HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan

President of WAITRO, President of the Royal Scientific Society, UNESCO Special Envoy for Science for Peace

Keynote Speaker at the Opening Ceremony

HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan is a leading advocate for science as a catalyst for change. She is a dedicated science enabler in the Arab World, where so many challenges urgently need science-based solutions. The Princess has worked for more than a decade to help foster an environment in which home-grown solutions may be found for pressing issues facing Jordan and the region.

Dr. Bismark Tyobeka

Vice Chancellor, North-West University

Keynote Speaker at the Opening Ceremony

Chief Accounting Officer responsible for the execution of the University’s core business, namely, teaching and learning, research and innovation, as well as community engagement. The North-West University is the third largest university in South Africa and is ranked amongst the top seven universities in the country.

Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar

Former President of Indian National Science Academy and of Global Research Alliance

Keynote Speaker at the Opening Ceremony

Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar is known for his own world class scientific research, transformative science, and innovation institution leadership, pioneering different Indian movements ranging from traditional knowledge protection to creation of strong yet balanced IPR systems, to inclusive innovation movement based on the concept of Gandhian Engineering that he pioneered. He has been an influential thought leader in shaping Science, Technology & Innovation policies in post liberalized India.

M.Sc. Nienke Buismann

Head of Unit for International Cooperation, Directorate General Research and Innovation, European Commission

Keynote Speaker at the Opening Ceremony

Deputy Director Global Approach and International Cooperation in Research and Innovation since 2021 and Head of Unit International Cooperation Policy in the European Commission, Directorate-General Research & Innovation since 2019. Nienke Buismann is in charge of developing and implementing the ‘Global Approach to Research and Innovation’, Europe’s strategy for international cooperation, specifically focusing on Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean, the Middle East as well as science diplomacy.

Dr. Victor Konde

Scientific Affairs Officer, TCCNRMD-Green Economy Innovations & Technologies Section, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)

Keynote Speaker at the Roundtable on SDG 17: How can WAITRO contribute to revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development

Victor Konde is the founder of the African Technology Development Forum (ATDF, Geneva/Switzerland) and a Fellow of the World Academy of Arts and Science. He has developed and managed various institutional and country programs and seeded and overseen the development of firms. His current areas of interest include promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship policies and strategies, intellectual asset management, and the development of business models, especially for the youth.

Mamati Tembe

Head of Public Affairs Science and Sustainability, Africa, Bayer AG

Keynote Speaker at the Roundtable on SDG 17: How can WAITRO contribute to revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development

Mamati Tembe has over 22 years international experience in agribusiness, food systems, public affairs, sustainability and general management; in both private and public sectors. Spent the first decade of career working extensively with farmers in the field, as agronomist, worked in marketing, as well as market development facilitating commercialization and access of high technology products (crop protection, seed and biotechnology traits) to farmers. As consultant, worked with several organizations engaged in food systems or using agricultural products as raw materials, provided business and technical advice on agriculture, biotechnology and biosafety.

Prof. Eugene Cloete

Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Studies, Stellenbosch University

Keynote Speaker at the Opening Ceremony

Microbiologist and water expert Prof. Eugene Cloete has been the Deputy Vice Chancellor: Research, Innovation and postgraduate studies at Stellenbosch University for the past ten years. During his tenure as DvC, Stellenbosch University became internationally recognised as a leading research-intensive university. Before taking up this position in September 2012, Prof. Cloete served as the Dean of the Faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University.

Saijil Singh

Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute

Presenter at the Workshop: Enabling Small-scale Spare-parts Production in Developing Countries

Prof. Khaled M. Ibrahim

Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute

Presenter at the Workshop: Enabling Small-scale Spare-parts Production in Developing Countries

Jean-Marc Champagne

Founder and Director Seneca Impact Advisors

Moderator at the Panel Discussion on Financing Innovative Solutions for The SDGs

Graduated from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, Jean-Marc spent 7 years at WWF as the head of Bankable Nature Solutions for the Asia-Pacific region. In his role, he incubated and developed scalable bankable projects with positive environmental and social impact. He also co-established the Climate Impact Asia Fund, a long-only equity fund, and sits on its investment advisory committee. Jean-Marc recently established Seneca Impact Advisors, a firm which focuses on developing innovative financial solutions for scalable nature-based projects.

Dirk Saseta Krieg

Director General, Area of Promotion & Management, Leitat Technological Center

Moderator at the Roundtable on SDG 17: How can WAITRO contribute to revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development

Dirk Saseta Krieg has 17 years’ experience track record working in public and private RTOs. He worked as project manager at the Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute from the New Jersey State Government. Since 2009 he joined Leitat as Project Manager in the environmental technologies and renewal energies areas, and in 2013 he was named Director for international affairs.

Prof. Nnenesi Kgabi

Director Research Support, North-West University

Panelist at the Roundtable on SDG 17: How can WAITRO contribute to revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development

Nnenesi Kgabi is an Extraordinary Professor in the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management at the NWU; and Affiliated Professor in the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State (UFS). Previously served as UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Water Research for Climate Adaptation in Arid Environments, Programme Coordinator, Deputy Dean and Acting Dean at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST).

David Tveit

EVP, Energy and Climate Division, Danish Technological Institute

Panelist at the Roundtable on SDG 17: How can WAITRO contribute to revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development

Executive Vice President at the Danish Technological Institute (DTI). David has considerable leadership and management experience in Research and Technology Organizations (RTOs), as well as a background in energy. He is in charge of the Energy & Climate division, which is a major player in implementing Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Smart Grid technologies in Denmark.

Dr. Hussam Hussein

Executive Director Partnerships, Royal Scientific Society

Panelist at the Roundtable on SDG 17: How can WAITRO contribute to revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development

Dr. Hussam Hussein is the Executive Director of Partnerships for Development of the Royal Scientific Society (RSS) of Jordan. In this capacity, he is responsible for National Outreach – building partnerships with local stakeholders, governmental agencies, embassies, donors, and civil society – and International Science Relations – building relations and cooperation with international partners.

Jaime Arboleda Palacio

Deputy Director, Centro de Ciencia y Tecnología de Antioquia

Panelist at the Roundtable on SDG 17: How can WAITRO contribute to revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development

Jaime Arboleda Palacio is manager of the Center’s Innovation and Productivity branch, author and co-author of several publications on productivity, technology and innovation, some of them, published by the CTA Publishing House.

Dr. Paul Burrows

Vice President Overseas Cooperation, Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute

Panelist at the Roundtable on SDG 17: How can WAITRO contribute to revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development

Keiron Brand

Bankable Nature Solutions Advisor at WWF-Netherlands; African Regional Lead for the Dutch Fund for Climate Development

Keynote Speaker at the Panel Discussion on Financing Innovative Solutions for The SDGs

Keiron Brand joined WWF in 2018 to focus on engaging financial institutions on water and climate, and on developing Bankable Nature Solutions in the Freshwater space. He is currently the WWF Regional Lead for Dutch Fund for Climate and Development, which enables private sector investment in projects aimed at climate adaptation and mitigation in developing countries.

Andrew Da Costa

Private Equity Specialist

Panelist at the Panel Discussion on Financing Innovative Solutions for The SDGs

Andrew da Costa has 15 years of investment experience of which the last 10 years have been in Private Equity. Andrew started his career in Private Equity at Capital works, one of South Africa’s premier private equity firms.

Laura Eck

Consultant at WWF focusing on NbS; Prior Strategy Consultant at McKinsey

Panelist at the Panel Discussion on Financing Innovative Solutions for The SDGs

As a consultant for WWF’s Blue Heart of Africa initiative, Laura leads the Nature-based Solutions (NbS) hub aiming to originate and implement opportunities for large-scale NbS across Africa. Currently, her work centers around solving 4 pressing climate change challenges in South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, and Tunisia as well as creating a NbS incubator to better finance and scale these solutions.

Fungai Musana

Corporate Engagement Manager, WWF

Panelist at the Panel Discussion on Financing Innovative Solutions for The SDGs

Fungai Musana is a dual infrastructure and climate finance/investment professional with over 10 years of transaction advisory experience. He is currently working as the Green Finance Lead at WWF Zambia. Financial and investment structuring, economic/financial analysis and modelling, programme management and advisory, feasibility studies, due diligence, and successful financial close and post-financial close implementation are all part of his expertise.

Wesley Okeke

CEO CUBIO Innovation Center, CEO Headway Idea Labs

Panelist at the Panel Discussion on Financing Innovative Solutions for The SDGs

Wesley’s key strengths are focused in the areas of Business and Technology Strategy with global initiatives. With a degree in engineering and computer science, Wesley has a deep understanding of the foundations of technology. He supported 3 global divisions in the areas of marketing and product development for Asia, Europe and The Americas.

Andreas Kleinn

Lecturer, EnTechnon/KIT

Moderator at the Workshop: From R&D to Commercialization – A Focus on Entering International Markets

Andreas Kleinn is researching about international entrepreneurship and gives seminars on technology entrepreneurship. He established a successful venture in China and is advising German and Chinese companies on market entry and sales strategies. In the scope of his work at KIT and JCI he promotes international cooperation and collaboration.

Joy Owango

Executive Director, Training Centre in Communication

Presenter at the Workshop: Traditional and Innovative Government Funding for Sustainable International Cooperation – Potential, Pitfalls and Strategies

Joy Owango is an experienced award-winning Founding Director of the Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa), and award-winning Trust registered in Kenya set up in 2006 and is the first African-based training centre to teach effective communication skills to scientists.

Joseph Njogu

Chief Executive Officer, Research Beeline

Presenter at the Workshop: Traditional and Innovative Government Funding for Sustainable International Cooperation – Potential, Pitfalls and Strategies

Joseph Njogu is a co-founder and current Chief Executive Officer of Research Beeline Ltd, an African based social enterprise that supports researchers, research institutes and Universities in Africa with research funding information across all areas of research.

Julia Wiethüchter

Program Manager, WAITRO Office Germany, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft

Presenter at the Workshop: Traditional and Innovative Government Funding for Sustainable International Cooperation – Potential, Pitfalls and Strategies

Julia Wiethüchter has been working for Fraunhofer and WAITRO since 2018. Since 2020 she is working on her doctoral thesis on “We are all in this together – The role of funding regulations for equitable international collaborative research projects for sustainable development” as part of the graduate school on science management and science communication, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education

Roger Short

Former Senior Advisor to the South African Department of Water and Sanitation related to implementing IWRM (the Water Act)

Presenter at the Workshop: Project Cycle Management/Results Based Management – A Focus on Monitoring and Evaluation in the Context of the Inter-Connectivity of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Rights Based Approach. A South African Case Study.

Roger Short was the WAITRO Secretary-General from 1988-1991 when the Secretariat was based at the Jutland Institute of Technology. Since then, he has been, among others, the Construction Industry Expert for the UN International Labour Office, a senior consultant for the European Commission for country and project programming and evaluations in the former Soviet Union, Caribbean and various African countries.

Tshiamo Matabane

Clinical Psychologist, Former worker of the Department of Water Sanitation (DWS)

Presenter at the Workshop: Project Cycle Management/Results Based Management – A Focus on Monitoring and Evaluation in the Context of the Inter-Connectivity of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Rights Based Approach. A South African Case Study.

Tshiamo Matabane is currently working within the health sector providing advocacy for mental health for all while also providing mental health services. Her passion for community development, policy development, research, empowerment through engagement, support and participation were nurtured while working for the then Department of Water Affairs. Engaging communities through the Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM), Catchment Management Agencies (CMA’s) and Water Boards provided a rich platform to ensure the implementation of the National Water Act 36 of 1998 and to meet global environmental goals.

Knud Erik Hilding-Hamann

Senior Specialist, Danish Technological Institute

Presenter at the Workshop: Benchmarking to Identify Best RTO Management Practices

Knud Erik has been with DTI for almost 25 years and has held management positions before turning his focus on innovation and sustainability R&D and advisory services. He has previously on behalf of WAITRO conducted workshops, webinars and benchmarking of RTO SME innovation services and has been part of the team developing the WAITRO benchmarking system.

Chuqiao Dong

Project Support, WAITRO Office China, Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute

Presenter at the Workshop: Benchmarking to Identify Best RTO Management Practices

Dr. Jo Barnes

Senior Lecturer Emeritus, Department of Global Health, Stellenbosch University

Presenter at the Workshop: SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing – A Convenient Motivation or a Neglected Outcome Assessment?

Dr. Jo Barnes is an epidemiologist with a PhD in Community Health. She has extensive experience in research on the health impact and further consequences of pollution from failing sanitation in urban areas and pollution reaching rivers arising from using the water for drinking and irrigation of edible crops and livestock.

Prof. Emad Ewais

President, Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute

Presenter at the Workshop: Enabling Small-scale Spare-parts Production in Developing Countries

Dr. Emad Ewais is the Secretary-General of the Arab Association of Materials Science and Nanotechnology (AAMSN). His association was awarded the best scientific association for the year 2020. He was appointed as a member of the Board of Directors of the Alexandria Co. for Refractories (ACR), then as non-executive chairman. He has been appointed as a member of the Board of Directors of the General Co. for Ceramic and Porcelain Products (SHEENI).

Dirk Lehmann

Pitch Coach & Innovation Advisor

Presenter at the Workshops: The Networking Pitch & The Project Pitch

Over 10 years in corporate roles as well as the startup ecosystem taught Dirk Lehmann the importance and winning secrets of great pitches the hard way – so you don’t have to do it yourself. At the beginning of his corporate career, Dirk often failed to get support and enrollment for his ideas. After many years of coaching, research, and hard lessons on stage, he mastered the skill of pitching himself. Today, he shares all his learnings with hundreds of founders and executives every year, so you will get the results you want from your pitch right away.

Dr. Sandi Darniadi

Researcher, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN)

Moderator of the Kick-off Session: Working Group on SDG 2

Dr. Sandi Darniadi works as an associate researcher at the Research Center for Appropriate Technology (RCAT)-BRIN. Food processing and food product development are his primary research interests. He earned his doctoral degree in food science and nutrition from the University of Leeds, England. He spent seven years working for the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research and Development Agency before joining RCAT-BRIN.

Dr. Ursula Schließmann

Head of Business Field Environment and Climate Protection and Vice Director of Fraunhofer Innovation Platform for the Water-Energy-Food Nexus

Moderator of the Kick-off Session: Working Group on SDG 6

Dr. Ursula Schließmann has been at Fraunhofer IGB for almost 30 years and is currently head of the Business Unit Environment and Climate Protection. Her scientific work focuses on the development of new processes for wastewater treatment, recycling of nutrients, wastewater and biowaste as a resource especially in the urban context, and research on water at the interface with energy issues and agriculture.

Dr. Almoayied Assayed

Director Water and Environment Centre, Royal Scientific Society

Moderator of the Kick-off Session: Working Group on SDG 6

Dr. Almoayied Assayed has more than 20 years’ experience in water management, water resilience, climate change, water and food nexus, sustainable and green solutions. He is currently leading a total of $1.5Million donor-funded research projects, focusing on water innovative technologies, safe and sustainable wastewater reuse, and circular economy.

Prof. Daniel Ayuk Mbi Egbe

Chairperson, African Network for Solar Energy e.V., Jena Germany & Johannes Kepler University Linz

Moderator of the Kick-off Session: Working Group on SDG 7

Prof. Daniel Ayuk Mbi Egbe is an organic chemist whose research focus is the design of semiconducting materials for organic solar cells and other optoelectronic applications. He has published more than 130 peer-reviewed articles (H-index 37) and has co-organized more than 35 scientific events worldwide.

Prof. Ashmore Mawire

Director of Material Science Innovation and Modelling, North-West University

Moderator of the Kick-off Session: Working Group on SDG 7

Prof. Ashmore Mawire is the principal researcher in the solar thermal group of the Material Science Innovation and Modelling (MASIM) focus area. His research interests include electronic instrumentation, renewable energy systems, heat transfer, solar cookers, and solar thermal energy storage technology.

James Devitt

Head of Corporate Policy (Research and Innovation), University of Huddersfield

Moderator of the Kick-off Session: Working Group on SDG 17

Head of Corporate Policy for Research, Innovation and Knowledge Exchange at the University of Huddersfield. James is responsible for providing strategic insights and intelligence relating to the development of the University’s areas of specialist research interests and the development of strategic research partnerships between industry and academia.

Dr. Colin Venters

Reader in Software Engineering, University of Huddersfield

Moderator of the Kick-off Session: Working Group on SDG 17

Dr. Colin Venters is a founding member of the Sustainability Design Alliance and co-author of the Karlskrona Manifesto for Sustainability Design. In addition, he is also a software engineer at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) associated with the ATLAS experiment; the largest general-purpose particle detector experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

Marcelo Prim

Executive Representative of SENAI in Europe, Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial

Moderator of the Kick-off Session: Working Group on SDG 17

Marcelo has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Santa Catarina and a master’s degree in Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering from the Aeronautical Technological Institute. He is currently a PhD student at ITA. He is also a visiting researcher at the Fraunhofer IPK Institute in Berlin.