Date/Time: 15 September 2020, 10am – 11:30am UAE Time
Format – moderated panel session
Moderator
Panelists
Session attendees will come away with insights into:
Sergio Lopez works in the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, having spent more than 15 years serving governments and international institutions and almost 20 years working globally within the energy industry. Sergio helps to shape the direction of the energy transition through the formulation of government policies for the safeguarding of energy supply, the conservation and efficient use of energy, and the promotion of renewable energies. As a professor, he collaborates with universities and business schools on energy policy and its connections to regulatory policy, competition, and corporate strategy.
Born in 1980 in Giessen, Germany, Manuel obtained his education at the Technical University Ilmenau and the Federal University of Santa Catharina (UFSC), Brazil. He holds a diploma in industrial engineering and a post-graduate diploma in Advanced Management from the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) in Berlin. His career at Siemens spans over a decade from 2004. Until 2014, Manuel worked across different functions with Siemens Management Consulting (SMC). His role at SMC – part of the company’s Corporate Strategy Department – focused on strategy implementation projects across Siemens’ businesses globally. As Vice President, Manuel took on auditing and stabilization of project business in the power generation and transmission businesses as well as reorganization, restructuring and M&A activities. His project experience extended to localization projects in the UAE’s power generation sector, establishing a factory for Medium Voltage Equipment in India’s Medium Voltage Distribution, as well as developing strategies on how to excel growth in emerging economies. In his capacity as a leader in the SMC team, Manuel was responsible for recruiting, people development and staff disposition, including the alignment with governing bodies and Germany’s worker’s council. In mid-2014, Manuel took on the position of Senior Vice President of Business Development at the company’s Middle East headquarters in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Since then, he has been driving Strategy and Business Development for Siemens in the UAE and all countries reporting to it, from Libya in the West to Pakistan in the East. As Head of the Executive Office, Manuel is responsible for the coordination of all activities that involve the CEO in internal and external affairs. In addition, he is a member of Siemens’ Global Sales Excellence Advisory Committee and Director at Siemens Pakistan Engineering Company Ltd. in Karachi.
Shannon Scott is Senior Manager Environment Affairs at Emirates Airline, where he is responsible for environmental policy and programmes. He is Vice-Chair of the International Air Transport Association Sustainability and Environment Advisory Council, and participates in the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) working groups on CORSIA and on Airports and Operations. Before joining Emirates in 2013, he was a Senior Policy Advisor at the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand, where he also represented New Zealand as Observer to CAEP. Prior to that, he led the New Zealand Ministry of Research, Science and Technology’s international cooperation programmes with North Asia.
Prof. Vega holds a PhD in Physics, with 30+ years of professional experience in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, in Research, Teaching, Innovation and Strategy. She has developed her career in academia and industry, in Europe, USA and the Middle-East. She is internationally recognized for her work in molecular thermodynamics and computational modeling, combined with advanced experimental techniques, applied to clean energy and sustainable processes. In 2020 she received the Mohammed Bin Rashid medal for Scientific Distinguishment for her contributions in clean energy and sustainability. She has also received numerous awards for her success in bringing fundamental science to the market, including 200+ publications, 2 books, 10 commercialized products and 5 patents under exploitation. She is the editor in Chief of the Journal of Molecular Liquids and Director of the Research and Innovation Center on CO2 and H2 (RICH) at Khalifa University.
