Feature Expert Speakers from 2022

Martin Mannion has some 35 years maritime experience, principally in the planning and design of ports.

He is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Member of The Academy of Experts, member of PIANC, as well as a member of the Independent Port Consultants industry grouping.

Martin provides technical and commercial management of and innovative solutions for port & maritime projects, master planning, port optimisation, due diligence, feasibility, design, expert witness work, and reviews for port facilities.

Examples of container terminal experience include London Gateway Design UK, TangerMed2 Due Diligence/Design Morocco, Colombo Sri Lanka North Port Study, Bayport Design/Construction Houston USA, Tema EPC Stage Ghana and Jebel Ali 25 Year Master Plan UAE, as well as other terminals including in the UK, USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Belgium and Kuwait.

Annika Kroon is head of the Maritime Transport and Logistics Unit in the Directorate General for Mobility and Transport in the European Commission.

The unit deals with sustainable maritime policies, maritime markets and international maritime agreements, but also with digital and sustainable intermodal freight transport and logistics.

Annika is an economist with Master’s degrees in Cybernetics in Economy and International Finance. In her earlier assignments in the European Commission, she was involved in setting up the impact assessment framework, that the Commission uses for ex ante analysis of all its major policy proposal.
She has also dealt with the implementation of rail market liberalisation policies. 

Before joining the European Commission in 2008, she has worked as a financial and business analyst in banking and telecommunications.

With a Degree in Transport Engineering at University of Genoa, Alexio is one of the Circle founding partner in 2012. He is now Managing Director and Member of the Board at Circle Group, President of MagellanCircle and Member of the Board at Info.era and Progetto Adele. Alexio Picco has a multi-annual experience working with politicians, policy makers, regulators, academics and third parties in passengers and freight transport innovation.

He is also currently the Director of the Connecting EU Business Unit, which supports and develops the business of public bodies and private companies through innovation projects and funding opportunities. 

Alexio Picco has a 25 years’ experience working with politicians, policy makers, regulators, academics and third parties in passengers and freight transport innovation using national and European funding.

22 years’ experience in creating, building and leading major initiatives within complex public and private organizations with a track record of successful cross-functional business development processes and large scale international consortia including EU and local institutions, EU/national/local policy-makers, industry players and a large variety of other stakeholders including non-profit groups.

15 years’ experience in supporting the European Commission in the evaluation of innovative projects, assessing their impacts in respect of the EU policies specifically in the domain of urban mobility and public transport.

Hans works in the transport and logistics sea trade sector for 51 years.
He started his career at a shipping agency and having gaining experience in all facets of import and export services, he was appointed to set up the ICT function in the company. He is also one of the gurus on EDI standardization – he joined UN working groups to establish UN/CEFACT EDIFACT messages for the global sea trade industry. Having been general manager ICT within the shipping agency, Hans was asked to join the Rotterdam group of experts for the set-up of the Port Community System in the Port of Rotterdam. Since then he has been working for Portbase Rotterdam until January 2019 when he retired.

The International Port Community Systems Association (IPCSA) has chalked up some remarkable achievements in the past years. Membership has increased to the point where IPCSA is now active and has members in every continent; IPCSA has continued to increase its influence at the highest levels; and IPCSA membership has expanded beyond port and cargo community systems to include Single Window operators.
All of this has been achieved under the dynamic chairmanship of Hans Rook, whose knowledge and expertise of community systems, IT and port logistics, built up over a 50-year career, is unrivalled.

Hans is quite simply one of the visionaries in the development of new services to support the simplification of trade. Hans, retired from Portbase Rotterdam as per 01-01-2019 were he was senior adviser at Portbase, the Port Community System in The Netherlands.

Ricardo Arten Gorzelak, Chief Executive Officer of Brasil Terminal Portuário (BTP), has more than 25 years of experience in the port sector.

He was appointed CEO of BTP in May, 2019, and in his current position for this company – a joint venture between Terminal Investment Limited (TiL)and APM Terminals – Ricardo has been successfully leading one of the largest port container terminals of South America.

He is also an active board member of ABRATEC – Brazilian Association of Container Terminals and associate member of Infrastructure Department (DEINFRA) of Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP).

Ricardo Arten previously worked in various leadership positions across port sector, including terminals of Santos, Rio de Janeiro and Itajaí, where he worked for several years had becoming a fundamental enabler of growth for APM Terminals Brazil.

Ricardo is a native of Brazil, married with Eliane and has two sons. He attained a naval engineer degree from the University of São Paulo (USP) and he also holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration. In addition, he has attended several executive leadership programs in Brazil and abroad. 

Jeroen Kats holds a MSc degree in Operations Research and is Project Director Design and Simulation Services at TBA, a simulation consultancy company for the port, terminal and warehousing market.

His department focuses on supporting ports and terminal operators all over the world concerning terminal design and improvement process challenges.

By means of advanced dynamic tooling such as simulation and emulation, container terminals can make data-driven decisions and have a better grasp of the uncertainties.

In a span of over 15 years, he has been involved in various large, international projects ranging from process improvement, TOS go live support, terminal extensions and conversions, redesign of handling systems, to the design of greenfield terminals. 

Jorrit Harmsen MSc is a senior researcher sustainable shipping at the Dutch research institute TNO.

He focusses on technical, operational and logistics measures to enhance the environmental performance of waterborne transport and port operations.

As part of TNO’s sustainable shipping program, he is responsible for the strategic development of TNO's research portfolio. This combines research covering operational and bunkering safety, powertrain development, aftertreatment concepts, and development of sustainable fuels and accompanying scenarios.

Furthermore, Jorrit is vice-chair of the IRAG Port & Logistics of the European WATERBORNE Technology Platform.

Mr. Christian Blauert brings with him more than 25 years of experience within the maritime industry and serves as Moffatt & Nichol’s Global Director Port and Terminal Development.

Throughout his career, he has been involved in the leadership of greenfield terminal automation projects, such as Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA) in Hamburg, and has held senior management positions for International port operators.

Christian’s expertise encompasses maritime container terminal planning, with a strong focus on port optimisation and the automation of terminal operations (Container Terminal Burchardkai in Hamburg).

During his time as a maritime consultant, he advised operators with regard to both technical and commercial areas of the industry. Projects included operational analyses, transportation and logistics, procurement, evaluation of terminal equipment and IT specifications.

Christian’s educational background is in mechanical engineering, with a specialisation in production, logistics, management and economics.

Uwe Liebschner has several years of professional experience as an official at the German customs administration. After moving to the private sector, he has now worked for more than 20 years as a consultant for customs and foreign trade at dbh Logistics IT AG in Bremen. The company develop and operate the Port Community System for Bremen, Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven.

He has extensive experience and knowledge in the fields of the current developments of the Union Customs Code with regard to the implementation of IT projects and their integration into the process flows of logistics and customs clearance.

Mr. Liebschner contributes his knowledge for the design of the processes around the logistic handling in the cross-border movement of goods. Furthermore, Uwe Liebschner represents the IPCSA (International Port Community System Association) as Chairman of the IPCSA Customs Committee at various international meetings and events, such as working groups of the EU Commission (DG TAXUD) in Brussels.

Due to his experience and extensive knowledge of customs and foreign trade and the interaction of these areas with the requirements of global supply chains, Uwe Liebschner has completed numerous independent assessments of customs organisations and took part as an SME in several “Government Excellence Program” activities, especially in the UAE.

Passionate about digitalization & transformation, driving performance and growing business through connecting and developing people. Firm believer in the power of networks, ecosystems and co-creation, using technology to optimize Supply Chains and create new business models. Martijn has a strong international track record in Operational Management, Business Development, Strategy and Business Transformations.

Within Port of Rotterdam, Martijn is responsible for setting and activating the strategic digital agenda for the commercial departments. Engaging and growing the ecosystem and thus driving the transformation of the Port Of Rotterdam to its future proof role in facilitating and accelerating Supply Chains with digital business solutions and platforms.

Matthew Wittemeier is Director Marketing and Sales at INFORM's Terminal & Distribution Center Logistics Division where he’s become a thought-provoking contributor to many industry publications and conferences.

He’s co-author of the multi-award winning 2038: A Smart Port Story – a novella about the future of technology and the social challenges it may bring.

In addition, he is a member and judge at The Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA), as well as having been the senior producer and host of the buzzITtalk podcast and served on the board of YoungShip Rotterdam.  

Seasoned CEO with strong focus on strategy and change-management. Over twenty years experience in C Level positions in the port sector in Asia and Europe backed by early experience in banking and as a turn-around specialist.

Proven track record in building successful teams and creating shareholder value. Multi-industry, multi-company and multi-continent experience in diverse cultural environments and solid experience representing interests of financial institutions & PE type investors. Passionate communicator able to build trust and to convince stakeholders to envision and support important transformations of the business or of the industry.

Extensive negotiation and lobbying experience dealing at the top governmental levels in Europe, Asia and South America, as well as EU institutions.

Mees van der Wiel is business consultant strategy & innovation at Portbase, the Netherlands, General Manager of the PROTECT secretariat at IPCSA, member of the executive committee of IPCSA and UN/CEFACT expert.

Born and raised in the middle of the Port of Rotterdam, he always had a huge interest in maritime transport and port operations. He has been working in the domain of information exchange in transport & logistics since 2005 in several companies and in different positions, but always focused on improving information flows in supply chains.

His main focus at Portbase is on policy, legislative and standardization changes on EU and national level, such as the European Maritime Single Window Environment (EMSWe), ICS2, BREXIT and several digitalisation projects with the Port of Rotterdam and the Dutch government.  Next to this, Mees manages the PROTECT Secretariat.

PROTECT supports the electronic reporting required by authorities for vessels entering or leaving a port or port area. The PROTECT Group has established a harmonised worldwide recognised EDI standard.

Gerben Nummerdor working for Siemens Nederland NV for over 20 years, from which 16 years in Cranes Project House.

Starting off as ‘Cranes’ software and commissioning engineer he gained the mandatory hands-on experience in container cranes technique. In combination with the earlier gained degree in Logistic Management he developed a strong understanding of the dynamics a container terminal. 

The last decade Gerben has developed himself within the Siemens Cranes Project House sales team with a current position as Team Manager of that sales team.

The Siemens Cranes Project House has always been at the front line of change and promoting innovation at Container Ports. 
Converting ideas into solutions. Developing sketches to practical implementations is where the team suits best. 

Several topics such as full automation, remote control, predictive maintenance and Cybersecurity keep him and his team sharp.

Gerben likes in depth discussions on bits and bytes, nuts and bolts but the bird’s eye view has his preference. Preferably these conversations are accompanied by a good glass of Whisky or Mezcal but any invitation with coffee is accepted too!

Sahar Lemanczyk is managing partner at bloog. She believes that the digital transformation will shape the future of the port industry and that the people in the industry are the key to its success.

Sahar is an expert consultant for digitalisation and collaboration. She has used her industry insights and the trust of her clients to create innovations for port and terminal operations. Her projects have not only transformed organisations and the ecosystem around them, they have significantly reduced GHG emissions and made operations more efficient.

Sahar studied mathematics and philosophy and has worked in the maritime industry for 6 years.

Sander Rotmensen is Director of Industrial Wireless Communication at Siemens AG in Nuremberg, Germany. His responsibility covers the product portfolio for Industrial 5G, Industrial Wireless LAN, industrial routers and the SINEMA Remote Connect management platform for remote access.

Sander started his career in Siemens Nederland N.V. in 2005. He worked as a Technical Consultant for industrial automation networks with a focus on Wireless LAN. In 2008 he moved to Germany and joined Siemens AG in Nuremberg where he became a Technical Consultant with focus on Industrial Wireless Communication. After that he worked as Product Manager for SCALANCE W, the Industrial Wireless LAN portfolio from Siemens. From 2014 to 2018 Sander joined Siemens Canada Ltd.

His responsibility included Marketing and Product Management for the RUGGEDCOM network components that are used in harsh industrial environments like electric power and transportation networks.

Jussi Poikonen, D.Sc.(Tech.), is a co-founder and vice president of AI and analytics at Awake.AI, where his team develops predictive analytics, machine learning models, and optimization algorithms for the Awake.AI smart port platform. Dr. Poikonen is also an adjunct professor of microelectronics at University of Turku, Finland.

Before his current position at Awake.AI, Dr. Poikonen was an AI development lead at Rolls-Royce Marine, focusing on development of autonomous and remote controlled vessels. Also, Dr. Poikonen has over 10 years of experience as senior research fellow and lecturer at University of Turku and Aalto University, Finland. He has published over 80 research articles on telecommunications, emerging technologies, and neuromorphic computing.

Dr. Lasse Eriksson is heading the Technology function at Kalmar, part of Cargotec. He is responsible for the
technology strategy and development, with a specific focus on the strategic technology areas of automation, electrification and digitalisation.
He is a member of the Kalmar Mobile Solutions business unit leadership team.

Lasse Eriksson joined Cargotec in 2015 as Vice President, Digitalisation, and moved to Kalmar business area in 2017 to lead Service business concept development. He has been in the current role as VP Technology since 2019.

Before Cargotec, Dr. Eriksson has worked for Konecranes and Aalto University in Finland, in various research and development positions related to Industrial IoT and automation.

Gerald Spence is a Sales and Marketing Manager with extensive experience in supply chain and logistics. 

With over twenty years of sales and marketing experience, his primary goal is to help his clients be successful.  Gerald has bought his expertise to GullsEye to help terminal operators and port authorities improve their productivity with its world-class terminal operating system.  

GullsEye has spent the last 10 years talking to terminal operators, governments and port authorities and understanding the challenges they face. GullsEye has taken that time to develop their multi-cargo terminal operating system which addresses the challenges they have raised. Over the last few years, GullsEye has gone to market and deployed to 23 terminals. 

Our focus is to help our clients significantly lower operations costs, decrease vessel turnaround times, improve berth utilisation, decrease cargo movements and through the power of micro algorithms, do more with less.   

Guillermo Massot is a ports and shipping specialist with 19 years of M&A, operations and product management experience.  

He has held senior advisory and management positions at DP World (Business Planning and Development Manager for Europe & Russia), Terminal Investment Limited (Terminal Efficiency Manager), Maersk (Global Head of Supply Chain Management Partnerships and Acquisitions), Arup (Transaction Associate Director) and the European Commission (Independent advisor).

At present he runs his own management consultancy business, -Althium-, operating across the Infrastructure and Supply Chain Management spaces, with most recent credentials including due diligence and M&A advice in the acquisition of container terminals and logistics businesses globally.

Biography to be uploaded soon. 

Christopher Saavedra is a professional in the area of container terminal automation with more than 10 years of experience in port operations and management.

His experience begins as a military naval officer and then in the management of conventional and automated terminal operations, where he was very involved in the implementation and testing of new technologies.
Before joining the Terminal Design Services team, Christopher held various positions at container terminals.
In the last position, he led the improvement and optimization of processes, connecting operational processes with personnel, IT, customs, and customers.

Shekhar Kubal  is working with Danfoss  as Global Head of Marine and Electrification.

Shekhar is with  28+ years of experience & his past experience comes mainly from ABB in India, Global roles in VACON which later became part of  Danfoss in Finland since 2014.

He has been in several global roles in leading teams from Product Management to Sales & Marketing.
During his early career, Shekhar has experience from power electronics in the field of AC Drives.

In the last decade, with the rise of Electrification as a part of energy transition, Shekhar is engaged in applying power converters in Hybrid & Full Electric applications  from Marine & Offshore as well as Onshore, like Shaft Generators & other Hybrid, renewable energy sources in Marine Vessels Shore Power Supplies for decarbonisation of Ports. Energy Storage in industrial applications for multiple use cases like grid stability, Frequency Regulation of  renewable power generation, Peak Shaving, Industrial Power Back Ups, Fast DC Charging for Electric Vessels & Vehicles on & off-Highway Electrolysers for production of green Hydrogen.

Shekhar has a degree in Physics and Post-graduate degree in Power Electronics, and is eager to contribute in all activities towards better sustainable world for future generations, developing teams, attitude & enjoy to building & mentoring careers.

In the present, dynamics of market change Shekhar with his team working on constantly building strategy while implementing it, promoting people to take risks without fear of failure to stretch boundaries. 

Marco Fehmer is Civil Chartered Engineer with a specialization in transportation and logistics.

He joined DSP in 2007 and since 2017 has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer. DSP is one of the most recognized and valuable TOS implementation and optimization service and products partner.

Since 2020 Marco is President of DSP LAB Pvt, India, since 2021 Director of DSP TALUMIS BV, The Netherlands and since 2022, CEO of DSP AMERICA Inc.

Marco served as officer in the Italian Navy and then joined the port industry and container terminal operations at the Contship Italia Group, gradually focusing on TOS management.

He was project manager and business process advisor of distinct Container Terminals and Ports worldwide, with hands on experience on process optimization and automation. In 2007 he was ICT Project Manager for the construction of new Eurogate Tangier Terminal in Morocco.

Strong believer in innovation and new technologies, in 2004 Marco was project manager for the implementation of the first worldwide Prime Route for Trucks Terminal and in 2010 Marco started process automation projects introducing the concept of automated truck job stepping. Today is the project sponsor and functional design advisor of the GEMINI terminal digital twin project within DSP.

Paul Avery is the Editor at WorldCargo News.

Paul has been in the industry since 1999, and at WorldCargo News since 2001, becoming Editor in 2014.

With a deep technical background and extensive international experience, Miguel Soler Jaufer holds a degree in Applied Classical Physics and Higher Aeronautical Engineering, being immersed in the port sector since 1998.

His long career has allowed him to know several perspectives within the container handling industry: that of OEM and crane design, manufacturing and services during his time at PACECO ESPAÑA, S.A., that of Consultancy and development of terminal and port projects during his time at Maritime Consulting & Management (MCM) and that of the terminal world during his time as head of Terminal Maintenance and Implementation of New Technologies at OPCSA (Operaciones Portuarias Canarias).

As a result, the extensive experience gained in the management of maintenance projects, the integral management of services and guarantees and the development of IIOT (Industrial Internet of Things) methodologies and technologies of Business Intelligence for terminals and their equipment from the perspective of a machinery manufacturer is combined with deep knowledge in the technical management of Maintenance and the implementation of new technologies in Container Terminals.

In his role as Managing Director of PACECO MOMENTUM ADVANCED PORT SERVICES, S.L. since 2018, business management, business development and development of new IIoT technologies expands his previous experience in the container handling industry.

Jesús Medina is a Telecommunication Engineer from the University of Seville, holds an MBA with a specialty in Logistics and Transportation from the IMF Business School and has a proven track record with more than 15 years of experience in the field of consulting, technology, digital transformation, and innovation, mainly focused on the logistics-port sector. He completes his training with many certifications such as Prince2 Practitioner and ITIL Intermediate.

He is currently Chief Information & Innovation Officer at Algeciras Port Authority where he joined in 2.018. He is in charge of leading the digital transformation and fostering the innovation culture at Algeciras Port Authority. He is focused on the integration of business, technology and innovation to improve the port´s competitiveness and offer superior quality of service.

Previously (2006 - 2018) he worked in the engineering and architecture company IDOM where he played the role of IT Project Manager, becoming a partner of the company. During this stage, he carried out mainly consulting and management of tech projects for different public administrations, mainly in the logistics-port sector but also for regional governments and universities.

Carles Rúa Costa is an Industrial Engineer by Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (BarcelonaTech).
He is the Head of Innovation at the Port Authority of Barcelona (Port de Barcelona). He is also director of the Master Executive in Lean Supply Chain Management (BarcelonaTech), teacher at the Escola Europea of Intermodal Transport and co-editor of the port focused innovation blog PierNext.

His professional activity has been developed in the fields of strategy logistics, quality and management information systems, where he has acted as a free-lance engineer and for consultancy companies. In the university field he has been professor at the Department of Business Organization at BarcelonaTech for more than 25 years.

He also teaches logistics and port management in some masters in Spain and South America. 

Biography to be uploaded soon. 

Paolo Dazi has over 25 years’ executive management experience at some of the world’s largest lifting equipment manufacturers, beginning with 14 years spent at Fantuzzi developing their global marketing and sales operations.
Following a successful three-year sojourn with Sany Europe, where he was responsible for establishing the European headquarters for the Chinese giant, Paolo returned to Italy to become head of lift truck sales and global distribution at Terex. The acquisition of Terex by Konecranes in 2017 led to his current role as SVP of the Konecranes Port Services business unit.

Over his many years in ports Paolo developed a deep conviction that port equipment manufacturers must evolve their operating and business models, while simultaneously adding enormous customer value, by adopting IIOT technologies at scale. Konecranes has consistently invested in connected fleets and the power of equipment data for many years, committing both human and financial resources to developing some of the sector’s first-to-market technologies such as TRUCONNECT^®.

Paolo’s Port Services team now offers port customers a personalized ecosystem of outcome-based services that lower the risks of equipment ownership, streamline maintenance costs and deliver operational insight.

For six years, Mr. Sebastian Simon has been part of the product management team at Liebherr-MCCtec in Rostock with the main responsibility for the mobile harbour crane product line.
His position combines the view from the market, engineering and economy of maritime products. Thus, Mr. Simon is experienced in the field of specialized market and product studies as well as in business data analysis.

An important aspect of his daily work is the contact to the customer in order to grasp the actual pulse of the market. All this information is bundled and discussed with specialist teams of Liebherr-MCCtec in order to launch innovative, market-driven products that generate real benefits for customers.

Coming from the automotive sector, Mr. Simon brings the view from an industry that is already undergoing drastic transformation in terms of digitalisation, sustainability and automation, for decades.
Already during his mechanical engineering studies, he deepened his knowledge in alternative drives and energy sources. Throughout his activities in the worldwide engineering competition Formula Student, he also gained a lot of experience in developing unconventional, efficient and new solutions in order to achieve the best results with the least amount of resources. This experience developed into a passion, which is now the basis of his work at the Liebherr Group.

Jörg Müller, born in 1969, is a graduate mechanical engineer with a Ph.D. in mechatronics.
He was a research assistant at the University of Duisburg-Essen for five years, working on simulation and control of walking robots, before joining the legacy company Gottwald in 2001 which is now part of Konecranes.

After gaining experience in different management roles in project engineering as well as in the design of harbor cranes and automated port products, he was promoted to the position of Director of Technology for the Konecranes Mobile Harbor Cranes Business Unit in 2016.

Mariette Koekoek has worked as a senior project manager for port automation projects for over 5 years with the TBA Group and has worked with some of the most automated container terminals in the world.

In recent years her focus has shifted towards working with many (potential) clients on defining the port automation projects in both greenfield and brownfield transitions in an early stage by developing a standardized project approach. This entails working with clients in pre-engineering the future operations from an automation perspective, and charting the automation impact on the current system landscape towards the future system landscape, standardizing the project rollout and considering the impact on the daily procedures in the operational organization.
This results in jointly defining a fitting automation system landscape which suits the strategic terminal business goals in the long term. It also ensures a predictable stage gated project planning towards execution.

She works as an automation consultant and business developer, with an emphasis on equipment control systems and automated equipment integration. Together with our clients she is designing the port automation standard for the future, while increasing predictability and decreasing risks in project execution. 

Ronald J. van der Meer was the Project Director for the High Bay Store (HBS) proof of concept at DP World UAE T4. He has been involved in the HBS developments from the initial studies, the creation of the BoxBay JV and the realization of the first running facility.

He joined DP World head office in 2016.

Prior to this, Ronald was working as Project Director for Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG) the first fully automated container terminal in the world. Ronald involved in the RWG project from the early design stage until the final hand-over the operational organization.

Ronald started his shipping career in 1989 when he joined Europe Container Terminals in Rotterdam. During he was closely involved with the development and start-up operations of the Sea-Land Delta Terminal Project, the first semi-automated container terminal in the Ports Industry. This was followed by assignments for ECT (later part of Hutchinson) in different jobs from Terminal Manager via IT Manager to Manager Technic & Engineering.

Alexis Pangalos is managing partner at bloog. He wants to help shape the digital transformation so that people really benefit from it.

Alexis has advised on numerous automation projects in the transport industry in Europe and the US, being an expert consultant on automation and system integration. Automation creates a shift of responsibilities from humans to machines. Its success depends heavily on trust: the trust of people towards technology but also the trust among the involved stakeholders. Alexis’ talent to connect with people and his knowledge of operations and technology is a key component for the success of automation projects.

Alexis studied mathematics and computer science and he has a PhD in mathematics. He has been working in the maritime industry for more than 14 years.

Uwe Pietryga joined Kalmar in 2019. In his position as Director Solution Sales for Kalmar Automation Solutions, he is responsible for the Central European business.

He has worked for nearly 30 years continuously in this industry. His advanced knowledge and well-proven expertise is based on the experiences made through various technical positions in R&D, engineering, and sales as well as Managing Director for a crane manufacturer.

He maintains a considerable business network and has a good understanding and knowledge of real customer needs.
He is passionate about sustainability and the implementation of terminal automation.

Christopher Cavanagh has been working in the intermodal rail sector for nearly two decades with Freightliner Limited covering a variety of operational and commercial roles, before moving into rail terminal transformation projects.

Christopher was a senior member of the team when Freightliner adopted the Spinnaker suite of Terminal Operating Systems from Tideworks Technology, before becoming the product owner and working with Tideworks directly to continue to enhance the product for mutual benefit.
Christopher then became a Program Lead when Freightliner, now owned by Genesee & Wyoming, entered into a multi-million pound Business Transformation Project that had technology at its heart.
Christopher played a critical role in this project, leading his team in specifying, designing and rolling out the integrated solution for Freightliner/G&W with Tideworks Intermodal PRO TOS, Advent’s E-Modal VBS Booking System and CAMCO’s Automated Gate Solution.
Christopher’s role in the designing of the future state for Freightliner will  help shape the intermodal rail terminal industry in the years to come.

The project’s success and exciting next phase developments  will be the focus of Case Study discussion at the Tech TOC this year where Christopher is keen to share the experience from the customer perspective.

Rafael Velasquez is Director Optimization and Integration at INFORM’s Terminal & Distribution Center Logistics Division.

He has worked in optimization projects over the last 17 years within the Research and IT sector. He joined INFORM in 2008 with a focus on advancing optimization solutions in the container terminal industry in which time he has headed multiple notable international projects with customers such as GCT, DP World, and TraPac.

He is a frequent specialist speaker at industrial and academic conferences where he promotes the real-world opportunities that Operations Research and AI open.

Rafael holds a PhD in Mathematical Optimization from the Technical University of Kaiserslautern and is known for daily rolling the dice in a game of Backgammon.

Martin Mannion has some 35 years maritime experience, principally in the planning and design of ports.

He is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Member of The Academy of Experts, member of PIANC, as well as a member of the Independent Port Consultants industry grouping.

Martin provides technical and commercial management of and innovative solutions for port & maritime projects, master planning, port optimisation, due diligence, feasibility, design, expert witness work, and reviews for port facilities.

Examples of container terminal experience include London Gateway Design UK, TangerMed2 Due Diligence/Design Morocco, Colombo Sri Lanka North Port Study, Bayport Design/Construction Houston USA, Tema EPC Stage Ghana and Jebel Ali 25 Year Master Plan UAE, as well as other terminals including in the UK, USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Belgium and Kuwait.

Simon Harper is Forth Ports’ Group Learning & Development Manager, with responsibility for the L&D teams across the Group which operates eight ports in Scotland and The Port of Tilbury on the Thames.  

His focus is on development and deployment of a digitally enabled Group L&D strategy that increases technology applications of Artificial Intelligence in the context of simulators and virtual reality, to future-proof Forth Ports’ employees’ skills and capabilities, and rise to the challenges of a more technology-focused post BREXIT/COVID world.

Simon has worked with Forth Ports for 15 years in previous L&D roles in Tilbury, leading award-winning teams providing a consultancy service, advising and ensuring that processes and programmes are in place to address the development of people, performance and leadership talent across a multi-site ports & logistics operation.

Simon Harper’s teams have been awarded for their dedication in promoting career choices for young people, outstanding commitment to transport training and development, international Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), lifelong trainee learning, and training support for the local community.

Mike is the Managing Director for TT Club’s Loss Prevention department.

Mike joined TT Club in 2010 as a Claims Executive providing advice to transport operator Members globally, having previously held operation management roles within the logistics industry for 13 years.
Previous roles incorporated full responsibility in terms of budget, legislative, operational and health and safety compliance, including being the nominated dangerous goods safety advisor.

Mike is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Logistics and Transport, a Technical Specialist Member of the Institute of Risk Management and a Member of the Chartered Insurance Institute.

Mike continues to develop strategic relationships with key trade organisations including being a co-opted Member of FIATA’s advisory body legal matters group.

David Clark is CM Labs Simulations' Senior Product Marketing Manager, and is a skilled interviewer with over 2 decades of experience in the hi-tech industry as a solution marketer and client advocate. 

Richard Steele is Chief Executive Officer at the International Cargo handling and Coordination Association – ICHCA. 

Reporting directly to the Board, Richard leads the organisation which provides a focal point to improve cargo handling throughout international supply chains.  ICHCA also represents members, and the cargo handling industry, as a recognised non-government organisation at international bodies such as the International Maritime Organisation and UNECE and other agencies and regulatory bodies.

Richard is a safety and skills professional with a Masters in Training and Development who has been involved in the ports industry for over 21 years. 

Prior to ICHCA he was Chief Executive at Port Skills and Safety an organisation that he led for 11 years.  Port Skills and Safety is the UK ports organisation with a remit to share best practice, develop safety guidance and standards and produce qualification frameworks. 

Before PSS, Richard was the senior Learning and Development Manager for Associated British Ports for 10 years. 
Prior to ports, he worked in the nuclear industry on safety and skills provision.

Stephan Trauth is the Managing Director of Yardeye GmbH, a German based supplier for safety-oriented automation technology in Intermodal terminals.

Stephan has over 15 years of experience in sales and project management with focus on complex industrial technology.

In his past years he has managed various terminal projects around the world ranging from business development to product management for hardware and software solutions.

Stephan’s academic background combines a degree in engineering and a master’s degree in business administration.