Speakers 2019

Cédric Aubert is a Member of the Executive Board at ewz and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Energie Naturelle Mollendruz SA, a company founded to plan, build and operate a wind farm with 12 turbines situated in western Switzerland. The city of Zurich - shareholder of the company and represented by ewz - pursues with this project her goal for a strong expansion of the new renewable energies. After his study of physics at the ETH Lausanne Cédric worked in the field of technical safety analysis in the nuclear sector before joining Swiss Re as Senior Data Engineer in the Credit Risk Department. For several years he worked at Axpo as Head of Market and Credit Risk Management before joining ewz in 2014 as Head of Energy Economics Division.

Dr. Andreas Beer is Expert in Product Research and Engineering at Repower AG. For 12 years he was Head of Grid at Repower and member in the VSE-commission for grid economy. Dr. Beer actively helped shaping the transition to a deregulated electrical energy market and to the renewable energy strategy, both with high regulation impact and solution-expectation on the grid operator. He initiated and promoted different innovative solutions for grid operators to enable this transition, such as new methods and tools for asset management or alternative smart grid concepts. Particularly he worked on new tariff models and incentives, combined with means and tools to enable end-consumers to adapt their consumption behaviour or to agree to a load management by the grid operator. Dr. Beer graduated from ETH Zürich in electrical engineering and holds a PhD in the field of power electronics in energy transmission.

Alain Brenzikofer graduated from his studies in Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at ETH Zurich in 2005. After one year with a startup in Active Noise Canceling he worked at CSEM for five years as R&D engineer in optoelectronic systems and characterization of image sensors. Since 2012 he’s with Supercomputing Systems AG where he lead the smart grid pilot project "GridBox", which demonstrated monitoring and distributed control of the electrical distribution grid and its prosumers. As an expert for blockchain technology for industrial applications he today leads the department for decentralized systems focusing on blockchain, IoT and privacy. For the swiss project «Quartierstrom» his team develops a dynamic grid tariff for the decentralized p2p energy market.

Christina Bu is head of “Norsk elbilforening” (the Norwegian EV Association), a role she has had the last four years. Earlier she worked as a political adviser within mobility and environmental issues. As an expert on electric mobility Christina is frequently meeting with OEMs and advising politicians and governmental bodies from different countries. She has been a Keynote speaker at conferences across the globe. With an EV market share of over 40% Norway is leading the way. The Norwegian EV Association is an NGO and consumer organization that has been fast growing and now has 26 employees and over 65.000 paying members - EV owners from all over the country. This makes it the worlds’ largest EV owner organization. The organization plays an important role both nationally and internationally when it comes to promoting the shift to electric mobility, and work in collaboration with governmental bodies, industry and other organizations.

James W. Davis was appointed Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute of Political Science at the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland in April 2005. Dr. Davis holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University, was a postdoctoral fellow in the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University and was a member of the political science faculty of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany prior to his appointment to St.Gallen. Professor Davis has published in leading journals on questions of international institutions, foreign policy, military strategy, arms control and bargaining. He is editor and contributing author of Psychology, Strategy and Conflict: Perceptions of Insecurity in International Relations published by Routledge in 2012. His first book, Threats and Promises: The Pursuit of International Influence,was published in 2000 by the Johns Hopkins University Press. In 2005, he published Terms of Inquiry: On the Theory and Practice of Political Science.

Cyril Ducatez is a Research Analyst working in the Energy Economics department at ewz (Zurich Municipal Electric Utility). His activities include the development of methods and solutions to increase social acceptance of wind energy projects. Cyril holds a Master Degree in Industrial Engineering from a French top engineering school (Grenoble INP). He worked previously as a Junior Energy Power Market Research Analyst at Genscape, a company specialised in fundamental energy data. Multilingual, Cyril was laureate of a prize at a major French economic forum (Les Rencontres Economiques d’Aix-en-Provence) for an essay about possible advantages of developing multilingual environments in companies. He was also finalist of The Spark! Contest, a French-British contest on the future of the energy sector.

Prof. Geraint Ellis is Chair of Environmental Planning in the School of Natural and Built Environment at Queen’s University, Belfast (QUB) and Adjunct Professor at University of Western Ontario. He is also Co-Editor of the Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, and leads the EU-funded MISTRAL Innovative Training Network on social acceptance of wind energy. His key research interests are in planning and sustainability with a particular emphasis on renewable energy, planning governance and healthy urban planning. He has published widely on these topics and has recently been involved in projects that have examined the future of wind energy in Denmark, the challenges of the Energy Transition in Ireland and the opportunities for designing cities to support healthy ageing in Brazil and the UK. You can follow him on Twitter @gellis23 and see his full profile here: bit.ly/ZYkPNM

Jean-Christophe Füeg joined the Swiss Federal Office of Energy in 2001. His duties include negotiations for an electricity agreement with the EU, representing Switzerland at the Governing Board of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Energy Charter, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and bilateral energy relations. He participated in Climate Change negotiations. He has led or participated in expert reviews on energy policies of India, Canada, Indonesia, Turkey, Chile, Croatia, Estonia, Macedonia, Mongolia, Albania and Tajikistan. From 1999-2001, he was an Administrator in the Non-Member Country Division of the IEA. From 1998-99 he was Managing Director & co-CEO of IHS Energy/Petroconsultants Group, a world leader in up- and midstream oil and gas industry intelligence; 1996-1998 Vice-President Petroconsultants Worldwide Oil & Gas Information; 1985-1996 various positions in oil consulting covering Former Soviet Union, Angola, Italy, Indonesia. He studied International Relations, Russian, and Art History at Geneva University.

Julia Grentz is Product Manager for the Volkswagen brand at AMAG Import, the general importer of the Volkswagen Group in Switzerland. She is responsible for launching the first model of the ID. family, a completely new generation of vehicles exclusively designed as full battery-electric cars based on the Modular Electric Drive Kit (MEB). The ID. sets a new milestone within the future brand strategy of Volkswagen, in which e-mobility plays a key role: Volkswagen has set itself the goal of selling a million electric cars a year by 2025, becoming a leading player in this field.

Julia graduated as Diplom-Betriebswirt (FH) in European Business at OTH Regensburg in 2010, specializing in International Marketing and Finance. Following her studies, she worked in diverse marketing positions within the car and electronics industry, developing a strong expertise in product management along the entire product life cycle.

Andrew (Andy) Hoffman is the Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan; a position that holds joint appointments in the Management & Organizations department at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the Sustainable Systems group at the School of Environment and Sustainability. His research uses organizational behavior models and theories to understand the cultural and institutional aspects of environmental issues for organizations. He has published over 100 articles/book chapters, and14 books (translated into five languages). He focuses on the processes by which environmental issues both emerge and evolve as social, political and managerial issues, including: the evolving nature of field level pressures related to environmental issues; the corporate responses that have emerged as a result of those pressures, particularly around the issue of climate change; the interconnected networks among non-governmental organizations and corporations and how those networks influence change processes within cultural and institutional systems; the social and psychological barriers to these change processes; and the underlying cultural values that are engaged when these barriers are overcome. He also writes about the role of academic scholars in public and political discourse. 

His work has been covered in numerous media outlets, including the New York Times, Scientific American, Time, the Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, Atlantic and National Public Radio. He has served on numerous research committees for the National Academies of Science, the Johnson Foundation, the Climate Group, the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development and the Environmental Defense Fund. Prior to academics, Andy worked for the US Environmental Protection Agency (Region 1), Metcalf & Eddy Environmental Consultants, T&T Construction & Design and the Amoco Corporation. Andy serves on advisory boards for ecoAmerica, Next Era Renewable Energy Trust, SustainAbility, the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, the Center for Environmental Innovation, and the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Mark Z. Jacobson is Director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Woods Institute for the Environment and of the Precourt Institute for Energy. He received a B.S. in Civil Engineering, an A.B. in Economics, and an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Stanford in 1988. He received an M.S. and PhD in Atmospheric Sciences in 1991 and 1994, respectively, from UCLA and joined the faculty at Stanford in 1994. He has published two textbooks of two editions each and over 155 peer-reviewed journal articles. He received the 2005 AMS Henry G. Houghton Award and the 2013 AGU Ascent Award for his work on black carbon climate impacts and the 2013 Global Green Policy Design Award for developing state and country energy plans. In 2015, he received a Cozzarelli Prize from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for his work on the grid integration of 100% wind, water and solar energy systems.

Dr Oliver Koch is Deputy Head of the Internal Market Unit of the Commission's Energy Directorate-General. His team works on the development of appropriate rules for an integrated EU electricity and gas market. Over the past three years he has worked intensively on a comprehensive review of EU market legislation (the so-called “Clean Energy Package”). He also coordinates the legal work of the Unit, notably the enforcement of EU rules vis-à-vis Member States, as well as the teams dealing with external aspects of the internal energy market, including the relations with Switzerland. Before joining DG Energy, he worked in DG Competition in the field of energy antitrust (2007 – 2012) and merger control (2003 – 2007). Prior to joining the Commission, he worked as a lawyer in private practice (White & Case, Freshfields) and as an assistant lecturer (Göttingen University).

Victor Kristof is the President of Swiss Youth for Climate, a Swiss NGO raising awareness around climate change and advocating for ambitious climate policies nationally and internationally. He participated to the UN Climate Conferences (COP22 and COP24) as a civil society observer. Victor owns a M.Sc. in Computer Science from EPFL and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence at the INDY Lab. His research revolves around the development of machine learning and data mining techniques to study social systems, with a focus on political systems. He believes that bringing an agnostic point of view to social sciences can help better understand human behaviour through the development of new machine learning models and algorithms. Twitter: @VictorKristof

Christine Lins works as Executive Director of GWNET, the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (www.globalwomennet.org), which aims at empowering women in the sustainable energy sector. Furthermore, she is Member of the Board of Directors of ISES, the International Solar Energy Society (www.ises.org). From July 2011 until March 2018, Christine Lins acted as Executive Secretary of REN21, the Renewable Energy Policy Network of the 21st Century, headquartered at UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme in Paris/France. Between 2001 and 2011, Ms. Lins served as Secretary General of the European Renewable Energy Council. Previously, she worked in a regional energy agency in Austria promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. Ms. Lins holds a Master degree in international economics and applied languages and has more than 20 years of working experience in the field of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency.

Imke Lübbeke is Head of the climate and energy team at WWF European Policy. She is a European policy and advocacy expert with more than 15 years of experience. Imke has lead, coordinated and managed teams and budgets since 2015. Imke studied agricultural science in Göttingen, Germany and she successfully graduated on advanced studies on renewable energy in St. Gallen, Switzerland. She has worked within the WWF network for 18 years, covering different positions. She worked on EU agriculture and rural development Policy in Frankfurt for WWF Germany and from there she moved to the WWF representation in Berlin, building up work on bioenergy. She took a position in the European Policy Office of WWF to work on bioenergy and renewable energy in 2008. Since 2016, Imke has been on the Climate Action Network Europe board. Her main areas of work over the last three years have been to work on long term climate strategies, the clean energy package and the governance regulation.

Melanie Mettler is founder at Sunraising (www.sunraising.ch), a model offering everybody a one-click-way to consume their own locally sourced solar power as a community. Sunraising is a community-driven project based on partnership contracts negociated with the real estate portfolio managers of the city of Bern and the local energy provider. In addition, she is a founder and managing president at Social Innovation Bern Accelerator, a facilitator network fosterning partnerships between the societal sectors including the civil society (www.snsi.ch). Furthermore, she is fraction leader in the local city parliament. Melanie Mettler has a PhD in English Literature, a degree in analytical philosophy and a graduate diploma in Gender Studies. For 7 years, she was as a lecturer at the World Trade Institute at the University of Bern, an international interdisciplinary research and teaching institute in the area of trade regulation. She works at a consultancy bureau with a focus on innovation and sustainability.

Daniel Moos is Dipl. Ing. (FH). He studied Mechanical Engineering at the HTWG Constance and successfully completed his studies with a diploma thesis about biogas-powered fuel cells at Sulzer Hexis AG in 2001. After working in research and development in the field of fuel cells at Sulzer Hexis AG, Mr. Moos was then employed by MAN Turbo AG in Zurich, where he worked in the commissioning department. During his time there, he worked worldwide, mainly in the oil and gas industry and commissioned large compressor plants. In 2010, Mr. Moos began his career working for the City of Frauenfeld as Head of the Department of Energy and for the local energy supplier as project manager for strategic projects. Together with the local energy supplier, he launched, among other things, a very successful public-private partnership model in the field of solar systems and accompanied the city of Frauenfeld to the «European Energy Award®GOLD» as Project Manager «Energiestadt». In addition, since 2010 Daniel Moos has been a member of the municipal parliament in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland's largest city on Lake Constance. His most important political success up to the present date has been the motion «Kreuzlingen without nuclear power» which demanded a basic offer for electricity customers without nuclear power.

Lisa is a master student in International Affairs and International Management at the University of St. Gallen and Copenhagen Business School. In the course of her master thesis, she evaluated factors that drive electric car owner’s willingness to co-create flexibility in order to integrate electric vehicle battery storages into the grid to balance renewable energy supply and demand. Additionally, she derived implications for potential business models from her analysis focusing on the value proposition for customers. In courses about climate change and sustainability management, Lisa was able to acquire knowledge in these areas and discover her enthusiasm for renewable energies. Before coming to Switzerland, she completed her Bachelor in Business Administration at the University of Mannheim and did a gap year of internships in the public sector, consulting and a sustainable start-up.

Dr. Tanja Rädler currently works in innovation and product development at Raiffeisen Switzerland. Previously, she held several positions in investment advisory and has a proven track record as a client advisor. Her focus has always been in women-specific investment topics, on which she has written various publications and given numerous presentations. Tanja holds a Master degree in Banking and Finance from University of St. Gallen and a PhD in Risk and Economics from ETH Zürich. She is a Chartered Alternative Investment Specialist (CAIA).

Eberhard has a Master’s Degree in Law, Comparative Law, International Politics and Business Administration. He 18 years of experience in the energy industry, of which 15 as a lobbyist at EU level. His particular focus is on electricity, natural gas and climate policies. For the last nine years he has been monitoring and lobbying EU legislation and its impact on EU and non-EU countries across the electricity and natural gas value chain (generation, transmission, wholesale trading, distribution, retail). He has created a wide network in all areas relevant to the electricity and gas industry in Brussels including EU institutions, trade associations and companies. During his professional experience, he gained a deep understanding of the work of associations and how to bring together companies or national associations with very different structures and backgrounds for a common goal. He teaches EU Energy Policy in a Master program and regularly hold speeches on EU energy policy.

Robin Schmid is the face of electromobility on social media. On his youtube channel RobinTV he inspires his audience and informs them about the topic in detail. For over 18 years Robin Schmid has been a singer, presenter, entertainer and innovator. The stage is his home. With passion and temperament, he brings his love for electromobility and sustainability closer to his audience. Robin is the founder and creative mind behind Robin TV. Together with his team he creates broadcast formats, live shows and video content marketing. His secret recipe is the harmonious combination of entertainment and information. This is how people communicate today: infotainment instead of advertisement. As a visionary, Robin Schmid inspires and convinces employees and managers alike and can explain complicated technical processes in a way that is easy to understand. The combination of creativity, technical understanding and passion leads him to top performance. Experience: radio presenter at SWR public radio station, Bachelor of Arts: Digital Innovation Management at Popakademie, founder of mobile app development startup „Rubin Mobile“, founder of „Tutorial App“ - video tutorials for iPhone & iPad, founder and CEO of Robin TV GmbH, speaker and host of mobility events.

Mayor Marian Schreier was born in Stuttgart in 1990. He studied politics and administration in Constance and Oxford. He then worked in Berlin in Peer Steinbrück's Bundestag office. On March 1, 2015, at the age of 25, he was elected full-time mayor of the city of Tengen in the district of Constance. The city of Tengen, along with the cities of Cologne and Bonn, is one of the model municipalities "Open Government".

Sonia Seneviratne is Full Professor for Land-Climate Dynamics at the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Science at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich. Her research interests include climate change and extreme events (droughts, hot extremes), land-climate interactions, and terrestrial water processes. Prof. Seneviratne holds an MSc and PhD from ETH Zurich and was a visiting scientist at MIT and NASA/GSFC. She was appointed as professor at ETH Zurich in 2007. Sonia Seneviratne has been involved in several IPCC reports. She was a Coordinating Lead Author of the IPCC Special Report on Extreme events (SREX, Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation”) published in 2012. Recently, she was also a lead author on the IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C Global warming published in October 2018. She is currently a Coordinating Lead Author on the IPCC 6th Assessment report, on the chapter assessing changes in climate extremes. In 2013, she was nominated Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and was awarded the AGU James B. Macelwane Medal. In 2014 she received a 5-year Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).

Dr. Jörg Spicker is Senior Strategic Advisor at Swissgrid AG, the Swiss transmission system operator. In his role he has been advising the Swissgrid CEO and Executive Board on European and strategic issues, since 2017. Jörg is Member of the EPEX SPOT Exchange Council and represent Swissgrid in ENTSO-E. Earlier he worked as Head of Business Unit Market at Swissgrid and was responsible, among other things, for regulatory and international affairs, market development and design, Grid Access, Network Use and Tarification. Jörg holds a master degree in physics and a PhD in astrophysics from Ruhr-University of Bochum.

Reto Steinmann has served as Country President Schneider Electric (Switzerland) AG since 2019 while also leading the subsidiary Feller AG. In this role, he is responsible for strategy and operations at the energy specialist Schneider Electric in Switzerland. Steinmann has worked for Feller AG and its parent company Schneider Electric for over 19 years. As COO of Feller AG and Vice President Retail since 2014, he has successfully strengthened the Swiss building automation company’s market position and driven the strategic focus of product and solution development toward the digital transformation. He brings with him extensive experience in leading integrated units, from product management and innovation to research and development, production and logistics, and front office marketing and sales. He holds an EMBA in management, marketing and related support services. Schneider Electric is the world’s leading specialist for energy management, automation, renewable energy and digital transformation in buildings, data centres, infrastructure and industry. In addition to Schneider Electric (Schweiz) AG and Feller AG, the Schneider Electric Group also includes the Swiss-based technology brands APC and Gutor Electronic.

Heidi Tuiskula holds MSc in Electrical Engineering from Tampere University of Technology, Finland and PgDip in Hydrogen Safety Engineering from University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. As a hobby, Heidi is currently learning Python programming and data analytics. Heidi has professional experience around topics related to hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, ranging from component development to large scale demonstrations including safety, quality and regulative framework. Currently at Smart Innovation Norway, she is leading European projects and working in the field of local energy markets, smart grids, storage and renewables. Her main interest lies in fighting the climate change through co-developing sustainable solutions together with end-users and business actors. As the Scientific Coordinator of H2020 project E-LAND, she is contributing in development of viable tools to solve energy challenges in isolated areas

Prof. Dr. Rolf Wüstenhagen is Director of the Institute for Economy and the Environment (IWÖ-HSG) and holds the Good Energies Chair for Management of Renewable Energies at the University of St.Gallen. He graduated in Management Science and Engineering (TU Berlin) and holds a PhD in Business. His thesis was on “Venturing for Sustainable Energy”. In 2005, 2008 and 2011, respectively, he held visiting faculty positions at University of British Columbia (Vancouver), Copenhagen Business School, and National University Singapore. He embarked on an academic career after retiring from one of the leading European energy venture capital funds. From 2004-2010 he was member of the Federal Energy Research Commission (CORE). 2011-2015, he was member of the advisory board for the Swiss government’s energy strategy 2050. Professor Wüstenhagen is the academic director of St. Gallen University’s executive education programme in Renewable Energy Management.

Raphael Zürcher is Deputy Head of SwissEnergy and leads the Communication Team. On operational side he is responsible for nationwide projects in the context of behavioural economics such as the Energy Challenge. Previously, he worked as Sales Manager for a Norwegian Startup and helped establish an Online Media Monitoring Service. From there he moved to the Federal Office for Environment where he coordinated the Swiss National Focal Point to the European Environment Agency EEA. Before working for SwissEnergy he held the position as Head of Safety and Environment a.i. at BLS AG. Raphael holds a Master degree in Environmental Sciences from ETH Zürich.

Adrian works as a PostDoc at the Chair for Management of Renewable Energies. He received his M.A. in Politics and Public Administration from the University of Konstanz (Germany) and completed the Doctoral Program in International Affairs and Political Economy at the University of St.Gallen. Adrian has also studied in Lyon (France) and Princeton (USA). Using insights from Political Science and Behavioral Economics, his research focuses on the formation of citizens’ and policymakers’ preferences with regard to energy and climate policies, as well as corporate political strategies of firms and interest group influence in energy policymaking. Adrian also conducts research on the role of innovative governance mechanisms to solve the global climate crisis. His reseach has appeared not only in peer-reviewed academic journals, but also in quality media outlets such as Neue Zürcher Zeitung and Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Doris is responsible for the organization of #REMforum as well as other projects at the Chair for Management of Renewable Energies of Prof. Rolf Wüstenhagen. She holds a diploma in German studies and Geography from RWTH Aachen. For ten years she managed the administration of a start up in Germany and Switzerland followed by ten years of experience in the organization of national and international medical congresses. After serving six years as chief medical secretary in a cantonal hospital, she joined Rolf's team.

Tel +41 71 224 2746
energieforum@unisg.ch