Chris is a thought leader in manufacturing systems for the aerospace and defense sector.  The majority of his 26-year career in the industry was spent with Rolls-Royce, where he held numerous roles in project management, IT, and manufacturing.  He led the manufacturing systems center of competence, accountable for the selection, standards, implementation, and support of manufacturing engineering and shop floor systems across all products and parts of the lifecycle, and a global community of specialists.

Paul spent 10 years in a number of UK SI businesses designing, implementing, and managing $1M+ control system projects.  Based at Rockwell Automation’s EMEA headquarters in Brussels for over 15 years, he has a proven record in business management, business partnering, technology management, strategic planning, and program management in Industrial IoT.  He currently heads Industrial IP Advantage, a global multi-company collaboration team and has held leadership responsibilities within the Global, UK, and EMEA theaters.  Paul holds a B.Eng from Leeds University and is a Chartered Engineer.

John holds a BEng in Electronic Engineering from Lancaster University in the UK and also studied at UCLA.  After postgraduate management study at the University of Cambridge, he spent the first 18 years of his career in various engineering and marketing roles for Mitsubishi Electric’s automation businesses in Japan, the USA, and Germany.  Today he is general manager of the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) in Europe, tasked with increasing the adoption of the CC-Link IE industrial ethernet and CC-Link fieldbus open automation networks in the EMEA area.

Thomas has spent the majority of his career developing hardware and software for industrial automation. He started the OPC Foundation in 1995, and his vision is all about multivendor, multiplatform, secure, reliable interoperability for data / information integration from the smallest level of devices in industrial automation, building automation, home automation, and security into the cloud and the enterprise respectively. Thomas has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from John Carroll University and a master’s degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Dayton. 

Tim gained his PhD 2012 from the University of Manchester in the field of High Dimensional Multi-scale Modeling.  After being awarded an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship he continued his research for a number of years before moving to the industrial sector to work on mathematical solutions to industrial challenges.  In 2016 Tim was made Head of R&D at Sabisu, and is now responsible for the development of cutting edge data analytics for the Sabisu platform.  He has a particular interest in large-scale cloud analytics.

Zoe joined Red Bull Racing in 2015, bringing five years industry experience in motorsport and high performance engineering in the UK’s Motorsport Valley.  As a Senior Partnership Manager, Zoe’s role is to liaise directly with the team’s key technical partners and engineering stakeholders within the business, to ensure innovation partnerships deliver the maximum value to both parties. Prior to her present assignment, Zoe worked for the Motorsport Industry Association, low carbon vehicle technology developer Torotrak Group, and motorsport-bred subsidiary Flybrid, developing a keen working knowledge of business development, mechanical engineering, vehicle dynamics, and engineering processes.  Zoe holds a law degree and an MSc in Engineering Business Management.

Valentijn has extensive experience in best management practices in process industries, including chemical, polymer, metals, energy, utilities, food, pharmaceutical, and petroleum manufacturing.  His experience includes knowledge of unit processes, simulation and modeling, and business practices utilizing application software designed for manufacturing operations.  Valentijn's expertise includes aligning organizations, strategy, business processes, and technical architectures.  At ARC, he is responsible for research and consulting in process industries.  His technology focus is on manufacturing operations management, performance management, knowledge management, and the role of the knowledge worker in manufacturing.  Valentijn is the focal point for the ARC Benchmarking Consortium in EMEA. 

Michel works as an MES independent consultant at MES Consult (own company).  He assists companies in defining and implementing their roadmap to become a connected industry, in which MES/MOM solutions have a great role to play in connection with automation and ERP.  Michel has built his experience in developing and implementing SCADA and MES solutions for various industries for the last 30 years.  He serves as MESA EMEA Vice Chair and as Club‐MES (France) board member.  Michel instructs the Global Education Programs in French and English.

Bert has over 20 years experience in the process industry.  With a Master in Electronics Engineering (Ghent, Belgium), he has held various regional and global engineering positions (manufacturing support, maintenance, central engineering, mega growth projects) within the domain of process control.  Bert has always taken a global interest point of view and worked in multicultural environments (Asia, Middle East, Europe, Americas).  In 2010 he was lead Instrument Engineer during the construction of a large complex in Singapore.  In 2014 he had the role as Instrumentation Discipline Technology Lead for the Americas Region.  In 2015 he was lead Design Engineer for a large automation project in Saudi Arabia.  In his current role as Process Control (instrumentation, applications, systems, process analytics) Discipline Technology Lead for the EMEA region, he focuses on loss prevention, operations excellence, anticipation, innovation, and integration. 

After his economics studies with a focus on logistics and supply chain management, Frédéric joined a German advisory firm.  His main focus was the manufacturing and services sector where he worked with several clients in restructuring, optimization, and mergers & acquisitions (M&A) projects.  In his current position at Grenzebach Maschinenbau Gmbh, a leading provider for automation technology, Frédéric is responsible for different strategic projects.  Together with the innovation team he works on IoT solutions for customers in the glass, building materials, and intralogistics industry.

Johan has been working for Stork for almost 15 years and has held different management positions.  Currently, he is responsible as Consultancy Manager for different asset and maintenance management projects in different asset intensive industries.  Johan’s focus is on global reliability and integrity projects.  He is also responsible for the development of the asset performance management proposition.  Johan is a regular speaker for RELIABILITYWEB.COM, Meridium APM, and IBM.

Uwe studied Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Zwickau.  He started his career at Kaeser Kompressoren in 1992 as assistant of the production director.  After holding different positions, he became head of production and logistics and head of the plant for mobile compressors in 2002.

Peter is an executive at Northwest Analytics, a leading supplier of industrie 4.0 intelligence and analytics solutions to global manufacturers.  He has a broad background related to the utilization of technology by companies to improve performance and lower risk.  Over the course of his career, Peter has worked with companies in more than 30 countries to increase profitability through the innovative application of technology.  Prior to joining NWA, Peter held senior management positions at Intel Corporation, Xerox and Tektronix.

Florian has experience in the automation industry with Siemens and has a strong background in energy markets. In particular he worked for AREVA in Germany and the US, as well as for E.On Energy.  At ARC, Florian specializes in economic modeling, time series and business cycle analysis, and forecasting.  He is also experienced in strategic marketing and mergers & acquisitions.  Florian holds a Master Degree in Economics with Sociology and Psychology as minor subjects. He studied at the Friedrich-Alexander-University in Erlangen (Germany) where he focused on statistics, international markets, and the US economy.

Ralf started out as a conventional food process engineer and was often confronted with demands that could not be fulfilled at that time. This motivated his move into the automation/IT field where he accompanied the industrial revolution 3.0 from scratch up to now, both from the customer and supplier side.  Based on the experience from all the different functions he has held, his conclusion is that, at the core, requirements do not change very much but the wheel is turning faster and faster.

After his studies with a focus on electrics, Michael started in the visualization department of Grenzebach Maschinenbau.  After years as manager of the industrial network department, he shifted to innovations to support the IIoT process at Grenzebach.  He is also working as a data privacy officer and shop floor security officer.

Formative technical experience in various laboratories within the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign lead to KIm earning a Bachelors of Science in Computer Engineering.  Moving into product design and development roles with mixed processor and board level architectures provided him with a solid base of experience on which to shift focus to customer needs in technical sales and marketing.  Completing his Masters in Business Administration at Northern Illinois University, Kim soon joined TenAsys where he has been promoting system consolidation solutions for the past 20 years.

Thomas is responsible for future technologies and methods, e.g., flexible production systems.  Before his time at WAGO he was Research Assistant at the Automation Department of the University of Hamburg.  Thomas has written several national and international scientific contributions about data modelling and engineering processes of automated production systems.  He is member of working groups at NAMUR, ZVEI and VDI.  He is also a member of the board NAMUR Task Force “Modular Automation”.

David's focus areas include all manufacturing industries, particularly application areas such as packaging and safety, and product areas such as PLC, DCS, AC drives, motion control, field instruments, and industrial networks.  He has over 20 years of experience in industrial automation, including specifying, designing, and programming control systems in areas ranging from automobile to pharmaceutical, implementing projects involving PLC, DCS, HMI hardware and software, industrial networks, drives, and motion control.  Prior to ARC, David was Area Manager for Automation Solutions in Rockwell Automation's Munich, Germany office.  In addition, he worked for Raytheon and Termiflex in the US.  David holds a BE in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Stevens Institute of Technology as well as MBA degrees from the Business and Economics University of Vienna (WU Wien) and the University of South Carolina with a concentration in International Business.

Timothy studied economics.  He has worked at SAP for 16 years.  For the past four years he has been Business Development Director for IoT and Industrie 4.0, dealing with new processes and business models.  He is the author of a book on business models in IoT.

Brendan has over 20 years experience delivering operations and asset management solutions to different business verticals across many complex industries.  A particular interest is how many of the currently available technologies are converging to provide common capabilities and services in non-traditional spaces and how new platforms supporting IIoT and Industrie 4.0 will change requirements for optimized operations in the future.  Prior to joining HubHead, Brendan was VP of Global Business Development for Aveva, supporting owner-operators.

Georg is responsible for new business development in TTTech’s industrial business unit.  He has been working for the last years towards driving the open industry standard OPC UA TSN and promoting TTTech’s OPC UA TSN product offering.

Thomas has extensive experience in machine-tool automation and robotics through his positions at the Fachhochschule Bochum, Paul Pfleiger Maschinenbau, and at Mitsubishi Electric in Germany since 1990.  Thomas has been active in client support, project execution and management, led the technical department mechatronics EDM, and has subsequently worked in product management and alliance management.  In his current business development function, Thomas’ responsibilities include the definition of automation solutions for the European market and global responsibility for the development of Mitsubishi Electrics’ e-F@actory Partner Program. 

Herbert is head of the global department for energy and utilities at Clariant and directs the company-wide program for energy saving and energy efficiency “eWATCH”.  He studied Process Engineering at the Technical University of Munich, got a postdoc position at the University of Washington and holds a PhD in Process Engineering.  Since 1987 he has been working in different positions at Hoechst AG, later at Clariant,, e.g., as technical project manager and internal consultant.  His current position is Head of Competence Center Energy & Utilities.  In addition he is the Global Energy Technology Manager for the entire Clariant group.

After completing her master studies in electrical engineering at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, in Spain, Teresa joined Siemens in 2009 as a commissioning engineer, where she was responsible for condition monitoring and remote technology solutions. She has 7 years of ICS cybersecurity experience, including risk and vulnerability assessments for ICS environments, design of security solutions for customer projects worldwide along several verticals, and industrial security training development.

Gerald graduated in Electrotechnology and has more than 20 years specialist and management experience in global engineering, including project planning, construction and commissioning of process plants in the chemical, oil, and gas sector, as well as mineral and metal processing.  Since 2013, he has been Head of Global Engineering and SVP at Outotec.  Prior to his present assignment he held senior management positions at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty and Linde and was Project Manager for pharmaceutical plants at Hoechst.

At ARC, Thomas specializes in process automation trends, technical customer expectations, and market research.  He is also experienced in strategic marketing and mergers & acquisitions.  Thomas has a strong background in the process market with MTL Instruments, KHS AG in Germany and the US, and Bürkert.  He graduated from Dortmund University as Dipl.-Ing in Electrical Engineering and Business Administration.

Stefan specializes in machinery, discrete industries, and economic modeling and forecasting.  He is responsible for three of ARC's global market research studies, co-author of ARC's quarterly Automation Index report, and ARC's Capital Expenditures report.  Stefan has a diploma in Political Science with majors in Political Sociology and Political Systems, as well as a minor in business studies.  He studied at the Otto Friedrich University in Bamberg (Germany) where he focused on statistical and empirical analysis of public and political opinions as well as the analysis of political systems with a focus on Eastern European countries.

Wolfgang has over 25 years of automation experience within the Bayer Group, including a strong background in industry standards and project management.  From 2007 to 2012 he was General Manager of NAMUR – a user association for automation technology in the process industries.  Wolfgang actively supports the Association of German Engineers (VDI) as head of technical division “process measurement and structural health monitoring” and is a member of the GMA advisory board.

Joe is the Principal Engineer for the Corporate Services organization for Intel Corporation within the EMEA Region.  Corporate Services is responsible for the design, construction, and operation of Intel Corporation‘s facilities worldwide, which spans office buildings, specialty labs, data centers, and manufacturing.  Joe has over 25 years of experience in supporting the semiconductor industry and has been with Intel since 2001, and has worked at several facilities both within the U.S. and EMEA.  His previous roles within the Corporate Services organization have included facilities technology development, start-up support of new manufacturing facilities, and worldwide manager of the Energy Conservation Program within facilities operations.  In his current role, Joe is responsible for identifying and championing opportunities to drive efficiencies and standardization within facilities management/facilities operations.

A co-founder of Seeq, Jon creates harmony between customer requirements and product development.  He works closely with the Seeq development team which, to date, has delivered 4 major releases of Seeq visual analytics for process manufacturing and IIoT.  Jon began his career as a process engineer and software developer for process industries.  Prior to Seeq, he spent 21 years at OSIsoft where he held leadership roles as Vice President of Eengineering and Vice President of Marketing.  Jon earned his Bachelor Degree in Chemical Engineering at Northwestern University.

Marc has over 15 years experience in the field of process control as well as in designing and implementing basic and advanced process control solutions.  Analytics is a key component in advanced control solutions.  Over the last two years, his activities have extended to analytics, supporting predictive maintenance and operational improvement projects.

Armin is the Business Development Manager at Hilscher in Hattersheim (near Frankfort), Germany.  He joined Hilscher in 2010 and is currently responsible for managing Hilscher’s development strategy for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0.  With more than 25 years of experience in industrial automation, Armin has held leadership roles in engineering and development with multi-national companies such as ABB Automation and Fanuc Robotics.

Since 2014, Thomas has been Head of Business Development for Industries at B&R and is in charge of a team of experts that actively provides consultation and support for the implementation of automation solutions to globally active companies with industrial manufacturing facilities.  After completing his education as an electronics engineer, Thomas began his career as a development engineer for machine and robotics control systems.  In 2001, he advanced on to B&R where he was given responsibility for the development of new markets.

May has 20 years of experience with Dow Chemical in various roles, including R&D characterization project manager, analytical resource leader, and as a statistical manager.  In her current role, she leads projects that involve implementation and use of enterprise manufacturing intelligence systems in manufacturing environments within the company.  May holds a Chemistry degree from the University of Barcelona.
 

Sebastian graduated from the university “Duale Hochschule Mannheim” as Dipl. Ing. (DH) and thereafter worked as promotor for SIMATIC HMI and NET technologies from 2008 – 2011 at Siemens.  In 2011 he moved to B&R as Technology Manager for Open Automation Technologies where he is responsible for the successful growth of the communication standards POWERLINK, openSAFETY, and OPC UA TSN.  Together with a global team, the strategical partner coordination of B&R is a major part of the work.

Prior to LSEC, Ulrich was responsible for the corporate development of broadband wireless operator Sprint-Clearwire, held operational ICT security positions at Orange, and ran cybersecurity investments at a corporate venture capital.  Within LSEC, Ulrich works with 13 experienced professionals supporting the development of IT security in Europe, and paving the way for a more secure industrial internet.  LSEC runs 3IF.be, a transformation platform to digitize manufacturing with IoT and industrial internet, and - within the European Connected Factory – is responsible for the cyber security and privacy challenges for advanced manufacturing platforms.

Thorsten is Director & Global Industry Leader at IBM Watson Internet of Things (IoT) for Manufacturing at their global headquarters in Munich, Germany.  In this function, he is responsible for the worldwide business and solution portfolio in the domain of manufacturing. Thorsten has deep understanding of the key marketplace opportunities and challenges facing manufacturers.  He has consulted extensively with senior executives as they look to digitize, optimize, and transform their operations, applying leading edge technology around analytics, IoT, Industrie 4.0, and IBM Watson.

Tim oversees Wind River’s product capabilities for security.  He has more than 25 years of experience in security and safety partitioning (MILS, ARINC 653, and FACE), secure Linux, virtualization, Android, and real-time operating systems.  His experience includes 11 years at GE Aviation designing real-time, safety-critical avionics and vetronics solutions; 7 years at Motorola on cellular, radio, and multimedia communications systems; as well as work on airborne persistent surveillance systems and the US Department of Energy nuclear reactor analysis division.

Antoine obtained his B.Eng. (Industrial Engineering) degree from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, in 2006.  Post studies, he started his consulting career in the mining and manufacturing sectors where he quickly got awarded the responsibility and accountability for the management and delivery of large MES solutions for key clients.  Currently, he is a specialist in his field with responsibilities covering the entire value chain of the mining and processing industry at Lonmin Plc, a primary producer of platinum group metals.  He also completed his M.Eng. (Engineering Management) degree in 2015.

Andrey joined Kaspersky Lab in 2014, taking the position of Head of Critical Infrastructure Protection Business Development.  In his role, he is responsible for planning and implementing global strategy in the area of Kaspersky Industrial CyberSecurity (KICS), expanding company leadership with new SW solutions and expert services.  Previously, Andrey had been working for an multinational company focusing on business development and sales management with large clients in Russia and CIS managing long-term projects in the area of infrastructure and business solutions.  Andrey holds an MBA Diploma from Warwick Business School (UK) and an Honor Degree Diploma in Mathematics from KVIRTU PVO (High Military School).

Thomas heads the IT, outsourcing, and data protection practice at the leading European law firm Noerr.  He specializes in contract drafting and project advice in complex national and international IT/outsourcing projects and corporate transactions in the area of technology.  Other specializations include IT litigation, software licensing law, and data protection law.  He is Vice-chair of the Dispute Resolution Committee of the ITechLaw Association and Co-chair of the Committee of Experts for Outsourcing of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Recht und Informatik (German Association of Law and Informatics).

Edwin has over 25 years of experience in bringing software solutions to market for the process and power industry.  In various roles, from business consultancy to product marketing, his passion has always been to help customers improve their engineering related business process to improve overall profitability. Today, Edwin is responsible for global marketing at TrendMiner; provider of self-service analytics software for the process manufacturing industry, helping “industrial citizen data scientists” to analyze, monitor, and predict process and asset performance.

At ARC, Fabian specializes in the automotive, aerospace, and polymers industries, as well as economic modeling and forecasting.  He has a special focus on industrial PCs and operator panels.  Fabian is also responsible for European automotive research, which he bases on years of experience. He also has experience in the subsidies/R&D-grants consulting market.  Before joining ARC, he worked as an international project manager in France, Germany, and Slovakia for SORA Group.  He also worked as a freelance consultant for various companies.