Heike Roeder
Josef Kriegmair
Josef Kriegmair works as Representative Production Turbine Blade / Structure Castings at MTU Aero Engines AG Center Production. His main task has been the development and implementation of digital process chains and manufacturing intelligence systems for turbine blades and structure castings since 2010. Prior to that, he was in production engineering with a focus on technology development for production and for maintenance, repair and overhaul. He hold roles in logistics and plant maintenance at MTU Aero Engines from 1997 to 2001. Josef started in technical procurement at MTU. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering focus Production Technology and a degree in Industrial Engineering focus Project Management and Technology Management.
Josef Kriegmair
Reinhard is a partner at PwC with 25+ years of industry and consulting experience. He leads PwC’s Industry 4.0 globally.
Reinhard specializes in horizontal and vertical integration of the value chain (Industry 4.0), optimizing end-to-end supply chain. He has vast experience in developing digitization strategies and is a thought leader in supply chain, manufacturing and service innovation. Exemplary projects:
• Digitalization strategy and execution
• Digitalization and supply chain optimization
• Smart factory transformation
Reinhard holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a focus on international Finance and Operations, from the University of Kentucky and a Ph.D. in International Business Administration University of Regensburg.
Sarah Bodo
Experienced Digital Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the chemicals industry. Passionate about technology and solving problems. People benefit from a lot of inspirations, creativity, support and willingness to fight for a better world. Strong operations professional graduated from HAW Hamburg.
Doug McKnight
Doug McKnight is leading Dow efforts to derive value in safety and productivity across Dow’s Operations in EMEAI through the adaptation of Industry 4.0 solutions. He partners with Dow’s businesses and technical functions and coordinates across all of the varied sites for the company in the region. He is located in Wiesbaden, Germany – at the seat of the Digital Operations Centre for EMEAI. He is part of Dow’s newly established “Operations IT/OT” function for the company – signaling the intent within Dow to drive digitalization. Before taking this current challenge in the Industry 4.0 world, his experience is in industrial operations leadership including environment, health and safety, production and site leadership, external manufacturing management, supply chain, continuous improvement techniques and advanced process control and systems dynamics modelling. Across his career in ICI and Dow, Doug has lived in many European countries including the Netherlands, Switzerland, France and now Germany where he lives with his family.
Curtis Carson
Since graduating from Ryerson University, Curtis’ journey has taken him to Italy, USA (2 times), Germany and finally France. His experience has included working on the development of the Boeing 787, Airbus A380, and Airbus A350 and realizing a childhood dream working with the Ferrari Formula 1 race team during ’99 and ’00 season. Since setting roots in France in 2006 and joining Airbus in 2011, Curtis has been active with the launch of a variety of the companies forward thinking digital transformation projects, covering topics such as Factory of the Future, AR-augmented reality, 3D printing, IIoT, model based systems engineering methods, advanced robotics & automation to name a few. Curtis’ current role since July 2017 covers transforming and integrating engineering processes across the diverse and rich engineering landscape of Airbus Defense and Space.
Lucretia Loescher
Lucretia Loescher leads the industrial solution business in Europe for Siemens Energy. She has experience in various industries and functions. Her career started in 2004 with sales and marketing for the automotive industry. To broaden her experience, she moved into consulting with main emphasis on innovative technologies, process industries and the energy sector. Subsequently she became Director of Sales Operations for OSRAM Lighting Solutions, followed by an assignment as Vice President Strategy, HSE and Business Improvement for Siemens Energy. She is an ambitious mountaineer, runner and diver. On Arctic expeditions, she gets to know the earth in its extreme. She is the deputy chairwoman for the Bavarian Red Cross in Munich.
Andrea Moroni Stampa
Andrea Moroni Stampa has studied electronic engineering at the ETH Zurich. After some international experiences as a development engineer, he created the R&D department inside Hemargroup, an electronic assembly and production company. Today he is leading a team of 10+ development engineers and is a proud startupper and innovator.
Dr. Michael Thierschmann
Operational Excellence expert based on professional career experience in Research & Development, global technology Marketing & Sales, strategy & process consulting as well as line responsibility in global industrial corporations
Harald Kirsch
Dynamic, entrepreneurial business strategist with over 30 years of professional experience in organizational and business development in the segments of Digital Transformation, IIoT, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, automation of enterprise processes, sales of innovative SW solutions and services, portfolio management, consulting, system integration services, outsourcing as well as business transformation, change management, product management and product development.
My current area of responsibility includes in particular:
- Management of the Automation and Industrial IT division
- Continuous further development of the company's digital strategy
- Structuring and advancing the Industrie 4.0/ IIoT platform strategy
- Optimization, digitalization and further development of manufacturing and production processes
Juha Pankakoski
Juha Pankakoski is a member of the Konecranes’ group executive board, responsible for the development of group core technologies, digitalization, IT, and central procurement. He’s held number of functional and P&L executive positions during the years. Prior to joining Konecranes, Juha worked in IT and Telecomms sectors. He and his wife live in the Finnish archipelago with two Nova Scotian retrievers.
Klaus Schmücker
Klaus Schmücker heads the digital strategy of the BSH Home Appliances Group, to transform the group from a hardware manufacturer to a provider of connected products, digital services and ecosystem offerings. From positions in consulting and at E.ON and Thüga, he has extensive experience developing and executing digital strategies and successfully transforming companies of different industries into digital business models. Klaus hosts a CDO & Digital Strategists network in Munich and is a member of the Digitalization Committee of the Munich Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
Jonas Szalanczi
As the CEO and Co-Founder Jonas Szalanczi leads NeuroForge with a clear vision for industrial AI, BigData and Innovation. With his technical background and project experience, he monitors and controls the operational and strategic business process. With his innovation-driven attitude, he positions NeuroForge as the German partner for the use of state-of-the-art AI-technologies at the spearhead of the digitization of the industry. In exemplary projects, he demonstrates NeuroForge's speed, quality and digital competence:
- AI with every kind of Data
- Solving the questions everyone has on AI
- Establishing trust in ai-projects with NeuroForge’s AI development process
Stephan Gerling
Stephan Gerling is a German security researcher working in Kaspersky Lab’s Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS CERT) where he is responsible for conducting vulnerability research, giving lecture and talks at conferences, conducting incidence response and delivering live and online ICS cybersecurity training programs.
Today Stephan is particularly interested in security for Maritime systems (navigation and control systems) and “smart motor homes”. He enjoys conduction penetration testing of ‘Internet of Things’ devices ranging from electronic door locks to industrial control systems. He has previous experience as a security evangelist in Oil and Gas Industries, Helicopter Navigation System Specialist and 34 Years volunteer firefighter as Platoon leader.
Stephan is certified as CISSP, GCFA, MCSE + security and several other certificates.
Dr. Alexander Below
Alexander brings modern digitization to very traditional industries. After getting his Ph.D. in large mathematical optimization problems he applied these methods to scheduling of locomotive drivers and conductor at Deutsche Bahn’s long-haul traffic – the first of a longer string of process optimization projects. For the last years he has headed the Digital Transformation at DB Cargo, Europe’s leading rail-freight operator. During his tenure, he put in new digital customer interface as well as new service design systems, capacity booking systems, several mobile applications for rail-freight operating staff, production steering systems – to name a few –, and transferred all of DB Cargo’s IT landscape to “the cloud.” He shaped the way digitization is done at DB Cargo, and he is a strong believer in “Business IT Fusion.” In 2021, he formulated the bold new Digital Strategy of DB Cargo, unifying digitization initiatives, modernization of the IT landscape, and the physical automation initiatives needed to ensure the economic and ecological goals of DB Cargo.
Mathias Sundbäck
I am positive and curious, and I like to work together with people toward set targets. I enjoy working within improvement and strategic areas.
I fill my free time with family, friends and training.
Depending on the season and weather, I have a lot of different activities that I do regularly
such as barefoot running, hiking and skiing.
Prof. Franz Dietrich
• Current position: Full Professor at TU Berlin, heading the Chair of Handling and Assembly Technology Research
• Previous Positions at TU Braunschweig, Institute for Machine Tools and Production Technology
• Member of the German Academic Society for Handling, Assembly and Industrial Robotics (MHI e.V.)
• Member of KliB Competence Network Lithium Ion Batteries e.V.
Production technologies for a more liveable and sustainable world. I do this as a senior researcher, a patent-awarded inventor, an experienced consultant, a successful leader, a noteable speaker, a teacher, and as a career coach.
10+ years of leadership, research and consultancy with dedication to industrial automation, advanced robotics, smart factory and sustainable automation.
Kaustav Basu
Experienced in academia and industry, he is working as a lead data scientist at Eneco, Netherlands. He holds a Phd in Electrical and Computer Science from Grenoble Alps University, France. Other Than creating exciting live products/services used by over 500K utility customers he has authored multiple patents and publications.
Alon Arnon
Alon joined ASOCS in 2021 to head the German Market and global strategic accounts. Bringing with him extensive knowledge in digital and technology transformation programs, across the globe, in telecommunication and Industry 4.0 markets. Forming and executing innovative strategies to bridge technologies benefits with Industries 4.0 goals, he brings to the table E2E knowledge built over 20 years of hands-on experience in international sales, business development and engagement practice. Alon started his way in Amdocs to grow BSS/OSS practice, spent 7 years in Ericsson to bring 5G to consumers and Industries and now marking the path for ASOCS 5G software solution to generate Next generation insights using 5G software and Ecosystem partners to German and Global Enterprises on their digital journey.
Alon holds various awards in Telecommunication and holds an M.B.A. in Computer Science (Open University in Israel).
SACHIN MATHUR
Sachin Mathur is a DIRECTOR SOFTWARE & CONTROL EMEA at Rockwell Automation.
He is specialized in navigating organizational transformational programs, identifying, and enabling end-customer business outcomes via new technologies and partner ecosystems.
Sachin is a true believer in pushing “out of the box” execution strategies and driving digital transformation by joining hands with domain experts in a partner ecosystem.
Lydia Kaiser
Lydia Kaiser is heading the Chair of Digital Engineering 4.0 at the Technische Universität Berlin and the Einstein Center Digital Future. She is member of the digital council of the federal ministry of defense. The Digital Council advises the Federal Minister of Defense on digitalization issues.
Lydia Kaiser studied Physics at the Paderborn University and received her Ph.D. 2013 in the field of Model-Based Systems Engineering under the supervision of Prof. Jürgen Gausemeier. Lydia Kaiser was research associate for three years at the chair Product Engineering at the Heinz Nixdorf Institute of the Paderborn University. In 2012, she changed to Fraunhofer Institute for Mechatronic Systems Design in Paderborn. In the research department of Prof. Roman Dumitrescu she was group leader and head of the devision Systems Engineering.
Tilmann Kloppe
Tilmann Kloppe is currently part of the Business Excellence and Quality Management Function at the Rolling Stock (Rail) Business Unit of Siemens. Driving Digital Transformation with focus on process improvement is a major part of his role. Before he joined the Railway Industry he held several management positions in the Air- and Space Industry and Power Generation Industry. He accumulated knowledge and leadership experience in different areas such as Project Management, Supply Management and Operations. Certainly one career highlight was a green field project he successfully led in Eastern Europe.
Dr. Lydia Nemec
As Head of the ZEISS AI Accelerator, Dr. Lydia Nemec and her team work closely together with all ZEISS businesses to create fully operational machine learning products that drive business success for ZEISS. Coming from academic research in high-performance computing and numeric algorithm development, Lydia started her exciting career path in theoretical and computational physics as a post-doc at Fritz Haber Insitute of the Max Planck Society and TU Munich. Before joining ZEISS, Lydia worked as a Senior Data Scientist on Machine Learning development and cloud-based data products at Knorr-Bremse. As part of the ZEISS Data & Analytics unit, Lydia leads the ZEISS Data Science team and is at the forefront of ZEISS´ next generation of AI-infused product and service innovations.
Francesco Maria Vasquez
Graduated in Management Engineering, I started to work in Cost Control Department for a construction company in Algeria and Russia. After 2.5 years abroad I returned to Italy, joining Procter&Gamble as IT Project Manager. Since 2018 I’m in the role of ITOT Leader for the laundry manufacturing plant located in Pomezia. As of 2021 I took the additional role of Digital Innovation Leader becoming the Digital Leader of the Plant.
Dr. Walter Huber
During his professional career at Siemens, Staufen AG, MT Aerospace and currently Webasto, Dr. Walter Huber primarily responsible for strategic changes. He is currently employed as Director Processes, Methods and Tools in the area of production and manufacturing technology with the main focus on the implementation of Smart Factory topics. He has implemented over 40 Industry 4.0 projects and supported several companies in the digital transformation towards Industry 4.0. Two books entitled "Industry 4.0 in automobile production" and "How technologies are changing our economy and our companies" have been published by Springer-Verlag.
Mark Lauterburg
After 10 years – as System Engineer and Senior Project Manager – in international (heavy) machinery investment business, 12 years as Technical Director and COO in international Paper Industry. Since beginning of 2013 as Engineering Director engaged in STADLERs global and fast growing Rolling Stock business.Taking charge as Managing Director (CEO) end of 2019, for the turnaround of an acquired Train Factory as part of STADLERs strategic 3R business Swiss, married, two kids, living in Denmark
Nick Leeder
Mr. Leeder’s industry experience of digital transformations has spanned over 25 years. He has been at the forefront of how new technologies can be employed to increase operating margins and revenue growth. He has focused on the changes and challenges to design, manufacture, and service things for a smart, connected world beyond the buzzwords and the hype. He is acknowledged by the World Economic Forum as being a global expert in advanced manufacturing and digital transformation. He is an internationally recognised thought leader and keynote speaker and has had numerous publications and participates in a number of industry advisory bodies. Mr. Leeder is the founder of Nick Leeder &Co Limited, and has held senior leadership positions in companies including PTC, SKF AB, Dyson Limited, Konektio and Accenture. Mr. Leeder is a Chartered Engineer and holds a Batchelors of Engineering degree from Loughborough University in the UK.
Corrado Iorizzo
Corrado Iorizzo joined Philip Morris International Operation Center in Lausanne (CH) during 2017 as Vanguard Enterprise Architect with the purpose of scouting, piloting and scaling innovative technologies in the company’s practices and eco-system with a specific focus on Industry 4.0, IoT and Cloud Computing. In 2019 moved to the new role of Global Lead Architect of IT Manufacturing and member of IT Operations Leadership Team.
Before joining Philip Morris International, he spent seven years in IT consulting, holding the role of CTO in Atos Consulting Switzerland, being also a member of Atos Scientific Community, and contributing to Cloud Continuum and Edge Computing tracks. Previously he was Head of Technology in Cambridge Technology Partners, engaging on IT projects mainly with multinational companies operating from Switzerland.
In the past, was among the founders, board member, and head of Product and Software Practice in TiQ and TiQ Industrial operating in Italy, UK, Belgium, and Spain, acting on digital technologies for Manufacturing and industrial systems recognized with the opportunity of presenting seven different innovative projects at AIST conferences (Association for Iron and Steel Technology) on process control systems modernisation.
Sonika Gogineni
Sonika has a mixed educational background in Instrumentation engineering and production engineering. She enjoys working on smart products and smart services, not just the research side of developing methodologies for them but also actually bringing them to life. Working with and managing data is also part of her portfolio. She currently works in the department of virtual product creation specializing in the division of Information and Process Control.
Matilda Pasanen
Currently heading the Customer Experience team at XMReality and have prior background within the company's Sales team. Extensive experience from Digital transformation and Change management from prior Management consultant roles. Driven by modern technology and what its business value can provide.
Joel PIFFRE
Joel has a background in electronics and almost 40 years in customer service positions from field technician to customer service manager, with part of his working life in operations and logistics. He oversees cross-functional projects such as the AR remote control tool or circular economy project within Electrolux Professional's global customer service function. He is also involved in supporting the teams in the business digitalisation journey.
Ives de Saeger
In 2013 he started Arkite NV and created the “Human Interface Mate”, an augmented Reality product to let operators excel in their job. He was co-CEO, CTO, responsible for VC funding seed & A series up to 2,35 mio euro, build up a team and was responsible for product management & sales. He managed the product development focused on SCRUM. He raised up to 850keuro in subsidy. Arkite NV was awarded and Startup of the Year 2017 and by VOKA the i4.0 of the year in 2018. Today he manages Aeriez BV, providing a culture changing incident system helping companies to go from gut feeling to semi-scientific thinking. The system delivers an on-call management and escalation approach, insight in teamwork and cooperation between employees to redesign the organization, captures knowledge to improve autonomy. He has written 2 business novels on technological and knowledge/quality thinking “Grenzeling, buiten de sector denken” (2009) and “De Puberende Leider” (2017) both published in Dutch by Lannoo Campus. He has written 7 papers on TRIZ related subjects and provides keynotes. He holds 2 patents and a utility model.
Ronald Root
Ronald is an expert in leading data analytics and AI teams with extensive experience in digital transformation. His vision is that a better world for future generations can be achieved with data analytics. He has worked for over 15 years in Data and Analytics and is currently Head of Data & Analytics at Van Oord, a global Marine Contractor with a 2B turnover. He is responsible for deploying the Enterprise Data Platform, the central way of working on data products and the Data Governance and Enterprise Data Management.
Pier Giuseppe Dal Farra
Pier Giuseppe Dal Farra, has more than 30 years of experience in the industrial and telco business. In his professional career, Pier Giuseppe served as COO for a leading robotics company and cofounded three start-ups which pioneered the deployment of IoT in the energy vertical sector, the encoding and distribution of digital video and the data processing.
At Orange Business, Pier Giuseppe supports his customers in the adoption of best of breed solutions to enhance their industrial performance and competitivity.
Bernd Wiedmann
As Regional Director EMEA at EOS, Bernd Wiedmann is responsible for the key account Management. His special focus here is on the strategic partnership with the Key Customers and the associated strategic orientation of AM use. Mr. Wiedmann has been working in additive manufacturing for more than six years and is an expert in both the technology and its application as well as the market. In this role, he has played a key role in supporting a wide range of successful projects for the introduction of industrial 3D printing in the manufacturing industry.
Syed Nameer
Nameer is currently working at Additive Minds as a strategy & innovation consultant. He gained a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in management at ESMT Berlin, which led to his interest in new technologies. He has consulted numerous customers over the past three years in developing their journey towards adopting additive manufacturing. His expertise lies in determining business cases and financial feasibility for customers planning to enter additive manufacturing. Nameer brings a wide diversity of experience along with him together with a passion for data driven decision making when consulting clients.
Alexander Sandstrom
Alexander Sandstrom is Chief Technology Officer at XMReality, defining product and technology vision, and leading the engineering team. He has more than a decade of experience building high tech products using real-time communications and live video technology. Prior to XMReality, Sandstrom was a senior product manager at Amazon, providing product leadership for Prime Video’s low-latency live streaming technology. Before Amazon, he was a strategic product manager building professional video delivery technology for global media companies at Net Insight. He has also held several positions at Ericsson, primarily designing and evangelizing communication solutions that enable mobile broadband across the globe.
Enrica Bosani
Electronic engineer Enrica started her career in Whirlpool EMEA in 1994 in the factory automation supporting shop floor monitoring and control systems deployment in EMEA factories. After a long period with project management responsibilities in several different functions of the multinational company (Supply Chain, Human resources, product development, marketing and sales, IT, finance and Consumer Services), acquiring a deep knowledge of the company processes at cross functional level, joined EMEA Operations Excellence department in 2017 initially as Industry4.0 program PMO and then, in 2019, as manufacturing Innovation manager with the responsibility of the coordination of all EMEA Integrated supply chain initiatives in the funded research programs (Horizon and EIT manufacturing). Actually, after the joint venture between Whirlpool EMEA and Arcelik, she proceeds her actions in manufacturing Innovation in the new company BEKO EUROPE
Tobias Trunk
- Supervisor Smart Connected Factory
Responsibilities: Factory Automation, Robotics, CVML, Torque technology, operator assist tools
- Manufacturing Engineer
Responsibilities: Assembly Automation, Torque technology, CV
- Manufacturing Engineer
Responsibilities: Assembly Line, handling systems, prototype assembly Tactical Logistics: Trainee strategy logistics decisions
Academic:
Master of Engineering - Focus on laser material processing
Bachelor of Engineering: Focus on Mechanical Engineering
Apprenticeship as a manufacturing technician
Company Stations:
John Deere Europe
REMA Hybrid technology
MAN Power
Forestry contractor
Juha Pankakoski
Juha Pankakoski is a member of the Konecranes’ group executive board, responsible for the development of group core technologies, digitalization, IT, and central procurement. He’s held number of functional and P&L executive positions during the years. Prior to joining Konecranes, Juha worked in IT and Telecoms sectors.
Roman Klis
An experienced data scientist working for Johnson Electric International. Roman holds a Ph.D. from the prestigious Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. His academic background has equipped him with a strong foundation in mathematics, statistics, and computer science, which he has applied to develop innovative AI solutions.
As an innovation manager, Roman is constantly exploring new technologies and techniques to improve the manufacturing industry's efficiency and effectiveness. He has a keen eye for identifying opportunities to apply AI solutions to real-world problems and coins the collaboration with external academic partners.
His deep knowledge of data analysis techniques, combined with his experience in the manufacturing industry, has enabled Roman to develop cutting-edge AI solutions that have been successfully implemented in various industrial settings. He has a proven track record of improving production processes, reducing downtime, improving cycle time, and ensuring the quality-control of manufactured end products.
Prof. Julian Polte
Julian Polte is Professor for precision Additive Manufacturing at the TU Berlin and got a Doctor degree of Engineering -Dr.-Ing.- from the Technische Universität Berlin and spent more than 10 years scientific, industrial and educational challenges in Precision Engineering, Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, Additive Manufacturing, Industry 4.0 and the optimization of the related value chains and dedicates his scientific career, applied research, industrialization programs and high quality education. Julian Polte was an Research Affiliate at the renowned and worldwide leading International Academy for Production Technology CIRP. At the Fraunhofer Institute IPK Julian Polte leads different departments with great impact into industry. He successfully published more than 100 articles and contributions in magazines, journals and on conferences.
Maximilian Unbescheidt
Bachelor of Science, studies at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg
Self-employed agency for digital advertising
Account Manager at 3DQR
VP, Head of Pre-Sales at 3DQR
Philippe Berteele
Philippe Berteele is a Belgian business leader with a strong focus on continuous improvement and business systems. He was born in Kortrijk in 1981 and holds master degrees in mechanical engineering and business economics from the University of Ghent.
Berteele started his career in 2006 as a kaizen leader at CNH Industrial, where he worked on numerous continuous improvement projects like SMED and TPM. In 2011, he joined the management team having operational responsibility for Assembly, Machining and Logistics departments where he led a team responsible for driving customer satisfaction and profitability growth.
Today, Berteele is working on mid term strategy for the Antwerp production plant.
Mahmood Afshari
Mahmood is a technology enthusiast with extensive experience in cutting-edge technologies such as IoT Solutions and Cloud Services. Holding a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, he has held various roles such as Technical Head, IoT and Cloud Solutions Architect, Sales Engineer, System Engineer, and DevOps. For the last few years, he has focused on Smart Solutions, Industry 4.0, and digital transformation by leaving his footprints in Industrial IoT, Sustainability, Automotive Industry, Supply chain, Asset Tracking, Utility, Oil&Gas, Energy, Agriculture, and retail.
Hugo David Herrmann
Hugo is a young leader in the field of Operational Excellence & Smart Factory with experience in the sectors of beverages, infrastructure & construction and automotive. He graduated in Computing Systems (Tec de Monterrey, Mexico) and obtained his master’s titles in Innovation and Technology Management (University of Cambridge and Sussex, United Kingdom), as Business Transformation Manager (University of Applied Sciences Northwestern, Switzerland and SAP) and in Operational Excellence in Bavaria, Germany.
He has collaborated with ABInbev - Grupo Modelo as Senior Advisor in the Strategic Transformation Programme, and his participation in numerous projects allowed him to broaden his skills and experience in Strategic Planning, M&A, Operations, Marketing, Processes and Technology. He later worked as Director in the area of Corporate Strategic Planning in ICA, the leading infrastructure construction and operation company in Mexico, and currently he is in charge of Operational Excellence and Industry 4.0 in the Tier 1 Global Automotive Company IAC, while he is based in Munich, Germany.
Sarah Bodo
Sarah Bodo leads Dows digital technology incubation hub in Europe – one of three global Digital Operations Centres established to forward innovate the next generation of technology for the enterprise. Sarah works closely with all Operations sites across the EMEAI region to understand the needs and use cases where next gen technology can provide a role. Sarah works globally to define and extend technology strategy, and coordinate those strategies for development across the globe. Sarah and her DOC team are based out of Wiesbaden, Germany. Before leading the EMEAI DOC team, Sarah was a founding member of the global DOC organisation in Hoouston, Texas, and has previous experience in Dow in process automation, MES systems architecture and design, SAP and production work process implementation.
Doug McKnight
Doug McKnight is leading Dow efforts to derive value in safety and productivity across Dow’s Operations in EMEAI through the adaptation of Industry 4.0 solutions. He partners with Dow’s businesses and technical functions and coordinates across all of the varied sites for the company in the region. He is located in Wiesbaden, Germany – at the seat of the Digital Operations Centre for EMEAI. He is part of Dow’s newly established “Operations IT/OT” function for the company – signaling the intent within Dow to drive digitalization. Before taking this current challenge in the Industry 4.0 world, his experience is in industrial operations leadership including environment, health and safety, production and site leadership, external manufacturing management, supply chain, continuous improvement techniques and advanced process control and systems dynamics modelling. Across his career in ICI and Dow, Doug has lived in many European countries including the Netherlands, Switzerland, France and now Germany.
Maaike Slot
Maaike Slot is a passionate research engineer specialising in digitalisation for the manufacturing industry. With four years of experience at the Fraunhofer Innovation Platform for Advanced Manufacturing at the University of Twente, Maaike has been involved in several projects focused on optimising production processes through digitalisation and innovation.
Simultaneously, Maaike is pursuing a Ph.D. with a specific emphasis on Digital Twinning in production environments. Her research delves into effectively and efficiently providing decision support through the availability and presentation of information within production environments. This involves making data and information available, and, above all, delivering this information at the right time, moment, and perspective for optimal decision-making.
With a strong commitment to shaping the future of manufacturing, Maaike leverages her knowledge and passion for Digital Twinning to create efficient and effective production environments.
Carsten Freiherr von Hadeln
With over 20 years of consultancy experience, Carsten is a seasoned professional renowned for expertise in End-2-End process optimization and global footprint optimization. Specializing in automotive, mechanical engineering, electronics, and micro-technology sectors, Carsten has spearheaded key projects focusing on enhancing operational efficiency and reducing backlog. Their proficiency extends to turnaround planning and implementation, where they have successfully optimized throughput, flow production, and labor productivity. Adept in supply chain management, Carsten excels in reducing bottlenecks and ensuring adherence to service level agreements.
Stefan Schleyer
Stefan Schleyer is “Domain Principal Architect – Technology Development” at SKF in Schweinfurt. Digital Engineering and Innovation is a part of Technology Development and acts as crucial part in developing the digital landscape of the SKF Group Stefan Schleyer worked for many years in IoT projects for international customers and assisted them in evaluation, development and implementation of IoT enterprise applications. For more than ten years he led EU funded R&D projects for SKF in international consortiums. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science.
Arqum Ahmad
Currently heading the Digital Solutions at Leonardo's Manufacturing Competence Centre, he is building digital factory that spans over 50 production plants, integrating thousands of machineries into the digital age.
He founded Antrax Labs between 2018 and 2021, with the aim to digitally transform manufacturing and have been a fervent advocate for open-source, demonstrating a deep commitment to innovation and accessible technology.
As an Industry 4.0 strategist and IoT practitioner, his expertise has contributed significantly to the dialogue on technology, business, and innovation.
Frank Timmermans
I have been working in the Petrochemical sector at Total Energies for more than 11 years, in various operational functions (maintenance, process engineering, project management). Currently I’m almost 9 years at the Tessenderlo Group Head Quarters. I started in Business Transformation and over the last 4 years I founded a new department for Operational Excellence and Operational Technology. We are an expertise centre and with the team we support our different Business Units in their Lean journeys and step change improvement projects. Next to that we focus on innovative solutions in automation with projects in analytics, process control, material handling, robotics, etc.
Enno De Lange
Enno de Lange joined Johnson Electric in 2014. He is currently leading the Digital Transformation, guiding Design Engineering and Production Engineering Departments globally in their transformation journey.
Enno holds a PhD in Nonlinear Dynamics from the EPFL and an MSc in Electrical Engineering from Delft University of Technology.
Sachin Sankpal
Sachin is Senior strategic leader with twenty-five years of experience. His core strengths include maximizing revenues, profitability and bottom-line results by deploying fit for purpose continuous improvement framework, anchoring value mindset, optimizing business processes, Organization designs using excellence & digitalization.
Sachin is currently working with Vynova Group as Head of Excellence & Digitalization & lives in Maastricht, Netherlands. He is also an expert in Transformation programs across entire business value chain.
Richard Milnes
As a software engineer, Richard started his career developing solutions to create better jobs for frontline workers across the supply chain. Through this work he saw first hand the challenges that the growing skills gap in heavy industry is having on the workers which are critical to our economy. This led him to drop-out of university to start Zaptic.
Passionate about people, Richard has created a people-first culture in Zaptic. Embodying the core company values of Transparency, Autonomy, Continuous Improvement, Simplicity and Efficiency, in all that he does.
Zaptic is helping leading manufacturers digitise daily operations, achieve operational excellence and empower frontline workers to drive continuous improvement.
Constant Ondo
Constant is an expert in both operational excellence and systematic innovation. After having worked for key players as well as start-ups in the CPG, health and luxury goods industries, he founded his own consulting firm and saved companies such as Airbus, Philip Morris, EBU millions of Euros using the Lean Six sigma and TRIZ principles. As the CEO of PICC Solution, Constant is committed to combining his expertise and all the potential of new technologies (AI, neural networks, NLP, IoT…) in a digital solution that any company can afford and use to build up today’s most valuable asset : collective intelligence.
Manuel Aguado Puertas
Originally from Spain and with background in Industrial electronics engineering. Manuel has worked in in robotic project engineering in Procter and Gamble and in Siemens around the Automation and Industrial IoT areas for Manufacturing in several leadership positions. Today in Danone driving the digital transformation in the Danone manufacturing sites
Kaustav Basu
Grenoble, France, Kaustav Basu is a dynamic leader at the intersection of data science and innovation. Currently serving as Squad Lead, Kaustav spearheads strategic initiatives for the Data Scientist team, fostering growth and excellence. As the central figure for international digital products requiring data science expertise, Kaustav ensures seamless collaboration and impactful contributions. With cross-functional leadership across multiple domains, Kaustav has been instrumental in shaping innovation strategies, leading B2C domain initiatives, and representing the data domain across Eneco International's landscape. Renowned for operationalizing data products and championing technological advancement, Kaustav Basu is a sought-after expert in the field, driving transformative change through data-driven insights and visionary leadership.
John Robinson
John is a globally respected Industry 4.0 thought leader. His unique insights and disruptive thinking are the result of a thirty-year career that has included senior roles at Kearney, SAP, EY, Atos and Schneider Electric as well as over decade in manufacturing. He has worked with many of the world’s largest manufacturing brands across all industry sectors and his skill set includes strategy, IT, OT, Operational Excellence and Industry 4.0.
Samuli Ahonen
Samuli is a dedicated professional at Visual Components for over 15 years, currently overseeing service operations as a Head of Simulation Experts. With his passion for robotics and simulation together with a team of Simulation Experts, they offer exceptional learning resources, product support, trainings and consultancy.
Liisa-Brett Sonnenberg
Sales manager at Visual Components for the past 4,5 years, with close to 10 years of experience in IT and robotics sales. I count on expertise related to the potential benefits of using simulation software across multiple industries with the goal of designing and optimising projects, virtual commissioning, digital twins and sales acceleration.
Michael Meinel
Michael Meinel has been active in high-tech manufacturing companies in the field of quality assurance and data analytics for over 22 years. After working for chip manufacturers Infineon and Qimonda, he became self-employed in 2010 and has since been active as a technical consultant in over 20 industrial companies. Today, he is CTO and product developer of convanit.
Ines Thurner
Ines has a master in physics. After 20 years in the semiconductor industries working in the field of process control and production quality for companies like IBM, Philips, Infineon and Qimonda she founded convanit in 2010. Her main focus is to provide the customer the solution they need.
convanit is a company that provides technical consulting and develops AI-based solutions for production control systems.
Marc Delbaere
Marc Delbaere is an experienced B2B software executive with a solid data background. He has built strong businesses from the ground up in entrepreneurial mode and managed more mature businesses at global level for large corporations. He has founded and led to a global success the collaborative financial services industry platform MyStandards.
He specialises in business value generation and aligning business and technology imperatives. He has been the CEO of Digazu since 2021 and launched Kindata in 2023.
