Speakers & Chairmen

Bin Chen, PhD. D. is dedicated to the research of fire safety technology for new energy vehicles, achieving several industry firsts and forming systematic research results including equipment, standards and basic research. He developed the industry's first "integrated test platform for multi-source data fusion of new energy vehicle fires", formulated the industry's first "Electric Vehicle Fire Safety Test Methods" standard, developed the industry's first "China Electric Vehicle Fire Safety Index", and set up the industry's leading fire prevention, control and investigation system for new energy vehicles. He established the industry-leading new energy vehicle fire prevention system of "prevention, control and investigation". Dr. Bin presided over/participated in more than 10 scientific research projects at national, provincial and ministerial levels, applied for more than 10 patents and software copyrights, and published more than 20 SCI/EI papers.

Albert Burgstaller is a seasoned professional in the field of battery technology and e-mobility, with over 15 years of experience in high-voltage battery development, testing, and integration. He has led international teams across the full product lifecycle—from requirements engineering and supplier management to validation, cost optimization, and innovation strategy. His expertise spans electric vehicle battery systems, component testing, charging infrastructure, and cross-functional leadership. With a strong focus on delivering competitive, future-ready energy solutions, he brings deep technical insight and industry perspective to the stage.

Holding a PhD in Materials Science and Electrochemistry on Li-ion batteries from the University of Picardie Jules Verne, Aurélie Débart spent several years as a Research Fellow at the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland, leading advanced R&D initiatives on Li-Air battery technologies. In 2008, she joined Renault Group to spearhead the development of traction batteries and contribute to international standards organizations focused on lithium battery technologies for automotive applications. Since 2015, Aurélie has been responsible for Traction Battery Safety and Homologation, overseeing the entire lifecycle from cell design and module integration to full battery pack deployment in electric and hybrid vehicles. Her mission has been to ensure robust safety protocols for users and stakeholders throughout the vehicle and battery lifespan. Aurélie currently serves as Traction Battery Safety Expert within Renault Group. Two years ago, she joined AMPERE, Renault’s electric vehicle division.

David Fernandez has a wide engineering knowledge and extensive experience with high performance batteries, from design concept to manufacturing and validation. Joined the regulatory team in DEKRA TC Spain for the implementation of new services in the batteries field. His main focus is the EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542.

Philipp Kempf studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Aschaffenburg. During his Master Thesis, he worked as a Project Engineer at the Laboratory for Power Electronics, where he was responsible for High Current Testing. At Joyson Safety Systems, he now serves as VEFK (responsible electrical specialist) for the High Current Testbench. His responsibilities include compliance with safety regulations, development of testing methods, standardization, and the implementation of new test procedures.

Dr. Frank Kindermann is leading NIO’s Battery System development in Europe out of Munich, Germany. He and his team in Europe cover a range of activities from software development to technology scouting. While the main focus is on battery monitoring and function development for the battery management system (on-board as well as in the cloud), he and his team also address hardware topics from cell analysis to recycling. Frank has a background in electrical engineering from Technical University of Munich, where he spent his entire academic career. Prior to joining NIO, Frank was working in cell development and application at a German premium OEM. His focus on batteries started more than 14 years ago.

After studying mechanical engineering at FH-Amberg-Weiden Filip Klug joined DEKRA at the Automobil Test Center as a vehicle engineer. While still a student, he worked for 13 years as a technical scrutineer in motorsport racing series such as Formula 3 and the DTM. In his first years at DEKRA he attained the status of an official authorized expert for the technical service in the fields of whole vehicle, passive and active safety as well as emissions and powertrain. After building up a DEKRA homologation team in Munich he became responsible as Head of Technical Sales for the Automobil Test Center. Since 2023 he is heading the department Support Functions and being promoted to Deputy Manager of the Automobil Test Center overseeing technical sales, business development and management as well as coordinating the global market access.

Kim Kreisköther studied chemistry at Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany and specialized in materials and nanotechnology in her Master's degree. During her doctoral research, she focused on electrode materials and took over the leadership of the electrochemistry group. Kim Kreisköther worked from 2018 to 2021 at the institute for Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components at the RWTH Aachen University, where she headed the Battery Components & Recycling group. Since January 2022, she is part of the battery expert team at Henkel and is responsible for innovation in the area of safety-relevant solutions for battery systems.

Jan Krewinkel studied psychology at the University of Tübingen. The entry into the automotive industry took place at Daimler AG in 2012 with the focus on the development of safety-relevant control and display concepts for various vehicle model series. Since 2019, he has been working in the area of passive safety with the aim of further developing the topic of occupant and environmental protection in the event of thermal runaway and thermal propagation events. The focus of the team is on a holistic view of the vehicle and the possible effect of corresponding events.

Mathias Kunz obtained a PhD in Physics in 1996. After working as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company with a focus on innovation management and business development, he has lead several innovative start-up companies. A consultant role at DLR German Aerospace Center resulted in the spin-off of WPX Faserkeramik GmbH, which he has been managing since 2014. His focus is on customer driven product development, customer relations, and strategic positioning of WPX.

Dr. Malte Alexander Kurfiss is head of the crash test center at the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics, EMI. He studied physics in Saarbruecken and Hamburg where he graduated in the research group of nano-structured physics. After graduating he worked as a scientist at the Institute of Applied Physics, Hamburg, and gained his doctorate in the field of semiconductor and thin film physics. In 2006 Dr. Kurfiss joined the YXLON International GmbH as product manager responsible for X-ray sources and generators. After three years, he specialized on the field of computed tomography. In 2011 he was made director of the product marketing department within the same company. Before moving back to the research field at the Fraunhofer Institute in 2015, he took over the position as director for product management, marketing and business development departments at the Allied Visions GmbH, a company specialized in developing and producing industrial camera systems. Most prominent scope of his work being head of the crash test center at the EMI, is the X-ray Car Crash X-CC aiming for high speed crash data of internal structures. The crash test center of the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics, EMI, is located in Efringen-Kirchen nearby the Swiss border.

Natalia Lebedeva holds a PhD degree in chemistry from the Technical University of Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Thereafter she joined Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands to do research on fuel cells and led projects on corrosion and corrosion protection at the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research. For the last 10 years she works at the batteries group of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, where she currently leads a research team focusing on battery safety.

Lukas is the Co-Founder of Sphere Energy, combining expertise in battery science and advanced software technologies. At Sphere, he leads the development of AI-based simulation tools for battery state-of-health prediction.

Yogesh is a Senior Application Engineer at Gamma Technologies, based in Stuttgart, Germany. With nearly four years at GT, he specializes in simulation-driven product development, machine learning integration, and application engineering for complex systems. Yogesh holds a Master’s degree in Computer Aided Mechanical Engineering from RWTH Aachen University.

Ammar Nemat is a sustainability professional with two years at DEKRA, where he serves as a Sustainability Service Manager in the Sustainability Division. With an MBA in Sustainability from Technical University of Berlin, Ammar focuses on driving DEKRA's vision of becoming a global leader in sustainability by developing customer-centric solutions and expanding DEKRA's Sustainability Services. His goal is to make certification a core business asset, ensuring both environmental responsibility and market leadership.

Christoph Neumann has an aviation background. Being part of the Rocket Test® story from day one, he became the CEO and co-founder of AMTAS in 2023. Together with a team of experienced engineers, he pursues the continuous improvement of the Rocket Test® in terms of available parameter sets, data acquisition and available testing capacities.

Belén Pose Suárez holds a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering and an MBA in Engineering Management. She has over seven years of experience delivering large-scale energy and infrastructure projects across Europe. For more than three years, she has worked as Power Infrastructure Design & Construction Engineer at Nio Deutschland GmbH, where she leads the planning, deployment, and standardization of battery swap station infrastructure. Her work focuses on innovative construction methods, regulatory compliance, and the development of safety frameworks across multiple European markets.

Oliver Roser studied Mechanical Engineering at the Cooperative State University Baden-Wuerttemberg. He spent several years in thermal process development and plant engineering within the automotive supply industry. Since 2019, he has been leading R&D projects at the Center for Thermal Management (ZFW) in Stuttgart. His work focuses on industrial research projects involving advanced materials and innovative thermal analysis techniques for thermal management in electronics and e-mobility applications. Alongside his professional work, he is pursuing a PhD in Physics, with a research focus on heat conduction in thermal interface materials.

Benjamin Schaufelberger has a master in Computational Mechanics of Materials and Structures from the University of Stuttgart. After graduation, he became a research fellow at Fraunhofer EMI. His professional expertise lies in the field of modeling and simulation of engineering structures under highly dynamic loading like blast, impact and crash. Within the last years, developing and improving models in the context of battery safety has become his major field of research.

Arjan studied mechanical engineering at the Twente University of Technology in the Netherlands before he joined AUDI AG in 2003. He is a CAE specialist with a focus on new technologies, concepts and basic vehicle architectures. Since 2016 he is engineering HV-Systems including safety aspects with respect to thermal runaway and thermal propagation.

After studying general engineering at the TUHH Hamburg, Ms. von Appen holds several positions in the development of electrode films and prototype cells in Itzehoe. Ms. von Appen then held various positions in the field of stationary storage and managed various projects. Since April 2024, Ms. von Appen has been part of the support functions at the DEKRA Automobile Test Center and is responsible for technical sales for the new Battery Test Center.