ECP4 Annual Conference 2023 – Meet the speakers!
From the worlds of academia, research centres, and trade associations, experts will give their input during the ECP4 event “Trends in polymers and composites circularity: from advanced materials to industrial applications”
ECP4 is glad to announce its forthcoming Annual Conference, which will take place in San Sebastián (Spain) on 4 May 2023. The event is organised in partnership with AEMAC and will be hosted by Cidetec, one of the Spanish leading organisations for applied research, which joined ECP4 in 2014 and is currently also a proud member of the Board of Directors.
Participation is free of charge and is open to every party interested in the circular mission in the polymers and composites sector from the interconnected perspectives of industry and research.
Seize the opportunity to increase your knowledge and network.
Secure your spot now!
MEET THE SPEAKERS
Dr. Nieves González – Spanish Delegate at the Cluster 4 Programme Committee of Horizon Europe
Nieves González is a Chemical Engineer (UCM, Madrid) and did her Ph.D. at the Polymer Science and Technology Institute, CSIC. She developed her career as a researcher and project manager in the field of biomaterials in companies such as Medtronic (BRC Maastricht, The Netherlands).
In 2008 she joined CDTI, the Spanish innovation agency, first as a technical assessor in advanced materials for national programmes, and later in the European Programmes Department, as the National Contact Point of Horizon2020-NMBP. Currently, Nieves is National Delegate at the Cluster 4 Programme Committee of Horizon Europe, in charge of the Industry area.
Silvia Freni Sterrantino, Senior Legal and Regulatory affairs manager & Packaging Division Manager at EuPC
Silvia Freni Sterrantino is Senior Legal and Regulatory Affairs Manager at European Plastics Converters. Before joining EuPC, she worked as an attorney in leading European law firms and in the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission. Admitted to the Italian Bar Association, she studied law at the universities of Siena, Cambridge, and London, where she obtained an LL.M. in Competition Law & IP at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Dr. Bertrand Fillon, Vice President of European Affairs at CEATech & ECP4 President
Dr. Bertrand Fillon is currently the Vice President of European Affairs of CEATech for renewable energy, micro-electronics, digital, industry 4.0, circular economy, and materials. He also covers the role of President of ECP4, where he acts as EuPC representative. He is also the head of the scientific committee of the French polymer cluster Polymeris and the French Plastic Institute; he is the scientific advisor of the French Polymer Group (GFP) and of the CRITT MDTS in France. He is on the scientific committee of the OE-A (Organic Electronic Association).
He worked for several years as General Director of Research of the French Plastic Institute and previously at CEA/LITEN as VP of European Affairs and program manager of renewable energy. Between 1990 and 2003, he worked for Pechiney Packaging as coordinator of the Global Packaging R&D activities and leader of the Pechiney polymer expert group. He also drafted several technical publications, coauthored books as well as developed patents in the fields of polymer packaging and processes.
Dr. Alaitz Rekondo, Head of Unit of Polymers and Composites at Cidetec Surface Engineering Institute
Alaitz Rekondo has a Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry. Before joining CIDETEC she worked for 6 years as a researcher in the R&D department at an industrial company focused on the development of silicone and polyurethane-based sealants and adhesives where new sealants based on silanized polyurethanes were developed and industrialized. She joined CIDETEC in 2011 and since 2017 she is the Head of the Polymers and Composite Unit where one of the main research activities is focused on the development of dynamic polymer networks based on reversible chemical bonds.
Prof. Josep Costa Balanzat, Professor of Materials Science at the University of Girona (UdG)
Josep Costa Balanzat is a Professor of Materials Science at the University of Girona (UdG). He is the principal investigator of the AMADE research group, which is part of the support network for technological innovation (TECNIO) of the Generalitat de Catalunya.
His field of research is the characterization and simulation of the mechanical behavior of structural composite materials. He has published 110 articles in SCI-indexed journals, with more than 7,000 citations (h=38). He has directed 13 doctoral theses and is a co-author of 5 patents. He is co-founder of the company AMTEC Composites, a SME focused on the analysis of the mechanical behaviour and fracture of composite materials and adhesives. Between 2013 and 2017 he held the Presidency of the Spanish Association of Composite Materials (AEMAC).
Berta Gonzalvo, Research Director at AITIIP
Berta Gonzalvo is an industrial engineer at the University of Zaragoza. She completed her training with a program of senior management and leadership by EOI – PDD at the International School Aliter. Berta developed her professional career during 15 years at Aitiip, where she participated in the creation of two spin-offs. Her professional experience has been linked to the development of plastics processing technologies by different technologies and materials. Her work emphasizes especially the research of 3D printing, being a member of the technical committee of ISO standardization of these technologies, NATO Spanish representative, and adviser of the European Commission in this matter.
Berta has been the coordinator of numerous R&D projects, both European (Horizon 2020, Eureka, LIFE +, and others) and international (collaborations with South America and Korea), as well as national and regional. Berta is also a member of EFFRA – Factories of the Future, as well as of BIC -biobased industries. She also sits on the board of the automotive cluster of Aragon CAAR, and participates in different clusters and sectoral and multi-technology platforms.
Amaya Igartua, Coordinator of Materials Initiatives at Tekniker
Amaya is the coordinator of materials initiatives in the research institution Fundación TEKNIKER. She is co-secretary of the European Materials Platform EUMAT, and represents EUMAT in IRISS Project (Safe and Sustainable by design) and in the AMI2030 core group. She has been the head of the tribology unit in TEKNIKER for 10 years, and she participated in more than 60 EU projects, coordinating 4 of them, and she is the author of more than 100 publications.
Dr. Gilles Dennler, CTO at CT-IPC
Gilles Dennler obtained a Ph.D. in Plasma Physics at the University of Toulouse (France) and a Ph.D. in Experimental Physics at Ecole Polytechnique of Montréal (Canada). In 2003, he moved to the Linz Institute for Organic Solar Cells (Austria), where he was appointed Assistant Professor. In 2006, he joined Konarka Technologies Inc. (USA) where he served as Director of Research. In 2011, he took the lead of the Advanced Materials Department at IMRA Europe (TOYOTA Group, France). Since 2019, he is CTO at the French Technical Center for the Plastics and Composite Industry (CT-IPC). Gilles Dennler has co-authored about 100 scientific articles, and 30 patents, and serves as an expert for several national and international agencies.
Dr. Sarah Montes, Senior Researcher at Cidetec Surface Engineering Institute
Sarah Montes holds a Ph.D. in Renewable Materials Engineering, a Master’s in Applied Chemistry and Polymers, and a Degree in polymer Chemistry from the University of The Basque Country (UPV-EHU). Sarah is a leading researcher in the field of biopolymers, especially those derived from biomass. She has been published extensively as the author and co-author of over 20 papers in highly regarded, peer-reviewed journals and she is the inventor and co-inventor of 3 patents. She has been the coordinator of several European projects dealing with the valorisation of biomass-derived waste.
Dr. Coralie Jehanno, Co-founder at POLYKEY
After obtaining an M.Sc. in Chemistry & Physics in Bordeaux (France), Coralie joined the Innovative Polymers group in 2015 as a Marie Curie Early-Stage Fellow Researcher on the European project SUSPOL. Her Ph.D. thesis was focused on the chemical recycling of commodity polymers and was performed between the University of the Basque Country (Spain), the University of Warwick (UK), and the IBM Almaden Research Center in San José, CA (USA). in 2019, she defended her doctoral thesis for which she was awarded the accessit prize for the best thesis in polymer chemistry from the RSEQ (Real Sociedad Española de química). Since December 2019, her time is shared between a postdoctoral fellowship at the POLYMAT institute, in the group of Catalysis and Sustainable polymers led by Dr. Haritz Sardón, and the start-up POLYKEY, created in June 2020, of which she is a co-founder and the scientific director.
Marjan Ranogajec, Project Manager at EuPC
Marjan Ranogajec works as a Project Manager at the European Plastics Converters (EuPC) and is the European Coordinator for the MORE platform. Before joining EuPC, he worked as a consultant for public funding pursuits in the area of aerospace, renewable energy, paints and coatings, and in academia as a Research Associate on a number of European and national projects in the area of Biotechnology and Public sector analysis. Marjan holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, Germany, and a Graduate degree in Biotechnology from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia.
Elsa Cousin, Innovation Manager at Polymeris
Elsa graduated as a Chemical Engineer and completed her education with a Master’s degree in Management and Business Administration. She had the opportunity to do her internship in the regional cluster for chemistry and materials and then joined the Polymeris team as an innovation manager based in Bordeaux. She is going to join the Europe team of Polymeris in July, as a European project manager.
Dr. Eduardo de la Guerra Ochoa, R&D Project Manager at Talgo
Eduardo holds a PhD. in mechanical engineering obtained at Madrid Technical University (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid). He is the R&D Project Manager at Talgo, representative of Talgo at Europe’s Rail, the biggest R&D-funded project for the European railway industry and leading project of the initiative. Lightweight structures, new processes and traction systems, sustainability, and energy efficiency are currently the main lines of research. Additionally, he drafted more than 50 research papers.
In addition to the activities of Talgo, Eduardo is also an associate professor at Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio and Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, and Ad-honorem professor at Madrid Technical University.
Carolina Mejia, Innovation Project Manager at Mondragon Corporation
Carolina Mejía Niño, Architect from Los Andes University with MSc in Urban Planning and Sustainability, MSc in Urban Management from Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya, and MSc in Business Innovation and Project Management from Mondragon Unibersitatea, is currently a Senior Innovation Manager from MONDRAGON Corporation since 2016. She manages the Communication, Dissemination, and Exploitation Plans within Industry 4.0, Smart Cities, and Circular Economy European projects.
Guillaume Zietek – European Program Manager at IPC
Guillaume ZIETEK is European Program Manager at IPC. He has more than 15 years of experience in the research & innovation ecosystems at the National and EU levels. He is in charge of the development of European partnerships in research and innovation within the themes of circularity of plastics, digitalization of plastics manufacturing, and smart plastics and composites applications. He participates in working groups and networks in the EU ecosystem such as Circular Plastics Alliance, EPC4, Circular biobased Europe, EIT manufacturing.
Join the event!
Participation is free of charge and is open to every party interested in the circular mission in the polymers and composites sector from the interconnected perspectives of industry and research.
Secure your spot now!
What is ECP4?
ECP4 The European Composites, Plastics and Polymer Processing Platform is an industry-driven collaboration uniting the top-level European research institutions, regional plastic clusters, and EU-level industrial organisations of plastics and composites converters.
ECP4 facilitates informal networking among innovation partners. By making use of the different levels of expertise, it identifies opportunities for collaborative Research and Development efforts which yield industrial innovation. It, therefore, supports plastics and composites sectors in Europe to improve their competitiveness in the global economy.
Get in touch with the association’s management to find out more about the group’s activities.
Contact details
Federica Gallicchio
federica.gallicchio@ecp4.org
Event organised in media partnership with Aemac
