First speakers announced!

Mario Theis is Head of the Revenue Management and Product Innovation Competence Center at DB Regio AG since January 1, 2017.

After studying business administration in Giessen, he worked as a management consultant for PwC on national and international projects in the transportation sector until he joined DB Netz AG in 2007. In his position there as Head of Prices and Products, he was responsible, among other things, for the further development of the train path pricing system and played a key role in the development and introduction of funding for the conversion of freight cars to low-noise braking technologies. In addition to the challenge of coping with the consequences of Corona in the short term, his focus is on increasing the attractiveness of regional rail transport for passengers in the long term.

Neil has over 30 years’ experience in rail vehicle mechanical engineering. Sponsored by Arup through university, he joined British Rail after graduation. Specialising initially in vehicle structures, Neil worked for successor organisations following BR’s privatisation (Atkins and Interfleet), including team leader and NoBo/DeBo signatory roles.

He joined the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) as Principal Engineer, Structures and Materials in 2018. Neil’s role includes standardisation in rail vehicle structures, fire and materials performance, as well as acting as technical lead on several of RSSB’s ongoing research projects. He is the convenor of the ISO working group on interior passive safety for rail vehicles, and chair of the UK mirror groups for vehicle structures and fire safety.

Matthijs Keur has a 30+ year experience as a people and projects manager in rail vehicle engineering, both for new built and refurbishment of NS rolling stock.

Life has always been based on chemistry - from the very first moment it appeared on earth millions of years ago. It is precisely this that has always been a driving force of my passion for research and development in material sciences and scientific teamwork.

My experience as a chemist and in fire and fire safety research and development, have given me the analytical skills to extrapolate key information when deciphering fire test reports, data, and fire analyses, while adding value through a chemistry approach.

It is on this basis that I founded CREPIM, a fire safe material and solutions company helping design and technical departments within large and medium sized companies to stay fire safe.

Bernhard Rüger is the managing director of netwiss OG and has been intensively researching passenger behaviour on trains for over 20 years. Based on the extensive data set of over 400,000 passengers, he is regularly involved in vehicle projects as an expert and helps optimise vehicle layouts to reduce passenger changeover times, increase capacity, improve luggage accommodation and increase overall efficiency.

Artex is the largest actor in the Swedish sewing industry, founded in Mjölby in 1928. The company now also has operations in Latvia (Youtube; Artex in Latvia) and approximately 120 employees.

It is not only with industrial-scale manufacture of complete products that we can offer help, but also customised solutions in small volumes. Our principal customers are in the motor and furniture industries, and other industries that place high demands on finish and durability.

We are experts not only in production, but also in the refurbishment of large numbers of chairs. It may be, for example, trains, buses, airplanes, boats, cinemas, hotels, churches or offices. Reupholstering is another area in which we work, and we are proud to have taken responsibility for refurbishing some of the largest rooms in Sweden with thousands of chairs.

Many companies choose to get to know us by challenging us as a development partner. We find this appealing. In practice, it often starts with us producing a pattern design based on an idea. We use a parametric 2D/3D CAD system to transfer the pattern from 3D to 2D, placing us among the pioneers in the field. If you want us to help with design and choice of material, this only makes the project even more interesting for us.

Most projects involve stringent demands with respect to both environmental and safety standards. We are fully competent to deal with these aspects, and can act as collaborator here. The requirements that we master relate not only to textiles but also to associated areas such as foam, internal liners, wood and steel.

We are a large company (purchasing, for example, more than 200,000 metres of fabric each year) and this means that we achieve considerable economies of scale when purchasing. It is, therefore, often economically advantageous to leave the responsibility for all articles that are part of the finished product to us, rather than purchasing these yourself.

Samuel Perret is Head of Innovation and Strategy for Sustainability at milani design & consulting AG. Driven by his passion for sustainable design solutions, the trained industrial designer completed a postgraduate degree in business administration and complemented his expertise with a CAS in environmental technology. Over the past fifteen years, Samuel has worked as a sustainability expert in various fields and roles, including as a consultant, program officer, and sustainability lecturer.

Christiane Bausback is CEO of N+P Innovation Design, a strategic innovation and design agency, based in Munich, Vienna and Atlanta. She works with a broad range of companies from start-ups to global players while focusing on holistic solutions that build businesses and transform industries. Over the years, she has garnered numerous awards including IDSA, Good Design, Red Dot, and iF. She served as a juror for several awards such as the renowned iF Award, EPD Award,  as well as for the Cannes Lions. Parallel to her professional activities, she lectures in Germany and Switzerland and regularly presents keynote speeches, joins panel discussions, and is a mentor at innovation accelerators.

Markus has more than 20 years' experience in fire protection and has been with WAGNER since 2009.

He is a representant of Switzerland in many European and international ISO expert committees for fire protection, such as gas extinguishing, aerosol extinguishing or water mist.

Markus is a member of the Eurofeu Presidium and has a PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering, plus a Masters Degree in Business Administration.

Bio to follow