Dr Marion Wilde
Policy Officer
European Commission ( EC ) Directorate General for Energy
Belgium

Dr Marion Wilde works as policy officer in the Unit International Relations within the Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission. She began in 2008, her work for the Commission as seconded national expert from the German State Brandenburg. She has been actively involved in the development of all major initiatives taken in the coal policy domain, more specifically in the field of EU relations with third countries, including international organisation as well in the implementation of the EU strategy for technology development and innovation in the coal area. Main responsibilities are the EU coal and clean coal bilateral dialogues and cooperation to promote the sustainable use of coal and clean coal technologies and the coordination of international cooperation in the field of energy technologies with third countries.


Before her secondment Marion Wilde had been working for more than 15 years as Regierungsdirektor in the German Ministries of Economy where she was involved in decision making for the mining and coal sector and in supervision of Mining and Geological Authorities. She has gained considerable expertise in the coal domain, based on many years of hand-on experience in coal markets and technologies, encompasses both policy, technical and operational aspects.

Marion Wilde holds a PhD of Economics and Master's degree on Mining Engineering and Economics.

 

Dr. John Topper,
CEO,
International Energy Agency(IEA)  Coal Research Ltd (Operating Agent for IEA Clean Coal Centre) and
CEO,  IEA Environmental Projects Ltd  (Operating Agent for IEA Greenhouse Gas Programme), UK

 

Dr John Topper is a Fellow of the Energy Institute and of the Institution of Chemical Engineering in the UK and is a Chartered Engineer.

For the past 12 years he has held the posts of Managing Director of IEA Clean Coal Centre and the CEO of the Operating Agency for the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme.

In 2000-2001 John worked for the UN Industrial Development Organisation in Vienna, concentrating on managing a Coal Bed Methane project in India.

Previously he was for 5 years a director of a private energy and environment consulting company, directing many projects related to coal use in former Soviet Countries and several in China.

From 1975 to 1995 he worked for the British Coal Corporation’s Research Establishment. This included projects on coal gasification, coal to liquids, industrial and power plant usage of coal and a period in charge of British Coal’s R&D planning.

 

Prof. Dr. Klaus R. G. Hein,
Professor Emeritus,
University of Stuttgart,
Germany

Professor Dr.-Ing. Klaus R.G. Hein graduated in 1964 from the Technical University Aachen, Germany followed by a postgraduate scholarship at the Imperial College London,UK.

In his professional career he was research engineer at the International Flame Research Foundation IJmuiden/The Netherlands (1966-1971) and head of the Research and Development Department at the German Utility RWE (1971-1992). In parallel to this functions in industry he took the chair for Energy Technology at the University Delft, The Netherlands (1986-2003) and was since 1992 Director of the Institute for Process Engineering and Power Plant Technology at the University Stuttgart/Germany, Dean of the Faculty of Energy Technology (1996/98) ,Vice President of the university (1999/2000) and retired from his institute in late 2004. After that he was appointed Acting Director of Institute of Combustion Technology at the same university up to the end of 2008. Since November 2010 Prof. Hein was appointed fellow of the Brown Coal Initiative Australia (BCIA) and in charge of BCIA funded projects for the improvement of utilization of low rank coals such as brown coals and lignites. In this function he was Manager R&D at HRL Technology, Mulgrave/Australia until May 2012 and in parallel Professor of Coal Science & Technology at Monash University, Clayton/Australia until December 2012.

Professor Hein was/is involved in industrial consultancy activities in Western and Eastern Europe and abroad (Australia, USA, China, Morocco, Japan), was since 1992 engaged in various activities of the European Union, as expert and evaluator of research proposals, as coordinator of multi-country, multi-partner research projects and still is in scientific expert committees of European research scene For his major achievements related to the improvements of power station technology in cycle efficiency, environmental performance and international cooperation he has received several awards for outstanding scientific/technological achievements in Europe, China and the USA.

The scientific and technical work of Professor Hein and his industrial and academic teams is summarized in more than 500 publications, including about 60 invited keynote presentations to international conferences in Europe and abroad.

 

Dr. Shen-En Chen, Ph.D., P.E.,
Professor,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA and State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Deep Underground Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology Xuzhou, China

Prof. Dr. Shenen Chen is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA. Prior to Charlotte, he was faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. He received BS, MS in Geotechnical Engineering and PhD in Structural Engineering from the West Virginia University, USA. At UAB, he taught courses on Soil Mechanics, Foundation Design and Nondestructive Testing. At UNC Charlotte, he is teaching courses on Structural Health Monitoring, Structural Analysis, Steel Design, Nondestructive Testing and more recently, Power Transmission Structure Design and Carbon Sequestration.

His research activities are in the areas of shock and vibration, geophysical testing, structural health monitoring, nondestructive evaluation, coal mine effects mitigation and carbon sequestration. He specialized in laser-based vibration sensing techniques and his research projects are funded by US Department of Energy, US Army, US Department of Transportation, Southern Company, National Science Foundation, Electric Power Research Institute and local Departments of Transportation.

Dr. Chen is Co-PI of a Southern Company initiative in carbon sequestration in Alabama since 2002. The project has since injected more than 7,500 tons of CO2 in the Rodessa Formation in Alabama. He is currently working with the China University of Mining Technology (CUMT) in carbon sequestration in coal mines using mineral sequestration technique.

He is an active member of the ASCE Technical Council for Forensic Engineers and is currently Chair of the Committee on Forensic Investigations (CFI). In 2007, he was a TEQIP visiting professor at the National Institute of Technology at Trichy, India. He co-edited the book Indo-US Forensic Practices: Investigation Techniques and Technology and is serving on the editorial board of the International Journal of Forensic Engineering – a new journal.

 

Dr. Francisco García Peña,
EngineeringR&D Director,
ELCOGAS,
Spain

Dr. García Peña is a Chemical Engineer from the Seville (Spain) engineers school (1976). After a period working as Chemistry teacher in the university, he worked for Empresarios Agrupados - Técnicas Reunidas (Spanish Architect - Engineering) in engineering, owners advising, and commissioning of power plants of Cofrentes (nuclear PP-BWR), Trillo (NPP-PWR), Laguna Verde (NPP-BWR), Carbón II (Coal Fired PP), and ELCOGAS - Puertollano (IGCC).

Since 1996 he works in ELCOGAS - IGCC, first as Commissioning Manager, and after as Deputy Director of Engineering and Maintenance. Currently he works as Engineering - R&D Director.

He participates actively in Spanish and Europeans Technological Platforms and Associations about Hydrogen and Fuel Cells, and about CO2 and Zero Emissions Plants.

 

Mr. M.Muthukrishnan ,
General Manager,
R&D and Coal Research,
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited,
Trichy

Mr. Muthukrishnan, graduated in Chemical engineering from Madras University , Tamil Nadu and obtained Masters degree (M.S . by Research in Particle Technology )from IIT Chennai in 1981. He joined Bharat Heavy Electrics Ltd (BHEL), Trichy in 1981.

He started his career in the Research and Development of Fluidised Bed Combustion (FBC) boilers and involved in spreading this technology up to 250MW capacity size in the country for utilizing low grade fuels by providing operational support and trouble shooting of BHEL supplied FBC boilers. He has headed the Engineering and Development group of FBC boilers, Heat Recovery Steam Generators (HRSG) and Industrial boilers in the Department of Process and Captive Power Systems (PCPS) at Tiruchi.

Presently he is the head of Research & Development and Coal Research group as General Manager, R&D and Coal Research leading the team on Advanced Ultra Super critical Technology , Integrated Gasification and Combined Cycle (IGCC) projects, FBC Boiler Development besides extensive studies on coal combustion and characterization .

He has 7 patents to his credit and also has published four technical papers in international conferences.

 

Dr. Sivaji Seepana,
Senior Engineer,
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited,
Trichy

Dr. Sivaji Seepana is working as a senior engineer at Coal Research Centre, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Trichy, since, February 2012. He has completed his bachelor's and master's degree from JNT University, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh(AP) and SV University, Tirupati, AP, respectively. He has obtained doctoral degree from IIT Madras, Chennai in 2010 in the area of oxy-fuel combustion. After completion of PhD, he has worked as a senior research associate (post-doctoral fellowship) at the City University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong for 21 months in the area of Indoor air quality. He has six Indian patents and 12 international publications in reputed journals and conferences to his credit.

He is now actively involved in developing clean combustion technologies at Coal Research department. He is currently involved in projects entitled as "Pilot scale development of biomass co-firing with pulverized coal" and "Pilot scale set-up and study on oxy-fuel combustion system for Indian coals". These projects are carried out under MoU with TREC-STEP, Trichy and are funded by the European Union. In addition, he is also working on development of chemical looping combustion technology for high ash Indian coals.

 
 

Dr. Luca Mancuso ,
Process Director,
Power Division,
Foster Wheeler Italiana S.r.l.,
Italy

Dr. Mancuso is Process Director in Foster Wheeler Italiana, Power Division, with a first class degree in chemical engineering.

Since 2000, Luca joined Foster Wheeler Italiana where he had the opportunity to develop a deep experience in the design of fossil-based power and chemical generation plants, following feasibility studies, basic design and detailed engineering phases of several worldwide projects.

Particular area of expertise is the design of power and chemical plants with Carbon Capture and Sequestration. In this field, Luca has successfully worked for a large number of international companies and organizations, like British Petroleum, Hydrogen Energy, Fortum, TAURON, PKE-ZAK, Rotterdam Climate Initiative, Electric Power Research Institute, The International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas R&D programme and The World Bank.

In his key previous experience, Luca worked in SISAS S.p.A. (1998), Milan, as production engineering at the isophtalic acid plant, coordinating field activities, production process, and start-up of the new plant.

 

Mr. John Williams,
Geoscientist,
British Geological Survey,
UK

Mr. Williams has worked in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) research at the British Geological Survey since 2006. He is a geoscientist with an interest in many aspects of subsurface usage for energy storage and extraction, as well as CCS, His research includes studies on geothermal energy potential and natural gas storage in both clastic reservoirs and engineered storage caverns. He has contributed towards numerous CCS storage capacity projects, including a study funded by the IEAGHG R&D Programme and DEFRA to assess the regional potential for geological storage of CO2 in the Indian subcontinent. He has also contributed to regional CO2 storage capacity projects focused on the United Kingdom (UK-SAP), Europe (Geocapacities), China (COACH) and South Africa (SAfECCS). Currently his research is focused on the geological characterization of potential CO2 storage reservoirs, and on the implementation of reservoir models in numerical simulations of CO2 injection. This includes a contribution to the EU-funded ULTimateCO2 project. He is also studying the potential for fault reactivation in potential UK storage sites in the North Sea, and maintains an interest in studies of in-situ stress.

 

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bernd Epple,
Director of the Institute for Energy Systems and Technology Technische Universität Darmstadt,
(Faculty of Mechanical Engineering)
Otto-Bernd-Str. 2 64287 Darmstadt, Germany

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bernd Epple is a Mechanical Engineering from the University of Stuttgart. Later he was a Scientific Employee at the University of Stuttgart, Institute for Process Technology and Steam Boiler Technology. He started his career at ALSTOM Power Boiler GmbH, Sector of Large-Scale Steam Power Plants (ALSTOM Power Boiler GmbH, formerly EVT Energie- und Verfahrenstechnik GmbH). At ALSTOM, he held various positions as Head of the Department of Research and Development, Director of the Plant Engineering Division and General Manager for the steam power plant WaiGaoQiao 2 x 900 MWel Shanghai / PR China. During the shanghai project, he contributed to the design, construction and processing of the two power plant units (WaiGaoQiao) with 2 x 900 MW electrical output in Shanghai / PR China

From 2004, he is a full University Professor and Director of the Institute for Energy Systems and Technology Technische Universität Darmstadt (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering) Otto-Bernd-Str. 2 64287 Darmstadt, Germany

 
 

Dr. Dobrin D. Toporov ,
Deputy Head of Gasification Department and ,
Head of Process Simulation Group at the Gas Technologies Division,
ThyssenKrupp Uhde GmbH, Germany

Dr. Dobrin D. Toporov was born in Silistra, Bulgaria on July 5, 1972. He graduated from Technical University of Sofia with a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering in 1995, a Doctorate in 2000 (thesis on the numerical modeling of turbulent combustion) and a habilitation in 2013 on oxycoal combustion technology at the RWTH Aachen University, Germany. In 2010 he joined Uhde GmbH and currently is a Deputy Head of Gasification Department and Head of Process Simulation Group at the Gas Technologies Division, ThyssenKrupp Uhde GmbH.

Dr. Dobrin Toporov is also a Private Docent at the RWTH Aachen University giving lectures on Combustion and Gasification in a Mixture of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide

 

Mr. R. M. P. Jawahar ,
Executive Director,
TREC-STEP,

Mr. R. M. P.Jawahar has a rich and rewarding development experience, spanning more than two decades, in the areas of Innovation Development, Incubation of knowledge led ventures, technology skills etc and has partnered with many reputed organizations, such as infoDev and Development Marketplace World Bank, European Union, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Industrial Development Organization and other international organizations. He is also the Founder member of the Indian Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Parks and Business Incubators Association (ISBA) and presently the President of the Asian Association of Business Incubators AABI. He has helped many incubators in India in establishment, management and effective functioning. Mr. Jawahar is also involved in dissemination of management and technology skills across a wide spectrum of societies, particularly unemployed youth in India. He has been awarded “The International Champion of Business Incubation 2006” by UKBI (UK Business Incubation Association), as its first ever recipient. He has also served in the various committees such as, Chairman of the International Working Group on Incubator Commonalities of the Global Business Incubator Network of National Associations of Business Incubators (GBIN), as a Member of the CII National Committee for Technology and Innovation, Member of the National Advisory Committee of STEPs and Technology Business Incubators and member of the Board of Governors of many other organizations engaged in innovation and incubation development initiatives. Under his leadership, TREC-STEP has received many awards and accolades and has emerged as one of the acclaimed STEPs/Business Incubators, in India and abroad today, promoting more than 200 start-up ventures.

 

Dr. R. Padmanabhan,
HOD-Boiler Basic Design,
Doosan Power Systems India,

Mr. R. Padmanabhan is working as Dy. General Manager at Doosan Engineering Center (DEC),attached to the Manufacturing works in Poonamallee, Chennai; DEC is the Boiler Engineering arm ofDoosan Power Systems India Pvt Ltd (DPSI).

He heads the Boiler Basic Design department in DPSI which is responsible for Boiler Performance and Process, Equipment Engineering of Boiler Auxiliaries. He has completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Acharya Nagarjuna University, AP.

He has been working with DPSI for the past 7 years and has overall 22 years of experience in different Boiler Technologies and Industries and has worked with majors such as Doosan Babcock, Foster Wheeler Energy and Thermax; he had a 4 year stint at USA and UK, working directly at the head quarters of these companies.

He is now actively engaged in providing New Boiler and R&M Engineering Solutions, to coal fired boiler business. He led the Basic Engineering of the shortly concluding Boiler R&M of Unit 5 at Bandel Thermal Power Station and also currently involved in the execution of NTPC Kudgi & Lara 5x800 MWe Ultra Supercritical Boiler Projects. In the past, he has participated in International workshops and EU India working group activities on CCS, sharing the developments in CCT and CCS of Doosan.

 

Dr. Prachi Singh,
Project Officer,
IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEAGHG),

Dr. Prachi Singh completed her Master’s in Chemical Engineering from University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 2004. After that she did PhD in Post combustion capture area on ‘Solvent Development for CO2 Absorption Process’ at Twente University,The Netherlands in 2010. Her PhD project was part of Dutch National CO2 capture and storage Project ‘CATO1 & CATO2’. She has worked at Shell Technology Centre Amsterdam, The Netherlands for two years as part of her PhD. After her PhD she did Post Doc. in Reactive Distillation area, from Institute of Sustainable Development in The Netherlands. Since December 2011, she is working as Project Officer at IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme,