Keynote Speaker
Graeme Dey attended Harlaw Academy in Aberdeen before embarking on a career in journalism, living in Dundee and Angus.
He was elected to the Scottish Parliament for Angus South in 2011 and has been Convener of the Parliament’s Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee, and Depute Convenor of the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee.
He was previously the Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans.
Graeme Dey was appointed Minister for Transport in May 2021. Graeme supports the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport.
His specific responsibilities are:
- public transport
- decarbonising public transport
- active travel
- ferry services – inc. CMAL
- low-carbon transport and infrastructure
- roads and road safety
- motorways and trunk roads
- Future Transport Fund
- transport information
- Scottish Canals
- freight industry
- Islands Connectivity Plan
- maritime policy including ports and canals
- aviation and air services (including HIAL)
- Forth and Tay Bridge authorities
- Transport and Travel strategy
- rail services
- concessionary fares and bus services
Professor Peter Andras is the Dean of the Schools of Computing and Engineering & the Built Environment. Previously he worked at Keele University (2014 – 2021) and Newcastle University (2000 – 2014). He has PhD in Artificial Neural Networks, MSc in Artificial Intelligence and BSc in Computer Science, all from the Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania. He has over 150 scientific publications, including 2 books. He has been involved in a large number of research projects, including several projects in collaboration with industrial partners. He was co-founder of three university spin-off companies, one of these, e-Therapeutics Plc is on the London Stock Exchange since 2007. His research interests span artificial intelligence and its applications (including areas of sustainable energy), complex systems, computational modelling of biological and social systems and software engineering, including many cross-disciplinary collaborations with engineers, psychologist, chemists and others.
Jacopo Tattini is an energy and transport analyst at the International Energy Agency (IEA). He coordinates the analytical activities of the Electric Vehicles Initiative and contributes to the transport technology and policy analyses conducted at the IEA. Jacopo holds a PhD in Energy System Modeling from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and has an MSc in Energy Engineering from Polytechnic of Turin (Italy).
Pablo Frías is an associate professor at the Electrical Engineering Department and researcher at the Institute for Research in Technology (IIT), both at the Engineering School ICAI of Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid (Spain). He has hold several management positions, as head of the “Smart and Sustainable Grids” Research Group, Deputy Director of a Research Institute and currently Vice-Dean of the Engineering School. In the research field he has participated in more than 60 R&D projects in the fields of Smart grids and renewable energy management in power systems, with more than 100 journal and conference publications. Since 2018 he leads the Observatory of Electric Vehicles and Sustainable Mobility in Comillas University, a multidisciplinary thinktank focused on sustainable transportation in Spain.
Dr Sgouridis is Director for Research Programs at the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) R&D Center since 2019. Previously, he was Associate Professor of Engineering Systems and Management at Masdar Institute, Khalifa University from 2012 to 2019 having joined in 2007 as Assistant Professor. He is focused on investigating the techno-economic and policy aspects for facilitating a Sustainable Energy Transition (SET). He served as head of the Institute Center for Smart and Sustainable Systems (2013-2014). For the Zayed Future Energy Prize (ZFEP) he has actively contributed as a member and previous chair of the review committee for years 2010-2017. Earlier, Dr. Sgouridis supported governmental and private organizations including the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Port Authority of Thessaloniki, and the Hellenic Army. At MIT he obtained a PhD inTechnology Management and Policy from the Engineering SystemsDivision, and a dual MSc in Technology and Policy and Transportation. He holds a BSc (Hons.) in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Nikos D. Hatziargyriou is professor in Power Systems at the National Technical University of Athens. He has over 10 year industrial experience as Chairman and CEO of the Hellenic Distribution Network Operator (HEDNO) and as executive Vice-Chair and Deputy CEO of the Public Power Corporation (PPC), responsible for the Transmission and Distribution Divisions. He was chair and vice-chair of the EU Technology and Innovation Platform on Smart Networks for Energy Transition (ETIP-SNET) representing E.DSO. He is honorary member of CIGRE and past Chair of CIGRE SC C6 “Distribution Systems and Distributed Generation”. He is Life Fellow Member of IEEE, past Chair of the Power System Dynamic Performance Committee (PSDPC) and currently Editor in Chief of the IEEE Trans on Power Systems. He is the 2017 recipient of the IEEE/PES Prabha S. Kundur Power System Dynamics and Control Award. He has participated in more than 60 RD&D projects funded by the EU Commission, electric utilities and manufacturers for both fundamental research and practical applications. He is author of the book “Microgrids: Architectures and Control” and of more than 250 journal publications and 500 conference proceedings papers. He is included in the 2016, 2017 and 2019 Thomson Reuters lists of the top 1% most cited researchers and he is 2020 Globe Energy Prize laureate.
Amela Ajanovic is Asst. Professor at TU Wien. She is a lecture and faculty member of the postgraduate MSc Program “Renewable Energy Systems”. She holds a master degree in electrical engineering and a PhD in energy economics at TU Wien. Her main research interests are alternative fuels and alternative automotive technologies as well as sustainable energy system and long-term energy scenarios. She has been guest researcher at the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) in Amsterdam and at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, as well as a guest lecturer at the Technical University of Prague. She has been involved in many national and international research projects, and has published more than 30 papers in peer- reviewed international journals.
Sveinung André Kvalø has a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University in Oslo. Sveinung has 20 years’ experience with economic analyses on transport and energy in both private and public sector. He has worked with national climate policies and international climate negotiations and is one of the leading EV policy experts in Norway. He has extensive knowledge on environmental transport and sustainable urban development.
Alastair Walker is an engineering consultant with more than 25 years’ experience in developing safety relevant products in the medical, automotive and aviation industries. He has been a functional safety consultant for many years and has worked on a wide variety of automotive projects to ASIL D. He has developed and consulted on a variety of medical device products and has extensive knowledge of implementing safe 60601 programmable electrical medical systems (PEMS) architecture and Class C 62304 software. Alastair has extensive experience of system, hardware and embedded software development.
Alastair has many years’ experience of risk analysis techniques such as fault tree analysis (FTA), failure mode effects and diagnostic coverage analysis (FMEDA) and hazard and operability study (HAZOP) and brings techniques from different industries to enable establishment of best practices in a given sector.
Dr Allan Paterson is currently CTO of Britishvolt, responsible for overall Li-ion cell product, research and technology developoment. Prior to moving to Britishvolt,Allan was previously the Faraday Institution’s Head of Programme Management. Allan previously held position of Chief Electrochemist at both Cummins and Johnson Matthey Battery Systems, where he led a team of electrochemists, managed a range of collaborative R&D projects including investigating new battery technologies and their application in next generation low carbon EV, PHEV and HEV applications. Allan has over 20 years’ experience in the field of lithium ion batteries, and over eight years in automotive batteries, including developing novel high energy densities materials and next-generation battery technologies. Allan holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of St Andrews on advanced cathode materials for lithium ion batteries.
Ruth White, Acting Team Manager, The City of Edinburgh Council. Ruth heads up the Place, Environment and Heritage Team at the City of Edinburgh Council. Recent transport-led projects include managing the finalisation of the city’s strategic transport strategy – the ‘City Mobility Plan’, and progressing the city’s Low Emission Zone scheme. Ruth has worked for local government on and off for 13 years and has also worked in the private sector delivering masterplanning and regeneration projects. She trained as a town planner and urban designer, and is a proud Mancunian.