Speakers

The symposium committee have developed a programme that features a range of engaging international and local speakers.

The committee are delighted to announce the following international speakers:

Prof Christina Roth (University of Bayreuth, Germany)

"Delta-µ XANES characterization of Pt-based electrocatalysts during their operation in high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells"

Christina Roth is a trained Materials Scientist who graduated from Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany, in 1998. She obtained her Ph.D. degree in the group of Prof. Hartmut Fueß in 2002 in the field of fuel cells. In 2003 she joined the team of Prof. Richard Nichols in Liverpool with a Feodor-Lynen fellowship. Christina was awarded a German junior professorship at TU Darmstadt in 2004, before she became a full professor in Applied Physical Chemistry at the Freie Universität Berlin in 2012. Since 2019, she is chair holder at the engineering science faculty of the Universität Bayreuth, where she specializes in electrochemical process engineering. Her research interests are in the areas of fuel cells, redox flow batteries, lithium ion batteries and CO2 electro-reduction with a focus on operando spectroscopy and structuring of 3D porous electrodes.
Fun fact: Can only be re-fuelled with decent amounts of coffee and would like to do cyclic voltammetry in orange juice (pulp-free, of course).

Dr Clemens Kubeil (Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM, Germany)

"Porous Materials for Alkaline Electrolysis"

Dr. Clemens Kubeil is a chemist specialising in physical chemistry and electrochemistry. He obtained his PhD from Technische Universität Dresden, Germany, on the topic of ion transport in nano-scaled electrolyte systems. Until 2015, he worked in the electrochemistry and electroplating group of Prof. Dr. Andreas Bund at TU Ilmenau, Germany, researching ion current rectification in nanopores and optimizing industrial electroplating processes. He then spent two years as a research fellow at Monash University, Australia, with Assoc. Prof. Lisa Martin and Prof. Leone Spiccia, where he employed physicochemical and electrochemical techniques in combination with molecular and electronic redox considerations in order to target biomedical problems. Since returning to Germany in 2017, his research interests have focused on energy conversion and energy storage systems, first at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and, since 2022, at Fraunhofer IFAM in Dresden, where he co-leads projects to develop and research new materials and technologies for hydrogen production by water electrolysis.

Mirko Ante (GKN Hydrogen)

"Metal Hydrides as power storage in distributed and remote power grids"

Prof Smaranda Marinescu (University of Southern California, USA)

"Conductive Dithiolene-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks for Electrocatalytic H2 Production"

Smaranda Marinescu earned her B.S. degree from Caltech, where she did undergraduate research with Prof. John E. Bercaw, and her Ph.D. degree from MIT, where she worked with Prof. Richard R. Schrock, exploring Mo and W alkylidene species for enatio-, Z-, and E-selective olefins metathesis reactions. After graduation in 2011, she undertook a postdoctoral position in the laboratories of Prof. Harry B. Gray at Caltech, as an NSF CCI postdoctoral fellow, working on mechanistic studies of the cobalt catalyzed hydrogen evolution reaction. In August 2013 she started her independent career as a Gabilan Assistant professor of Chemistry at the University of Southern California and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2020. Marinescu has been recognized with several awards and fellowships, such as the NSF CAREER (2016), the Rising Stars Award (2018), the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (2019), the ACS Harry Gray Award for Creative Work in Inorganic Chemistry by a Young Investigator (2021), and the Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship (2022). Marinescu’s research focuses on designing, synthesizing, and understanding novel catalytic systems essential to the development of efficient solar-to-fuel technologies.

Prof Rodrigo Palma-Behnke (Director Energy Center, University of Chile)

"The Chilean Potential for Exporting Renewable Energy"

Rodrigo Palma-Behnke (IEEE M'94, SM'04) He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. on Electrical Engineering from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and a Dr.-Ing. from the University of Dortmund, Germany (DAAD alumni). He is full professor at the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Chile. His research field is the planning and operation of electrical systems in competitive power markets, renewable energy, solar energy solutions, smartgrids, power system education, and the development of microgrids solutions. He is Director of the Energy Center, FCFM, University of Chile (www.centroenergia.cl), and PI at the Solar Energy Research Center SERC-Chile (www.sercchile.cl). He was Chairman of the IEEE Chile Section, 2019-2020 and also in 2011-2012, 2007-2008, 2003-2004. Secretary in the IEEE Task Force on Microgrid Stability Analysis and Modeling. Co-founder of the initiative: Comunidad Solar R9 (solar community) of the IEEE (www.comunidadsolar.cl) and Director of the Ayllu Solar Project (www.ayllusolar.cl).

Prof Pierluigi Mancarella (Chair Power Systems, University of Melbourne, Australia)

"Integrated electricity-gas-hydrogen systems: Techno-economic modelling, challenges, and opportunities"

Pierluigi Mancarella is Chair Professor of Electrical Power Systems at The University of Melbourne (Australia) and Professor of Smart Energy Systems at The University of Manchester (UK). His key research interests include techno-economic modelling and analysis of multi-energy systems, grid and market integration of renewables and distributed energy resources, energy infrastructure planning under uncertainty, and security, reliability and resilience of low-carbon networks.
Pierluigi is the Energy Systems programme leader at the Melbourne Energy Institute, a Fellow of the IEEE, an IEEE Power and Energy Society Distinguished Lecturer, the Convenor of the Cigre C6/C2.34 Working Group on “Flexibility provision from distributed energy resources”, and the technical chair of the 2022 International Microgrids Symposium. He also holds the 2017 veski Innovation Fellowship for his work on urban-scale virtual power plants and is a recipient of an international Newton Prize 2018 for his work on power system resilience in Chile. Currently he is actively involved in a number of research and consultancy projects with industry and policy makers in Australia and internationally, particularly in the areas of integrated planning of electricity-hydrogen infrastructure, development of distributed energy markets, and reliable and resilient planning of future energy systems.
Pierluigi is author of several books and over 400 research papers and reports and is an Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, the IEEE Transactions on Energy Markets, Policy and Regulation, and the Oxford Open Energy journal. He has also been visiting researcher/professor in a number of international institutions, including NREL in Colorado, Tsinghua University in China, Ecole Centrale de Lille in France, and the Universidad de Chile.

Prof Zhenguo Huang (University of Technology Sydney, Australia)

"Hydrogen-rich B,N containing systems for hydrogen storage"

Professor Zhenguo Huang is leading the Hydrogen Energy Program at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. He was awarded a Discovery Early Career Research Award and Future Fellowships by the Australian Research Council. He is a Research Advisor appointed by the National Institute for Materials Science, Japan, a recipient of the Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers, the Chair of the International Hydrogen Carriers Alliance, and a graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors. His research is centered on boron chemistry for energy conversion and storage, including hydrogen storage materials, electrolytes, and boron-containing nanomaterials.

Prof Jillian Dempsey (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, USA)

"Electroanalytical Tools for Interrogating Fuel-Forming Catalysts"

Jillian L. Dempsey is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and currently holds the Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professorship. She is the Deputy Director of the Center for Hybrid Approaches in Solar Energy to Liquid Fuels (CHASE). Her research group explores charge transfer processes associated with solar fuel production, including proton-coupled electron transfer reactions and electron transfer across interfaces. Her research bridges molecular and materials chemistry and relies heavily on methods of physical inorganic chemistry, including transient absorption spectroscopy and electrochemistry. She also dedicates time to advancing electrochemistry education for all chemists.

Dr. Klaus Taube (Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Germany)

"Applications for metal hydrides - current projects and challenges"

Dr. Klaus Taube is a Physicist from Germany. He obtained his PhD in Physics at the University of Hamburg in 1991 on the topic of mechanical characterisation of thin hard coatings by nanoindentation. He continued his work at the Fraunhofer Institute for Thin Films and Surface Engineering, Brunswick, Germany, as a researcher, also in the field of mechanical characterisation of hard coatings and surfaces, but as well as in the development of hard coatings for lubricant free metal forming and corresponding contract and collaborative research. In 2002, he joined former GKSS Research Centre in Geesthacht, Germany, whose name was changed to Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon in 2021. Here, he switched to hydrogen technology, namely to metal hydrides for hydrogen storage. He coordinated several national and international collaborative projects and training networks, funded by the government of Germany and the European Union, respectively. He is a member of the Hamburg Hydrogen Association as well as representative of Hereon in Hydrogen Europe Research and the European Energy Research Alliance EERA in the Joint Program Fuel Cells and Hydrogen (co-coordinator of Subprogram “Hydrogen Storage and Compression”).

Professor Martin Kaltschmitt (TUHH, Germany)

The committee are delighted to announce the following NZ invited speakers to date:

Sir Tipene O’Regan and Hana O’Regan (Awarua Runaka and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu)

Terry Nicholas (Murihiku Regeneration and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu)

"Hydrogen as a Key Enabler of a Sustainable Economy for Murihiku-Southland"

Dr Kēpa Morgan (Mahi Maioro Professionals Ltd)

“Te Mana o Te Wai and Green Hydrogen Aotearoa: Competing or Compatible Ways of Knowing?”

Dr Linda Wright (NZ Hydrogen Council)

"The role of the New Zealand Hydrogen Council in advancing our transition to a low emissions future"

Prof Geoff Waterhouse (University of Auckland)

“Non-precious Metal Nanocatalysts for Efficient Electrocatalytic Water Splitting”

Dr Abbi Virens (Centre for Sustainability in collaboration with Sociology, Gender and Social Work, Otago University)

“Social Dimensions and Anticipations of Green Hydrogen in New Zealand”

Dr Luke Liu (Victoria University Wellington)

“Covalent organic frameworks for hydrogen storage? – A computational perspective”

Dr Mila Adam (School of Environment, at the University of Auckland)

“Pūhiko Nukutū: A Green Hydrogen Geostorage Battery in Taranaki”

Assoc. Prof. Fei Yang (University of Waikato)

“Novel High Entropy Alloys for Green Hydrogen Production and Storage Applications”

Prof Matthew Watson (University of Canterbury)

“Hydrogen iron making technoeconomics in NZ”

Dr Suren Wijeyekoon (Scion)

“An overview of biohydrogen production and the case for New Zealand”

Dr Michelle Cook (GNS)

“Green Hydrogen Supported Micro-grids for Indigenous Communities - Feasibility study and community capability development”

Christopher Boyle / Ojas Mahapatra (Fabrum)

"Hydrogen 007: fueling your own fleet"

Sam Powick (Hiringa Energy)

"Developing a Commercial Green Hydrogen Ecosystem in Aotearoa New Zealand"

Rick Petersen (MBIE)

“Because it’s good for us: Why MBIE supports international Hydrogen research cooperation and opportunities for building international collaborations”

Grant Doull (Hyundai)

Hydrogen fuel cell trucks and cars

Gareth Wishart (HWR / MyTransport)

Dual fuel heavy trucks

Nicoletta Moss (Mitsui)

"NZ abilities in building hydrogen powered vehicles"

Dr Vedran Jovic (GNS)

"What makes RuO2 a benchmark electrocatalyst for the water splitting reaction? Root causes from a condensed-matter physics perspective"

More to come, including more research speakers, so please watch this space!