Conference Agenda

Will is CEO of Siemens Mobility Limited, having originally joined the business in 2013.  A former Army Officer, Will’s broad senior management career spanning over 25 years has included roles at Invensys Rail, Alstom and GE Transportation as well as leading Siemens Mobility’s International Sales team in Spain. 

Will is committed to going further and faster to decarbonise our transport network and to creating jobs and growth whilst doing so.  Will is also a passionate advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

• Since Jan. 1, 2022: Managing Director NEUMAN & ESSER Deutschland GmbH & Co KG
• July 2019 – Dec. 2021: Managing Director Operations, NEUMAN & ESSER
• Born on Jan. 11, 1977 in Lennestadt, Germany, married, 4 children

• 1999 – 2003: Aerospace Engineering at the German Armed Forces University in Munich
• 2009 – 2012: MBA at the University for Economics and Management in Essen

• 1998 – 2011: German Armed Forces Limited Term Officers
• 2012 – 2014: Project Manager and Engineering Mentor NEA China at NEUMAN & ESSER Deutschland GmbH & Co KG
• 2014 – 2016: Area Sales Manager for the regions Germany and Sub Sahara Africa at NEUMAN & ESSER Deutschland GmbH & Co KG

Bart Van der Spiegel started in 1992 as engineer designing the power distribution for Belgian railways. Since 2005 focus has shifted towards the integration of an open energy market into an open railway market. He has been active on all European workgroups regarding the measuring of energy consumption on-board of trains and on the exchange of related data. He is member of Eress Steering Board and chairperson of the UIC Energy Efficiency and CO2 Sector. He is also active in field of Driving Advisory Systems, Automatic Train Operation, automating energy functions and charging of battery trains.

Technical manager at SNCF Voyageurs rolling stock engineering centre. In charge of the regional hybrid train and regional battery train projects. Technical referent for innovative powertrains.

Worked at Stellantis (ex PSA Group) on the development of hybrid and electric powertrains.

Marc-Andre Sahba is project manager for technology-driven strategic initiatives at Deutsche Bahn holding with a strong focus and commitment on alternative drive technologies. He is heading the joint funding project H2goesRail for DB playing a major role at Deutsche Bahn achieving climate-neutrality. Marc-Andre brings more than 12 years of railway sector experience. Prior to joining Deutsche Bahn in 2019 he worked for Bombardier Transportation both in rolling stock and service business.

Christian Pieper is a project manager for alternative drive & infrastructure H2goesRail at DB Energie. Christian has a focus on hydrogen infrastructure projects, alternative rail vehicle concepts, fuel cells and batterie systems. Christian brings more than 5 years of railway sector experience across DB Energie and DB Bahnbau Gruppe.

Alex is Director of Enterprise & Innovation at the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) at the University of Birmingham – the largest specialist railway research, education and innovation centre in Europe – responsible for commercial and enterprise activities, innovation projects and building partnerships and collaborations with the global rail industry.  He is the lead for enabling and introducing innovation into rail, which is his area of research interest as well as wider strategy and public policy in this field.  He is also the Thematic Lead for ‘Introducing Innovation’ in the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN) - a ground-breaking partnership between academia and the rail industry.  Before joining the University of Birmingham in 2018, Alex was Marketing & Strategy Director at Alstom UK & Ireland and has previously held senior roles at Atkins, the Transport Systems Catapult and Centro (the West Midlands Transport Authority).  Alex is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology and a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Logistics and Transport.

Helen Norman is the Editor of Electric & Hybrid Rail Technology - the sister publication of the Electric & Hybrid Rail Technology Online Conference. Helen has worked on the publication since its inception in early 2021. Prior to this she has edited several publications covering sustainable mobility and logistics, and has written numerous articles covering battery technology, hydrogen power, charging and refuelling, rail freight and the wider decarbonization of the rail sector.

Senthil is an experienced product manager with more than 20 years of experience in the railway sector and specializes in the fields of traction converters and energy storage systems for railway rolling stock. He is passionate about sustainable transport and works together with customers to realize energy-efficient traction solutions. Senthil holds a master's degree in electrical engineering from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, India and a Master of Advanced Studies degree in Management, Technology and Economics from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland.

Thomas is responsible for Product Management for the retrofit propulsion segment in ABB’s Traction Division and has been involved in various railway propulsion retrofit projects, e.g., ICE 1 for Deutsche Bahn and RE460 locomotives for Swiss Federal Railways. During his 15-year career at ABB, he worked in various positions in Research & Development for power electronics and railway propulsion. Thomas holds a master's degree in electrical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland.

Marc-Andre Sahba is project manager for technology-driven strategic initiatives at Deutsche Bahn holding with a strong focus and commitment on alternative drive technologies. He is heading the joint funding project H2goesRail for DB playing a major role at Deutsche Bahn achieving climate-neutrality. Marc-Andre brings more than 12 years of railway sector experience. Prior to joining Deutsche Bahn in 2019 he worked for Bombardier Transportation both in rolling stock and service business.

Christian Pieper is a project manager for alternative drive & infrastructure H2goesRail at DB Energie. Christian has a focus on hydrogen infrastructure projects, alternative rail vehicle concepts, fuel cells and batterie systems. Christian brings more than 5 years of railway sector experience across DB Energie and DB Bahnbau Gruppe.

Will is CEO of Siemens Mobility Limited, having originally joined the business in 2013.  A former Army Officer, Will’s broad senior management career spanning over 25 years has included roles at Invensys Rail, Alstom and GE Transportation as well as leading Siemens Mobility’s International Sales team in Spain. 

Will is committed to going further and faster to decarbonise our transport network and to creating jobs and growth whilst doing so.  Will is also a passionate advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Delivering technical engineering projects for Ricardo’s global customer base since 1998, Jonathan’s experience covers the design and development of both internal combustion engines and clean energy propulsion systems in rail. Initially working in analysis and simulation prior to a role as chief engineer in the Large & Industrial Propulsion team, he has been responsible for leading clean-sheet design and development programmes for OEMs in the automotive, rail, marine, power generation and industrial sectors.

As the Head of Commuter sales for Hitachi in the UK, i am in a privileged position to have oversight of global technology capabilities, looking at the advancements made in other sectors i am keen to ensure we align and adopt similar for rail.

Not being afraid to push industry norms, i am always willing to explore the art of the impossible. The rail industry is an exciting place to be and working at Hitachi is the perfect platform to influences these changes.

I am an experienced Business Development Manager and have to date proven my place in the rail industry. Skilled in People Management, Law, Training, Prince Practitioner, and i have an extensive background in policing. I have a Bachelor's degree focused on International/Global Studies from Birkbeck, University of London.

Senthil is an experienced product manager with more than 20 years of experience in the railway sector and specializes in the fields of traction converters and energy storage systems for railway rolling stock. He is passionate about sustainable transport and works together with customers to realize energy-efficient traction solutions. Senthil holds a master's degree in electrical engineering from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, India and a Master of Advanced Studies degree in Management, Technology and Economics from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland.

Thomas is responsible for Product Management for the retrofit propulsion segment in ABB’s Traction Division and has been involved in various railway propulsion retrofit projects, e.g., ICE 1 for Deutsche Bahn and RE460 locomotives for Swiss Federal Railways. During his 15-year career at ABB, he worked in various positions in Research & Development for power electronics and railway propulsion. Thomas holds a master's degree in electrical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland.

Sven is currently Corporate Procurement Coordinator for Rolling Stock at the ÖBB-Holding AG, having originally joined the ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways) in 2015. A former German Army Officer, Sven’s wide spread career includes management positions in quality, contract and project management in companies Thales, Siemens and ÖBB after he finished his mechanical engineer studies in Munich in the year 2001.

Besides being responsible for the specification of larger rolling stock projects in ÖBB, he is the leading product owner of the newly developed TCO CO2 method which enables ÖBB and all interested companies world wide to be able to evaluate carbon dioxide emission costs for goods and services and therefore be able to avoid them. Sven is eager to share his knowledge with any company interested in order to increase implementation speed thereof.

Delivering technical engineering projects for Ricardo’s global customer base since 1998, Jonathan’s experience covers the design and development of both internal combustion engines and clean energy propulsion systems in rail. Initially working in analysis and simulation prior to a role as chief engineer in the Large & Industrial Propulsion team, he has been responsible for leading clean-sheet design and development programmes for OEMs in the automotive, rail, marine, power generation and industrial sectors.