Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Ahrens
Professor at the Chair of Process Control, RWTH Aachen
From 1975 until 2004, Wolfgang served Bayer AG Leverkusen as head of the CAD/CAE department. Today he acts as managing director of PROLIST® INTERNATIONAL. Wolfgang holds an honorary professorship at the RWTH Aachen, Chair of Prof. Epple, Process Control.

Dr. Peter Andow
Principal Consultant, Honeywell Process Solutions
Peter worked as a Process Engineer and as a Systems Safety Engineer before carrying out research and teaching chemical engineering at Loughborough University (UK). Later, he moved to KBC as a consultant and is now with Honeywell Process Solutions. Peter has given many industrial courses on “Hazard Identification and Assessment” and, more recently, on “Alarm Management”. His current responsibilities at Honeywell are in the areas of alarm management and abnormal situation management.

Alexander Bormann
Sales Automation, Phoenix Contact Electronics
Alexander is a specialist for network technology and Ethernet-based real-time systems. He has extensive knowledge of modern real-time architectures such as Profinet, Ethernet/IP, Ethercat, Modbus/TCP, etc., which will play a dominating role on the global market. In 2005, Alexander authored the 300-page technical book “Industrial Networks” with a major German publishing house. In 2006, the English edition was published by Phoenix Contact.

Prof. Dr. Christian Diedrich
Deputy Head, ifak Magdeburg
Since 1990, Christian has dealt with fieldbus systems and their integration into distributed automation systems. He is active in national and international standardization activities. Among others he is convener of IEC 61804 "Function Blocks for Process Control and Electronic Device Description Language", IEC 62453 "Field Device Technology Specification", and active in the profile specification for PROFIBUS for several device classes and branches. Christian has been deputy head of ifak e.V. Magdeburg since 2005 and has held the chair of Integrated Automation at the Otto-von-Guericke-University of Magdeburg, Germany, since September 2006.

Martin Dubovy
Deputy Managing Director, Head of IT & MES, Rösberg Engineering
Martin joined Rösberg Engineering in 1987 and has served the company as Engineer in CAE System Development and Head of CAE System Development. In his current position as Deputy Managing Director and Head of IT & MES, Martin is responsible for software products and vertical integration.

Thomas Fox
Consultant Energy Management, ABB
Thomas has been with ABB since 1997. After studying at the Technical University of Karlsruhe (Germany), he joined ABB Switzerland designing power electronic components. Thomas additionally studied Information Technology. His responsibility is marketing and sales of ABB energy management solutions.

Michael Gerwin
Project Manager, OXEA Deutschland
Michael works as project manager at Oxea Deutschland GmbH in Oberhausen, Germany. His assignment includes the handling of investment projects, the support of start-ups, and the cooperation of maintenance projects. Michael studied electro-technology with an emphasis on automatic control engineering at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences in Krefeld. Prior to that, he was trained as a process control engineer.

Frederic Gobin
Director, Engineering Business Consulting, AspenTech
After working three years for Mobil as a process engineer, Frederic joined AspenTech in 1998. Since then, he has been holding a number of positions in technical support and business consulting for AspenTech's engineering suite of products. Currently based in Brussels, he leads the business consulting team for AspenTech engineering products in the EMEA region.

Dr. Felix Hanisch
Head of Plant Optimization Group, Bayer Material Science
Felix joined Bayer in 2001 as a process control engineer, where he held positions in process control technology (PCT) in plant engineering as well as in BMS’ production facilities. After leading the PCT Control Systems group at BMS’ site in Baytown, TX, from 2005-2007, he started the Plant Optimization group in the central PCT organization of Bayer Material Science AG, Leverkusen, which is responsible for process optimization and condition monitoring globally.

Ulrich Hempen
Head of Energy and Process Automation, WAGO Kontakttechnik
Ulrich has almost 20 years of industry experience. He started his professional career with Hartmann & Braun, where he was Product Manager for pressure devices and actuators. Afterwards he held positions with Endress + Hauser, where he headed the technical group for system solutions with E+H measurement devices, and, most recently, with Endler & Kumpf as Managing Director System Solutions for Process Automation.

Andreas Hennecke
Product Marketing Manager, Pepperl+Fuchs
Andreas is Product Marketing Manager responsible for fieldbus technology, FieldConnex®, with a focus on process automation. Prior to his engagement with Pepperl+Fuchs, he held positions in development, technical support, engineering, and marketing in Germany and abroad. Author of articles and white papers, Andreas also regularly appears as presenter at conferences and events for process automation. He is a member of the working group “Marketing PA” of PROFIBUS International.

Tim-Peter Henrichs
Product Manager Systems, Yokogawa Deutschland
Tim-Peter serves Yokogawa Deutschland as Product Manager for the Process Control System CS3000, the Safety System ProSafe-RS, and the Asset Management System PRM in Northeastern Europe. His career started at the I&C department of a power plant. After studying electrical engineering with a focus on automation technology, he worked as an application engineer and afterwards as a lead engineer, managing projects in system operations. Prior to his present assignment, Tim-Peter held the position of Product Manager with international product responsibilities at Turck.

Rainer Hillebrand
Manager Product Group Remote I/O Systems, Pepperl+Fuchs
Rainer is a long standing member of Pepperl+Fuchs at the Buehl factory. He is head of the Remote I/O Systems Group with R&D and Marketing teams in Buehl, Dortmund, and Mannheim. In this capacity he is well versed with instrumentation and the rules and regulations of explosion protection. He is a regular speaker at international conferences for process automation and author of technical papers and articles as well as co-author of a book on Profibus PA. Rainer is also experienced as a trainer on the installation of devices and bus systems in hazardous areas.

David Humphrey
Director of Research, Europe, ARC Advisory Group
David is part of the automation consulting team at ARC covering manufacturing topics in Europe. He is a member of ARC’s hybrid manufacturing, packaging, and industrial networking teams, as well as a member of the Open Modular Architecture Controls (OMAC) Packaging Workgroup Executive Committee. In addition to automation, he also looks at economic topics affecting manufacturers and is the author of ARC’s annual survey report on capital spending. David has over twenty years experience in industrial automation, including the design and programming of control systems in a variety of industries including automobile and packaging. He has implemented many projects involving PLCs, HMI hardware and software, industrial networks, drives, and motion control.

Thomas Kasten
Marketing Communications Manager, Process Automation, Pepperl+Fuchs
Thomas supports the worldwide communications network of the Pepperl+Fuchs Process Automation Division from the global headquarters in Mannheim, Germany. In his former position he was in marketing responsible for the product group FieldConnex® Fieldbus Infrastructure Technology. Since he joined Pepperl+Fuchs in 2001 he has published several papers and articles on fieldbus technology and explosion protection. Prior to that he held several positions with companies outside of Germany, covering technical marketing and service. He is Vice Chairman of the German Marketing Committee of Fieldbus Foundation and a long-standing member of the Steering Committee of Fieldbus Foundation EMEA operations.

Gerd Kling
Manager Technical Concepts, Siemens
Gerd has worked with Siemens since 1988. He serves as manager of technical concepts in the Siemens Competence Center Chemical Industry, being responsible for MIS/MES and energy management, as well as coordinator for energy efficiency and energy management issues in the chemical industry. Prior to his present assignment, he held positions in the area of engineering and software for automation and DCS, project management, as well as sales manager for MIS and MES (Management Information Systems and Manufacturing Execution Systems) within Siemens.

Dr. Klaus Kluger
Director Instruments Division Germany, Emerson Process Management
After finishing his doctoral thesis in the field of Physical Chemistry, Klaus spent several years in the analytical business. He has been working in the field of process automation since 1999 holding several management positions in companies such as Invensys Flow Control and Flowserve. At Emerson Process Management, Klaus is responsible for marketing and sales of all field instrumentation for flow, level, pressure, and temperature.

Jürgen Kneidinger
Branch Manager, Comos Industry Solutions
Jürgen serves Comos Industry Solutions (former Innotec) as Branch Manager of the Linz, (Austria) operations and Product Manager of Comos Maintenance. Prior to his present assignment, he held various positions with Chemserv Industrie Service in areas such as engineering and programming of PLC and DCS systems, project management of industrial automation projects, development and project management for 2nd and 3rd level automation software, project management for the development of the CMMS System 'Comos iAge' and as head of software development. Prior to that, Jürgen worked with OMV Chemie Linz in maintenance and commissioning of instrumentation, electronic, and power electronic equipment.

Dr. Bert Knegtering
Global Business Development Manager Safety Consulting Services, Honeywell
Since 1996, Bert has been working for Honeywell Safety Management Systems as senior consultant in industrial process safety. In 2002 Bert obtained his Ph.D. at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the area of Safety Lifecycle Management. In 2004 Bert became certified by TÜV Rheinland as TÜV - Functional Safety Expert and is currently member of their Functional Safety Interest Group. Today, he is the Global Business Development Manager, responsible for Honeywell’s Safety Consulting Services.

Klaus Koch
President, CAT – Consulting for Automation Technology
After earning his diploma in Electrical Engineering, Klaus pursued a career in development, product management, international sales, and general management for control system products at BBC (later ABB). Since 2003, Klaus has consulted suppliers and end users of automation products in areas of efficiency and strategy. He is a member of the GMA committee 5.22 "Security".

Dr. Christian Kösters
Project Manager Production Planning, Bayer Technology Services
Since 2006, Christian has been with Bayer Technology Services in Leverkusen within the Supply Chain and Logistics division. He manages production and logistic process optimization projects for Bayer customers as well as other companies. Previously, Christian worked as a scientific assistant for the Heinz Nixdorf Institute and for the Fraunhofer Anwendungszentrum für Logistikorientierte Betriebswirtschaft. His key activities were research for and implementation of production planning and logistic concepts. The scope of his dissertation was the development of an ontology based model to describe production processes.

Erwin Kruschitz
Managing Director, anapur
Currently, Erwin is in charge of GMP and IT-Security Assessments and is the managing director of anapur. He has been working in the field of control systems and IT for 20 years. After starting as an automation engineer, he led a software integration department responsible for batch, process information management, and data integration. Since 2001 he has been involved in the design of management systems such as quality management, information security management, and functional safety management. He has attended audits and has led several assessments himself, some of them in cooperation with the TÜV (German technical inspection authority).

Dr. Norbert Kuschnerus
Head of Process Management Technology Division, Bayer Technology Services
Joining Bayer in 1985, Norbert worked in various departments as a process control systems engineer and a plant engineer. He was head of the Central Engineering group at Bayer in Japan from 1992 to 1995 and worked from 1995 to 2001 in the Engineering department of the Polyurethanes business unit in Germany for projects in Brazil, USA, Japan, Singapore, and China. Since 2002 Norbert has lead the Division of Process Management Technology at Bayer Technology Services. He is President of NAMUR, board-member of PROLIST International, co-editor of atp, and member of the advisory board for the INTERKAMA.

Jonathan Luse
Director of Marketing, Low Power Embedded Products Division, Intel
Jonathan is responsible for the growth of Intel’s embedded business using the Intel Atom™ processor and other low power products. His organization establishes global marketing strategies for future silicon and software product directions, directly supporting market segments such as Print Imaging, Industrial, Residential Gateways, and Digital Security and Surveillance. He has published several technical papers on applying adaptive neural networks in control systems in the mining industry.

Thomas Menze
Managing Director, MTL
Thomas began his career in the areas of development and marketing for several process automation companies. In 1998 he joined MTL Instruments in Kaarst, Germany, as Key Account Manager. Since 2000 Thomas has been Managing Director of MTL Instruments, responsible for sales and marketing in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Dr. Jochen Müller
Product Manager PROFIBUS, Endress+Hauser Process Solutions
Since 1991, Jochen has worked for end users as well as manufacturers in the chemical industry. His standardization activities include working groups of VDMA, NAMUR, and PROFIBUS International. Within Endress+Hauser Process Solutions he is product manager for PROFIBUS. His expertise is in process control engineering for plant asset management applications and fieldbus systems in the process industry.

Dr. Thomas Müller-Heinzerling
Manager Technical Concepts and Support, Siemens
Thomas joined the Industrial Automation Group of Siemens AG in 1985. After being responsible for various components of Siemens‘ distributed control system, he specialized on subjects linking DCS to superordinate systems, including automation of batch processes (as a voting member of ISA SP88), connecting to ERP systems (like SAP), exchange of engineering data, and plant asset management. In this function he leads an interdisciplinary project to extend the conventional (automation component centered) plant asset management to 'real' plant components like pumps, heat exchangers, filters, compressors, etc.

Dr. Stefan Ochs
Head of Innovative Process Control Group, Bayer Technology Services
Stefan joined Bayer in 1998 as a process control engineer. As lead engineer he was responsible for E&I in engineering projects. In 2004 he moved to the BTS regional office in Baytown (USA) where he worked in process optimization and process control projects. Since 2008 he has been head of the Innovative Process Control group within Bayer Technology Services GmbH in Leverkusen.

Rolf Panzke
Director Marketing Sensors and Communication, Siemens
Rolf manages global market development for Siemens Sensors and Communication in the chemical/petrochemical, oil & gas, and shipbuilding industries. As a specialist in products for these applications, he consults with industry officials and plant operators to gather input on global trends and to coordinate development of Siemens’ portfolio of Sensors and Communication to meet customer needs. He first joined Milltronics in Peterborough, Canada, as General Manager for Microwave Technologies (Radar). After the acquisition of Milltronics by Siemens, he was appointed Director, Marketing Process Instrumentation Technologies and Industry Director for Chemical Industries. Rolf has many years of experience in industrial process industries, including assignments as General Manager, Level Technologies with Krohne Measurement Technologies, and R&D Manager at Eastman Christensen.

Michael Pelz
EMR Plant Engineer, Clariant Produkte
Michael is responsible for EMR at Clariant Produkte (Deutschland) GmbH and is the focal point for fieldbus technology within the Pigments & Additives Divison of Clariant. He is Chairman of the NAMUR Working Group 2.6 Fieldbus, Leader of the PROLIST Working Group Fieldbus Technology, and member of the IGR (Interessengemeinschaft Regelwerke Technik) Working Group Fieldbus.

Alexander Riek
Industry Segment Manager Biotech/Pharma, Festo
Alexander joined Festo in 1997. After years working as a product manager he is now responsible for the global Biotech/Pharma business within Festo. Having a strong background in factory automation, Alexander is always building the bridge between process and factory automation and identifies the synergies for such hybrid industries.

Dietmar Rohlf
Regional Business Manager CER, New & Embedded Business, Intel Deutschland
Dietmar has twenty years of experience in the IT industry. He has been in his current position since September 2008. He is responsible for the German businesses Automotive, Automation/Embedded, and Public & Healthcare. Dietmar joined Intel in 2001 and previously served the company as Manager of the business units Enterprise as well as Retail & Telecommunication. Prior to working for Intel, Dietmar held positions with GE Compunet and DNS/Sun Microsystems.

Dr. Eckhard Roos
Head of Business Center Process Automation, Festo
Eckhard began his career in the corporate engineering department of Hoechst AG in Germany from 1987 to 1994. In 1995 he joined ABB in Germany and was responsible for the Business Unit Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Petrochemical, Consumer and Analytics covering process automation solutions. From June 2006 he has been head of the Business Center Process Automation of Festo in Esslingen, where he is responsible for all segments of the process industry business.

Olaf Schilperoort
Product Manager, Hirschmann Automation and Control
Olaf is in charge of wireless products within the industrial ethernet product portfolio of Hirschmann Automation and Control. He has been involved in the development and product management of wireless LAN products since the start-up of the technology in 1997.

Dr. Lothar Schuh
Senior Consultant Business Development, ABB
Lothar is responsible for energy consulting within ABB Automation. He started his assignment at ABB Research in 1989. He managed global projects, such as aluminum smelters, refinery technology, fuel cells, and more. From 2003 his work focused on optimizing maintenance and lifecycle aspects within production sites. Since 2007 Lothar has managed energy consulting business development and has coordinated related projects.

Stephan Schultz
Product Manager Automation, R.STAHL Schaltgeräte
Stephan holds the position of a Product Manager in the Instrumentation division of R. STAHL Schaltgeräte. He began his career with the company Wandel&Goltermann, a leading supplier of telecommunication test equipment. He started in product management as an instructor for customers and sales before he became product manager for SDH/SONET test equipment. Stephan has been working with R. STAHL since 2004, starting with the responsibility for safety barrier and isolator products. As a part of this role he has achieved in-depth knowledge about intrinsic safety as well as functional safety.

Martin Schwibach
Senior Automation Manager Industrial Communication, BASF
Chairman, NAMUR Working Group 4.15 Wirless Automation
Martin has been with BASF for 20 years. He is responsible for the technical expertise and services of industrial communication technologies at BASF, mainly for the Ludwigshafen site. This includes networked automations systems, wireless automation and radio systems, camera systems, public adresss systems, and fire and gas panels. Martin began his career as a control engineer, and gained experinces with fieldbus technology, manufacturing execution systems, and performance management applications. Within NAMUR he is responsible for wireless automation.

Werner Setzwein
Vice President Automation & Electrical Engineering, BASF
Werner has been with BASF for 22 years. He is responsible for the technical expertise of automation and electrical engineering for BASF projects worldwide. This includes all areas of process control, automation technology, process analytical technology, field device technologies, and electrical technologies. Werner began his business career as a design engineer, commissioning engineer, and construction manager for power plants. He has over 30 years of experience in project engineering and project execution.

James Swanson
Senior Technologist, Systems and Process Control Discipline Lead, Hatch
Based in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, James is a senior technologist with Hatch, and has been specializing in industiral communications and controls for over 13 years, with a focus in the mining and mineral processing industry. In recent years, James has focused his efforts in supporting Hatch’s worldwide clients in design and deployment of the latest advanced technology for underground communications, control, and safety systems.

Dr. Alex van Delft
Competence Manager Process Control, Royal DSM
Alex worked in DSM in different manufacturing roles. He was program manager for the reorganization of the central engineering department and was involved in outsourcing and insourcing of activities in this area. Currently he is responsible for global process control in DSM. The main activities of his group include competence management, opportunity surveys and project support, choice of tools and suppliers, and improving the skills of the people in the competence. As part of a company-wide Advanced Manufacturing Program, process control is now being rolled out with increasing speed.

Ignace Verhamme
System Consultants Manager EMEA, Honeywell Process Solutions
After working as a process engineer at the Esso Antwerp refinery for three years, Ignace joined Honeywell in 1992 as an application engineer. During his career with Honeywell he held several positions in project management, technical assistance, and marketing before making a move to Tyco in 2001. Ignace returned to Honeywell in 2007 where he now manages a team of solution consultants responsible for consultancy on, and demonstration of, the Honeywell control systems.

Jan Versteeg
Senior Process Control Engineer, Competence Centre Manufacturing, SABIC Europe
Jan joined DSM in 1986 and has had various positions in process control, engineering management, plant staff, and production management. He went to SABIC Europe after DSM sold its petrochemical activities to Sabic. He now works in the Competence Centre Manufacturing of the Geleen Site in the discipline team Plant Automation. This discipline-team focuses on plant automation for olefins, polymers, and special compounding. Current topics are advanced process control, optimization of supply and the logistical chain, application of manufacturing execution systems, and SAP-ERP integration.

Hartmut Wallraf
CTO EMEA & VP EMEA, Invensys Process Systems
Chairman, FDT Group
Hartmut has more than 30 years of experience in process engineering for the refining, petrochemical, chemical, pharmaceutical, and power industries. After serving Bayer for five years as Engineer und Project Manager for chemical plant engineering, Hartmut joined Invensys Foxboro. During his 29-year career at Invensys, he has held positions as Project Manager, Service & Engineering Manager, Sales & Marketing Manager, Director of various Invensys businesses in Germany, VP of RD&E for system products from Foxboro in Massachusetts as well as European Engineering & Service Director. Within the EMEA Management of Invensys Process Systems he is responsible for technology and VP of Enterprise Clients. Hartmut is also chairman of the Board of the FDT Group.

Anjo Wiegerinck
Industrial Automation Marketing Manager, Yokogawa
Anjo has been in his current position since 2007. He is responsible for the total IA portfolio, including Systems (DCS, SCADA, SAFETY), MES (APC and others), and Field instrumentation for Europe/Africa. More recently, he served the company as BU Manager for Systems, taking care of business development and product marketing in MES and DCS, integration of software/hardware platforms to solutions for the industry, as well as integrated safety systems and asset management. Prior to that he worked for Emerson Process Management in Europe for five years as Consultant Services in the areas of development/sales/consulting services for optimization in Europe, Asset Management, Fieldbus Foundation, and APC.