Governtment of Dubai - Organizer | Dubai World Congress For Self-Driving Transaport | Autonomous Vehicle Technology Exhibition
Roads & Transport Authority - Organizer | Dubai Congress For Self-Driving Transaport | Self-Driving Car Conference & Exhibition
Under The Patronage Of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince Of Dubai And Chairman Of The Executive Council
Under The Patronage Of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince Of Dubai And Chairman Of The Executive Council
Congress Speakers2023-09-24T22:06:13+00:00

Congress Speakers

Sam Rogers

Test Pilot & Design Lead at Gravity Industries

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Dr. Marko Bjelonic

Founder, Swiss- Mile

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Reuben Sarkar

CEO, American Centre for Mobility

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Sherry Colbourne

Executive Director of the Technology and Innovation Development Center for the Ontario Region

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Dr. Steven Shladover

International Expert in self-driving Transportation Technologies

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Dr. Ismail Zohdy

Smart Mobility Expert at RTA

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Michael Milford

Specialist and Director of Robotics Center at Queensland University of Technology

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Prof. Venkat N. Krovi

Michelin Endowed Chair of Vehicle Automation in the Departments of Automotive Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University

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Chris Gall

Group Engineering Director Alexander Dennis

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Cristian Sandu

Co-Founder & CEO – Quadribot, France

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Prof Dr Enrica Papa

Department of Planning and Transport, University of Westminster

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Lāth Carlson

Executive Director of the Museum of the Future

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Denis Heckmann

Principal at FEV

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Alexander Nase

Managing Director of FEV Consulting

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Frank Menchaca

President, Sustainable Mobility Solutions – SAE International

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Mike Paras

Business Development, Product & Strategic Partnerships Manager Sustainable Mobility Solutions – SAE International

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Arnaud de La Fortelle

CTO & Co-Founder – Heex Technologies
Associate Professor, MINES Paris – PSL University, Center for Robotics

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Robert (Bob) L. Galyen

Senior Strategic Consultant & Advisor Retired CTO of Contemporary Amperex Technology Company Limited

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Lukas Neckermann

Managing Director of Neckermann Strategic Advisors

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Hossam Yahia

CTO/CEO BrightDrive

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Professor Siddartha Khastgir

Head of Verification & Validation, Connected & Autonomous Vehicles, WMG, University of Warwick, UK

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Dr. Jin Jiang

Chief Engineer of King Long

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Thomas (Lih-Wei) Jeng

Chief Operating Officer of iAuto Technology Taiwan

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Joseph Salem

Partner, Travel and Transport lead in Arthur D. Little

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Khalid Al Hammadi

Director – Security and Monitoring Department at The Roads and Transport Authority-Dubai

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Xavier Antony Darwin

General Manager-Service, United Motors

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Duncan Walker

CEO and Co-founder, Skyports

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Prof Dr Achille Fonzone

Professor of Transport Analysis and Planning at Edinburgh Napier University

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Andrew Bevan

Smart Mobility and EV Lead, Parsons

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Dr. Sherin Abdelhamid

Senior Strategy Manager at TELUS

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Dr. Hamid Menouar

Principal R&D and Innovation Lead, Qatar Mobility Innovations Center

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Seminar and Demo Zone Speakers

Seminar & Demo Zone Area

Fash Shahrokni

Business Development Director – EMEA, Quadribot, France

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Jason Kim

CEO of Mobiltech Co., Ltd.

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Dr. Sama Khazraeian

Lead ITS Engineering – Stantec

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Dr. Diana Dawoud

Assistant professor at the University of Dubai

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Abdullah Mohamad

Chief Commercial Officer, GCC, Mappable

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Okan Baş

CEO, Karsan

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Mamoun F. Abdel-Hafez

Professor Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, USA, 2003

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Majid Khonji

Assistant Professor – Khalifa University

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Dr. Dalia Hafiz

Assistant Professor College of Architecture, Art, and Design Ajman University, UAE

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Gagandeep Reehal

Co-founder, CEO & CTO Minus Zero

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Dr. Klaus Schmitz

Partner Automotive and digital

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Dr. Philipp Seidel, LL.M.

Arthur D. Little Principal Automotive Practice, Head of Sustainable Mobility Team Central Europe

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Samaneh Khazraeian

Stantec Consulting ITS Analyst

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Sanjay Dulepet

Accomplished innovation and AI leader

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Dr Ali Hasnain

co-founder and CEO of deeptech company – Curium

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Arvind CJ

Partner at Roland Berger Middle East

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Neil Watts

Sales Director, Partners for UK, Middle East & Africa at HERE Technologies

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Juan R. Pimentel

Principal Consultant, Omnex Inc.

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Jeroen Andre Beukers

Innovation Expert Automated Driving & Smart Mobility, Transports Publics Genevois

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Michael Herdrich

Co-author

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Muhammad Akbar Al Qamar

Electronics Student – University of Bolton

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Madihah Anaum

Robotics Engineering student – Heriot-Watt University

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#SDC2023

Sam Rogers

Test Pilot & Design Lead at Gravity Industries

Sam leads the design and realisation of the Jet Suit from concept, to digital models, to 3D printed hardware. He is an expert in metal and polymer 3D printing with extensive experience in 3D printed liquid rocket engines & turbo-pumps, pyrotechnics, UAVs, andfilmmaking. Growing up Sam experimented fabricating his own fireworks, solid fuelled rocket motors, radio controlled aircraft, and homemade camera equipment. Sam designs, builds and test flies with the team at Gravity as they focus on the ‘productisation’ of the Jet Suit.

Dr. Marko Bjelonic

Founder, Swiss- Mile

Marko Bjelonic (born 1990 in Banja Luka, Yugoslavia) is an enthusiastic roboticist and future entrepreneur. During his doctoral degree at ETH Zurich under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Marco Hutter (ETH Zurich, Prof. Dr. Stelian Coros (ETH Zurich), and Prof. Dr. Sangbae Kim (MIT in Boston), Marko developed optimization-based methods focusing on motion control and planning for wheeled-legged robots over challenging terrain (2017 - 2021), which has more than a million views through prestigious news articles like Reuters, CNN, BBC News, IEEE Spectrum and more. Marko holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from TU Darmstadt, Germany (2010 - 2013, 2013 - 2016). He spent the first year of his Master's degree at the Cybernetics department of NTNU in Trondheim, Norway (2013 - 2014). During his studies, he worked at the Mercedes-AMG GmbH in Affalterbach (Germany), Fraunhofer LBF in Darmstadt (Germany), and most notably at CSIRO in Brisbane (Australia) with Dr. Alberto Elfes and Dr. Navinda Kottege on multi-legged robots. Previous work during his Master's thesis consists of the development of the hexapod robot, Weaver, including its state estimation, perception, autonomy, and control algorithms. In 2020, he managed his family owned business with an annual sales of 350K USD and negotiated a company sale in 2021.

Reuben Sarkar

CEO, American Centre for Mobility

Prior to joining ACM, Reuben was Chief Product Officer for Forge Nano, a venture-backed start-up focused on commercially scalable, precision nano-coatings for EV batteries and other industrial applications. Formerly, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Transportation for the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), where he oversaw more than $1.8B of R&D investments into the sustainable transportation sector through their Vehicle, Fuel Cell, and Bioenergy Technologies Offices. While at U.S. DOE, he established EERE’s focus on mobility systems, co-chaired the advanced materials workgroup, was executive director of the Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative (CEMI) and established the Energy Materials Network (EMN).

Before joining EERE, Reuben worked at Proterra Inc., a leading manufacturer of electric buses, where he led the development of their 1st generation 35-foot all-electric bus and fast charging station as well as product planning for their 2nd generation 40-foot electric bus that are in transit fleets today. Prior to that, Reuben spent more than a decade at General Motors where he was the lead engineer on the 1st generation electric drive unit for the Chevy Volt.

Reuben is a Senior Fellow at the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, an advisor at the Center for Connected and Automated Transportation (CCAT), and an Operator Advisor at Assembly Ventures. He is also a senior advisor to the Michigan Council on Future Mobility and Electrification and a Board Member of the Zero Emission Transportation Associations Education Fund. He holds both Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in chemical engineering, as well as an MBA with high distinction, all from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Sherry Colbourne

Executive Director of the Technology and Innovation Development Center for the Ontario Region, Canada

Sherry Colbourne is a Canadian entrepreneur with decades of experience in Ontario’s high-tech sector. Her career has taken her to the far corners of the world in pursuit of building strategic business relationships for the companies she has served. As CEO, Sherry guides the direction and growth of Spark Centre and advocates for an international approach to the development of Durham Region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Sherry is a strong believer that entrepreneurism brings diverse cultures and people together and that the opportunity for Durham Region lies in its roots as an innovative and diverse Region.

Dr. Steven Shladover

An international expert in self-driving transportation technologies and Chairman of the Challenge Jury in its first and second editions

Dr. Steven Shladover has been researching road vehicle automation systems since 1973, beginning with his masters and doctoral theses at M.I.T. 

He was the Program Manager, Mobility at the PATH Program of the Institute of Transportation Studies of the University of California at Berkeley, where he worked from 1989 until his retirement in November 2017. 

Dr. Shladover is an internationally renowned expert on both technological and policy issues associated with road vehicle automation and he led PATH’s pioneering research on automated highway systems

He chaired the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee on Intelligent Transportation Systems from 2004-2010, and the TRB Committee on Vehicle-Highway Automation from 2013-2019.

Dr. Ismail Zohdy

Self-driving Transportation expert at the Roads and transport Authority

Dr. Ismail Zohdy is a smart mobility expert with more than fifteen years of experience collectively between USA, Egypt and United Arab of Emirates, in Intelligent Transportation Systems, Shared Mobility, Future Mobility modeling, Autonomous/Connected Vehicles technology, Electric Mobility and all Smart City initiatives. He is currently an Agile Coach and the Program Manager of Self-Driving Transport strategy at Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Government of Dubai, United Arab of Emirates. His role to manage/oversee technical implementation for smart mobility, electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles roadmap, maintain stakeholder engagement and engage/negotiate with transport technology providers for future mobility deployment in Dubai.

He previously supported many US federal clients, including Federal Highway Administration, US Department of Transportation and Advanced Research Projects Program for US Department of Energy. Dr. Zohdy is an author of 40+ peer-reviewed publications, and book chapters for Autonomous vehicles.

Michael Milford

Specialist and Director of the Robotics Center at the Queensland University of Technology

Michael Milford conducts interdisciplinary research at the boundary between robotics, neuroscience and computer vision and am a multi-award-winning educational entrepreneur.

He has been a long-term international judge for the Dubai World Self-Driving Transport Challenge events (2018–21); a non-executive director on the board of the Qld Motor Trades Association Institute; Automation Technology Lead at Mining; and member of the National Transport Commission’s Automated Vehicle Industry Insights Group.

He has led or co-led industry projects with leading Fortune 100 and multinational companies in the autonomous vehicles space spanning automotive, mining and defense.

He currently holds the positions of Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow, Joint Director of the QUT Centre for Robotics, QUT Professor and am a Microsoft Research Faculty Fellow.

Prof. Venkat N. Krovi

Michelin Endowed Chair of Vehicle Automation in the Departments of Automotive Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University

Prof. Venkat Krovi is an Associate Professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at SUNY Buffalo. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1998 and joined SUNY Buffalo in 2001. Prof. Krovi directs the Automation, Robotics and Mechatronics (ARMLAB) Laboratory and co-directs the Medical Robotics and Computer-Integrated-Medicine (MRCIM) Laboratory. His research program focuses on the lifecycle treatment of mechanical and mechatronic systems, leveraging mechatronics and computer-aided engineering for implementation/validation. His research has received funding from federal, state, and industrial sources. Prof. Krovi's work increasingly focuses on developing improved design and implementation methodologies for bio-inspired machines/systems. He has served in technical program committees and editorial boards of several IEEE and ASME conferences and is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics. Prof. Krovi has served on several funding agency review panels and chaired the ASME Robotics Technical Committee.

Chris Gall

Group Engineering Director - Alexander Dennis

Chris Gall joined Alexander Dennis in August 2021 as its new Group Engineering Director, tasked with developing the company’s product range in new technologies and new markets. Chris joined ADL from Jaguar Land Rover.

In this role, Chris will leverage his vast experience to continue to develop and execute the company’s strategy and roadmap to deliver technically challenging engineering projects at pace. He leads ADL’s team of highly skilled engineering and support staff to shape the direction of technology development and respond to market demands as the bus industry transitions towards a zero-emission future. Chris also plays an active role in continuing to drive forward innovation and synergies between the various business units within the wider NFI Group.

A Chartered Mechanical Engineer, Chris joined ADL from Jaguar Land Rover where he most recently held the position of Chief Engineer for New Electrified Architecture following success in several key senior and strategic leadership roles over the course of the last decade, including three years on the board of a joint venture in China. Prior to Jaguar Land Rover, Chris spent seventeen years with Ford, rising through the ranks and holding several key engineering roles in across a variety of territories including the UK, USA, Turkey and Germany.

Cristian Sandu

Co-Founder & CEO – Quadribot, France

  • Before creating QuadriBot S.A.S, Cristian participated and led several R&D projects related to autonomous driving, solving issues related to automation, real time calculation, power management, renewable energy, mobility and urban micro-mobility through innovative projects at: INRIA (French Digital Science Research Institute), SAFRAN (French Aerospace & military leader) and PSA (French automotive leader).
  • Since 2014, QuadriBot developed different hardware and software modules related to smart and autonomous mobility for private and governmental clients.
  • In 2022 Quadribot developed R-Box, a brain for autonomous driving. R-Box is an all-in-one HPC (high performance computing system) optimized for autonomous driving offering ASIL-D safety level. This further lead to innovative products such as the Ryl autonomous personal shuttle and the Scargo autonomous delivery robot.
  • Cristian earned his MSc. Power Electronics from Institute of Energy Technology, Aalborg, Denmark in 2009

Prof Dr Enrica Papa

Department of Planning and Transport, University of Westminster

Enrica Papa is a Reader in Transport Planning at the University of Westminster in London. She also serves as the co-convenor of the Transport and Mobilities Research Group and is the Course Leader of the MSc Transport Planning and Management program. With a PhD in Transport Network and City Planning, her research focuses on the intersection of urban, mobility, and economic geography. Over her 15-year career, Enrica has taught, conducted research, and provided consultancy services in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy. She is currently involved in several research projects related to access planning and sustainable mobilities, including the 15-minute City Mapping initiative, Ex-TRA (Experimenting with City Streets to Transform Urban Mobility), ACUTE (Accessibility and Connectivity knowledge hub for Urban Transformation in Europe), and GeoSence.

Lāth Carlson

Executive Director of the Museum of the Future

A beacon of hope in a world facing significant challenges is how Lāth Carlson, Executive Director of the Museum of the Future, describes the museum. He sees it as a critical new approach in museums, that aspires to empower people to make a better future.

As the founding Executive Director, Lāth was responsible for the opening of the museum and now ensures that all aspects of MOTF come together to inspire guests and enable them to learn, explore, and actively participate in building a better future. In its first year, MOTF welcomed over 1 million guests from 160 countries with tickets continuously sold out. This makes the Museum of the Future the most successful new museum ever built.

Throughout his career, Lāth has been at the forefront of technology and museum practice. At the University of New Mexico’s Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, he created exhibitions while completing his degree in Cultural Anthropology. From there, Lāth’s interest in interactive design and engineering led him to becoming a designer and project manager at the Please Touch Children’s Museum in Philadelphia as well as the Franklin Institute Science Museum.

From 2012 to 2015, Lāth held the position of Vice President of Exhibits and Content Development, at The Tech Museum of Innovation in Silicon Valley. In 2015, The Tech was awarded the highest honor an American museum can achieve: a National Medal for Museum and Library Service.

Before his directorship at the Museum of the Future, he was a Founding Executive Director of Living Computers: Museum + Labs in Seattle, Washington, a project initiated by Microsoft Co-Founder Paul G. Allen.

Lāth has served on the board of the National Association for Museum Exhibition (USA) and is a Noyce Leadership Institute Fellow. He also lectured in graduate programs at the University of Washington and the University of the Arts, where he occupied a senior lecturer post.

The Museum of the Future is a place of expansive storytelling, as well as being one of the first future-oriented museums in the world. A flagship project of Dubai Future Foundation, the Museum of the Future, is a visionary cultural institution based on a unique initiative by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Denis Heckmann

Principal at FEV

Denis Heckmann is Managing Director for the Middle East region at FEV Consulting, a renowned global management consultancy specializing in the automotive, mobility and energy sectors. His focus is on the future mobility, in specific on Connected, Automated and Electric Vehicles and related technologies as well as Advanced Air Mobility. He worked for clients in the private and public sector across the Middle East, Europe, America and Asia. Through his career he supported clients in defining impactful strategies, as well as developing technology concepts and facilitate the implementation to turn ideas into reality. He earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and business administration from the RWTH Aachen University in Germany. Beyond, he is a thought leader by regularly publishing papers and articles and attending to conferences in the mobility industry.

Alexander Nase

Managing Director of FEV Consulting

Alexander Nase is a highly accomplished professional serving as the Managing Director of FEV Consulting, a renowned global management consultancy specializing in the automotive, mobility and energy sectors.

Throughout his 20-plus years long career, Nase has been at the forefront of shaping the future of mobility. He has been instrumental in advising leading automotive companies on embracing emerging technologies such as electric vehicles, autonomous driving, and connectivity solutions.

Having earned a dual master’s degree in mechanical engineering and business administration from the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany and being an Alumni of the Harvard Business School, Mr. Nase possesses a deep understanding of the technical as well as strategic aspects that drive innovation in the transport industry and beyond.

Prior to founding FEV Consulting, Mr. Nase was working as an Interim Manager for Airbus and Liebherr Aerospace. He started his professional career at Daimler in Research & Development.

Beyond his role as Managing Director, Mr. Nase is a sought-after speaker and thought leader in the automotive and mobility sectors.
He actively participates in industry conferences, sharing his expertise and insights on the future of transportation.

Frank Menchaca

President, Sustainable Mobility Solutions

SAE International

Frank Menchaca is President, Sustainable Mobility Solutions at SAE International, the oldest and largest technical organization for engineering in ground and air transportation. Frank incubated and developed SAE's work in sustainability and has also led the organization's product development, marketing, information publishing, professional learning, events and international business. Frank has a deep background in information products and served as Executive Vice President at Cengage Learning. Frank holds degrees from New York University and Yale University and is a candidate in the Chief Sustainability Officer certification program at MIT. A musician and artist, Frank has released ten records of original music under his own name and in the duo Hourloupe; his visual art practice includes painting and digital media.

Mike Paras

Business Development, Product & Strategic Partnerships Manager Sustainable Mobility Solutions

SAE International

Michael leads Business Development and Partnerships at SAE International in a newly created innovation unit, SAE Sustainable Mobility Solutions.  In this role, Michael develops partnerships across the corporate and academic markets as SAE International creates new technical research products and technical training programs to support SAE’s global stakeholder and member base.  Michael works closely with SAE’s Government Affairs team to support SAE’s work with the U.S. Departments of Transportation and Energy.  Prior to joining SAE International, Michael spent 10 years working in business development and sales in the private sector.   Michael brings unique educational perspective to SAE International as a student of the Liberal Arts, studying English Literature and History at the Pennsylvania State University.

Arnaud de La Fortelle

CTO & Co-Founder – Heex Technologies
Associate Professor, MINES Paris – PSL University, Center for Robotics

Dr. Arnaud de La Fortelle has engineer degrees from the French École Polytechnique and École des Ponts et Chaussées (2 top French institutions) and a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics (Probability Theory) prepared at Inria. He has been director of MINES Paris’ Center for Robotics (2008-2021). He was Visiting Professor at UC Berkeley in 2017-2018. He is an elected member of the Board of Governors of IEEE Intelligent Transportation System Society. He has been member of several program committees for conferences and was General Chair of IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium 2019 in Paris (900 attendees). He was member, then president of the French ANR scientific evaluation committee for sustainable mobility and cities in 2008-2017. He serves regularly as expert for the European research programs (FP7, H2020, Horizon). In 2021, he took a full-time position as CTO at Heex Technologies while retaining a part-time position at MINES Paris. He co-founded this start-up company in 2019 and designed the technology behind Smart Data Management in a customer-oriented approach. Smart Data is a powerful way to address current and future Big Data limitations, especially needed for autonomous systems (Autonomous Driving, ADAS, Industry 4.0, Smart Cities…).

Robert (Bob) L. Galyen

Senior Strategic Consultant & Advisor Retired Chief Technical Officer of CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Company Limited)

Robert (Bob) L. Galyen, age 68, is recognized as one of the top executives in the battery energy storage world and within science/engineering-based communities. He is a highly sought-after public speaker as a subject matter expert. His positions as CTO of CATL (the world’s largest battery manufacturer), Chairman of SAE International Battery Standards Steering Committee, also an SAE Fellow, Chairman Emeritus and CTO of NAATbatt International, provides him a unique leadership perspective in the global battery industry. His degrees in chemistry and biology, along with decades of engineering experience and executive roles, provides him a unique view in a leadership or consulting role in cross functional technology areas. He has patents, publications and participates on multiple BOD’s and TAB’s. The 48 years’ international work experience has given him a visionary perspective on worldwide business, making him uniquely qualified as a global energy storage and scientific/engineering community thought leader. His manufacturing experience qualifies him as one of the top Lithium-Ion Battery producers (CATL) and Lead Acid Battery producers (Delco Remy Division of GM) in the world. He presently works with over 8 different battery systems in his consulting roles.

Lukas Neckermann

Managing Director of Neckermann Strategic Advisors

Lukas is the Managing Director of Neckermann Strategic Advisors.  He has over 20 years of leadership experience in automotive, media, and financial services and has worked at BMW and Allianz Group, and recently served as interim COO of Splyt, a high-growth scale-up.

He is an advisor to investors, as well as scale-up companies across the mobility and urban ecosystems including NEXT Modular Transportation, MSCI Thematic Indexes, StreetDrone.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Science and Technology Studies from Cornell University, and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business. Lukas has been featured in the Financial Times, Wired, Fast Company, Trends.be, Robotics Tomorrow, Quattroruote, Fleet Management Weekly, Fleet Europe and other magazines and newspapers.

Books written or co-authored by Lukas:

The Mobility Revolution (Matador Business Press 2015)

Corporate Mobility Breakthrough 2020 (collaboration with the CVO 2016 and the Matador Business Press 2017)

Smart Cities, Smart Mobility (collaboration with the CVO 2016 and Matador Business Press 2017)

Being Driven (Matador Business Press 2019)

Hossam Yahia

CTO/CEO BrightDrive

Hossam is the chief Technical Officer of BrightDrive (www.bright-drive.com), Before that he served as
the CTO of Brightskies (www.brightskiesinc.com) between 2016 and 2023. He has a total of 19 years of
professional experience, most of them in automotive software development. Hossam worked for Valeo
(www.valeo.com) between 2006 and 2016 where he was appointed as a functional safety expert since
2012. He started automotive engineering services in Brightskies by beginning of 2016 and initiated
product development for electrification (BrightBus) and autonomous driving (BrightDrive) programs by
2019 before he moved to be the CEO and CTO of BrightDrive.
Born in 1981 in Cairo, Hossam got his Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Electrical
Communications from Cairo University in 2003. He got his MSc. degree in Communications and
Information Technology –Software Engineering from Nile University in 2014.
Hossam authored six conference publications and gave two public speeches in international events
about software safety. He has been a Technical reviewer for safety critical systems at the US Society of
Automotive Engineers (SAE) world congress event since 2012. In addition, he is a worldwide trainer for
automotive functional safety in Egypt, France, Germany, USA, Ireland, Hungary, and Czech Republic.
His experience in automotive systems development and analysis Software, Systems, and functional
Safety engineering for domains like ADAS, Autonomous driving, Body & Chassis, Electric and Hybrid
Powertrain and others.

Professor Siddartha Khastgir

Head of Verification & Validation, Connected & Autonomous Vehicles, WMG, University of Warwick, UK

Professor Siddartha Khastgir is the Head of Verification & Validation for Connected & Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) at WMG, University of Warwick. He leads several collaborative R&D projects with industrial and academic partners nationally and internationally. His research focuses on generating safety evidence and arguments, test scenario generation, simulation-based testing, and safety of AI systems. Leveraging the cross-domain nature of safety, he is also involved in safety research in aviation, marine and healthcare. He has been appointed as a member of the UK Govt’s Department for Transport’s Science Advisory Council.

Siddartha is an active member of various national and international standardisation and regulatory groups, including ISO, SAE and ASAM. Currently, he represents the UK on several ISO technical committees and is the lead author for two new ISO standards for aspects of automated driving systems. He sits on the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) committees on safety of automated driving.

Prior to joining WMG, Siddartha was with FEV GmbH in Germany, leading automotive software development and testing for series production projects.

He has received numerous national and international awards for his research contributions, including the prestigious UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship in 2019 focused on safety evaluation of CAVs and a Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe listmaker.

Dr. Jin Jiang

Chief Engineer of King Long

Jin JIANG received the Ph.D. degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Science and Technology from the Tsinghua University (THU), China. He is currently a Chief Engineer of King Long. Besides, and also the Vice Director of Intelligent Network Research Institute with King Long. In addition, he is the Deputy Secretary General of Fujian Society of Automotive Engineers and Vice Director of Operation Management Department with Fujian Motor Industry Group Co. Furthermore, he has authored about 34 papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings and has been granted about 6 patents in China. His research interests are in the area of mobile edge computing, traffic modeling in wireless networks, intelligent on board unit, simultaneous localization and mapping, and decision-making in driver-automation shared control. In 2022, he led the development of the industry's first vehicle formation technology standard "Technical performance indexes and test methods of vehicle formation". He is the person in charge of the BRICS China Year 2022 Demonstration Project: Xiamen Jimei New Town Intelligent Public Transport Pilot Project, led the development of Collaborative Vehicle Formation Technology Based on 5G/C-V2X in the project. Dr. Jiang has been actively involved in organizing and reviewing over ten international conferences since 2014. He serves as an Reviewer of the 2019, 2020, 2022 International Conference on Communications and the 2019, 2020 IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference.

Thomas (Lih-Wei) Jeng

Chief Operating Officer of iAuto Technology Taiwan

Thomas began his career in the Autonomous Vehicle technology since back in 2013, along with some other members, developed and demonstrated the first prototype of a Level-2 plus full speed range ADAS in Taiwan. The team went on to form iAuto Technology Taiwan, with the sole focus of developing a safe and efficient self-driving transport (SDT) system as a service to benefit the mass public. The team with a shared vision continues to strive for the best in the ADS technology scene, working to bring together the three major areas: autonomous vehicle, electrified vehicle and connected vehicle technologies to produce a sustainable SDT service.

Joseph Salem

Partner, Travel and Transport lead in Arthur D. Little

Joseph is the leading partner in the Travel and Transportation practice at Arthur D. Little Middle East. ADL is the oldest global management consulting company established in 1886.

Joseph holds a Master’s degree (Strategic Management) from HEC in France, and a Bachelor in Engineering from the American University of Beirut. His work focuses on the future of urban mobility and innovative business models in the transport sector. Joseph has led major assignments on future strategies for global mobility players and supported national transport ministries and authorities in reshaping the ecosystem. Expertise are (and not limited to):

  • Transport & Logistics
  • Future of Mobility
  • Growth Strategies
  • Public Sector

Khalid Al Hammadi

Director – Security and Monitoring Department at The Roads and Transport Authority-Dubai

Khalid Al-Hammadi is a prominent Emirati young leader who has excelled across various sectors, including Media,
Information Security, Cybercrime, Education, and Transportation.
Al-Hammadi pursued his education at the UAE University in 2006, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in
Information Security. Alongside his studies, Al Hammadi showcased his passion for media by working as a designer
and movie director, receiving awards for his work as the best graphic and best judgment commission and having his
films showcased in international forums.
Al-Hammadi’s career commenced in the military, where he made significant contributions in the field of information
security and cybercrime. He introduced innovative projects, solutions and cutting-edge technologies, and he also
developed the governance framework for information security in Dubai. His dedication led him to pursue
international certifications in Digital Forensics.
Al-Hammadi played a pivotal role in the educational sector, where he was one of the founders of the Mohammed bin
Rashid smart learning program, which gained international recognition as the best smart learning initiative. AlHammadi's expertise in education also led to his nomination as a representative of the Ministry of Education at the
World Education Summit in London.
Among his noticeable achievements, Al Hammadi takes pride of the establishment of an accelerator in Dubai that
supports startups growth, and registration of several intellectual properties in technology and smart applications, in
addition to his membership in The International Association of Public Transport (UITP).
Believing in Al-Hammadi’s strategic foresight and exceptional leadership skills, he was appointed as the Director of
Security and Monitoring Department at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), which is responsible for securing
infrastructure, technical systems, and services of the transportation sector in Dubai. He laid the building blocks for
establishing the department, developed policies and strategies to be the first department in a civil authority that
combines all security fields from information, physical and personnel security. He also established security response
centers to foster security sustainability in RTA.

Xavier Antony Darwin

General Manager-Service, United Motors

A career spreading over 3 decades on trucks and Buses in India, Oman, and UAE. A Mechanical Engineer specialized on Heavy vehicles from the start with manufacturer Ashok Leyland in India and later with Multi franchise dealerships in Oman and now with United Motors and Heavy Equipment Co UAE. Has extensive exposure from development of Trucks to customer service to ensure customer Loyalty. Has Keenly observed the development of many generations of trucks and Buses of MAN, Germany over the last 3 decades and has been involved as a service provider to key customers including RTA DUBAI and ITC Abu Dhabi heading a service organization of 500 technical staff. As Technology and innovations soar new heights changing the Automobiles for the betterment of life on earth, happy to be part of that change and make my contribution.

Duncan Walker

CEO and Co-founder, Skyports

Duncan Walker is CEO and Co-founder of Skyports, the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) infrastructure developer and drone services operator.

Duncan formed Skyports in 2018 after identifying the need for safe, regulated, vehicle-agnostic landing infrastructure for the emerging AAM industry. The company is founded on the belief that electric aviation has the potential to deliver measurable benefits to people, businesses and the environment, and that Skyports’ vertiport infrastructure and drone services capabilities will enable it.

Duncan has 20 years of commercial real estate experience. Prior to founding Skyports he was a Main Board Director at Helical Plc, a FTSE listed investment and development company. He holds Master’s degree in Economics and Management from Oxford University.

About Skyports

Headquartered in the UK with offices spanning four continents, Skyports is leading the design, build and operation of take-off and landing infrastructure for air taxis, providing the critical link between ground and sky.  Skyports is also a drone services provider, committed to creating positive change by connecting people, businesses and communities to vital supplies and services, such as healthcare, maritime, logistics and e-commerce. 

The company partners with world-class electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle manufacturers to enable safe, sustainable and efficient flight operations in urban and suburban environments, and is a first mover in the industry in key markets including APAC, EMEA and the Americas.  Skyports is also playing a key role in the development of regulation and legislation to enable the advanced air mobility industry.

For more information, please visit: www.skyports.net

Prof Dr Achille Fonzone

Professor of Transport Analysis and Planning at Edinburgh Napier University

Achille is Professor of Transport Analysis and Planning at Edinburgh Napier University since 2021.

He has a background in Civil Engineering, a PhD in Transport and Planning, a Post Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.

Before joining Edinburg Napier University, he worked at Politecnico di Bari and Imperial College London. He held visiting positions at King’s College London, University of California Davis, and Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Achille’s current research is in the area of mobility attitudes and behaviour in relation to smart and sustainable mobility. His research aims to promote a more equitable, cleaner, and safer mobility, making the most of the opportunities generated by automation, data and connectivity, and new means of transport and business models.

He has authored tens of peer-reviewed publications and other scientific outputs. He has published in the top-ranking transport scientific journals, including Transportation Research Part A, B and C, Travel Behaviour and Society, and Analytic Methods in Accident Research.. He is Associated Editor of the Journal of Intelligent Transport Systems.

He is leading the societal research in the Innovate UK/C-CAV flagship project CAV Forth, which has built and is about to operate a fleet of level 4 full-size buses for the first time in the world.

Andrew Bevan

Smart Mobility and EV Lead, Parsons

A versatile technology leader who is passionate about the future of our cities and
improving the lives of our citizens, Andrew is accountable for delivery of Smart City
and Smart Mobility Projects for Parsons across the Middle East.
He has nearly 25 years’ experience in major transport infrastructure projects and has
held a series of leadership roles at a global and regional level, leading multidisciplinary teams to drive growth, innovation and new business. He is an
experienced professional in advanced mobility having successfully delivered multiple
projects around the world, which include a number of technically complex and first-inregion connected, autonomous and electric vehicle initiatives valued at over $100M.
He is a regular contributor to the advanced mobility industry, authoring and
contributing to papers on range of publications such as SAE Edge. He is also a
regular speaker at global events such as World Roads Congress, World Self-Driving
Congress and United Nations technical meetings where he provides thought
leadership on the future of mobility.

Dr. Sherin Abdelhamid

Senior Strategy Manager at TELUS

Dr. Sherin Abdelhamid is a Senior Strategy Manager at TELUS, where she drives the strategy development & implementation of connected and autonomous vehicle services. She also manages partner relationships and large-scale projects that span across major TELUS frontline and internal facing business units. Prior to joining TELUS, Sherin worked as a technical advisor and manager with the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network, where she owned and managed delivery of strategic projects in partnership with industry, government, and other ecosystem partners. She also worked as a research associate and adjunct assistant professor at the School of Computing - Queen’s University, where she received her PhD in 2014. Sherin is a subject-matter expert in connected, autonomous, and electric vehicle technologies and mobility innovation, and has been named by Automotive News Canada as one of the 2020 Canadians to Watch in the auto industry. She is also experienced in data analytics, smart city innovations, and the Internet of Things. She is an award-winning researcher with more than forty publications in many top journals, magazines, and conferences. .

Dr. Hamid Menouar

Principal R&D and Innovation Lead, Qatar Mobility Innovations Center

Dr. Hamid Menouar is a Principal R&D and Innovation Lead at Qatar Mobility Innovations Center (QMIC). In his role, he spearheads the design and development of cutting-edge solutions aimed at enhancing the quality of life. Leveraging state-of-the-art technologies like AI and IoT, he focuses on creating smart, efficient, and sustainable cities. Several of his innovative solutions have played a pivotal role in the success of the Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022.

Dr. Hamid is an expert in connected and automated mobility. He has contributed to the early development and standardization of vehicles to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure (V2X) in Europe. Since 2010, he has been leading the development and deployment of V2X in Qatar.

With a Ph.D. degree from the esteemed French school Telecom Paris Tech, Dr. Hamid possesses extensive expertise in AI, IoT, Connected and Automated Mobility, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or drones. His research endeavors have yielded a remarkable collection of scientific research publications, both in esteemed international conferences and journals, along with multiple patents.

Fash Shahrokni

Business Development Director – EMEA, Quadribot, France

  • Fash Shahrokni started his career in the UK oil & gas industry at 21, at 24 he was one of the youngest international managers in the industry, covering Middle East, Eastern Europe and North Africa.
  • He progressed to General Manager of Gray Mackenzie Oil Services Company in Syria in 2001, where he doubled the sales within one year and was responsible for hiring 120 new engineers to meet the demands of this growth, making it the largest foreign company in the country.
  • In 2004 he was appointed Managing Director of Enerpac M.E (Dubai), covering 70 countries in Middle East, Africa and CIS. There, he led his team and transformed the struggling company within one year from negative sales & profits to becoming the most successful region worldwide year-over-year for the next 7 years.
  • He progressed to developing South America and Russia before his passion for autonomous vehicles lead to joining Quadribot (France), a technological leader in autonomous vehicles.

Jason Kim

CEO of Mobiltech Co., Ltd.

Jason Kim, graduated from the undergraduate and graduate schools of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Yonsei University.

The main fields of research are SLAM technology using lidar, digital twin technology, and HD-maps for autonomous driving. Since the founding of Mobiltech in 2017, he has applied 3D LIDAR technology and realistic digital twin technology to a number of self-driving companies and smart city projects, leading to innovation in spatial information.

Dr. Sama Khazraeian

Lead ITS Engineering - Stantec

With a Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering focusing on Connected Automated Vehicle (CAV) technology, Sama adds her expertise to the Stantec’s global Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) practice. Most known for her work on self-driving cars, CAV, emerging technologies, and system engineering, Sama’s led many ITS projects around the world, performs research on trending technologies, and writes winning proposals.
Sama recently landed a project in Australia focusing on driving offenses detection using artificial intelligence. Currently, she leads a confidential CAV project in California. She’s received several prestigious awards including the 2018 Transportation Research Board Best Paper Award and the 2017 Women’s Transportation Seminar International Leadership Legacy Award. She also authored a book chapter in Intelligent Transportation Systems in Future Smart Cities with Springer.

Dr. Diana Dawoud

Assistant professor at the University of Dubai

Dr. Diana Dawoud (linkedin.com/in/dianadawoud) is a University of Surrey PhD graduate whose current research interests are the physical layer aspects of optical communication systems, digital signal processing for communications and internet of things systems . Dawoud completed her bachelor in electrical engineering at the University of Jordan (UJ), Amman, Jordan. Then, she joined the department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at Applied Science University, Amman, Jordan, as a laboratory engineer and started working toward her master degree at UJ. Prior to undertaking her doctoral studies at the Institute for Communication Systems (ICS) of the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK, she taught for four years at the EESC Department at Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Currently, she is an assistant professor at the University of Dubai. Dr. Dawoud has served as a reviewer of several manuscripts for IEEE transactions on communication, IEEE communication letters, and flagship IEEE conferences such as ICCC. She is a member of IEEE, IEEE women in engineering, IEEE women in communication engineering and Jordanian Engineers Association. As well as the IEEE educational activities chair at UAE section. Dr. Dawoud has a pending patent application on optical communication systems and authored and co-authored several research papers published in international high ranked journals and conferences

Abdullah Mohamad

Chief Commercial Officer, GCC, Mappable

Abdullah leads commercial expansion and growth for Mappable in the GCC by implementing commercial strategy and developing initiatives that drive revenue growth, also building high-quality, trust-centric relationships with clients. Abdullah plays a key role for the company in the GCC, ensuring Mappable’s locally relevant and accurate maps, navigation, and geospatial solutions are tailored to the needs of customers and their businesses in the region.

Before joining the Mappable team, Abdullah worked at Talabat for more than six years, going from Digital Content and Coordination Officer to Sales and Growth Director in the UAE.

Abdullah holds a bachelor’s degree in business and economy from the United Arab Emirates University. He is also a graduate of the INSEAD leadership program for business executives.

Okan Baş

CEO, Karsan

Having received his undergraduate and graduate degree from Boğaziçi University, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Clemson University (USA), Department of Mechanical Engineering, respectively, Mr. Baş embarked upon his professional career at TOFAŞ Bursa Plant in 1987 in Engineering Support Department in the capacity of Mechanical Engineer. He has served at various positions at TOFAŞ until June 2016.

Mr. Baş has served at TOFAŞ Bursa Plant as Workshop Production Supervisor, Engine Production Unit Manager, Body Production Unit Manager, Assembly Production Unit Manager and Doblo Product Manager between 1991 and 2002, and has worked at Tofaş Head Office İstanbul between 2002 and 2016 in various positions such as After-Sales Director, Mini-Cargo Project Manager, After-Sales Spare Part Director, FIAT Business Unit Director, and Aegea Project and Business Development Director.

Mamoun F. Abdel-Hafez

Professor Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, USA, 2003

Mamoun F. Abdel-Hafez received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology in 1997, his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in 1999, and his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2003. In 2003, he served as a Postdoctoral Research Associate with the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UCLA, where he was involved in a research project on fault-tolerant autonomous multiple aircraft landing.

Dr. Abdel-Hafez is the author and co-author of 77 journal and conference papers. He received several international awards. He was among a research group who received the 2002 NASA Public Service Group Achievement Award. He also received the 2002 NASA Peer Award. He received two best presentation awards from the Institute of Navigation. Dr. Abdel-Hafez was among a group that won the 2nd place of the Dubai Self-Driving World Congress in 2021. Additionally, He was leading a team that was declared the national winner of the UAE Robotics/AI for Good Competition in 2017.

Dr. Abdel-Hafez is an IEEE senior member and a member of the UAE ASME section leadership team. Additionally, he is a member of the leadership team for the UAE IEEE section of the Robotics and Automation Society. He gave many invited and panel talks at local and regional conferences.

Majid Khonji

Assistant Professor - Khalifa University

Majid Khonji is an assistant professor in the EECS department at Khalifa University, UAE, a Research Affiliate with MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), USA, and leading research activities of the autonomous vehicle laboratory (www.avlab.io) at KUCARS. He received his MSc degree in Security, Cryptology, and Coding of Information Systems from Ensimag, Grenoble Institute of Technology, France, and PhD in Interdisciplinary Engineering from Masdar Institute, UAE, in collaboration with MIT in 2016. Previously, he was a visiting professor at MIT CSAIL, a senior R&D technologist at Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), and an information security researcher at Emirates Advanced Investment Group (EAIG). Email: majid.khonji(at)ku.ac.ae

Dr. Dalia Hafiz

Assistant Professor College of Architecture, Art, and Design Ajman University, UAE

Dr. Hafiz's received her doctorate. and a master's degree in architecture from the School of Architecture and Design (A+D), Virginia Tech, USA. During her academic career, she was awarded the highest research recognition twice from the Architecture and Design School at Virginia Tech. Additionally, she received the Richard Kelly Grant Award for her research in the field of lighting.

Dr. Hafiz was fortunate to have the opportunity to instruct at multiple universities in the U.S., Egypt, and the UAE. From 2017-1922, she participated in several classes at the architecture department at Al-Ghurair University in Dubai, as a program coordinator and then as the head of the department and Acting Dean. Currently, she is a member of the faculty at the College of Architecture, Art, and Design at Ajman University in the UAE.

In her recent study, she attempted to investigate the effect and potential of technological innovation (ie. autonomous vehicles) in the city and its citizens. Additionally, she has other academic interests including the education and practice of architecture, the behavioral decisions of individuals in transit stations, the wayfinding of interior spaces, and energy-saving methods.

Gagandeep Reehal

Co-founder, CEO & CTO Minus Zero

Gagandeep Reehal, is co-founder & CEO of Minus Zero, an autonomous vehicle startup pioneering a groundbreaking AI approach aimed at solving autonomous driving using only cameras. Closely working at an intuitive intersection of AI & cognitive computing from the last 4 years, he had always been intrigued by neuronal computations inside the human brain contributing to attention, behavioural awareness, episodic memory, and predictive decision-making, evolving With the problem of autonomous driving where current AI paradigms fail due to inability to handle real-world complexity, unlike the human mind, he knew the big gap that they could solve when he cofounded Minus Zero in 2021 with Gursimran Kalra.(Co-founder, CFO). Represented India as part of delegation led by Gov of India at VivaTech Paris 2022. He has mentored/judged major developer events worldwide and has spoken at multiple conferences and major institutions around AI & robotics. (List below)
Books & Publications
• Mother (Fiction, 2019)
• A coffee date (Non-Fiction, 2019)
• Burial amidst Gods (Poetry, 2020)
Awards
• E&T Innovation Award 2021 - Young Pioneer by The IET (Shortlisted)
• NASSCOM AI Gamechangers Award 2021 (Special Mention)
Community Engagement
• Lead Mentor, BuildWithAI Hackathon (August 2020 - Australia)
• Judge & Mentor, HackMIT, Blueprint - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (February
2021 - USA)
• Keynote Speaker, MOVES 2021: Mobility & Vehicle Electronics Summit, July 2021
• Panellist, MOVE Asia by Terrapinn (September 2021 - Singapore)
• Speaker, 12th Autonomous Vehicles Detroit-2022, Michigan Sept, 2022
• Speaker - G20 Presidency India (17th July, 2023)

Dr. Klaus Schmitz

Partner Automotive and digital

  • Partner Automotive ADL Germany
  • Head of ADL Digital for automotive and manufacturing

Consulting focus:

  • Automotive and High Tech
  • New mobility and AD
  • Electronics and semiconductors

Professional background:
25+ years experience in Consulting and research in digital, SW development, automotive and high tech

Education:
PhD and Diploma Information Systems University of Bamberg, Germany

Examples of relevant projects

  • Concept for and execution of bus AD challenge Middle East Mega City
  • Robotaxi buyer DD including business model, technology and operations
  • Robotaxi vendor DD including market, com-petitive position and business model
  • AD Strategy Dubai and Introduction of Cruise Origin in Dubai
  • AD regulation strategy Saudi Arabia
  • Digital mobility strategy Mega City including robotaxis and -shuttles
  • Mobility on Demand and IoT for ME authority
  • IoT strategy truck, bus and construction equipment OEM
  • Study author impact of AD on road capacity (the march of the robot taxis)
  • Study author on customer mobility preferenc-es and modeling the robo taxi market

Dr. Philipp Seidel, LL.M.

Arthur D. Little Principal Automotive Practice, Head of Sustainable Mobility Team Central Europe

Dr. Philipp Seidel is a Principal in the Automotive Practice of Arthur D. Little. He advises international automotive manufacturers, suppliers and emerging players in the areas of autonomous, electric and connected mobility services.

His work focuses on the impact of new technologies and the implementation of innovation and new business models for mobility companies. He helps clients to navigate challenges at the interfaces of traditional segments like automotive, transportation, energy, electronics, and telecom.

He has graduated with a doctoral degree and a diploma in Business Administration and International Management from WFI - Catholic University Eichstaett-Ingolstadt and holds a LL.M. with specialization in Mergers & Acquisitions from WWU Münster.

Samaneh Khazraeian

Stantec Consulting ITS Analyst

With a Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering focusing on Connected Automated Vehicle (CAV) technology, Sama adds her expertise to the Stantec’s global Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) practice. Most known for her work on self-driving cars, CAV, emerging technologies, and system engineering, Sama’s led many ITS projects around the world, performs research on trending technologies, and writes winning proposals. Sama recently landed a project in Australia focusing on driving offenses detection using artificial intelligence. Currently, she leads a confidential CAV project in California. She’s received several prestigious awards including the 2018 Transportation Research Board Best Paper Award and the 2017 Women’s Transportation Seminar International Leadership Legacy Award. She also authored a book chapter in Intelligent Transportation Systems in Future Smart Cities with Springer.

Sanjay Dulepet

Accomplished innovation and AI leader

Sanjay Dulepet is an accomplished innovation and AI leader with a track record of driving transformative changes and creating innovative solutions using AI technologies. With extensive experience as the former Global Technology Head for Smart Mobility and EV Ecosystem at TCS, Sanjay focused on developing technology-led mobility ecosystems across various industries. He is highly regarded for his entrepreneurial product mindset and is known for fostering a culture of creativity and growth within organizations. Sanjay achieves this by forging strategic partnerships with startups, academia, and industry partners to foster innovation and collaboration. With over 25 years of industry experience and master's and bachelor's degrees in computer science, Sanjay's expertise brings significant value to his field.

Dr Ali Hasnain

serial entrepreneur with expertise in robotics

Dr Ali Hasnain is a serial entrepreneur with expertise in robotics, optoelectronics, optical imaging and sensing. He is currently the co-founder and CEO of deeptech company - Curium - which aims to increase safety and reliability of autonomous vehicles over time throughout the entire lifecycle of the product.  He is also a mentor with the National University of Singapore, and an active advisor to a handful of technology startups based in Singapore, Canada and Pakistan.

Arvind CJ

Partner at Roland Berger Middle East

Arvind is a Partner at Roland Berger's Dubai office and leads the Automotive practice in the Middle East. He has over 15 years of work experience in Automotive, both in consulting and industry. He extensively advised clients in Middle East, specifically UAE and KSA on EV value chain strategy, new-age distribution, autonomous & mobility strategy, production localization as well as NewCo establishments across these topics. Arvind holds an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

Neil Watts

Sales Director, Partners for UK, Middle East & Africa at HERE Technologies

Neil Watts is Sales Director, Partners for UK, Middle East & Africa at HERE Technologies, the world's leading location platform company with a global footprint across 52 countries.  Neil has over 3 decades of pan-European telecoms and geo-location expertise in FTSE-100 companies holding senior positions within the areas of sales, marketing and business development. Extensive expertise working with blue chip developer, distributor, reseller & manufacturer clients. As well as multiple corporate roles Neil also founded successful businesses within the UAS and 3D printing sectors.

Juan R. Pimentel

Ph.D. – Electrical Engineering, University of Virginia.

Dr. Pimentel has been developing industrial and automotive communication protocols and networks since the early 1980s. He participated in the early development of key communication protocols and networks such as Profibus of Siemens and MAP (manufacturing automation protocol) used by GM at the Saturn plant in Spring Hill, TN. He got involved with several international projects dealing with industrial communications and vehicle and robotics control systems, including autonomous mobile robots in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. 

Throughout his career he has developed a wide range of experience on various aspects of automated vehicles, electrical vehicles, automotive systems, intelligent transportation systems, wireless technologies, communication and computing technologies, and industrial process control systems. 

Currently, he is a consultant in electrical vehicles, automated vehicles, and intelligent transportation systems focusing on system design, functional safety, automotive data security, automotive cybersecurity, SOTIF, hardware and software, HPC and Cloud technologies.  He is also an expert witness in IP (intellectual property) law cases.  

As a former Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering with deep industrial experience and insights, he has a gift for explaining complicated ideas and concepts in a clear, convincing, and easy to understand man.

Jeroen Andre Beukers 

Innovation Expert Automated Driving & Smart Mobility, Transports Publics Genevois

Jeroen works at Transports Publics Genevois, the public transport operator in the Swiss Canton of Geneva, where he manages the EU Horizon funded Enflate, Sinnogenes and Ultimo projects. Within the framework of these projects, the TPG showcases a 100% automated, full scale on-demand, shared, door2door, dynamically routed, public transport service with a fleet of automated low-emission mini busses serving a large number of virtual bus-stops and connected to the existing transport network

Jeroen also represents SAAM. As the leading autonomous mobility platform in Switzerland, SAAM aims to shape the mobility of tomorrow sustainably by providing a place of exchange and collaboration between its members with a focus on concrete projects and by accompanying new policies

Michael Herdrich

Consultant Autonomous Mobility at P3 automotive, Germany

Advanced autonomous vehicles for SAE Level 3 and Level 4 functions will lead to a new understanding of the operation phase in the overall product lifecycle. Regulations such as the EU Implementing Act and the German L4 Act (AFGBV) request a continuous field surveillance, the handling of critical E/E faults and software (SW) updates during operation. This is required to enhance the ODD (Operational Design Domain) during operation, offering functions on demand (FoD), by increasing SW features within these autonomous vehicle (AV) systems over the entire digital product lifecycle, and to avoid and reduce downtime by a malfunction of the AD SW stack. Supported by implemented effective management systems for CyberSecurity (R155), Software Update Management System (R 156) and a safety management system (in compliance to Automated Lane Keeping System (R157), the organizations have to ensure safe and secure development, deployment and operation to fulfill legal requirements. Based on senior expert interviews from relevant AD/ADAS stakeholders, a blueprint is developed to support the deployment and scalability of AD system. Relevant roles for the operation will be presented and current gaps in the industry, regulation and academia are highlighted.

Akbar Qamar

Electronics Student - University of Bolton

Akbar is an Electronics Student and Hobbyist with a passion for RF with RAHRF101 Certification, high-speed Hardware Design while having a passion for designing and building circuits. Experienced in PCB Design and Hardware testing of Circuits.

He has led many competitions ranging from robotics to innovation challenges. He is dedicated to finding practical solutions to real-world problems, and his passion for electronics drives him to keep learning and pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

Madihah Anaum 

Robotics Engineering student - Heriot-Watt University

Madihah is a passionate third-year Robotics Engineering student at Heriot-Watt University. Her exceptional skills in programming, AI, and 3D modeling and design, drive her to create innovative and captivating projects. As the President of the Engineering Society at Heriot Watt, she excels at organizing informative and enjoyable events that fosters an environment that nurtures personal growth and professional development of her peers. Madihah's impressive problem-solving abilities were evident when she and her team secured a remarkable 3rd place in the prestigious 4x4 Car competition at Yas Marina. With a keen interest in IoT, Madihah actively contributes her talents and knowledge, particularly in enhancing user experience in self-driving buses. Her distinct perspective to improving existing systems make her an invaluable asset, as she looks forward to making an invaluable impact in her society.