SPEAKERS

Dr. Riikka Virkkunen is a Professor of Practice at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. She co-chairs Made In Europe PPP and serves on boards such as EFFRA and EIT Manufacturing North. Virkkunen participates in advisory groups of MARC (Mälardalen Automation Research Centre), TSS (Trusted Smart Systems at MDU) and BRTA (Basque Research and Technology Alliance). She holds an honorary doctorate from Mälardalen University. In Finland, Virkkunen has contributed to Finland’s AI 4.0 program, coordinated the Finnish Industrial Internet Forum, and currently leads VTT’s research on digital development for biosynthetic materials using AI and modeling. Previously, Virkkunen managed VTT’s Industrial Renewal strategy and the Systems Engineering research area with over 120 researchers. She holds a PhD in computational materials physics.

Wim De Kinderen is Programme Director European Affairs within Brainport Development, the Regional Development Association of the Brainport Eindhoven region (NL). Representing this world class high-tech manufacturing innovation ecosystem and all its stakeholders, the Brainport Eindhoven EU Office in Brussels is his main base and reach-out location towards fellow regions and the European Institutions. In this role he is responsible for policy lobbying, networking/communication and project development. Within Brainport Development, he is part of the Strategy Department.

Through his position Wim De Kinderen has strong links with European networks such as the Vanguard Initiative, ENoLL-European Network of Living Labs, Eurocities, ERRIN-European Regions Research and Innovation Network and OASC-Open and Agile Smart Cities Network.

In his previous career, he has mainly been involved in regional development issues in Belgium. First as the Province of Antwerp RDA’s European Social Fund expert for the Objective 2 region ‘Kempen’, later as the director of the Regional Socio-Economic Committee for the same ‘Kempen’ region. In between he has been an advisor (‘chef de cabinet adjoint’) to the Belgian federal government on socio-economic and budget policy topics.

Pascale Betinelli-Deck has extensive experience in digital transformation, data science, and interactive systems, applied in large scientific facilities and industry. Since 2023, she has been working as Technical Leader for Data Transformation and Data Science at THALES LAS OME (Optronics & Missile Electronics). She is in charge for deploying and implementing data governance, as well as building funded or collaborative research projects with other industry and academia

Jerneja Loncar is a technology investor, intrapreneur, and board leader shaping the future of advanced manufacturing and deep tech. She is the founder of Good Tech Ventures, where she backs mission-driven startups at the intersection of AI, sustainability, and industrial transformation.

Jerneja serves on the boards of EIT Manufacturing, Surrey NanoSystems, and ReCatalyst, providing strategic guidance on corporate innovation, sustainability, and scaling emerging technology ventures.

Previously, she held senior roles at General Motors, where she was instrumental in the company’s corporate restructuring and in establishing GM Ventures across Europe and the U.S. She led innovation and investment initiatives, M&A transactions, and launched GM’s car-sharing and ride-sharing programs in multiple markets.

She holds an MBA from NYU Stern and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a BSc in Economics from the University of Ljubljana. Her career spans North America, Europe, and Asia, offering a truly global perspective on the convergence of advanced technologies, innovation ecosystems, and sustainable manufacturing.

George Chryssolouris is Professor (1993-) and was the Chairman between 2003 and 2007 of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics / Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems and Automation (LMS) / University of Patras, Greece. He is the Founding Director of LMS (1993) coordinating its R&I activities focused on cutting edge scientific and technological fields. LMS is involved in a number of research projects funded by the CEU and European industrial partners. Particular emphasis is given to the co-operation with the European industry as well as with a number of “hi-tech” firms.

Kai is working for VDMA, the European Machinery association. He is Deputy Director at the VDMA European Office in Brussels, where he focuses on EU innovation and economic policy. Before joining VDMA, he worked at the European Commission on R&D policy and industry in several management positions. Kai is an Engineer by education has a Master’s degree in environmental sciences.

Research Project Manager

Vicky is a member of the Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems and Automation (LMS), focusing on topics of sustainability, circular economy and energy efficiency at industrial applications, coordinating and managing EU projects and research.

Title: A holistic approach for Sustainable Manufacturing

Vincenzo BELLETTI is the Director of EU Public Affairs at the European Association of Manufacturing Technologies (CECIMO). In this role, he leads the association’s policy strategy and advocacy activities at the European level. Prior to joining CECIMO, he worked extensively in the energy sector, focusing on policy development and the management of EU-funded projects

Holds a degree in Chemical Engineering and has developed a solid career in management, having assumed leadership roles in several prominent Portuguese companies across diverse sectors, including ceramics and the chemical industry. After an extensive period in the industrial sector, returned to academia to complete a Postgraduate Program in Enterprise Sciences at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra.

Over the past 22 years, has served as an Investor and Senior Management Professional, taking on strategic roles such as Board Member, Board Advisor, and Management Consultant in various companies and business associations. Throughout this time, has consistently demonstrated strong business acumen and an entrepreneurial mindset, contributing to the successful definition and execution of organizational goals.

Currently focus most of his time as an Executive Board Member of all operational companies within the JPM Group, namely JointSteel, S.A. (2015), NovaFabril Angola, S.A. (2014), and BTL, S.A. (2025). Since 2021, also integrates the Board of Directors of PRODUTECH – Pólo das Tecnologias de Produção, actively contributing to the strategic development of the national production technologies sector.

He is member of the MANUFUTURE High Level Group and Chairman of its Implementation Support Group. He is also honorary member of the Board of EFFRA – European Factories of the Future Research Association.

He is invited professor at Porto Faculty of Economics, on Innovation Policies. 

Between October 2014 and January 2018, he was the President of ANI – the Portuguese National Innovation Agency. During this period, he was responsible for the coordination of the national RIS3 strategy and for the mapping of the national network of technological infrastructures. 

Paolo Calefati is the CEO of Prima Additive by Sodick. He co-founded the company in 2015 as part of Prima Industrie and led its growth into a key player in laser-based metal AM, now integrated within the Sodick Group. Previously, he served as Vice President of Innovation at Prima Industrie, where he focused on advanced manufacturing technologies and strategic R&D partnerships.

With a background in engineering, artificial intelligence, and photonics, Paolo began his career in research before earning an MBA from the University of Turin. He has coordinated several European innovation projects and collaborates with universities and industry networks across Europe.

He is or has been actively involved in various international working groups, promoting smart and sustainable manufacturing across Europe.

Daryl Powell is the KONGSBERG Chair Professor of Production Management at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN) and Senior Advisor at SINTEF Manufacturing in Kongsberg, Norway. He also serves as Visiting Professor at the University of Bergamo, Italy and Professor of Practice at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD), UK. He holds an MSc in Lean Manufacturing from UWTSD and a PhD in Lean Manufacturing from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), in Trondheim, Norway. For more than 20 years, Daryl has studied and guided lean transformations in the UK, Europe, Scandinavia, North America and Asia. A pioneer of digital lean manufacturing, his most recent research explores the combination of lean thinking and practice with digital transformation, with an emphasis on action learning and leadership development. An award winning lean author, Powell has also received both the Shingo Research Award as co-editor of the Routledge Companion to Lean Management, and the Shingo Publication Award as co-author of the Lean Sensei. He has also been featured on Stanford University’s (Elsevier) list of the World’s Top 2% Scientists in Industrial Engineering for the past five years. 

Ciro Rocco is a seasoned Innovation expert with a solid twenty-year career in the aerospace sector. He holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Naples “Federico II” and is highly specialized in the design, coordination, and management of complex projects.

Drawing on his extensive background as a long-time manager in Materials & Processes, Ciro is fascinated by technology and drives innovation in his field. Currently, at Leonardo S.p.A., he is responsible for managing funded projects for civil aerospace applications, working across the Aeronautics and Helicopter divisions.

Demonstrating his leadership and commitment to the future of the field, Ciro Rocco has been appointed to the Executive Board of the new Association on Innovative Advanced Materials (IAM-I).

He is a family man, daily inspired by his wife and their three sons, and loves to dedicate his free time to cooking, playing soccer, and family enjoyment.

Maurizio Gattiglio is the Chairman of the MANUFUTURE European Technology Platform High Level Group, Chairman of EIT MANUFACTURING Supervisory Board, Board Director and Past-Chairman of EFFRA European Factories of the Future Research Association.

He is also CEO and founder of FORSETI Consulting S.r.l.s,  Partner and co-founder of ARCA Partners S.r.l, two Advisory Company specialised in manufacturing related activities.

He has worked from 1986 to 2021 within the Prima Industrie S.p.A. Group a leading engineering corporation, in that period listed in the Milan Stock Exchange, operating worldwide in the field of industrial lasers, sheet metal machinery and electronics.

He has occupied a number of different positions in R&D&I, Customer support, manufacturing and top management in Europe, North America and China.

He has been Chairman and Director of different Boards in Industry and Associations linked to manufacturing, research and photonics.

He holds a number of patents of invention in the area of high power laser technology.

Maurizio Gattiglio obtained a degree in mechanical engineering in 1984 from the Polytechnic of Turin.

Bianca Maria Colosimo is Professor of Advanced Manufacturing at Politecnico di Milano (Italy) and was Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Spring 2025, teaching the Additive Manufacturing course.

She is a member of the Manufuture Implementation Support Group and chairs the Technical-Scientific Committee of Made in Italy Circular and Sustainable, the largest national project on manufacturing. Her recognitions include being listed among the World’s Top 2% Scientists and receiving awards such as the George Box Medal and the Materials Science Award from the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. She is also featured among the Top 100 Italian Women Scientists in STEM (100esperte.it).

Born in 1960, chemist. His training also included business management and administration and EU law. 75th course of the Institute for Advanced Defense Studies. Officer in the Corps of Engineers.

Researcher at the Italian Industrial Research Center for the Development of New Materials, manager of the Brussels office of the Italian National Center for Reference Materials.

His activity within the European Commission began in 1991 with the management of steel research, then he was responsible for the newly formed “Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies” Unit, then for “Materials” and eventually worked on the preparation and management of the framework programmes such as Horizon Europe; he was acting Director of the Policy and Programming Centre Directorate in DG Research and Innovation of the European Commission.

From May 2021 to October 2022 he was head of the technical secretariat of the Minister of Ecological Transition prof. Dr Roberto Cingolani and then of the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Hon. Gilberto Pichetto Fratin until 31 December 2022. He was president of the National Council for Territorial and Environmental Information.

Currently he is General Manager of the Leonardo Brussels Office and collaborates with the Defense Information Studies Research Institute (ISTRID).

Furthermore: 4 patent applications, more than 50 articles, 4 standards, 12 books as editor and 2 as co-author, 2 newsletters, 3 web pages and 5 films on science and research. He has been Lecturer in the course “Business Management in the European Union” at the University of Bergamo and was appointed member of the Scientific Council of the National Research Council.

Dr.-Ing. Simina Fulga-Beising is Head of Research Strategy in the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart, Germany. She holds a degree in Electrical Engineering, Automatic Control and Industrial Informatics and a PhD in Mechatronics. After beginning her career as a senior software engineer, she became a research scientist at Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences and joined Fraunhofer in 2003. For over fifteen years, she has turned industrial challenges into high-impact applied research and innovation, improving technical information processing and speeding up the uptake of scientific results by industry. 

Since 2006, as part of the institute’s strategy and European-relations brief, she has crafted European market strategies for applied research within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and Fraunhofer IPA. Senior scientist, shaped by the bilateral interaction between research and application, she combines deep technical expertise with proven leadership in international research management and strategy development. Since 2021, she has headed Fraunhofer IPA’s Research Strategy Group, working alongside the institute’s executive management to shape its research strategy while also addressing the field of R&D policy.

She is expert member of various organisations such as the European Technology Platform ManuFUTURE, the European Factories of the Future Research Association (EFFRA) and the Made in Europe PPP Partnership Board.

Maria Cristina Russo is Director of the Prosperity Directorate in DG Research and Innovation. In this role she is responsible for Industrial research innovation & investments agenda, Valorisation policies and IPR, Industrial transformation, and Industry 5.0 and AI in Science. Previously Director for Global Approach & International Cooperation in R&I with responsibility for developing and implementing the EU international strategy for international cooperation in research and innovation and the international dimension of the Horizon programme. She has been working for the European Commission since 1992 where she held several policy and managerial positions related to external relations, the EU decision-making process and various EU policies, in particular Research & Innovation. Before being appointed Director, she was member of the Cabinet of the Commissioner in charge of research policy and Head of Unit in the Secretariat-General of the European Commission holding different positions dealing with inter-institutional relations and policy making, and in the department in charge of consumers’ policies and financial services.

Maria Cristina holds a degree in Political Sciences from the Luiss University of Rome and a Research Master’s Degree in European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges. She has three children.

Carsten Schierenbeck is the Head of Unit for Industrial Transformation with a committed team at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research & Innovation. His unit is shaping industrial research and innovation policies and programmes and promoting investments in advanced and sustainable technologies, materials, manufacturing processes and solutions, including via different European Partnerships with industry and Member States. His unit is working on the development of the upcoming Advanced Materials Act, the reform of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, and the ‘Safe and Sustainable by Design’ framework.

He has over 18 years of policy-making experience at the European Commission, having been team leader for emerging industries, EU cluster policy development and inter-institutional relations at the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. Between 2021 and 2024, he was a member of the cabinet of European Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, responsible for the portfolio of Better Regulation and simplification as well as for supporting inter-institutional relations. In 2020, he was also seconded to the Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the EU to support the German EU Presidency, where he helped to negotiate Council Conclusions on industry and Internal Market and the Single Market Programme Regulation.

Previously, Carsten has undertaken research for the University of Birmingham in the UK, worked for the West Midlands regional representation office in Brussels and for an SME in property management in Germany. He holds a PhD, an MBA in International Business, a Bachelor of Commerce and a Professional Qualification in Property Management. Carsten is a fan of active stakeholder engagement and building bridges between different policies and activities. He has undertaken consultancy work and published academic articles on industrial clusters, the automotive industry, the medical technology industry, and creative industries.

Andrew Lynch is the Chief Innovation Officer at IMR (www.imr.ie)

He is a member of the EFFRA Made in Europe Partnership Board, and the international Vice President of the EUREKA SMART Manufacturing Board of Directors.  Andrew is also a member of the ManuFuture High Level Group (HLG).

 Andrew is on the Board of Directors of the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre of Excellence (AMTEC), as well as on the Ingenuity and ATiM Cluster Executive Steering Committees.  He is the founding chair of the Irish National Steering Committee on Collaborative Robotics, and a founding member of the National Advisory Board for the Digital Manufacturing Futures Centre (AIM) and the Board of the FutureCAST Technology Centre on Construction.

 He holds an honours Degree in Biochemistry, a first class Masters in Environmental Analytical Chemistry, a PhD in Engineering, and is happily married with two adored daughters.

Tullio A.M. TOLIO is Full Professor of “Manufacturing and Production Systems” at Politecnico di Milano, Italy and “Fellow” of CIRP (the International Academy for Production Engineering).

His research activities are in the area of circular economy, de-remanufacturing, zero defect manufacturing, resilient manufacturing, configuration and reconfiguration of production systems, performance evaluation of production systems, process planning. He is the author of more than 200 publications in international journals and conferences. He is Editor in Chief of the “CIRP Novel Topics in Production Engineering – CNTPE” and Associate Editor of the “CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology – JMST”.

He has been Director of the Institute ITIA of the National Research Council of Italy and member of the Expert Board on Industrial Policies of the Italian Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT).   He is currently member of the HLG and ISG of the European Technology Platform MANUFUTURE, Italian “expert” in the Program Committee of Horizon Europe Cluster 4,  member of the Forum for Research and Innovation of the Lombardy Region, Italy, President of the Scientific Technical Committee of the Italian Cluster “Intelligent Factories” (CFI) endorsed by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) and President of the Scientific Technical Committee of the Cluster Intelligent Factories Lombardy (AFIL) endorsed by the Lombardy Region, Italy.

Doris Schröcker is heading the Unit for Industrial Research, Strategy and Coordination in the Directorate for Prosperity in DG Research and Innovation in the European Commission. With a background in marketing and industrial management she has worked in different positions in European R&I policy and programme management for transport, energy, enabling and industrial technologies. Her Unit coordinates inter alia the Industry part in Horizon Europe Cluster 4 Industry, Digital and Space, it is the liaison team to European industrial policy, Competition Policy and European Defence Industry Policy, and works on opening European funded R&I for dual use, proposed for the future Horizon Europe Framework Programme.

Title: AI for Sustainable Products of the Future

Dirk Peters studied law in Freiburg, Kiel and Washington, D.C., USA. He completed his university education with 1st and 2nd State Examination in Law and a Master’s Degree in International and Comparative Law. An active German Navy Officer, Dirk Peters graduated from the Command and Staff College in Hamburg in 2004, was assigned to NATO (Defence Planning), European Defence Agency (Deputy Head of Maritime Unit) and to the EU Military Staff (PESCO). His operational assignments include service as German Task Group Commander in the UNIFIL Mission in Lebanon. Since 2021, Dirk Peters has been seconded to the European Commission, DG DEFIS B.2, as a policy officer. As a naval expert his work focusses on the implementation of EDIDP/EDF naval projects and the contribution to strategy documents in the naval domain.

Actual assignments (full time)

• 2014-present Managing Director of Sirris, the collective center of the technological industry in Belgium (170 employees, 150 technological experts)

Actual assignments (Board memberships)

• 2023-present Member and vice-president of the Belgian federal science policy council
• 2019-present Member of the science policy council of the Brussels Capital Region
• 2015-present Board Member at NBN
• 2015-present Representative in the Belgian High-Level Council on Standardisation
• 2018-present Board Member and vice-chair at EFFRA – European factory of the future research association
• 2014-present Board Member and vice-chair at Innovaders, the association of the Belgian collective centers

Relevant achievements

• 2020-2021 Lead in the set-up of the industrial partnership in Flanders supported by Vlaio enabling industrial adoption in the themes digital (incl. AI), green and industry 4.0
• 2018-2019 Co-creator of the Flemish AI-policy plan
• 2013-2014 Lead of the team to create Flanders Make as a new strategic research centre in Flanders
• 2010 Lead of the team to create SIM (strategic initiative materials) as a new spearhead cluster in Flanders

Dr Valentina Ivanova (F) is chemical engineer from Chemical Technological and Metallurgical University, Sofia, Bulgaria. She obtained her PhD degree in Physical Chemistry from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria. In the period 1999–2005 she was successively appointed as Senior Scientist at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium and at the University of Ulm, Germany, where her scientific activities were devoted on the development of new technique for metallization of thin organic films and molecular electronics.  Since 2005, Dr Ivanova is employed at CEA, France. She was leading a research team in the domain of wide bandgap semiconductors, optoelectronics and nanostructured solar cells.  She habilitated from Institut national polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG), France. Presently, is Deputy Director of CEA-List Institute, France, in charge of European and International affairs and is coordinating the project AI-METTERS (Artificial Intelligence Testing Experimentation Facilities (TEF) for Manufacturing). Dr Ivanova is member of the Board of the European Partnership Made in Europe. She published 60 scientific papers in scientific journals as Nature Materials, Advanced Materials, Advanced Energy Materials, is co-author of 10 patents, and is Fellow of Global School for Advanced Studies.

Panos Stavropoulos is a Professor at Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems & Automation (LMS), Department of Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics and Vice Head of the Department.  He owns a BEng in Mechanical Engineering and an MSc in Advanced Mechanical Engineering from the University of Sussex-UK, a PhD in Engineering from the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, University of Patras-GREECE and a MBA from the HoU-GREECE.  He has worked among others, as a Design Engineer (Flowtronic Pumps Ltd – UK), a Research Engineer & Research Project Manager (Laboratory of Manufacturing Systems & Automation, Uni. Patras,  WCP & Production Manager (Crown Holdings Inc., Bevcan – Europe and Middle East Division) and as a Lecturer in Hellenic Air Force Academy – Department of Aeronautical Studies. He has more than 320 publications in International refereed scientific journals, book chapters and conference proceedings. His main research interests are focused in Manufacturing Processes, Sustainable and Dual Utilization Manufacturing.  He has coordinated and participated in National and International research projectσ in close collaboration with Greek and European Industrial Partners.

Title: Manufacturing Innovation Valley DIH – a regional initiative to ensure industry competitiveness

Title: Technology infraestructures

Javier is an industrial engineer. He started his career in 2011 at ITP Aero as a welding engineer and in 2013 he moved to lead the additive manufacturing area. In 2020 he left ITP to found Madit, a company specialized in metal additive manufacturing.

Title: Additive Manufacturing for Products of the Future