SPEAKERS GDANSK

TBD City of Busan

MAJOR OF BUSAN

CARLO M BORGHINI

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR EUROPE`S RAIL JOINT UNDERTAKING 

Mr Carlo Borghini is responsible for the overall management of Europe’s Rail, successor of the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking, activities since he took up the position of Executive Director in February 2016; in 2021, his mandate has been extended up to May 2026. Prior to this posting, Mr Borghini held senior management positions in different domains in private and international organisations, at corporate level. He was the Deputy Executive Director for the SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU) in Brussels from 2008 to 2014, and prior to this was Director and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialised Agency of the United Nations based in Rome. Mr Borghini holds a Master’s Degree equivalent in Business Economics and speaks Italian, French and English. He is married with three children.

ANDREW S. MILLARD

Busan Representative for the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea

Andrew S. Millard is a British national who has lived and worked in Busan, South Korea since 2006. After obtaining a PhD in International Studies he worked as an assistant professor at Busan University of Foreign Studies for eight years before moving to Changwon National University in September, 2022. As well as a professor in the department of International Relations, he is now also the Dean of International Affairs at Changwon National University, as well as the Busan Representative for the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

KEIR FITCH

HEAD OF UNIT RAIL SAFETY & INTEROPERABILITY IN DG MOVE IN THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

The mission of the Unit is to establish an interoperable and safe Single European Rail area and to manage the relationships with the European Union Agency for Railways and the Shift-To-Rail Joint undertaking. This includes in particular: pursuing the conditions to achieve interoperability and safety in the rail systems across the EU, in particular in partnership with the European Union Agency for Railways; and ensuring the delivery of a long term R&I programme with the rail industry which supports the Commission’s vision for the future of rail and broader transport, competitiveness, environmental and social policy objectives.

DIRK LUKAT

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER –  DB SCHENKER KOREA Ltd.

Experienced leader with a demonstrated history of working in the logistics and supply chain industry. Skilled in leading people to achieve exceptional growth and explore the “impossible “. Extensive knowledge in import, export, operations management, freight, international shipping, and air freight, dedicated to solutions and innovation. Strong marketing professional with a track record in achieving exceptional growth through dedicated and team oriented leadership.

MICHAEL JOHANNES

VICE PRESIDENT MOBILITY & LOGISTICS MESSE FRANKFURT

In his role as Vice President of Messe Frankfurt GmbH, Michael Johannes has been responsible for the Mobility & Logistics business unit since 2010. In addition to the international Automechanika trade fair brand with 13 shows in 13 countries, the portfolio also includes events such as hypermotion, festival of motoring or futuroad expo. Experts from the automotive, transport and logistics sectors meet at a total of 40 events and conferences worldwide to present the latest product innovations, expand business relations and establish cooperations.

RAJA NARAYANAN

INTERIM CEO/CFO – VIRGIN HYPERLOOP

ANDRÉS DE LEÓN

CEO HYPERLOOPTT

Known globally for his focused management style and creation of growth-oriented businesses within the infrastructure construction and alternative energy sectors, Andres de Leon was appointed to the role of Chief Executive Officer in 2019. Previously, Andres had served as Chief Operations Officer for HyperloopTT for three years. Andres brings 30 years of international experience as a senior executive in manufacturing, finance management, private/public business negotiation, and tax and audit supervision to HyperloopTT. Andres has initiated and executed corporate affairs in Spain, Belgium, Portugal, France, Italy, Mexico, Chile, and the United States.

MARS GEUZE

CEO & CO-Founder HARDT HYPERLOOP

Mars Geuze is Chief Commercial Officer at Hardt Hyperloop, a European company that develops the hyperloop: sustainable high-speed transportation for passengers and goods. Within Hardt, Geuze is responsible for all the non-technical aspects concerning hyperloop, such as public adoption, standardization, the financial and socio-economic business cases and the integration in the spatial environment as well as in the transport network. Hardt Hyperloop has realized Europe’s first full-scale hyperloop test facility and is spearheading a broad public-private development and implementation program to collaboratively create a world where distance does not matter.

DAVID PISTONI

CEO & CO-FOUNDER ZELEROS HYPERLOOP

David Pistoni is the CEO and Co-Founder at Zeleros Hyperloop, the European company based in Valencia (Spain) leading the development of a scalable hyperloop system. Zeleros’ unique technologies integrated in the vehicle reduce drastically the cost per kilometer of infrastructure and enable operation at aviation pressure levels shorten, which also shorten path to market providing a clear certification journey. The project mobilizes +150 people worldwide to bring hyperloop to reality by 2030.

MEHMET ÖRGEN

HYPERLOOP LEAD – ERCIYAS

Mehmet Örgen is Electric & Electronics Engineer. After 30 years of experience in Turkish Navy and NATO, he has been a Senior Manager at Erciyas Holding since 2014. Besides his corporate responsibilities, he is working on startup discovery, innovation development, energy and technology projects acceleration in a broad ecosystem. In his capacity, he is leading Hyperloop activities in the conglemorate  and putting all his efforts to pioneer Hyperloop Development globally.

DR. LUCIENNE KROSSE

THEMATIC LEAD SMART BUILDINGS & CITIES EIT INNOENERGY

Dr. Lucienne Krosse has a background in Chemical Engineering. She obtained her Master’s degree from the University of Twente in the Netherlands. At the Technical University of Delft she worked on her PhD ‘compact thermochemical storage’. Afterwards, she started to work for the Dutch Institute for Applied Scientific Research, TNO where she served in different scientific, business and management positions. During that time she also worked for a year at the Dutch Embassy in Beijing at the department of Economic affairs. Meanwhile, she was involved in setting up a joint venture for TNO in China, BBTDC. Currently she works for InnoEnergy as thematic leader of ‘Smart Buildings and Cities’. InnoEnergy is the innovation engine for sustainable energy across Europe supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. InnoEnergy invests in innovative products, services and start-ups.

FABIEN LETOURNEAUX

R&D Programme Manager System Safety SNCF Innovation & Research

Fabien Létourneaux is team Leader System Safety at the Innovation & Research Department of SNCF (French Railway operator) and coordinates the R&D network of the company gathering more than 160 safety experts.He is also in charge of disruptive high speed transport systems, manages the cooperation and partnership with the different Hyperloop Companies and contributes to the new European standardization initiative.
Mechanical Engineer and PhD in Noise & Vibration he have more than 25 years’ experience and expertise in the railway system

DR. WOOYEON CHO

SENIOR RESEARCHER – POSCO STEEL SOLUTION RESEARCH INSTITUTE 

Dr. Wooyeon Cho has been working at POSCO, a Korean steel company, for about 20 years as a tube structure development researcher, and has been conducting research to improve the performance of pipelines and tube structures using various steel properties.
He has been involved in designing optimal tube structures to improve the competitiveness of hyperloop infrastructure while participating in the European Hyperloop Development Program. He is interested in designing infrastructure to reduce total investment costs throughout the entire stage of hyperloop development (design/production/transport/installation), and leads a new concept of hyperloop tube development program considering large size.

GIUSEPPE CARCASI

TEAM LEADER OF THE “STUDIES AND SYSTEM INNOVATION” B.U., RETE FERROVIARIA ITALIANA (RFI)

Giuseppe has more than 12 years of experience in RFI, the Italian railway Infrastructure Manager. Since 2018, he is in charge of exploring future mobility scenarios to identify long term strategies and investment needs for the infrastructural and technological enhancement of the transport system focusing on the railway network and rapid transit solutions, new advanced transport systems, new technologies & digital transformation initiatives, decarbonisation & energy transformation initiatives, risk evaluation of climate change effects & adaptation actions. Giuseppe is a mechanical engineer (BSc and MSc) and holds a PhD in Economics of Monetary and Financial Markets from La Sapienza, University of Rome.

DR. MARKUS BAUER

MANAGING DIRECTOR – THYSSENKRUPP TRANSRAPID

In April 2021 Markus Bauer was appointed managing director of thyssenkrupp Transrapid GmbH. The company developed the maglev trains for the commercial line linking Shanghai Airport with the city of Shanghai at a top speed of 430 km/h. As a result, thyssenkrupp Transrapid has extensive experience in the design, manufacture and commissioning of a commercially operated high-speed maglev train. Today, the company also develops innovative mechatronic systems and digital products with artificial intelligence.  Markus is a physicist with a broad background in maglev technology as well as in the application of high temperature superconductors. He is convinced that the combination of decades of maglev experience with modern digital solutions and high-temperature superconductors will provide groundbreaking solutions for Hyperloop systems.

DIETER MICHELL-AULI

CHIEF SALES OFFICER – DB ENGINEERING & CONSULTING

As of March 2017 Dieter Michell-Auli has taken over a new role as Chief Sales Officer (CSO), in order to strengthen sales within DB Engineering & Consulting, which offers the expertise of Deutsche Bahn AG, starting from feasibility studies to design and construction and further to operation and maintenance of railway and logistic systems. The company consults and supports international clients and develops innovative and economic green solutions for mobility and transportation services. Since October 2017 Mr. Michell-Auli is also Member of the Board of Managing Directors and CSO of Deutsche Bahn International Operations GmbH, subsidiary of DB AG responsible for implementing rail operations and maintenance projects outside Europe.

CHRISTIAN SCHMIDT

SECTOR MANAGER INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS – VAT GROUP

Christian is Sector Manager for Industrial Applications at VAT AG. VAT is the worldwide leader for vacuum valves, serving its customers with highly customized products designed by a large team of engineers. Christian is in charge to coordinate business development and technology for VAT’s partners in the hyperloop industry. Before joining VAT Christian has worked for a decade on vacuum equipment for coating of solar cells to industrialize technologies like PERC and HJT applied in most solar modules today.

MARTIN JOHANN FRÖHLICH

CEO – MOTHER EARTH VENTURES

Martin Johann Fröhlich belongs to a new generation of entrepreneurs. After his studies in International Management achieved around the world (Berlin, Paris, London, Chengdu/China) and his cooperation with Siemens in Denmark, he becomes self-employed. As an innovative and ambitious entrepreneur, he founds his sustainable fashion label Martin Joyeux and his Capital Fund Mother Earth Ventures, whose vision and aim is to transform our world into an ecologically compatible, socially just and economically efficient place to live in. In other words, its aspiration and contribution is to balance technology, people and planet. Currently Martin works as Senior Manager in the department Ecosystem Management and Partnerships at Deutsche Bahn. He deals with future topics, specifically he develops disruptive business models in the mobility sector and works on long-term sustainable mobility solutions such as flying taxis, hyperloop, autonomous hotel rooms.

MICHAEL STEININGER

MARKET SECTOR MANAGER – LEYBOLD INDUSTRIAL VACUUM

Michael Steininger works as a Global Business Development Manager for Industrial Vacuum within the Leybold GmbH, a member of the Swedish Atlas Copco group. Constantly challenged by new emerging markets with different technologies and demands, he has to transform the input to a business strategy and has to outline the influence on existing vacuum designs and initiate new pump developments. In view of the enormous potential of Hyperloop, a high-speed, vacuum based, ground transportation system for which the company became a key technology partner, he closely accompanies Hyperloop activities all over the world for many years.

FRANK BUCHMANN

VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS AND ACTING HEAD OF SAFETY  HYPERLOOPTT

Frank Buchmann is a civil engineer and has held various positions in the railway ecosystem in his more than 20-year career. He started as a consulting engineer and competence manager for slab track. Later, he was active as a representative of Deutsche Bahn AG in various standardization committees.  As CER speaker for the TSI Infrastructure, he actively accompanied and influenced the further development of technical specifications for interoperability at European level for more than 10 years. Since 2011, he has held a leading position at DB Netz AG in the area of vehicle dynamics and test drives.

MICHAEL HENGST

VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS AND ACTING HEAD OF SAFETY  HYPERLOOPTT

Studies of Aerospace Engineering and MBA, always had a strong focus on Operations, Customer Services, Digital Transformation & Innovation Experienced Executive with 22 years of management experience in different Transportation Industries (Aerospace, Automotive and Railways), ran several companies as MD/CEO. Hyperloop Enthusiast, active member of HyperloopTT since 2018, in charge of Operations and Support, Safety, Quality and Risk Management.

OTTMAR GREIN

RAIL SYSTEM SENOIR CONSULTANT DB ENGINEERING & CONSULTING

Ottmar Grein is a senior consultant and project manager for Long Distance and High Speed transportation systems for Deutsche Bahn Engineering & Consulting. He has more than 40 years of experience in the rail industry and was involved in numerous projects worldwide including High Speed Rail, Maglev and Hyperloop. Since 2008 Ottmar Grein is the representative of Deutsche Bahn at the High Speed and Long Distance Passenger Rail Committee of the UIC.

DR. STEPHAN LIEDL

LEAD ASSESSOR – TÜV SÜD RAIL 

Dr. Stephan Liedl has been with TUV SUD for more than 20 years as safety assessor in various fields of public transport such as cableway systems, railway and metro / light rail transit systems. He has completed many projects in Germany, Europe and overseas as lead assessor or project manager and maintains a long-term relationship with safety authorities, public transport companies and system suppliers. Since 2016 Stephan Liedl is engaged in safety and certification issues in the development of Hyperloop systems. He is a core member of TÜV SÜD’s Hyperloopteam.

STEFANIE HORN

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER NEW TECHNOLOGIES – FUJITSU

Stefanie Horn is working for different digital transformation units of Fujitsu since over three years – being one of the founding members of the Smart City department. She is responsible for Intermodal Mobility Solutions applying Fujitsu`s bridging Technology to Quantum Computing – the Digital Annealer – as well as AI in this field. In addition she is focusing on Sustainability, IoT and last mile logistic solutions. She is managing a partnership with the Digital Hub Aachen and is building ecosystems in Germany for Fujitsu´s new digital business. Her goal is to make eco-friendly mobility and logistics more attractive, flexible, convenient, and reliable.

DAN WOLFF

FOUNDER & MANAGING PARTNER EUROTRAN

Dan is the founder and Managing Partner of Eurotran. He has 20+ years of professional experience in EU Public Affairs, mainly in transport,
energy and environment. Dan has worked for La Poste, Réseau Ferré de France (RFF, now SNCF Réseau) and the Association of European Rail
Infrastructure Managers (EIM). In 2010, he started Eurotran which is now active in all modes of transport (including hyperloop) in addition to circular economy (waste, refurbishment, soils…) and EU funding in various areas. Dan has designed and conducted successful campaigns engaging EU institutions and stakeholders alike.

DIRK KRÜGER

Strategic Consultant – FUJITSU

As a strategic consultant, Dirk Krüger is focusing on cooperations around 5G, Blockchain, Digital Annealing – a bridging technology to Quantum Computing – , Urban Mobility and any kind of BigData/AI ideas to deliver innovative solutions to Fujitsu`s transport, retail and utilities customers.

GABRIELE SEMINO

Research Assistant TUM & Project Lead TUM Hyperloop

Gabriele Semino has been involved in the TUM Hyperloop effort since 2016. As project lead of the student initiative, he led the team to the successes in the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competitions in 2017 and 2018. He co-founded NEXT Prototypes e.V., the non-profit organization behind this initiative, and is still serving as its chairman. Moreover, he is currently a research assistant at the Technical University of Munich and project lead of the TUM Hyperloop program, the large interdisciplinary research effort of the Department for Aerospace and Geodesy with the goal of developing the technology needed to make climate-neutral ground-based ultra-high-speed transportation a reality.

LUKAS ESCHMENT

Scientific Research Assistant  HOCHSCHULE EMDEN/LEER

Scientific Research Assistant  HOCHSCHULE EMDEN/LEER

Lukas is a curious engineer and PhD candidate at the Institute of Hyperloop Technology at the University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer. After starting into Hyperloop with the Hyperloop Pod Competitions, he is now focusing his work together with the team of the institute towards the transition of the former MagLev test track in Lathen to a European Hyperloop Large Scale Technological Research Infrastructure. Simultaneously he is involved in EU Projects and other transnational Hyperloop Development Programs like the ePIcenter EU-project, the Hyperloop Development Program which is a Dutch initiative with European cooperation and the EU HyTeC Project of Lower Saxony.

DOMINIK SCHERRER

Project Manager “TwinTube” EUROTUBE

Dominik Scherrer is Project Manager for Operations at the EuroTube Foundation, in this role, he is leading the project on information based Mobility Simulation & Modelling. Dominik has business-related degrees from the Rotterdam School of Management and University of St Gallen. Before joining EuroTube, Dominik worked in various functions at SBB, the largest mobility provider in Switzerland.

KATHARINA DIECK

CONSULTING DB ENGINEERING & CONSULTING

Katharina Dieck is head of Business Partner Consulting at DB Engineering & Consulting. She has acquired more than 20 years of professional experience in the business areas of railroad infrastructure and rail freight transport. She has experience in project management of international projects on European level and related work in railway associations. She spent two years at the freight transport division at UIC (International Railway Association).

JUAN VICÉN

CO-FOUNDER & CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER ZELEROS

Juan is Mechanical Engineer graduated from Polytechnic University of Valencia with a Master in Industrial Design at TU Munich. He founded the non-profit community Makers UPV in 2013 and founded the air-quality project Hawa Dawa in Germany. He raised the support of more than 30 companies to create Spain’s first Hyperloop prototype. As a CMO, at Zeleros he is in charge of the Marketing and Communications strategy to showcase all the potential of Zeleros’ scalable hyperloop system.

ELISABETH GRESHAKE

Experienced Enterprise Sales with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry. Skilled in Sales, Professional Services, Software Industry, Solutions, Software as a Service (SaaS), and Pre-sales.Acting as a strategic advisor helping organizations drive innovation and digital transformation by increasing business agility, lowering costs and reducing IT complexity. Focus is on customer success and business value leveraging Google Cloud Platform covering all aspects from Cloud Native Development, AI, Machine Learning, IoT, ChatBots, and much more.

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LUIS NAVARRO

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER – ZELEROS

Luis is Industrial Engineer graduated from Polytechnic University of Valencia. He has developed his career as strategy consultant at i-deals (NTT Data Group), working with corporations on the design and deployment of new business in the energy transition arena. His background and expertise on crafting innovations and businesses leverages his current role as Chief Operating Officer at Zeleros.

DR. NURI MORAVA

PROGRAM LEAD GLOBAL R&D AND EARLY STAGE TECHNOLOGIES – DB SCHENKER VENTURES

Nuri has been working for DB Schenker Global Ventures and Innovation for more than 4 years. As Program Lead Global R&D and Early Stage Technologies he is responsible for the analysis, evaluation, development and integration of new solutions in the area of Logistics and Digitalization, such as Hyperloop. Nuri leads the DB Schenker Enterprise Lab together with the Fraunhofer IML and ISST and also owns the program lead for Schenker’s drone cooperation with Volocopter. He has worked in the field of innovation and strategy for different organizations for more than 10 years and holds a PhD from RWTH Aachen University in the field of innovation and sustainability.

HUIB SIMON

HEAD OF MARKETING – TATA STEEL EUROPE

Huib Simon (The Netherlands, 1975) leads the marketing activities of Tata Steel in Europe for the Engineering market sector. He holds an MSc in Polymer Chemistry and an MBA. In 1998 he joined the steel industry as a researcher at the R&D department. Since then he has been active in diverse functions across product and business development, marketing, strategy and business planning. With mobility as a key area of interest, he has worked on the hyperloop development since Tata Steel’s earliest involvement in 2018.

ZACH LAMOTHE

SENIOR BUSINESS ANALYST – TRANSPOD 

Zach works at TransPod, a Canadian-French company developing the next generation of ultra-high-speed tube transportation. He leads TransPod’s business development, working with partners, investors, and governments to establish TransPod transportation systems around the world. Prior to joining TransPod, Zach led a last-mile delivery startup and worked as a management consultant in Canada. Zach is passionate about innovating for a better future.

OLIVIER WAEBER

HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION MANAGEMENT – SCHWEIZER BUNDESBAHNEN

Olivier Waeber joined the SBB AG in 2017 and currently leads a team responsible for technology and innovation management at SBB Infrastructure. The focus is the validation and industrialization of new technologies for a secure, customer-oriented and efficient core business as well the development of new solutions for current challenges at SBB Infrastructure. Olivier coordinates SBB’s involvement in the field of vacuum transport. He received his diploma from ETH in Zurich and his Ph.D. in Strategy and Innovation from EPFL in Lausanne. Finally, he worked as a Business Consultant for Business Innovation and Digital Transformation in various industries. He has overseen many digitization initiatives and is an expert in innovation and technology management.

PHILIPP HLAVAC

HEAD OF STRATEGY AND CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT – ÖBB PERSONENVERKEHR 

I am responsible for developing and implementing the corporate strategy at ÖBB Personenverkehr. This includes setting strategic goals for our railway, bus and new mobility business. In addition, we are also in charge of leading cross-functional, strategy projects within the company.

HARJ DHALIWAL

FOUNDER & CEO – GENESIS URBAN FZ 

Harj Dhaliwal is a seasoned executive with an established track record in the Middle East, India, and the UK. With over 40 years in transportation and infrastructure, Harj is passionate about people, places and the planet. Harj has a proven track record for structuring, developing and delivering mega transportation projects and was responsible for delivering the first heavy haul railway in the UAE, and pioneering Hyperloop technology across the Middle East and India. He is a Chartered Civil Engineer, Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Member of the UK Engineering Council, Advisor to the Airbus Executive Committee, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Nottingham Trent University, UK

Guanzhe CAO

HEAD OF ASIA DESK OF DUISPORT-GROUP

Mr. Guanzhe Cao is responsible for Asia Desk in Duisburger Hafen AG, the owner and operator of Europe’s biggest inland port, the Port of Duisburg. His key focus lies on three topics: internationalization with force in Asia, coordination of the international business activities between subsidiaries of duisport. Mr. Cao started by duisport as Project Manage in Corporate Development and Strategy then worked as the Executive Assistant to CEO. He holds the Engineering Master’s degree of Railway System Engineering of Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences “Friedrich List” at Technische Universität Dresden.

NATHALIE NICK

CO-PRESIDENT – SWISSLOOP 

Nathalie Nick is the Co-President of Swissloop and is involved in its Hyperloop effort based at ETH Zürich since 2018. Swissloop develops Hyperloop pods, fosters Hyperloop research and participated successfully in Elon Musk’s SpaceX – Hyperloop Competition for three consecutive years. Nathalie is passionate about research and cutting-edge technologies in Aerospace, Aviation and Hyperloop. Together with EuroTube she created and conducts the Vacuum Transport Seminar at ETH and alongside other European Hyperloop Team representatives she laid the foundations for the European Hyperloop Week EHW. Nathalie is currently finishing her Master’s degree at ETH Zürich in Mechanical Engineering, specializing in Aerospace Engineering.

DR. JENNIFER ALENA BERZ

SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER CORPORATE STRATEGY & DIGITALIZATION – FRAPORT

Dr. Jennifer Berz is Senior Project Manager for Corporate Strategy and Digitalization at Fraport AG. She works on Fraport’s Mobility Strategy 2050 and is part of the Fraport Digital Factory team with responsibility for digital transformation projects across the Group. Jennifer has a background in the automotive industry and experience in consulting and market research.

DR. GEORG SCHOBER

LEITER BEREICH TRANSPORTATION – TÜV SÜD

Dr. Georg Schober operates as Head of Department of Transportation at TÜV SÜD in the fields of Ropeways and other Metrosystems as Automated People Movers and Hyperloop Systems. Through his expertise, Dr. Schober has worked on countless national and international projects such as for example for Doppelmayr, Walt Disney Imagineering, Intamin or Hyperloop Transportation Technologies. Schober is engaged in risk analysis and functional safety in context of public transport at TÜV SÜD since 2016.

MARTIN SCHMITZ

MANAGING DIRECTOR – VDV

Mr. Martin Schmitz finished his studies of electrotechnology at the technical university of Darmstadt,Germany, and at the ENAC (Ecole Nationale de L’Aviation Civile) in Toulouse, France. From July 1998 until 2002 Mr. Schmitz was in charge of international projects at Vossloh Kiepe. He started as head of business development in the western European market and at the beginning of 2006 he took over the responsibility for international acquisition and marketing. In 2007 he was nominated vice president for electrical traction systems for road vehicles and finally he was a member of the Board of Vossloh Kiepe. Since 2012 Mr. Schmitz has been the Managing Director of the Engineering Business Unit of the VDV.

ERNST DONISLREITER

BUSINESS LINE MANAGER AMUSEMENT RIDES  – TÜV SÜD

Ernst Donislreiter, mechanical engineer graduated from TU Munich, has been working for over 30 years at TÜV SÜD focusing on the transportation industry and passenger safety. As a global  business line manager he has lead the TÜV SÜD international hyperloop team and initiated the development of the generic guideline for hyperloop application. He held different management positions and lead multidisciplinary engineering teams serving the industry and investors.

MARIELIES BECKER

SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER INNOVATION  – BERLIN PARTNER FÜR WIRTSCHAFT UND TECHNOLOGIE

Marielies Becker is Senior Manager Innovation Aerospace at Berlin Partner for Business and Technology GmbH
In her job she supports the Berlin based companies in their innovative projects, connect them to new partners and organize specific events. Additional Berlin Partner provides a big spectrum of services, for example in business immigration and funding.

GLENN GONZALEZ

CTO – SAP GERMANY

As CTO – SAP Germany, Glenn González is an expert for digital Transformation.
He leads a team of experts helping customers executing innovation projects and serves as a direct link to SAPs product development to ensure SAPs innovation portfolio is of best value. Before he joined SAP 2012, he worked for many years in the cloud business and the e-commerce as entrepreneur and consultant. As consultant and project lead for e-commerce and the producing industry he looks back on an experience of 25 years where he executed projects along the whole value chain.

MARCUS EBERT

GLOBAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR – DEUTSCHE BAHN ENGINEERING & CONSULTING 

Marcus‘ core expertise is the development of commercially viable infrastructure projects from an end user perspective. To accomplish this, Marcus combines the knowhow from his role as Global Business Development Director, his ‘on the ground experience’ as Commercial Director in rail operations and maintenance the UAE as well as his legal background.

PROF. DR. THOMAS SCHÜNING

FACHBEREICH TECHNIK ABT. MASCHINENBAU – HOCHSCHULE EMDEN/LEER

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Schüning is Professor at the University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer and Head of the Institute of Hyperloop Technology. He started Hyperloop as the faculty advisor for the team “HyperPodX” supporting the team with technical insights. Whilst advising on the team’s prototyping he connected to partners in industry and academy covering necessary Hyperloop technologies. By bringing European initiatives together he is now focused on advancing the technical realization of the Hyperloop and works on additional technologies for future transportation.

TOM KAMMERMEIER

LEAD GLOBAL APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT TEAM INDUSTRIAL VACUUM – LEYBOLD

Tom Kammermeier leads the Global Application Development Team for Industrial Vacuum within the Leybold GmbH, a member of the Swedish Atlas Copco group. Constantly challenged by new customer requests, his team is developing new technical solutions extending the range of operation for vacuum technology. In view of the enormous potential of Hyperloop, Leybold is closely following the progress of Hyperloop projects worldwide.

DR. PETER BERGER

DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT BRAKE SYSTEM DESIGN & STANDARDS – KNORR-BREMSE

Peter Berger is Director of the Department Brake System Design & Standards at Knorr-Bremse Systeme. He studies in rail-vehicle engineering and has more than 30 years experiences in System Engineering of brake systems for all kind of rail vehicles. He is active in several standardization groups in DIN, CEN and ISO for more than 15 years.

FRANK FUCHS

CEO & FOUNDER – FRANK FUCHS CONSULTING

Frank Fuchs is the owner of the Frank Fuchs Consulting, a Frankfurt am Main based Consulting Firm specialising in Aviation Law and Legal and strategic matters in aviation and unmanned systems and a founding Member of the DIN Committee of Hyperloop Systems. From his ample expertise he is also an expert on certification on future mobility systems.

KAJ MOOK

SENIOR MANAGING CONSULTANT – BERENSCHOT

Kaj Mook is Senior managing consultant at the Dutch consultancy Berenschot. His main focus is on mobility and transport, working with public and private customers to define policies and strategies. Kaj held a number of senior management positions in the international rail and public transport industry. His main areas of expertise are cross-border connections, integrated transport, hub development and market regulation. Kaj has been involved with hyperloop for quite a few years already and is responsible for managing the Berenschot participation in the Hyperloop Development Program.

DENNIS HOLZHAUER

PROJECT MANAGER – DIN-FSF

Dennis Holzhauer is Project Manager at DIN-FSF (German National Standardization Body for Railway Applications). DIN-FSF also offers and leads the German national platform for standardization of Hyperloop Systems. Among others, Dennis Holzhauer is managing this national mirroring (NA 087-00-20 GA “Gemeinschaftsausschuss FSF/NL/DKE, Hyperloop-Systeme”) of the European Standardization Committee (CEN/CLC/JTC 20 “Provisional: Hyperloop Systems”). Before joining DIN-FSF he studied mechanical engineering and worked as a process engineer.

PHILIPP MEIßNER

SALES ENGINEER – LEYBOLD

Philipp Meißner is Sales Engineer at Leybold GmbH, responsible for the central-Germany region around Würzburg. In parallel he is doing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the International University Bad Honnef. In his previous profession, he was project engineer at McLaren Automotive (UK). As project engineer at McLaren he was responsible for the release of high-performance Powertrain components of super sportscars. Prior to his position at McLaren, he gained experience as development engineer at the Technology Center of the Opel Automobile GmbH. As Project Engineer at Opel he was responsible for the turbochargers of gasoline engines and before that he worked as verification engineer in the diesel-department. His academic education included the master’s studies in mechanical engineering and the bachelor’s studies in process- and environmental engineering.

DR. JOSEPH SEUNGMIN LA

VICE PRESIDENT, HEAD OF CORPORATE STRATEGY DEPARTMENT – POSCO EUROPE

STEPHAN KAULBACH

HEAD OF DATA INTELLIGENCE CENTER – DEUTSCHE BAHN

PROF. DR. WOLFGANG MAASS

ACADEMIC DIRECTOR – GERMAN RESEARCH CENTER FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (DFKI)

Wolfgang Maaß holds the Chair of Business Informatics, is Professor of Computer Science (co-opted) at Saarland University, Scientific Director at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), and Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Stony Brook University, NY. He studied computer science at RWTH Aachen University, as well as at Saarland University. His PhD in computer science was supported by a DFG grant. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute of Technology Management (ITEM), and at the Institute of Media and Communication Management (MCM) at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. He was a visiting professor at the Department of Bioinformatics & Computational Biology at the University of Texas (M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 2009), and at the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Stony Brook University, NY (2016). In his research, Wolfgang Maaß focuses on the use of artificial intelligence in business. Application areas are industrial manufacturing and production, commerce, and healthcare.

BIRGIT DAVIDIAN

INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE TRAVEL & TRANSPORTATION/POWER & UTILITIES – MICROSOFT DEUTSCHLAND 

As Industry Executive, Birgit leads digital transformation engagements at strategic customers in the Travel & Transportation as well as Energy sector. Collaborating with a broad ecosystem of start ups, solution vendors and system integrators she strives to solve industry specific business challenges with the help of innovative AI, IoT, digital twin and other cloud technologies. Birgit studied Business Administration at TU Berlin, Germany.

PROF. DR. ANDREAS KNIE STEPHAN

HEAD of RESEARCH GROUP DIGITAL MOBILITY & SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION – WZB 

Prof. Dr. Andreas Knie is head of the Research Group “Digital Mobility and Social Differentiation” in collaboration with Weert Canzler at WZB and professor for sociology at TU Berlin. Before that he led the Research Team “Science Policy” and since 2018 he has also taken over the position as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at Choice GmbH. 2006 – 2018 he was the Management Director of the Innovation Centre for Mobility and Change (InnoZ). 2002 and 2016 he was member of the Board of the DB Rent GmbH, the fleet company of the Deutsche Bahn. Andreas Knie studied Political Science in Marburg and Berlin, diploma at the FU Berlin, doctorate (1990) and received his habilitation (1994) at the TU Berlin. He is the author and co-author of numerous books and articles.

DR. OLGA NEVSKA

CEO – TELEKOM MOBILITY SOLUTIONS

Dr. Olga Nevska is CEO of Telekom MobilitySolutions. She has an international working experience in East Europe, USA and Germany and worked for companies as Roland Berger, Axel Springer and Commerzbank. Since 2009 she has been working for Deutsche Telekom in different fields and in 2019 took over CEO Position of Telekom  MobilitySolutions – internal mobility provider of Deutsche Telekom. During the short time she changed the company’s business model from fleet to a mobility provider and developed the company to a game changer in the area of ​​corporate mobility. MobilitySolutions is not only pioneer in electrification, sharing & pooling, but also working on a Mobility as a Service platform for corporate Mobility. Olga Nevska stands for digitization and data as the key to Mobility as a Service to enable sustainable, purpose driven and guaranteed mobility for all. In 2021, the Handelsblatt selected her as one of the 100 women who are driving innovations in Germany.

GERLINDE JOHN

PROJECT MANAGER HYPERPORT CARGO SOLUTIONS – HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIG AG  

Gerlinde John has forty years of experience in the maritime industry. She joined Hamburger Hafen and Logistik AG in 1999. In recent years she managed teams and projects for ongoing development, process optimization and automation. Since March 2019, she has been project manager in a joint venture with HyperloopTT, to develop a Hyperloop system for sea containers.

DANIEL RAAB

PROJECT MANAGER – DB NETZ

Daniel is the assistant to the senior vice president of Infrastructure Planning/Projects by DB Netz AG. He has been with the company for more than ten years and previously held various positions at DB Fernverkehr AG. This also included building up the long-distance bus brand.In his current position, the topics of reactivation of routes and investment management Digitale Schiene Deutschland (DSD) are important.

ERIN BEILHARZ

CONSULTANT MOBILITY TECH & URBAN AIR MOBILITY – LUFTHANSA SYSTEMS 

She develops digital products to support new mobility on the ground and in the air and spend each day thinking of the future business models, and the underlying technology needed to drive value, to accelerate operating models through optimized and transparent data utilization, and to make it relevant and sustainable.  Erin led projects to link a food delivery platform to airline catering, a new pre-order system, a dynamic product catalog, and a digital menu to automate the assignment of products to a global flight network. Her latest passion projects are flight planning tech for the UAM industry, vertiport positioning modelling, and multi-optimization of an urban network.

JASNE PRILOP

CONSULTANT – DB EC 

Jasne Prilop is completing her degree in Industrial Engineering and currently undertaking an internship at DB Engineering & Consulting. The focus of her thesis is the development of a CAPEX/OPEX model for Hyperloop systems and the evaluation of an initial Hyperloop route as a proof of concept in Europe. She is a passionate and aspiring engineer with the aim of helping to advance innovative passenger transport solutions on a global scale.

STEFAN KIRCH

CHIEF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER – NEVOMO

Stefan is responsible for Nevomo’s business development and maintaining relationships with customers and partners for the MagRail technology. He is an experienced manager in the rail industry, having gained his experience, among others, at Deutsche Bahn in a number of roles over 14 years: Head of Sales DB Netz, Product Owner Partner-Account-Management DB Systel and as a Founder of several innovation initiatives, like EinfachBahn, Netzfonds, and DB FlexRail. Stefan is a qualified economist with a Diplom-Kaufmann degree from Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg.

PROF. DR. WALTER NEU

Board of Directors Institute of Hyperloop Technology – University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer

Prof. Dr. Walter Neu has been the faculty advisor for the student team “HyperPodX” in all three competitions advising on physics-related questions. Accompanying the team he has created a network for future Hyperloop research by connecting to supporters in politics and industry. He is now focussing on bringing European partners together to initiate research and collaborative projects while developing new technical innovations for Hyperloop technology.

LORENZ HELLER

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT – ALSTOM

Lorenz has 10 years of experience in the European railway business. He works in business development for regional and urban transport businesses at Alstom in Berlin. He is also responsible for exploring future mobility opportunities for Alstom in the DACH region. In this context, he was responsible for introducing the worldwide first hydrogen passenger trains to the German market. Prior to joining Alstom, Lorenz was at Deutsche Bahn, working in strategy and international purchasing in the European rail freight business. His academic education included the master’s studies in supply chain management at the Linné University in Sweden and a Diploma in Business Administration from HTW Berlin.

SASCHA TREPPTE

HEAD OF CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT & STRATEGY – DUISPORT (DUISBURGER HAFEN)

Sascha is responsible for Corporate Development and Strategy at duisport; owner and operator of Europe’s biggest inland port. His key focus lies on three topics: Digitalization, business diversification / internationalization, and sustainability. Prior to joining duisport, Sascha was a strategy and management consultant at Roland Berger’s Competence Center “Transportation”. He advised clients in general logistics, digitalization, aviation, post and parcel, and infrastructure. Sascha is a graduate of Rotterdam School of Management and European University Viadrina.

DR. JÖRG BLECHSCHMIDT

Product Owner Digital Foresight – DB Systel 

Dr. Jörg Blechschmidt is corporate foresight expert at DB Systel, the digital partner of Deutsche Bahn. He heads the Digital Foresight team at DB Systel as well as the TechScreening activities at DB. With our TREND.RADAR, we keep our finger on the market pulse, reveal and evaluate technology trends, derive recommendations and trigger innovations.

TATJANA WINTER

VENTURE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER – DEUTSCHE BAHN DIGITAL VENTURES 

Tatjana works as Venture Development Manager at Deutsche Bahn Digital Ventures, the Corporate Venture Capitalist of DB. She leads innovative startup collaborations in mobility, tech and sustainability. Previously she worked for the German Mittelstand, a management consultancy and built a FinTech startup from scratch. She is always hungry for new ideas that aim to make our world a better place. Always curious and motivated to change the world, the is doing a PhD in Female Entrepreneurship and fights for gender equality in the startup ecosystem.

MATHIS SCHWIZLER

BUSINESS INNOVATION CONSULTANT – DB CONNECT

KATRIN SCHREIBER

MOBILITY CONSULTANT – LUFTHANSA SYSTEMS

More than a decade of experience in project mgt. & customer experience in the automotive & aviation industry. Master’s Degree in Business. Passion for sustainable & new transport solutions, a cosmopolitan working environment & the ability to make things happen.

RUPERT LANGE-BRANDENBURG

LEITER BUSINESS LINE DIGITALE PRODUKTE & SERVICES – DB SYSTEMTECHNIK

After university diploma in `Traffic Planning`, `Economics` and `Politics` Rupert worked for about 15 years for Deutsche Lufthansa Group.There he was in different management jobs responsible for ´Airport Planning`, `Training` and the development and sales of ´Flight Planning Software`.With joining Deutsche Bahn Group at 2007 he overtook different management roles regarding `Scheduling & Operational IT` or `ICT Solutions for Transport & Logistics`.Actually he is building up a new profit center for ´Digital Products & Services´ at DB Systemtechnik GmbH, the Railway Engineneers Service Unit of Deutsche Bahn Group. In parallel he is also `Chief Digital Officer´ of DB Systemtechnik and responsible for the digital roadmap of the company.

LUCA ERDMANN

PARTNERSHIP & PROJECT MANAGER – SWISSLOOP TUNNELING 

Luca Erdmann is the partnership and project manager at Swissloop Tunneling. With his background in business administration from the University of St. Gallen he is working on making tunneling faster, cheaper and more sustainable. Swissloop Tunneling’s vision is spearhead the research on infrastructure which allows the (Hyper)loop concept to become reality. To accomplish this goal, they pursue to build the fastest and most precise tunneling robot in the world. Swissloop Tunneling is part of the “digging dozen”, the twelve finalists of Elon Musk’s Not-A-Boring-Competition.

DRITON EMINI

SENIOR EXPERT TECHNOLOGY (5G) – DEUTSCHE TELEKOM TECHNIK

Driton Emini received his M.S (Dipl. – Ing.)  in Telecommunication from the Technical University of Berlin. For his Master Thesis he was awarded with the Siemens Excellence Award. Driton started his carrier in Teleca Nürnberg/Germany as Verification Engineer. In 2009 he moved to T-Mobile Austria where he was working as Head of Radio Networks and later as Head of Next Generation Networks & IoT. In his role he focused on introducing new technologies such as 5G, NB-IoT and LTE-M, cooperating with start-ups partner as well as with universities. In 2019 Driton moved back to HQ of Deutsche Telekom in Germany and he is focused on industry cooperation such as network sharing with the MNOs in Germany and railway connectivity in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn.