Project Coordination

Making well-informed decisions, and seamlessly propelling progress towards project objectives.

Scientific Advisory Board

Agata Klaus-Rosińska

Wroclaw Tech

Mateusz Jarzombek

ARAW

Vicente-Saez Ruben

AALTO

Manuela Berner

TUGRAZ

Judith Fender

TUDA

Leif Gifvars

KTH

Ricardo de la Vega

UPC

Noélie Bouzon

INP/UGA

Luigi Erriquens

POLITO

João Patricio

ULISBOA

Nuno Cunha

AAVANZ

Fatima Montemor

ULISBOA

Luis Silveira

ULISBOA

Katarzyna Chojnacka

Wroclaw Tech

Piotr Rutkowski

Wroclaw Tech

António Cardoso Pereira

LISPOLIS

Pedro Rebordão

LISPOLIS

Łukasz Wyszkowski

WPT

Marta Orfin

WPT

Aneta Herbuś

ARAW

Mateusz Jarzombek

ARAW

Jyri Hämäläinen

AALTO

Minna Kaarina Forssén

AALTO

Sabine Prem

TUGRAZ

Julirose Kourist

TUGRAZ

Marianne Halblaub Miranda

TUDA

Konrad Löbcke

TUDA

Maria Gustafson

KTH

Mirko Varano

KTH

Joaquim Minguella

UPC

Anna Tor

UPC

Antónia Bobeva

INP/UGA

Franz Bruckert

INP/UGA

Federico Bosia

POLITO

Roberto Zanino

POLITO

Nuno Cunha

AAVANZ

Sandra Silva

AAVANZ

Andreas Winkler

UNITE! Secretary General

WP1

Fatima Montemor

ULISBOA

Luis Miguel Silveira

ULISBOA

Krystyna Kubiak

Wroclaw Tech

Nuno Cunha

AAVANZ

Agata Klaus-Rosińska

Wroclaw Tech

WP2

Federico Bosia

POLITO

Roberto Zanino

POLITO

Barbara Widera

Wroclaw Tech

Luis Correia

ULISBOA

Lidia Herrera

UPC

WP3

Rui Mendes

ULISBOA

Katarzyna Weron

Wroclaw Tech

Antonia Bobeva

Grenoble INP-UGA

WP4

Beatriz Silva

ULISBOA

Katarzyna Chojnacka

Wroclaw Tech

WP5

Anna Hejno

Wroclaw Tech

Isabel França

ULISBOA

Joaquim Minguella

UPC

Joana Mendonça

Joana Mendonça is associated professor with Habilitation at Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon. She is currently vice-president at Instituto Superior Técnico, responsible for the Oeiras Campus.

She was President of the Board of the National Innovation Agency in Portugal (ANI) between May 2021 and March 2023. Between 2010 and 2012, she was Deputy Director at the Directorate for Education and Science Statistics (DGEEC). She was scientific director of the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Partnership (2012-2021) and scientific coordinator at the Center of Engineering and Product Development, CEiiA, (2018-2021). During 2016, she was an assistant to the Minister for Economy for issues related to Innovation and Technology and in 2009-2010, she was an assistant to the Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education, both in the Government of Portugal.

She is a member of the Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research, IN+, where she led the Laboratory of Technology Management and Policy. Her research focuses on management of technology and innovation, technology commercialization and adoption. She teaches Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management and Design Thinking to Masters and PhDs students.

Marta Abrantes

Marta Abrantes studied Pharmaceutical Sciences as a pre-Bologna BSc. Afterwards, she pursued a PhD in chemistry, a postdoctoral position with a Humboldt fellowship in the Technical University of Munich and 2 research associate positions in Engineering Schools in Portugal (FEUP and IST) developing research in the area of chemistry. Additionally, she was engaged in teaching and science spreading activities. In 2014, she was challenged to become International Affairs Manager for the international education projects at IST (EIT InnoEnergy, Unite!, FLAD Study in Portugal Network). In this role she developed a particular interest for International Relations and Science Diplomacy.

From 2016 to 2022 Marta Abrantes participated in the coordination team of the Master in Energy Engineering and Management at IST. Currently, Marta Abrantes is Auxiliary Professor at the Chemical Engineering Department of IST and a Researcher at IN+ (Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research). She also supports the development of emerging innovation initiatives at IST. In October 2023 she completed a MSc in Political Science and International Relations (Nova FCSH) with a dissertation entitled “Science Diplomacy, Portugal and the European Project”.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrabrantes/

Pedro Rebordão

Pedro Rebordão is Innovation and Promotion Manager at LISPOLIS, the Lisbon Technology Park. Over the last 20 years, he has worked with technological SMEs and start-ups. His main activities are scouting and evaluating SMEs and start-ups for LISPOLIS, assisting in fundraising and new business model development, acting as juri or mentor in acceleration programmes or reverse pitch challenges and participating in the national entrepreneurship ecosystem. He represents LISPOLIS in various activities related to entrepreneurship, such as Health Tech Lisboa, a venture builder for medtech startups, Startup Portugal, where he evaluates startup visa candidates, and participates in Incubu X, a think thank for the Portuguese incubator network, as well as in TECPAQUES, the Portuguese Association of Science Parks, where he plays a role in the association’s General Assembly. At LISPOLIS, he is also responsible for LISPOLIS IGNITE, LISPOLIS’ acceleration programme, for the liaison with Portugal Ventures, the Portuguese venture capitalist, and for the certification of LISPOLIS Incubator.

Nuno Cunha

Nuno Cunha is Founder and CEO at AAVANZ (Innovation and funding Consulting) former Associate at Beta-i (Entrepreneurship non-profit association) and Innovation Advisor in several high-tech Start-ups.

Experienced in performing and managing of technology development projects and in R&D innovation initiatives – particularly in developing ideas into project implementation, acquiring funding and taking developed solutions to global markets. Currently engaged in Circular Economy, Immersive AR/VR, Digital Twins, and AI projects.

Expert on funding mechanisms and incentives for business, Innovation and R&D initiatives: HORIZON, EuroStars/Eureka, CIP, FP7 and other European programs, PT2020/2030, PRIME, QREN and other Portuguese and structural funds programs for innovation and development. Has applied strategic analysis, finance planning, foresight and scenario planning for early-stage start-ups in volatile and uncertain business environments and managing technology development partnership networks in R&D and Innovation across Europe, Africa, USA and South America – actively stimulating cooperation initiatives and co-investments in high-tech projects.

In the past was Innovation Manager and Business Development Manager at Critical Software, Project Manager at PEMAS, Co-Founder and Research Director at Tekever, and IT Consultant at Link consulting.

His academic background is in Software Engineering and Computer Science at IST, in areas like Embedded Systems, Telecommunication Mobile Networks, Functional Analysis, Quality Assurance, Product Acceptance, Software Engineering processes and Mobile Software. Additional post-graduation in Competitiveness and Strategy at ISEG (Microeconomics of Competitiveness: Firms Clusters and Economic Development, MOC Harvard Business School affiliate network program); Management & Finance (International Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Management Control) at UCP Porto and in Foresight, Strategy and Innovation at ISEG.

Rafał weron

Rafał Weron is Professor of Management Science, Rector’s Proxy for the Evaluation of the Quality of Scientific Activity, and Head of the Department of Operations Research and Business Intelligence at Wrocław Tech. He is a member of the Academia Europaea, the Statistics and Econometrics Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the International Institute of Forecasters (IIF), and Associate Editor of Computational Statistics, Int. J. Forecasting, J. Energy Engineering, J. Energy Markets, National Economy, and Operations Research and Decisions. He is the recipient of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education Prize (2016), the Emerald Citation of Excellence Award (2017), the IIF Tao Hong Award (2017), the Hugo Steinhaus prize of the Polish Mathematical Society (2018), IEEE OAJPE Best Paper Award (2021), and the IIF Outstanding Paper in Energy Forecasting Award (2022).


With over 7,000 Scopus-indexed citations (w/o auto; H=43) Rafał is one of the leading world experts on energy forecasting. His other research interests include agent-based modeling and simulation, complex systems, computational economics, computational statistics and machine learning, financial engineering and risk management, stochastic modeling and time series analysis. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed books, book chapters and journal articles (most notably in top-tier Applied Energy, Energy Economics, Energy Policy, IEEE Trans. Smart Grid, IEEE Trans. Sustainable Energy, Int. J. Forecasting and Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews). With a Ph.D. (1999) in Financial Mathematics and a habilitation (2009) and professor title (2015) in Economic Sciences, he is periodically engaged as a consultant to financial, energy and software engineering companies.

Arkadiusz Ziółkowski

Arkadiusz Ziółkowski is a young scientist at Wrocław University of Science and Technology immersed in the realm of biomedical engineering, specifically focusing on brain hemodynamic. Passionate about bringing science with the market. He coordinates accredited laboratories and IT projects at the University. His entrepreneurial journey began with developing and introducing a respiratory rate sensor to the international market, then he worked as Broker of Innovations at Wrocław Centre for Technology Transfer. As the Manager and Internal Auditor of the Quality Management System for Medical Devices and Testing Laboratories, he ensures the quality of deliveries.

Arkadiusz Ziółkowski

Aneta Herbuś

Head of the Investors Support Department at the Wroclaw Agglomeration Development Agency; Accredited examiner in the field of “Outsourcing and offshoring in the context of attracting investors to municipalities”; Connected with the investment process for more than a decade, coordinated many projects located both in the Lower Silesia and Silesian Voivodeships; Author of numerous publications on CSR and Sustainable Development, cooperating with Energy Clusters.  Lecturer and trainer involved in initiatives for the development of the socio-economic ecosystem. 

In the free time, acrylic painting enthusiast, conducting  authorial art workshops on  this  technique “Akrylowe Wylewańce”.

Massimo Santarelli

Prof. Massimo Santarelli, Full Professor of Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer, Energy Department, Politecnico di Torino.

Coordinator of the HySyLab (Synergies of Thermochemical and Electrochemical Electrical Systems) and of the CO2 Circle Lab of the Politecnico di Torino.

Author of 312 papers in international journals (h-index 56). The main research activity is related to the topic of complex innovative systems (thermochemical and electrochemical processes) applied to the energy sector.

Coordinator of EU projects SOFCOM (FCH1-JU Call 2010), DEMOSOFC (FCH2-JU Call 2014), REMOTE (FCH2-JU Call 2017). Partner in several EU projects (AMPS, TULIPS, H2SHIFT ELECTROLIFE, BEST4Hy, SUBLIME, ICO2CHEM, COMSOS, TEACHY, ENEFIELD, ENFICA-FC, BRISK II, …).

Coordinator of several national projects. Member for Italy of ISO / TC 197 “Hydrogen Technologies” and of IEC-TC 105 “Fuel Cells”.

Coordinator of the Erasmus+ MSc HySET (Hydrogen Systems and Enabling Technologies).

Andrea Höglinger

Andrea Höglinger acts as vice-rector for research at the TU Graz since October 2023.
Prior to that, she worked for many years at the Austrian Research Promotion Agency and headed the department for European and International Programmes as well as the FFG Europe office in Brussels.

Matthias Oechsner

Matthias Oechsner serves as the Vice President for Research of Technische Universität Darmstadt since May 2023. In order to create change for innovation and to provide solutions to today’s as well as tomorrow’s challenging issues, the Executive Board developed seven individual strategies forming the university’s future-orientated gearing. As Vice President, he is responsible for the strategic development of the research profile of our university bundled in the three interdisciplinary key research areas of Information & Intelligence, Energy & Environment, and Matter & Materials.

Matthias Oechsner studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Karlsruhe. After receiving his Diploma, he moved on to the Max Planck working group Mechanics of Heterogeneous Solids in Dresden to work on his Ph.D. under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Pompe. Prior to joining the TU Darmstadt in 2010 as a Professor of Materials Technology within the faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the
State Materials Testing Laboratory, he spent 14 years with Siemens in various engineering and executive management positions in Germany, the USA and China.

His research interests include the assessment of reliability and lifetime of material systems under complex loading conditions, process-structure-property relations of metallic materials as well as Additive Manufacturing technologies.

He has authored and coauthored more than 140 papers and holds 21 patents.

Matthias Oechsner was dean of the faculty of Mechanical Engineering (2019-2021) as well as spokesperson of the TU Darmstadt Energy Center and of Energy Systems of the Future (2016-2018). Since 2017, he serves as a trustee of the Dechema Forschungsinstitut in Frankfurt/Main and since 2011 of the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF Darmstadt.

Lorena Anghel

Lorena Anghel is a Full Professor at Grenoble Institute of Engineering and Management of University of Grenoble Alpes, in Microelectronics and Embedded Systems Engineering and a member of the research staff at the SPINTEC Laboratory. Since 2019, she has held an Excellence Chair position at the AI Multi-Disciplinary Institute in Grenoble, focusing on the topic of “Non-Volatile Emerging based Spiking Neural Network.” She has actively participated in several European Projects (FP5 and FP7, H2020) as well as French national projects ANR, serving as a work package leader or scientific coordinator.

Dr. Anghel has held various positions of responsibility in organizing numerous conferences and symposiums. (To cite only the most prominent of them, she served as the General Chair of the IEEE/ACM Nanoarch in 2022, IEEE VLSI Test Symposium in 2020 and 2021, IEEE European Test Symposium in 2012, and IEEE On-Line Test Symposium in 2005. Additionally, she has been the Program Chair of the IEEE VLSI Test Symposium in 2015 and 2016, and the DCIS Conference in 2008 and 2009. Dr. Anghel played a foundational role in establishing the SERESSA Summer School from 2006 to 2008. She actively serves on the Steering Committees of several IEEE conferences, including DATE and ETS since 2011.)

Throughout her career, Dr. Anghel has received recognition for her contributions, receiving 6 Best Paper Awards and one Outstanding Paper Award, in addition being nominated several times. From 2016 to 2020, she held the position of Deputy Vice President at the Grenoble Institute of Technology, overseeing Industrial Relationships. From 2020 to 2024, Dr. Anghel serves as the Scientific Director of the Grenoble Institute of Technology, with a focus on Micro and Nanoelectronic Technology and Design, as well as Computer Science and Informatics. She is currently Vice President for Research and Scientific Affairs at Grenoble INP – UGA.

Sven Bossuyt

Sven Bossuyt is Associate Professor in Engineering Materials at Aalto University. He has been involved in Unite! since its inception, and chairs the Unite! Academic Forum. His main interests professionally are the science of engineering materials, the physics of metals, and the mechanics of materials. Research contributions have focused on bulk metallic glasses, on digital image correlation, and on inverse problem methodologies. In teaching, Sven is eager to explore how to capitalise on the benefits of learning in student groups that are diverse and multilingual.

Stefan Östlund

Dr Stefan Östlund is Vice President (international relations) at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm since 2017. In that role, his focus has been on strategies for international academic partnerships including e. g. strategic partner universities, the European university alliance, Unite and the Nordic partnership, Nordic 5 Tech. He has also been deeply engaged in responsible internationalization. He is a professor of Electric Power Engineering His teaching and research focus on electric propulsion, transportation electrification, and power electronics. Dr Östlund is a supervisory board member of the European innovation company, EIT KIC InnoEnergy SE and a senior member of IEEE