Matthew Moggridge has been editor of Steel Times International since January 2014, having previously edited Aluminium International Today, both published by the UK-based Quartz Business Media. During his time on both titles he has travelled extensively around the world interviewing and writing about leading figures in the metals industry and covering international steel and aluminium conferences. In addition to working as a journalist in many different industrial sectors, he is also the creator and driving force behind the development of the Future Steel Forum.

Matthew’s career as a business journalist has spanned many leading titles covering other industrial sectors including food processing, foodservice, foreign direct investment, bulk handling and transportation and computers.

Rutger Gyllenram is a Swedish metallurgist and entrepreneur. He has an MSc in process metallurgy and materials science and a licentiate degree (Dr-ing) in metal production technology from the Royal Institute of Technology, KTH, in Stockholm.

He is the founder and CEO of Kobolde & Partners AB, working with raw material and process assessment, which is crucial for decarbonization in the steel industry.

Maria Salamero Sansalvadó is the head of sustainability at CELSA Group, a role she has held since September 2022. With a background as an industrial engineer, Maria is passionate about sustainability and innovation to drive meaningful change in the industry. For 25 years she has held a number of roles within the Agbar Group (water utility), exercising different functions and positions in the field of operations, technology, research and innovation and communication in the water sector. Since June 2022, Maria has served as the president of the Industrial Engineering Association of Catalunya, contributing to a programme called ‘Let’s evolve’, which foregrounds the role of engineering as part of sustainable progress.

Juan de la Peña is a senior computer engineer with an MBA, specializing in industrial automation and Industry X.0. He began his professional career at Siemens, where he worked for more than 10 years in the field of industrial automation and sector digitalization, being a member of the initial Industry 4.0 team.

Later, he worked at Microsoft for eight years, where he was responsible for selling projects related to IoT, data, and AI. He also managed large strategic accounts, helping define their technological strategy.

Currently, he has returned to Siemens in the new consulting division as vice president of the industrial and artificial intelligence division.

He is a member of the ISA Connected Industry team and regularly collaborates with various organizations to promote knowledge related to technology and innovation.

Before assuming his current role as chief operating Officer, Daniel Sánchez held various executive positions within the Russula Group. Previously, he served as sales director, leading the company’s marketing and sales strategy for eight years. With over 20 years of experience in the steel industry, he has also taken on technical roles, developing projects for major steel producers such as Nucor, ArcelorMittal, US Steel, Gerdau, and CELSA Group.

Daniel has been involved in key projects for a number of steelmakes including Big River Steel, CELSA France, Sidenor Dojran, and Gerdau Caucaia.

José Noldin is the CEO of GravitHy, a company launched by a world-class and international industrial consortium that aims to accelerate the decarbonization of the global steel industry by producing direct reduced iron (DRI) from low-carbon hydrogen. He oversees the development of the company, including its first project in Fos-sur-Mer (south of France), which will require around €2 billion of investment and is expected to create over 3,000 direct and indirect jobs.

For over 20 years, José has impacted the iron and steel industry by leading successful and innovative industrial ventures, with special focus in business impact and decarbonization.

José is an engineer and holds a PhD in metallurgical engineering from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Brazil, he has received several industry awards, including the Thomas medal (UK's Iron and Steel Society), the Ironmaking prize (ABM in Brazil), an AIST Presidential Citation, besides multiple recognitions for his contributions to the iron ore, steel, and sustainable development sectors.

Mark has C-level experience working for and raising funds within private equity-backed multi-billion-euro start-up companies for the last 20 years. As a 35-year steel industry veteran, he has played pivotal roles in six steel start-up projects on three continents. He was instrumental in the go-to-market strategy and commercial negotiations as the chief commercial officer for Swedish-based Stegra, helping raise €7 billion to build the world’s first green steel production plant.

While most of Mark's career was in heavy industry, he spent three years as the managing director of a boutique strategic consulting company and a corporate director of marketing for a building products company. He has an MBA from the University of Toledo, Ohio, USA. He splits his time between Helsinki and London, as he leads Blastr in its quest to put Finland at the forefront of the green transition globally.

Bernhard Rischka obtained his master’s degree in metallurgy from the University of Leoben in Austria. He has been working for Swiss Steel Group as senior manager of the corporate technology department since 2017 and oversees major investments, best practice projects and – more recently - the group-wide decarburization roadmap. Prior to joining Swiss Steel Group, Bernhard held management positions in the US, Asia as well as in the Middle East.

Harmen Oterdoom graduated from Delft University Netherlands in extractive metallurgy in 2002 and then moved to Germany to work for then SMS Demag, now SMS group, until 2020. Since 2002 he has worked with electrical furnaces in a wide range of metals and furnace configurations, from the design phase to commissioning, trouble shooting, and (long distance) support. He currently holds the position of co-founder at Butter Bridge, a technology consultancy with deep experience in extractive metallurgical processes.

Dr Klaus Peters qualified as Doctor of Engineering in 1993 and gained a state doctorate (Habilitation) in 1998 (RWTH Aachen), starting his industrial career with thyssenkrupp Steel Europe (tkSE).

His senior experiences include production, sales, quality and R&D both on national and international level. From 2011, Dr. Peters joined several working groups and committees of the European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP) and was in charge of international research projects and European funding of tkSE. He became in secretary general of ESTEP in 2015.

Amongst others, he is member of the Steel Advisory Group (SAG) of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) and board member of the public-private partnership Processes4Planet. He is the executive director of the Horizon Europe Clean Steel Partnership.

In 2021, ESTEP was again appointed as member of the High-Level Group on Energy Intensive Industries.

Vlad Mykhnenko is a professor of geography and political economy at the University of Oxford and a fellow of St. Peter's College, Oxford. He is an economic geographer, specialising in the geographical and political economy. Since the early 2000s, Mykhnenko's academic focus on challenging the conventional wisdom of urban and regional development has expanded from transitioning economies of eastern Europe (especially, Polish Upper Silesia and the Ukrainian Donbas) to encompass the development phenomena observed across the world. So far, Vlad has produced over 140 research outputs, with his research attracting £15.6 million ($20m) in external funding.

Professor Paul Kempler is an assistant professor of Chemistry at the University of Oregon and director of the Electrochemistry Master’s Internship Program (EMIP). His current research efforts include studying interfacial ion-transport processes and developing electrochemical technologies to assist global efforts toward deep decarbonization. In particular, his group is interested in electrochemical methods for producing iron for emissions-free steelmaking. Kempler has a PhD in chemical engineering from the California Institute of Technology (2020) where he studied the optical properties and gas evolution characteristics of microstructured semiconductors used to convert sunlight and water into hydrogen. He received a UO Sustainability Award for Research and Scholarship in 2023.

Reinoud van Laar holds the roles of senior technology manager and programme manager for steel industry decarbonization at Danieli Corus. He has been with the company since obtaining his master’s degree in physics from Delft University of Technology in 1996 and has worked in various roles, such as engineering, project management and product development. Much of his experience was accumulated in blast furnace ironmaking projects for clients on all continents and his current focus is primarily on redeveloping the BF/BOF-based steel production and reduce its carbon footprint to acceptable levels with respect to mitigating climate change. He lives on the North Sea coast in The Netherlands and loves to spend his free time running and eating seafood.

Rutger Gyllenram is a Swedish metallurgist and entrepreneur. He has an MSc in process metallurgy and materials science and a licentiate degree (Dr-ing) in metal production technology from the Royal Institute of Technology, KTH, in Stockholm.

He is the founder and CEO of Kobolde & Partners AB, working with raw material and process assessment, which is crucial for decarbonization in the steel industry.

Dr. Chevrier is General Manager – Technical Sales and Marketing for Midrex Technologies Inc., and is based at the Headquarters in Charlotte, NC. His role consists in studying of long-term market trends and evolution, which includes the transition from carbon-based to fossil-free steelmaking.

He earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering at the Université de Technologie de Compiègne (France), a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech (USA) and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University (USA).

Dr. Chevrier began his career in the steel industry at IRSID in France (now part of Arcelor-Mittal R&D) in 1992. After obtaining his doctorate, he worked in the melt-shop and scrap yard for J&L specialty Steel in various engineering and management positions. Subsequently, Dr. Chevrier held management positions at Keywell LLC, a leading recycler of high-performance metals, prior to joining Midrex in 2011. For the first 8 years, Dr. Chevrier was responsible for all innovation, R&D and technology improvements programs for Midrex and led all work on decarbonization before it became mainstream. The increased market demand for green ironmaking morphed his interests to technical marketing and business development. Dr. Chevrier joined Form Energy in 2021 to develop and scale the iron anode of a novel long duration storage battery. He re-joined Midrex in April 2023.

Reinoud van Laar holds the roles of senior technology manager and programme manager for steel industry decarbonization at Danieli Corus. He has been with the company since obtaining his master’s degree in physics from Delft University of Technology in 1996 and has worked in various roles, such as engineering, project management and product development. Much of his experience was accumulated in blast furnace ironmaking projects for clients on all continents and his current focus is primarily on redeveloping the BF/BOF-based steel production and reduce its carbon footprint to acceptable levels with respect to mitigating climate change. He lives on the North Sea coast in The Netherlands and loves to spend his free time running and eating seafood.

Jan Friedemann Plaul is currently senior vice president at Primetals Technologies, responsible for the global business segment of iron and steelmaking and eco solutions. The I&S business segment provides technical solutions along the value chain of steelmaking. Key technologies within the portfolio are sinter and pelletizing plants, blast furnace technology, direct reduction plants, converter steelmaking, electric steelmaking (including secondary steelmaking) and eco solutions like dedusting and heat recovery systems. He has been working in the business of metallurgical plant building since 2005, covering different management positions at Primetals Technologies, not only in Austria but also in South Korea and India. He holds a master’s degree in metallurgical engineering, gained at the University RWTH Aachen (Germany) as well a PhD and MBA from the Montan University of Leoben (Austria). His business segments currently are executing large green steel transition projects like the electric arc furnace for the SALCOS project at Salzgitter Flachstahl, the electric arc furnace for the greentec steel programme of voestalpine Linz, as well the direct reduction plant and electric arc furnace for the Power4Steel programme at Dillinger.

Harmen Oterdoom graduated from Delft University Netherlands in extractive metallurgy in 2002 and then moved to Germany to work for then SMS Demag, now SMS group, until 2020. Since 2002 he has worked with electrical furnaces in a wide range of metals and furnace configurations, from the design phase to commissioning, trouble shooting, and (long distance) support. He currently holds the position of co-founder at Butter Bridge, a technology consultancy with deep experience in extractive metallurgical processes.

Bart Biebuyck is CEO and a founding member of the Green Energy Park Global, a vertically integrated, renewable energy franchise dedicated to developing, financing, constructing, and operating renewable energy facilities under a unified brand. Before that, Bart Biebuyck worked at the fuel cell department of Toyota Motor Europe where he held the position of technical senior manager. His expertise in the automotive industry includes extensive knowledge related to the deployment of new technologies in the European market. Bart also held a role within the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) programme, reinforcing European trials for the Toyota Fuel Cell Vehicle. He also had the opportunity to develop and expand his expertise in Japan, where he worked for two years. In addition to his industrial experience, Bart has been politically active in his local town since 2006. In 2013 he became the vice president of the City Council, responsible, among others, for the local economy and education.

Itsaso Auzmendi-Murua is currently the hydrogen business line manager at Sarralle, based in Spain, leveraging her expertise in the integration of hydrogen-based decarbonization solutions in the steel sector. She studied chemical engineering at the University of the Basque Country in Spain and earned her PhD in combustion thermochemistry and kinetics from the New Jersey Institute of Technology in the USA. With professional experience across the USA, Germany and Spain, she is passionate about the integration of innovative solutions into industrial plants and driving decarbonization efforts in the energy sector.

Matthew Moggridge has been editor of Steel Times International since January 2014, having previously edited Aluminium International Today, both published by the UK-based Quartz Business Media. During his time on both titles he has travelled extensively around the world interviewing and writing about leading figures in the metals industry and covering international steel and aluminium conferences. In addition to working as a journalist in many different industrial sectors, he is also the creator and driving force behind the development of the Future Steel Forum.

Matthew’s career as a business journalist has spanned many leading titles covering other industrial sectors including food processing, foodservice, foreign direct investment, bulk handling and transportation and computers.

Rutger Gyllenram is a Swedish metallurgist and entrepreneur. He has an MSc in process metallurgy and materials science and a licentiate degree (Dr-ing) in metal production technology from the Royal Institute of Technology, KTH, in Stockholm.

He is the founder and CEO of Kobolde & Partners AB, working with raw material and process assessment, which is crucial for decarbonization in the steel industry.

Anna Domènech is an experienced industrial engineer with a master’s degree in international business management.

With over 12 years in funding and innovation management, she has held the position of corporate innovation manager at CELSA Group since 2020. In this role, Anna co-ordinates innovation initiatives across all business units spanning Spain, France, UK, Poland and the Nordic countries.

Previously, Anna gained valuable expertise during her six-year tenure as a consultant in Brussels, assisting industrial clients in navigating the European innovation ecosystem. Before joining CELSA, she spent four years managing Nissan Europe's participation in public funding programmes, supporting innovation initiatives across their factories, research centres, and business units throughout Europe.

Anna's passion for driving innovation and fostering collaboration fuels her commitment to making a positive impact within the industry.

Dr. Fleischanderl is based in Linz, Austria and is a member of the executive management team at Primetals Technologies. Since April 2024 he has held the role of global chief technology officer. In this position, he oversees the whole solution portfolio, including intellectual property (IP), information technology (IT) and innovation management.

Alexander is a recognized expert in the field of sustainable iron and steel production and is also heading the green steel platform at Primetals Technologies. He holds more than 100 single patents in his name. Alexander was honored as Siemens’ Inventor of the year in 2013 and received the Best Innovation Award from MHI (Mitsubishi Heavy Industry) in 2019. Alexander holds a PhD in process engineering.

Mark has C-level experience working for and raising funds within private equity-backed multi-billion-euro start-up companies for the last 20 years. As a 35-year steel industry veteran, he has played pivotal roles in six steel start-up projects on three continents. He was instrumental in the go-to-market strategy and commercial negotiations as the chief commercial officer for Swedish-based Stegra, helping raise €7 billion to build the world’s first green steel production plant.

While most of Mark's career was in heavy industry, he spent three years as the managing director of a boutique strategic consulting company and a corporate director of marketing for a building products company. He has an MBA from the University of Toledo, Ohio, USA. He splits his time between Helsinki and London, as he leads Blastr in its quest to put Finland at the forefront of the green transition globally.

José Noldin is the CEO of GravitHy, a company launched by a world-class and international industrial consortium that aims to accelerate the decarbonization of the global steel industry by producing direct reduced iron (DRI) from low-carbon hydrogen. He oversees the development of the company, including its first project in Fos-sur-Mer (south of France), which will require around €2 billion of investment and is expected to create over 3,000 direct and indirect jobs.

For over 20 years, José has impacted the iron and steel industry by leading successful and innovative industrial ventures, with special focus in business impact and decarbonization.

José is an engineer and holds a PhD in metallurgical engineering from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Brazil, he has received several industry awards, including the Thomas medal (UK's Iron and Steel Society), the Ironmaking prize (ABM in Brazil), an AIST Presidential Citation, besides multiple recognitions for his contributions to the iron ore, steel, and sustainable development sectors.

Dr. Rizwan Janjua holds PhD in material sciences from the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany. He joined the steel industry in 2002 and has been involved in process technology, energy efficiency, process yield and asset reliability. He is head of technology at the World Steel Association and is responsible for leading worldsteel’s activities in the field of technology, energy efficiency, and CO₂ breakthrough.

He is secretary to the worldsteel Technology Committee (TECO), CO₂ Breakthrough Programme and leads the ‘StepUp’ programme which is aimed at improvements in mill operations to efficiency levels commensurate with the steel industry’s top performers for emissions and energy intensity using existing proven installed technology and best practices.

He led the flagship project ‘Premature Wear of Copper Staves in Blast Furnaces’, investigating ways of extending the campaign-life of blast furnaces by minimising stave wear – the outcomes are highly acclaimed and frequently cited in publications.

He has represented the steel industry in technical discussions on energy and climate change at IEA, IRENA and OECD and reviewed several technical reports.

Jonathan Weber is member of the board of management (COO) of Dillinger and Saarstahl, and member of the executive management of SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar, a role he has held since 2021. He has an MBA in business administration from the University of Mannheim.

Prior to his current position, he spent almost a decade at thyssenkrupp, holding roles such as chief financial officer at thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel, head of strategy, markets, and development at thyssenkrupp Industrial Solution, and manager of corporate development at thyssenkrupp AG. From 2007 to 2012, he worked at Salzgitter AG as deputy head of strategy.

Jonathan Weber is member of the board of management (COO) of Dillinger and Saarstahl, and member of the executive management of SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar, a role he has held since 2021. He has an MBA in business administration from the University of Mannheim.

Prior to his current position, he spent almost a decade at thyssenkrupp, holding roles such as chief financial officer at thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel, head of strategy, markets, and development at thyssenkrupp Industrial Solution, and manager of corporate development at thyssenkrupp AG. From 2007 to 2012, he worked at Salzgitter AG as deputy head of strategy.

Dr. Noriko Kubo has worked at JFE Steel Corporation's research laboratory since 1994. She has been mainly involved in the development of steel processes using fluid engineering and particle engineering. Currently, she is the assistant general manager of the Cyber-Physical-System R&D department and is promoting digital transformations such as process control, sensing and robotics.

Rutger Gyllenram is a Swedish metallurgist and entrepreneur. He has an MSc in process metallurgy and materials science and a licentiate degree (Dr-ing) in metal production technology from the Royal Institute of Technology, KTH, in Stockholm.

He is the founder and CEO of Kobolde & Partners AB, working with raw material and process assessment, which is crucial for decarbonization in the steel industry.

Dr. Rizwan Janjua holds PhD in material sciences from the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany. He joined the steel industry in 2002 and has been involved in process technology, energy efficiency, process yield and asset reliability. He is head of technology at the World Steel Association and is responsible for leading worldsteel’s activities in the field of technology, energy efficiency, and CO₂ breakthrough.

He is secretary to the worldsteel Technology Committee (TECO), CO₂ Breakthrough Programme and leads the ‘StepUp’ programme which is aimed at improvements in mill operations to efficiency levels commensurate with the steel industry’s top performers for emissions and energy intensity using existing proven installed technology and best practices.

He led the flagship project ‘Premature Wear of Copper Staves in Blast Furnaces’, investigating ways of extending the campaign-life of blast furnaces by minimising stave wear – the outcomes are highly acclaimed and frequently cited in publications.

He has represented the steel industry in technical discussions on energy and climate change at IEA, IRENA and OECD and reviewed several technical reports.

Dr. Ilchat Sabirov is a senior researcher and programme leader in advanced manufacturing at IMDEA Materials Institute (Madrid, Spain). He gained his PhD in metallurgy at the University of Leoben in 2004. His research focuses on the advanced manufacturing of metallic materials, particularly steel, as well as their deformation behaviour, the chemistry-processing-microstructure-property relationship, and product development. He has participated in 12 EU collaborative projects, including co-ordinating five of them. He has co-authored more than 120 articles in international journals, along with a book and an international patent.

Raquel Torruella is an innovation manager at CELSA Group, a European producer of circular and low-emission steel. With a strong background in corporate innovation and European project management, she has led initiatives in water management, zero-waste programs, and industrial sustainability. At CELSA, she co-ordinates the Twinghy project, an RFCS-funded initiative pioneering the use of digital twins and hydrogen combustion in reheating furnaces, a transformative step toward decarbonizing steel production. A firm believer in industry-wide cooperation, she advocates for the integration of economic profitability and environmental responsibility, ensuring that the steel industry evolves toward a more sustainable and competitive future.

Sébastien Caillat is chief combustion expert at Fives Stein, Fives Group. He develops combustion systems for reheating furnaces and continuous annealing lines for the steel industry. Previously, from 1999 to 2014, he was an assistant professor at the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Douai. He holds a master’s degree in aerothermochemistry and a PhD in combustion from the CNRS CORIA laboratory, University of Rouen in Normandy, France, and has been involved in research, development and teaching in industrial combustion and air pollution control. Since 2017, Sébastien has held the position of vice-president of the International Flame Research Foundation (IFRF) and participates in CEN and ISO standardisation groups.

Dr. Thiago Turchetti Maia is the executive vice president for SMS digital’s Center of Excellence.

He has 20+ years of experience in leading technology companies focused on industrial digitalization. He founded Vetta and Viridis, two companies later incorporated by the SMS group. He has led software industry associations and served on different supervisory boards.

He holds a PhD and an MSc in Electrical Engineering, a BSc in computer science, and an MBA in finance.

Stefano Maggiolino is president and CEO at Tenova HYL. Stefano began his career at the Techint Group in 1996, when he first joined the program of Junior Professionals at Tenaris Tamsa in Veracruz, Mexico. In 1998, he moved to Italy as Project Manager at Techint SpA (now Tenova), working across a number of worldwide steelmaking projects. In 2005, Stefano moved back to Mexico as Project Director and COO at Tenova HYL, in Monterrey, where he led direct reduction plant projects. Since July 2015, he has been President and CEO of Tenova HYL.

Stefano trained as a mechanical engineer, graduating from the Polytechnic University of Bari, Italy. He holds an MBA from EGADE Business School Tecnológico de Monterrey and an MBA from the University of North Carolina Charlotte with a specialization in Global Business and Strategy and Executive Management from IPADE Business School in Ciudad de Mexico.

Stefano believes that innovation in sustainability and safety are key to long-term profitability of the steel industry and sees direct reduction specifically as a path to reach these goals. He values teamwork and efficient organization, and tackles problems with a positive, solution-driven attitude. Stefano’s strategic clarity is combined with his passion for people – he builds excellent and enduring relationships with all stakeholders. Thanks to his in-depth expertise in the sector, he is the Inventor of various patents, author of numerous international papers, and regular speaker at international conferences.

Bertrand Orsal-Reams is the head of digitalization at GravitHy, where he drives innovation and digital transformation strategies to support the development of a decarbonized iron-making plant utilizing hydrogen. With over 15 years of expertise in the steel industry, Bertrand has a proven track record of developing groundbreaking solutions and leading high-impact projects.

Previously, as Dassault Systèmes' main steel expert, he spearheaded the group's strategy for the metals and minerals industry, leveraging his deep metallurgical knowledge and digital expertise. Before that, he led the development of an award-winning expert system for live running of continuous galvanizing lines at the Fives Group, showcasing his ability to merge technical and digital innovation.

Bertrand began his career at ArcelorMittal, where he spent 13 years developing patented processes for hot dip galvanizing lines worldwide. After a two-year stint managing new works on a Seveso site for Chemours, he returned to the steel industry, continuing to push the boundaries of technology and operational excellence.

Kurt Herzog completed his master’s degree in industrial automation at the Technical University of Vienna and his MBA at the Linz Management Academy.

In 1997, Kurt began working for VAI, a predecessor company of Primetals Technologies, in the area of process automation, and held several management functions in electronics and automation as well as in engineering. Since 2016, he has been responsible for the Industry 4.0 portfolio of Primetals Technologies.

Born in Udine and living there today, Enrico Plazzogna graduated in electronic engineering, specialising in industrial controls at Padova University, winning a scholarship from Consorzio Padova Ricerche for a graduation thesis focused on robotic applications.

He joined Danieli as a proposal engineer in 1994 and then became area manager for Europe, then for Middle East and for Eastern Europe and Russia. He was then appointed executive manager (sales) for minimills and turnkey plants. Today he is executive vice president of sales, and a member of the board of Danieli Automation.

In a career spanning 20 years within different roles, Joan Ral Gené has always been passionate about analyzing customer business problematic, quickly approaching their matters with remarkable pragmatism and common sense and proposing creative solutions. Over the years, he has been fortunate to have worked with high-profile organizations such as IBM, Generali Insurance Company, La Caixa, Abertis, CELSA Group, among many others.

In his current role as chief information officer at CELSA Group, Joan is leading the digital transformation of the company by defining the digital roadmap, with a special emphasis around Industry 4.0, circularity, sustainability, and green steel.

Kurt Herzog completed his master’s degree in industrial automation at the Technical University of Vienna and his MBA at the Linz Management Academy.

In 1997, Kurt began working for VAI, a predecessor company of Primetals Technologies, in the area of process automation, and held several management functions in electronics and automation as well as in engineering. Since 2016, he has been responsible for the Industry 4.0 portfolio of Primetals Technologies.

Alexander Thekale is the technology officer, electrics and automation, at Primetals Technologies. He previously held the position of innovation manager, electrics and automation, and head of digital solutions for downstream technology at Primetals. He holds a PhD in mathematics, and a diploma in applied mathematics, both from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

Dr. Falk-Florian Henrich is the founder and CEO of Smart Steel Technologies, a tech company specialising in production planning software for the steel industry which optimizes production workflows and improves efficiency in steel manufacturing.

Prior to founding Smart Steel Technologies, he established CeleraOne, which became a market leader in the paid content sector before being acquired by Axel Springer SE in 2018. Dr. Falk-Florian Henrich holds a PhD in mathematics, with research at the intersection of infinite-dimensional loop spaces of manifolds and artificial intelligence.