Leonhard Bartsch is Manager of Energy System and Services at Ford-Werke GmbH. In this capacity, he leads a team responsible for coordinating the introduction of energy services and standardization efforts as a core part of Ford's European Charging Team. Their key focus lies in the implementation of Smart Energy services within a harmonized energy environment, as well as aligning roles and responsibilities for various stakeholders to ensure a stable and robust energy ecosystem. Representing Ford in crucial external national and European forums enables vital alignment and the exchange of ideas with diverse partners in a rapidly transforming environment.

Marc-Antoine Carreira da Cruz is Project Manager Mobility at the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) where he is in charge of road vehicles, railway, alternative fuels infrastructure and the transport of dangerous goods. He holds a PhD doctorate in Law from University of Nice (France) and is also currently a guest researcher at University of Hasselt (Belgium) where he works on the role of standards in the homologation process of road vehicles and railway components under EU Law. He had worked during 9 years as assistant at the Parliament of the Brussels Region on various mobility topics.

Glenn focuses on bridging industry-driven technology, operational knowledge and experience of CharIN's membership, with policy-making at EU level and countries around the world. The goal: To support legislation and political mindsets in creating the necessary legal and operational certainty for e-mobility markets; both domestic and cross-border, and both for industry and the user. The main concepts which drive his and CharIN's work are collaboration, interoperability, and solutions accessible by all. 

Luka De Bruyckere is Senior Programme Manager at ECOS, an international environmental NGO advocating for ambitious environmentally friendly technical standards and policies. For over five years she has been working on smart electric vehicle charging and demand-side flexibility, with a particular focus on the communication standards needed to make residential demand-side flexibility a reality. Ms. De Bruyckere has past work experience at the European Commission, consultancy and academia focusing on climate and energy files, such as emissions trading.

Davide De Michino is Head of Global Product Management at Enel X Global Retail, where he leads solutions in EV charging, distributed generation (solar and storage), and energy services. He also leads Small Asset Flexibility, focusing on Evs, residential batteries, and smart HVAC systems. In addition, he contributes to industry advocacy as Speaker at CharIN and Chair of the SmartEN e-Mobility Task Force, promoting interoperability, flexibility, and sustainable mobility.

Didier Deruy is EV Charging Ecosystems Expert Leader (CTO) at Ampere, where he is responsible for the technical, normative, and regulatory roadmaps related to the EV charging experience across all Renault Group brands.

With over 20 years of experience in the electric vehicle sector, he served as Project Manager for the development and assembly of Renault’s first EV battery pack. For more than a decade, he has been working on AC-based Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) integration using the CCS2 connector and ISO 15118 standard—from early-stage research and prototypes to the first mass-market rollout with the Renault 5 and the PowerBox system.

Didier is also an active member of the ACEA V2G Expert Group and the ACER/ENTSO-E Grid Connection Stakeholder Committee.

Deputy Director-General: Planet, People and Science for Policy Acting Director: Clean Planet, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission.
Entirely dedicated to the European Union, Joanna Drake’s career has been propelled by her relentless energy and passion for the project and the values the EU stands for.
As such for the last 40 years, she has contributed to the EU in several roles at the national and European level. Since 2021, she has been the Deputy Director-General of the European Commission's Directorate-General (DG) for Research and Innovation (DG RTD). In this role, she provides overall assistance to the Director-General in the management of the DG, contributing to the definition, coordination and implementation of strategy and policy orientation. She currently focuses mainly on the areas of science for policy, environment, climate, energy, culture and health (she is mission manager for Cancer) and is currently serving as Acting Director for the Clean Planet Directorate.
Between 2016 and 2021, she was Deputy Director-General in DG Environment where she chaired a crosscutting Task Force spear-heading strategic positions for the DG on (inter-alia) the post-2020 Commission financial framework negotiations, Brexit co-ordination, the urban agenda and the future-proofing of the EU's environmental acquis.
Between 2010 and 2015 she was director for SME's and Entrepreneurship in the DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW). During her tenure in DG GROW she also led the Commission's Task Force on The Collaborative Economy, New Business Models and SME's.
By training, Joanna holds a doctorate in laws from the University of Malta, where she also taught EU law full time in the Department of European and Comparative Law in the run up to Malta’s EU accession. She acquired a post-graduate degree in Advanced European Legal Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.
She held various legal and management posts in the private (including Head of Legal/Regulatory Department in Vodafone Malta) and public sector before joining the European Commission as head of the European Commission Representation in Malta in 2005. She also had a key role in the Malta-EU accession negotiations as member of the Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee and chaired the national ‘YES movement’ in the run up to the referendum on Malta’s EU accession in 2003.

Martin Engelbrecht is Lead Engineer for Powertrain System Integration and Charging Systems Expert at AVL, one of the world’s leading mobility technology companies specializing in development, simulation, and testing for the automotive industry and other sectors such as industrial energy systems.
With over 20 years of experience in the automotive domain, he has worked on projects with and for numerous OEMs across Europe, Asia, and North America, primarily focusing on powertrain and E/E development. Over the past 15 years, Martin Engelbrecht has become a recognized expert in vehicle charging systems and charging infrastructure, playing a key role in bridging the gap between vehicle technology and energy supply.

Marcus Fendt studied Industrial Engineering in Munich. He began his professional career in
1994 at Siemens in the USA and then moved to Bosch in the automotive industry. From 1999 to
2004, he worked as a strategy consultant at Accenture in the energy sector. In 2004, Marcus
Fendt took on global responsibility for product management at luxury goods manufacturer
Swarovski, overseeing nearly one billion euros in revenue.

The disruption brought by electromobility and renewable energy led him, together with former
colleagues, to found The Mobility House in 2010. As Managing Director of The Mobility House
Energy, he is responsible for Sales, Business Development, and Marketing.

Together with leading car manufacturers, energy providers, as well as corporate and fleet
customers, he has implemented international collaborations and projects focused on the
intelligent charging of electric vehicles and fleets. These range from reducing grid load and
system-friendly charging for CO₂ reduction, to Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G), and the commercialization
of vehicle batteries and stationary storage systems as flexibility options on energy markets in
Germany, Europe, the USA, and Asia. The biggest milestone to date: In 2024, The Mobility
House Energy, together with Renault’s subsidiary Mobilize, launched the first V2G product for
end customers on the French market.
Marcus Fendt is also Managing Director of Amsterdam Energy ArenA, one of the most
innovative V2G and storage projects using vehicle batteries, as well as of The Mobility House
entities in France and Singapore.

Alexander Funke has worked roughly 10 years in various positions in the energy sector before he joined BMW Group 8 years ago. At BMW Group he is working as an Energy Market Expert focusing on charging related services within the Group Invention department. With his background across both the automotive and energy sector he offers a broad perspective on the current and future development of Vehicle-to-Grid and Smart Charging.

Frank Geerts is director smart charging at ElaadNL where he accelerates the widespread market deployment of smart and bidirectional charging. He leads a team of experts representing the Dutch grid operators. Some examples of Franks’ recent activities are the National Scale-up program for Smart Charging in the Netherlands (Smart Charging for All) and a European Scale-up project for Smart Charging and bi-directional charging (SCALE) Frank has over 25 years’ experience in the energy sector and 15 years’ experience in the eMobility sector. He is a regular speaker on international conferences.

Laia Guitart is an energy expert with several years of experience in the sector. She currently works as a technology and policy advisor at E.DSO, where she contributes to shaping European energy policies through advocacy and innovation initiatives. Laia holds two Master’s degrees in Energy and Climate Law. Since beginning her career, she has worked on the integration of EVs into the energy system and the development of positive energy districts. She authored her Master’s thesis on EV integration in distribution grids and now leads the two E.DSO workstreams on e-mobility

Chris Heron is the Secretary General at E-Mobility Europe, overseeing all activities of the association. A British and Belgian national, Chris has worked in EU trade associations across the electric vehicle supply chain over the last 13 years. He joined E-Mobility Europe after a decade leading the public affairs and communication programme for Eurometaux, Europe’s metals association, where he was an instrumental industry voice in raising Critical Raw Materials up the EU political agenda.

Tessa Hillen is a Flexibility Programme Manager at Octopus Energy and is committed to helping households benefit from flexibility in their electricity consumption. She focuses on developing market opportunities for household flexibility and accompanying consumer-friendly products, helping customers lower their energy bills while simultaneously contributing to a balanced, more sustainable energy system. She has led on projects such as Free Electricity Sessions and the Power Pack Bundle, Britain's first vehicle-to-grid bundle, including a leased car, charger, install and free home charging.

Johanna Kardel has been Head of Regulatory Affairs at (Elli) Volkswagen Group Charging since 2021 and has more than 10 years of experience in energy policy and regulation. Prior to Elli, she worked in several organizations on topics including renewable energies, smart grids, and flexible energy use. Johanna Kardel holds a master's degree in European Studies and studied in Germany and France.

Carlos Lopez is a policy officer at DG CONNECT working on digital standardisation, aiming to support the implementation of EU policies and regulations, bridge the gap between R&I and standardisation, and strengthen the EU’s position in international standardisation. Before joining the European Commission, he worked as a senior research engineer supporting the digital transformation of manufacturing companies. He holds a PhD in civil engineering from University of A Coruña.

Henrik Madsen was appointed Professor in Mathematical Statistics at the Technical University of Denmark with a special focus on Stochastic Dynamical Systems in 1999. His main research interest is related to analysis, modelling and control of dynamical systems and the applications. The applications are mostly related to the digital transformation of energy systems. He has authored or co-authored approximately 750 papers and 12 books, including the Springer book: Integrating Renewables in Electricity Markets. He has got several awards. In June 2016, he was appointed Knight of the Order of Dannebrog by Her Majesty the Queen of Denmark, and he was appointed Doctor HC at Lund University in June 2017.

Quentin Maitre, energy engineer & economist, has started to work at EDF on power system economics and modeling of electric vehicles. He has worked these last 7 years on the development of smart charging and vehicle to grid solutions and offers and launched different V2G projects in France. Quentin is now responsible for the strategy and development of DREEV, the EDF subsidiary dedicated to V1G and V2G.

Dr. Marco Möller is the co‑founder and CEO of Pionix, a company dedicated to advancing open‑source solutions for e‑mobility and EV charging infrastructure. He has long been at the forefront of building software ecosystems that drive innovation, interoperability, and faster time‑to‑market for manufacturers and operators.

He initiated the EVerest project, now a flagship initiative within LF Energy, providing a robust open‑source firmware stack that abstracts the complexity of numerous charging protocols and ensures secure, standards‑compliant, and interoperable EV charging – from AC home chargers to large public DC fast‑charging hubs with grid integration and local energy management. Under his leadership, the EVerest community has grown into a vibrant international network of contributing organizations from industry, academia, utilities, and government.

Marco serves on the LF Energy Board, helping to shape strategic directions for open‑source collaboration in the energy transition. He is also a Board member of the Open Charge Alliance, representing the EV charging sector in global interoperability discussions.

Before founding Pionix, Marco co‑founded MAVinci, a drone technology startup acquired by Intel. Beyond his operational roles, he remains engaged in the startup ecosystem as an angel investor, sharing his expertise and network with new technology ventures.

Dr. Jussi Palola is a pioneering innovation leader in digital mobility and energy technologies. Since 2008, he has been driving the EV charging industry evolution from vision to a globally scaled industry leader. As founding CEO of Virta Ltd, he has led the company’s transformation from its earliest ideas into one of the largest EV charging platforms, now operating in over 36 countries across Europe and Southeast Asia. Under his leadership, Virta has been listed in the Financial Times FT1000 as one of Europe’s fastest-growing companies for six consecutive years.

Since 2025, Palola has focused on scaling energy innovations with key industry leaders, shaping the future of EV energy solutions. A seasoned business innovator with a proven track record in scaling disruptive technologies, he has successfully turned bold visions into globally scalable solutions. His expertise spans deep knowledge of energy technologies (Dr. Tech) and strategic business leadership (Executive MBA), enabling him to bridge mobility, charging infrastructure, and energy systems in the global energy ecosystem. He has also advised governmental bodies on the future of transportation and energy ecosystem R&D, reinforcing his influence in shaping the global EV energy landscape.

Marco Piffaretti is an entrepreneur with 38 years of experience in the electromobility sector. He is the founder of numerous companies and projects, including Protoscar, the EV Project Mendrisio, Alpiq e-Mobility, EVTEC, GOFAST, sun2wheel, and V2X Suisse. Marco is an advisory board member for electric-wow and LHI and also serves as a member of the SIA2060 commission. Currently, he serves as the Operating Agent for Task 53 (INBID – Interoperability of Bidirectional Charging) within EV-TCP, the “Electric Vehicle Technology Collaboration Programme” by the IEA, which is supported by 12 Countries and aims to harmonize AC, DC, and wireless bidirectional charging on a global scale.

Paul Pschierer-Barnfather is the EV Charging Solutions Expert for Zaptec, a Norwegian chargepoint manufacturer. With 30 years of experience in the electricity industry, he currently leads Zaptec’s vehicle-to-grid development programme, and is also Acting Chair of the BEAMA Electric Transport Systems Technical Committee. In this talk, Paul is speaking on behalf of the Mercury Consortium, which is developing an international standard for consumer device interoperability

Rolf Riemenschneider drives the research and innovation agenda under the programme Horizon Europe where he coordinates the R&I agenda related to the strategy on Cloud-Edge Computing and Internet of Things. As senior expert, he leads the research, innovation and deployment of the next generation of the IoT with strong computing capacity at the edge exploring features like device virtualisation, interoperability, real-time, and distributed intelligence and in particular the integration of artificial intelligence at the edge. He also contributes to the unit’s implementation strategy of data spaces for farming, mobility and energy.

A strong focus of his work aims at paving the way for an interconnected mobility and energy sector, where he works together with DG ENERGY on the Digitisation of the Energy System with Digitalisation of Energy Action Plan published in 2022 (COM/2022/552). Key actions include an AI roadmap for energy, an energy data space , interoperable data-driven solutions, interfaces, blueprints and standards for orchestrating flexibility across different sectors like home, building, energy, and smart and bidirectional charging through emerging concepts like ‘The AI-powered Digital Spine’.

Guido Sacchetto joined the European Commission in 2012 and is currently Policy Officer on ‘Zero emission mobility’ in charge of co-programmed partnership “Towards zero-emission road transport (2Zero)” under the Horizon Europe R&I programme

Dr.-Ing. Harald Scholz received his degrees in engineering from the University of Karlsruhe. Since 2013, he has built up and engages in further developing the Electro-Mobility Laboratories of the Joint Research Centre, a Directorate General of the European Commission. He is a member of the CEN-CENELEC‘s E-Mobility Coordination Group and a Sustainable Transport Forum (STF) Expert upon request of DG MOVE, Brussels. With strong links to JRC’s partners e.g., the U.S. DoE Argonne National Laboratory, and the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) in Pune, he is the Project Leader for e-mobility infrastructure research at JRC, coordinating the lab-cluster ‘‘EU Interoperability Centre for Electric Vehicles, Smart Grids and Smart Homes’’ at Ispra (IT) and Petten (NL). Recently he took over to lead the EC’s laboratory participation in the IEA EV Technology Cooperation Programme, Task 53, on Bidirectional Charging. Collaborating with industry, academia, and governments globally, he assures pre-normative tests of EVs, charging infrastructure, and its embedding in smart grids. In 1997, he joined EC’s DG Research and led projects on alternative fuel vehicles in EU’s research framework program (FP) 4 and 5, later managing the communication of FP5‘s energy and environment sectors. He changed to EC’s Directorate General JRC in 2001, where he first worked in PV system monitoring, IEA relations, and later environmental research management and communication. He had been a scholar and is a lifetime member of the German Academic Merit Foundation.

Thomas Skordas has a diploma in Electrical Engineering and a PhD in Computer Science. In 1995 he joined the EC in DG INFSO/DG CONNECT as a Research PO. From 2006 to 2017, he was DHoU in ICT Security and Trust, Head of the Photonics and of the Flagships Units. From 2017 to 2022 Thomas was Director of Digital Excellence and Science Infrastructure and acting Deputy Director-General since April 2021. Since May 2022 he is Deputy Director-General of DG CONNECT. 

Dr. Alois Steiner has studied mechanical engineering and economics at Graz University of Technology from 2004-2010. In 2010 he started working at Virtual Vehicle Research GmbH in Graz and wrote his PhD thesis at Graz University of Technology about heat pump systems for electric vehicles, which he finished in 2014. Since 2013 he is Co-Team Leader for Innovative Energy Management & Comfort Systems at Virtual Vehicle Research GmbH.

Tzeni Varfi brings over 15 years of experience in EU energy policy, with a track record of shaping strategic conversations at the intersection of regulation, innovation, and digital transformation. As Head of Policy at smartEn, she advocates the Flexible Demand Management Industry (FMDI), championing the role of demand-side flexibility in accelerating the transition to a more efficient and resilient energy system.
Before joining smartEn, Tzeni served as Deputy Secretary General at E.DSO, where she helped position distribution system operators (DSOs) at the heart of EU energy discussions. Her work was instrumental in strengthening the visibility of the distribution grid on the political agenda.

Josey Wardle is the Innovation Lead for ZEV infrastructure at Innovate UK. She specialises in the infrastructure required to enable zero emission transport, using experience gathered over 15 years working in the EV charging industry and her related PhD. Josey manages EV charging and V2G/V2X innovation programmes and also supports maritime and heavy freight decarbonisation projects funded by UK Government. As part of UK Research and Innovation, Innovate UK is publicly funded to drive productivity and growth in all economic sectors across the UK. We support businesses to turn their new ideas into commercially successful products and services.

Claire Weiller is Vice President of Product Development at Fermata Energy, where she leads product strategy and development to commercialize vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology.

She brings over a decade of experience in electric mobility and renewable energy, spanning startups, academic research, and investment. Claire has worked across sectors to design programs and business models that enable energy flexibility and vehicle-grid integration (VGI).

She also serves as an expert evaluator for European R&D funding programs on the topics of energy storage, EV charging infrastructure, and smart grids.

Claire holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Management and an M.Phil. in Technology Policy from the University of Cambridge, an M.Sc. in Energy Science and Technology from ETH Zurich, and a B.Sc. in Environment from McGill University.

Mechthild Wörsdörfer is Deputy Director-General at the European Commission’s DG Energy, where she is in charge since October 2021 of the Coordination of the Just and Green Energy Transition. This includes steering the work on REPowerEU, accelerating the deployment of renewables and energy efficiency measures, and ensuring EU’s security of supply. Mrs. Wörsdörfer is also responsible for the relations with the Energy Community, and steers the bilateral relations with Ukraine, Moldova, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Prior to this, Mrs. Wörsdörfer was the Director responsible for sustainability, technology and outlooks at the International Energy Agency (2018 - 2021), Director at DG Energy in charge of renewables, research and innovation, energy efficiency (2017 - 2018) and Director for energy policy, international relations, legal aspects and economic analysis (2014 - 2017).
Previously, Mrs. Wörsdörfer was Head of Unit on the 2030 Energy and Climate Framework and served in the Cabinet of Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner for Enterprise Policy and Information Society. Mrs Wörsdörfer studied Economics at the University of Heidelberg, the University of Montpellier and completed her studies with a MA in European Economics at the Free University of Brussels.

Annike Abromeit leads the innovation unit at the EEBus Initiative e.V., and has been working on the intelligent use of energy and communication technologies for over seven years. She is responsible for the initiative's research and development activities, as well as shaping the strategic development of the EEBUS standard. She focuses on interoperable interfaces and processes that enable the efficient integration of decentralised energy systems — including heat pumps and electromobility — into buildings and grids. As an expert in the field of standardisation, she regularly shares her knowledge at national and international specialist events. Her ability to communicate complex technical content in an understandable way creates links between industry, trade, research and politics, and she thus actively contributes to the digitalisation of the energy transition.

Lisa Calearo is a Senior R&D Engineer at Spirii, focusing on the integration of electric vehicles in power systems. She holds a Ph.D. from the Technical University of Denmark, completed in 2022. With over six years of experience in the eMobility sector, she leads the innovation content of ongoing Europe-wide projects with external partners, scopes and develops R&D projects, and engages in innovation efforts across the organization to commercialize services, functions, and ideas. Her areas of expertise include smart charging, renewable energy integration, battery and grid modeling, and cybersecurity. Lisa has authored more than 30 scientific articles and public reports, reflecting her dedication to connecting academic research with practical applications.

Frank Geerts is director smart charging at ElaadNL where he accelerates the widespread market deployment of smart and bidirectional charging. He leads a team of experts representing the Dutch grid operators. Some examples of Franks’ recent activities are the National Scale-up program for Smart Charging in the Netherlands (Smart Charging for All) and a European Scale-up project for Smart Charging and bi-directional charging (SCALE) Frank has over 25 years’ experience in the energy sector and 15 years’ experience in the eMobility sector. He is a regular speaker on international conferences.

Dr. Ignacio Lacalle (male) is a Researcher and Teaching Assistant at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), a public University in the South-East of Spain. Ignacio is a Telecommunications Engineer (2014) from UPV and received his Ph.D. (Dr. Ing.) in 2022. The expertise of Ignacio is mainly rooted in the Internet of Things field, having participated in 10 national and EU research projects such as HE aerOS, MSCA AIAS, HE MISSION, H2020 ASSIST-IoT and others, related mainly to distributed systems, interoperability, added value services, data processing, cybersecurity and manageability, inter alia. Ignacio has performed various roles in those projects (ranging from Developer to Community Manager or Project Manager). In addition, most of those projects focused on applying IoT-related innovations, particularly in the fields of energy, maritime ports, manufacturing, agriculture, and others. Ignacio has authored or co-authored more than 30 publications in relevant journals and conferences.

Hugo Morais is a senior researcher at the Portuguese R&D Institute INESC-ID and an Associate Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon. With a background in Electrical Engineering (specializing in Power Systems) and a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering (2012), he has contributed to over 40 academic and industrial research projects, ranging from national, to French and European funded initiatives. At INESC ID he is the coordinator of four ongoing Horizon Europe projects and is actively involved in the other four. 

His research primarily focuses on advancing smart grid technologies and tools. He has been actively involved in the development of strategies for electric mobility integration in power systems. 
Hugo Morais (IEEE Senior Member, 2018) has received 26 awards and authored over 250 scientific papers, including more than 100 published in international peer-reviewed journals, with more than 8,000 citations. He also serves as an editor for several leading scientific journals, including Energies, Electricity Journal, and Frontiers in Energy Research. 

Laurent Schmitt has joined dcbel early January 2022 as CEO of Dcbel Europe as well as head of Utility vertical while funding Digital4Grids. He has been working for the last 25 years through the Automation, IT and Digitisation of the Power Industry. Before joining Dcbel, he was the Secretary General of ENTSO-E for the past 4 years and Global Smart Grid Strategy Leader at General Electric Grid Solutions.

Laurent worked in Europe, the United States and Asia, on all sectors of the electricity value chain from power generation controls, intro trading and market, Grid management as well as DER integration and Microgrid community.

Laurent has contributed to several strategic committees in CIGRE, IEC, EPRI and ETIPSnet and is now the Chair of the Digital Committee of SmartEn (the European association for Demand Side Flexibility) and represents SolarPowerEurope through the Demand Response European Stakeholder meeting. He is also convenor of the Working Group 21 of Technical Committee 57 of the IEC designing data exchange standards between Grid and Market Operators and Behind the Meter Distributed Energy Resources

Laurent is French national, strong believer in the need to accelerate the Energy System transformation towards Prosumers to reach netzero ambitions by 2050.

He graduated in Power System Engineering from Supélec in Paris and holds an Executive MBA from INSEAD, France.

Esther Stallone is a Commercial Development Associate at E-GAP, driving growth across the energy, infrastructure, and e-mobility sectors through the expansion of innovative fleet electrification projects across Europe. With international experience in the UK, France, and Italy, she brings a global perspective to commercial strategy and sustainable business development, helping accelerate Europe’s transition toward clean mobility.

Dr. Alois Steiner has studied mechanical engineering and economics at Graz University of Technology from 2004-2010. In 2010 he started working at Virtual Vehicle Research GmbH in Graz and wrote his PhD thesis at Graz University of Technology about heat pump systems for electric vehicles, which he finished in 2014. Since 2013 he is Co-Team Leader for Innovative Energy Management & Comfort Systems at Virtual Vehicle Research GmbH.