Officer, DG Move, European Commission

Chemical Engineer from the "université Libre de Bruxelles" (ULB). Master in Management from ULB. Mr Van Honacker started his professional career In Japan in NGK Ceramics. He joined Toyota Motor Europe for 7 years in diverse R&D positions, then joined the European Commission 8 years ago in charge of fuel cells and hydrogen and smart grids R&D projects. He is working now as a Policy Officer at the Directorate General of Mobility and Transport and is in charge of electromobility policies and urban mobility projects.

Christian Egenhofer

Senior Research Fellow, CEPS

Function
Senior Fellow and head of the Energy and climate programme; Senior Research Fellow & Jean-Monnet Lecturer, Centre for Energy, Petroleum, Mineral Law and Policy (CEPMLP) at University of Dundee, Scotland, UK

Area of Expertise
Energy policy and regulation, Climate change policy; EU business policy, Environmental policy, Transport policy, Politics of the EU, Institutions of the EU, Regulatory policy, Sustainable development

Languages
English, French, German

Education
Masters in International Administration, University of Konstanz; Public Law Degree

To view Christian's publications, please go to: http://www.ceps.eu/member/christian-egenhofer

Arne Richters

Manager Clean Cars, Transport & Environment

Arne leads T&E's work on cars and CO2. He joined T&E in 2010 after five years with Toyota's External Affairs department in Brussels. He has also worked as a transport policy advisor in the European Parliament.
Languages: Dutch, English, German, Spanish
Education: International Relations, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

Ian Faye

Project Manager, Robert Bosch GmbH

Active at Bosch since 1992 in the areas of Airbag, Vehicle Dynamics, Corporate Planning and since 2000 in the area of alternatively fueled vehicles, e. g. ranging from natural gas vehicles to fuel cell vehicle and most recently focusing on infrastructure aspects of electric vehicles.

David Dossett

President, CENELEC

David Dossett is President of CENELEC, the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization where he started as CENELEC Vice President in 2007 and was elected Vice President Finance from 2008.

A chartered engineer with experience in the electricity supply industry, the oil industry and with 25 years experience in international standardisation, Mr Dossett is Executive Chairman at BEAMA, the Association for the Electrical Industry, and Director of BEAMA Installation, the trade association in the UK for manufacturers of electrical installation equipment.

Mr Dossett is also past Chairman of ORGALIME and of the Electrical Safety Council.

Stefan Tostmann

Head of Unit Energy Technologies and Research Co-ordination, DG ENER C2, European Commission

• born Hamburg, Germany;
• studied law in Germany, France and the USA: Master of Laws (LL.M) degree from the University of Illinois (1989); Ph.D. degree in law from the Free University of Berlin for thesis on container shipping consortia under EU and US competition laws (1998);
• 1985 – 1988: legal trainee (Rechtsreferendar), Free State of Bavaria; second state exam (Assessorexamen) in law
• 1989: Law firm Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, Washington DC; attorney in the international group - corporate, competition and transport matters; resident in the Washington DC, London and Brussels offices.
• 1993: European Commission, administrator, maritime transport department, Directorate General for Transport.
• 1996: European Commission, principal administrator, intermodal policy, manager of the Pilot Actions for Combined Transport (PACT), Directorate General for Transport.
• 2001: European Commission, head of the “Intermodality and Logistics” unit, Directorate General for Energy and Transport
• 2005: European Commission, head of the “Road Safety” unit, Directorate General for Energy and Transport
• 2007: European Commission, head of the “Energy Innovation and Technology” unit, Directorate General for Energy and Transport

Stefan Becker

Political Affairs and Communications, Energy Mix, Environment, Efficiency, E.ON AG

Stefan Becker supports the E.ON E-Mobility-Team on governmental and regulatory issues. He represents E.ON in the German National Plattform Electromobility, led by the German Government. Here, his main focus is on infrastructure and market development for E-Mobility.

Beneath E-Mobility, his responsibilities include climate change, environmental protection and energy efficiency. He holds a master degree in chemistry and a PhD in chemical engineering. He has long lasting experience in oil and petrochemical business and in gas and power utilities. He filled positions in research & development, business development, corporate responsibility and political affairs.

Ronald de Haan

Senior Manager International Products & Profitability Business Development, LeasePlan Corporation N.V

2008 – present Senior Manager International Products & Profitability LeasePlan Corporation
2006 – 2008 Product Development Manager LeasePlan Corporation

1983 – 2006 Different jobs in the commercial / financial area and finally Product Manager LeasePlan Netherlands

Bernard Lycke

Director General, CECRA - European Council for Motor Trades & Repairs

Since the 1st of February 2011, Mr Bernard Lycke is CECRA’s Director General.

Work experience:

Since 2004, Bernard Lycke worked as General Secretary of G.D.A. (GROUPEMENT DES DISTRIBUTEURS ET AGENTS DE MARQUES AUTOMOBILES ASBL, member of FEDERAUTO ASBL). This function consisted in the external representation of the federation, preparing and following up various institutions’ decisions (board of directors, management committee, distribution, agents and approved repairers’ committees, industrial vehicles, legal and Europe, marketing and image committees, body repair and after-sales, G.D.A.-FEBIAC committees). This job was a legal and lobbying one with among others the follow-up of the dealers’ associations’ and CECRA’s activities (European Council for Motor Trades and Repairs) but also includes the follow-up of all the member files (there are 1,800 members in G.D.A., all either dealers or authorized repairers of one or several car or truck makes).

In the area of car distribution, he is a member of the E.D.L. network (European Distribution Lawyers), an international association of lawyers and representatives of professional federations active in the car industry.

Education

* June 2002 : "Troisième cycle en gestion", CEPAC, Solvay Business School, Brussels.
* June 1991 : Certificate of International Law ("Getuigschrift in Internationaal Recht"), Leiden, Netherlands.
* June 1990 : "Candidature et licence en Droit" at "Université Catholique de Louvain", Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium.

Federico Caleno

EV Recharging Infrastructure Project Manager, Networks Technologies Business Development , Enel Distribuzione Spa

Federico Caleno graduated in Telecommunication Engineering and is working as a Marketing and Business Development Manager in the “Network Technologies” department in Enel Distribuzione Spa at the moment. He is in charge of the following activities:

• Define technical infrastructure to support Value Added Services (VAS)
• Promote the innovative Enel AMM System to other Utilities worldwide.
• Define an innovative infrastructure for the EV recharge

Before joining Enel, from 1996 to 1999 he was a Project Manager of the new Pubblic Telephone Infrastructure in Telecom Italia and from 1999 to 2001 Marketing Manager of the Narrow and Broad Band Internet Access in Telecom Italia Net.

Henk de Pauw

Senior Officer, NORMAPME

Henk de Pauw graduated from the University of Ghent, Belgium with masters degree in Law in 1996. After his studies, he worked for the Regional Development Agency as an adviser for SME’s in the field of technical legislation.

Mr de Pauw was the Resident Twinning Adviser in the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Ankara from 2005 to 2007, which was followed by a project in Astana on the reform of the Technical Committee for technical regulations.

Since 2010 Henk de Pauw is Senior Officer at NORMAPME, European Office of Crafts, Trades and Small and Medium sized Enterprises for Standardisation, where he is responsible for horizontal issues, including e-mobility and smart grid policies.

Giacomo Mattinò

Deputy Head of Unit, DG ENTR, European Commission

Giacomo Mattinò is a permanent official of the European Commission since December 1993. He has held several positions within the Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry, where he is currently responsible, in particular, for the international activities of the Automotive Industry Unit. In this field, he co-ordinates bi-lateral trade and regulatory contacts with the EU major trading partners (US, Japan, China, Korea, Russia) as well as in multilateral fora (WTO,UNECE, etc.)

From February 2002 to December 2006 he was Deputy Head of Unit for Human resources within the same Directorate General.

From 1998 to 2002, within the Unit for the regulatory co-ordination of “New Approach” legislation and negotiation of Mutual Recognition Agreements on conformity assessment with third countries.

From 1993 to 1998 he was a staff member of the Unit responsible for the “Machinery” and “Personal protective equipment” directives of the same Directorate General.

From 1989 to 1993, he worked as associated expert at the European Commission Delegation for the Pacific in Suva - Fiji and in Brussels at the Directorate General for External Relations dealing with trade co-operation and industrial development policies with countries of the Asia-Pacific region.

His professional career started in Italy with the organisation department of Aeroporti di Roma, the company responsible for the ground operations at Rome airport, where he worked from 1987 to 1989.

Giacomo Mattinò is a graduated in Political Sciences - international economics at LUISS in Rome and has followed post-graduate courses in business and international management at IFAP – Rome, at the South Pacific University and at the Ashridge Management School. He is the author of numerous publications, in particular on trade and mutual recognition issues.

He is married and has two children.

Pete Harrison

EU Energy and Environment Correspondent, Thomson Reuters

Pete Harrison is an award-winning Reuters journalist specializing in the business and politics of climate, energy and environment. He has also written for dozens of other publications including the The Times and International Herald Tribune. He trained as a biologist and is the author of seven titles on marine ecology.

Martin Du Bois

Partner, Cambre Associates

A partner at Cambre, Martin has more than 10 years’ experience in public affairs and was a reporter and editor for 15 years with The Wall Street Journal, where he covered European affairs, politics, trade, defence, and legal affairs, as well as business and finance. At Cambre he specializes in media and corporate communications and is responsible for the management of major global and pan-European campaigns. He speaks French, English and Dutch.