General Director
Saudi Renewable Energy Association

• I Had Electrical Engineering KFUPM & Master of Business Administration (MBA) KSU
• 17-year experiences in Saudi Aramco as DC and storage energy standard committee member
• I am accredited electrical instructor in PEDD training development program and I am accredited arbitrator in Saudi council of Engineers (SCE)
• General secretory of Saudi renewable Energy association
• Vice president of PM chapter and member of Renewable Energy chapter in SCE
• deputy project manager of KSA Mosques solar power in Fiancé Ministry
• member of UK-Saudi partnership private sector Groups
• member of Graduate Studies Council in Taif University to evaluate the Master Degree in Renewable Energy

Sr. Sustainability Engineer
SABIC

Since 2015, Dr. Pieter Smeets is a Senior Sustainability Engineer working in the Corporate Sustainability Department in SABIC HQ in Riyadh where he is currently leading the development of SABIC’s Renewable Energy strategy. In addition, his work focuses on improving the energy, Greenhouse gas, water and material effectiveness of SABIC’s existing and new (mega)plants. He joined SABIC in 2010, working in one of their R&D centers in the Netherlands, leading a team of researchers on improving the performance of SABIC’s steam crackers globally. He joined SABIC after his Post Doctorate at Stanford University, CA, USA, after finalizing his PhD in chemical engineering in Belgium in 2008.

Advisor to the Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources
General Supervisor of the National Renewable Energy Programme
Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources
Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia

Mr. Al-Shibani is currently an Advisor to His Excellency the Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources and is the General Supervisor of the National Renewable Energy Program. He has held these posts since April 2016 and September 2017, respectively.

Previously, Mr. Al-Shibani held various positions at Saudi Aramco in the areas of Planning, Operations and Business Development. He also served as Vice President for Economic Development at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Undersecretary of State
Ministry Of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Egypt

Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Mohina has over 25 years of experience in the Egyptian Electricity and Renewable Energy Sector. He is currently Undersecretary for Authorities’ and Companies’ Follow up. He has held senior positions such as General Manager for Technical Follow Up and General Manager for Minister’s Technical Office.

In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian New and Renewable Energy Authority. He is a member of the Energy Committee in ESCWA. Also, He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian General Organization for physical Planning.

He also participated in several national committees for the preparation of strategies, policies and legislation, such as Egypt's strategy for sustainable development 2030, The Egyptian integrated sustainable energy strategy for 2035, and preparation of Egyptian Electricity Law and the incentives for renewable energy investment Law.

He has represented Egypt in many international and regional conferences as well as He was a head of some energy meetings.

Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Mohina has a PhD in Electrical Energy Economics, a master's degree in public administration and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.

Energy Segment Director
Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Hisham Alfouzan is the Energy Segment Director at the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) focusing on developing and attracting investments in renewable, conventional, energy efficiency, and nuclear energy. Prior to joining SAGIA, Hisham worked at SABIC as part of the Home of Innovation program building the first LEED platinum net zero energy home in the middle east working with 45 leading global OEMs. Hisham holds a bachelor degree from the University of Maryland with a minor in Project management.

Director - Demand Side Management
Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, UAE

Faisal Ali Rashid, U.A.E national, a degree holder of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Dayton, Ohio university, U.S.A 1991. Also, a certified PMP(Project Management Professional). Has a wide and solid experience in energy management including supply, strategy and demand. Has strong background in process industrial plant including oil & gas, power& water generation process, material handling process, glass manufacturing process, etc.

Current job is energy Demand side director in Dubai Supreme Council of Energy looking after the whole energy demand management spectrum of emirate of Dubai. Served previously in oil and gas industry for many years as project division manager / Project Manager, handled mega feed and EPC projects and worked as general manager in glass manufacturing company as well.

Senior Advisor of the Arab Renewable Energy Commission
Executive Member of the World Renewable Energy Council (WREC/ WREN), Jordan

He studied at the University of Manchester Institute for Science & Technology (UMIST-UK), where he received a M.Sc. degree in Environmental Technology in 1996, Post Graduate Diploma in 1993 & B.Sc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Jordan in 1988. He was appointed in May 14th 2015 as the “Ministers Advisor for Energy Affairs” at the Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources in Jordan.

Eng. Dabbas Won the “Prize of the Ideal Employee at the Civil Service Bureau for the year 2010”, this prize was based on a competition basis at the governmental level and a warded to him from H.E the Prime Minister on April 9th 2011 at the Royal Cultural Center.

Also, He had been chosen in Feb.16th 2010 among other governmental applicants to participate in the Public Servant Advanced Program/ Three Phases Training Program arranged in collaboration with the Royal Military Academy of Sand Hurst (RMAS)-UK & King Abdullah II Fund For Development (KAFD) in Jordan. This Program is Envisioned to Provide a Team of Senior Public Servants with a Strong Foundation of Content Knowledge, Management Talent & Skills.

Eng. Dabbas is presently the Minister's Advisor for Energy Affairs at the Ministry of Energy in Jordan, Chief of Advisors of the Arab Renewable Energy Commission (AREC), worked as an Advisor to the Balqa Applied University (BAU) for Energy Issues; and Executive Board Member of the World Renewable Energy Council (WREC) Brighton-UK; Mr. Al-Dabbas was the Chairman of Biofuel & Industrial Fuels Ministerial Committees at the Ministry of Energy until March 19th 2017. He has been involved as an Energy & Environment Consultant to Jordan Lafarge Cement & Al-Rajhi Saudi Cement Manufacturing Plants in Jordan, He is a member of lots of Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Committees both nationally and internationally, and was representing the Government of Jordan as a member of the Energy Committee at the ESCWA for around three years, as well as invited speaker for many International Conferences and Seminars.

Executive Director, Energy & Building Research Center
Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait

Dr. Osamah Alsayegh is the Executive Director of the Energy and Building Research Center at Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR). Since 2000, Dr. Alsayegh has been leading and participating in national energy system planning and strategy development projects including the development of a national strategy for the exploitation of renewable energy, development of sustainable national energy white paper, and Kuwait energy outlook. He is the country’s National Liaison Officer with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and was a Technical Coordinator in the former Kuwait National Nuclear Energy Committee. Dr. Alsayegh received his B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees all in Electrical Engineering in 1990, 1995 and 1999, respectively.

CEO
247 Solar Inc.
United States of America

Bruce Anderson is considered one of the solar industry’s foremost pioneers, completing his Master’s thesis at MIT on solar energy in 1973. Currently he is Chairman and CEO of 247Solar Inc., which is commercializing the 247Solar Plant. With the media in the 1980s referring to him as “Mr. Solar,” he was one of the most prolific and well-known thought leaders and innovators of that early solar era. Bruce was the first recipient of the American Solar Energy Society’s “Lifetime Solar Contribution” Award. He authored the New York Times best seller The Solar Home Book and 5 other solar energy books. He served on the National Advisory Board of the Solar Energy Research Institute (now NREL) and has twice testified to the US Congress on energy policy. He has served as a member of the MIT Corporation (board of trustees) and as a director of other organizations. He is a recipient of MIT’s highest service award to its alumni.

Associate Director
Clean Combustion Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Dr. Mani Sarathy is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Associate Director of the Clean Combustion Research Center (CCRC) at KAUST.

Dr. Sarathy was previously a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Combustion Chemistry group at the U.S. Department of Energy Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

He received his PhD and M.A.Sc. degrees in Environmental and Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto and his B.A.Sc. in Environmental Engineering Chemical Specialization from the University of Waterloo. In 2015, 2017, and 2018 Dr. Sarathy was named a Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher.

His research interest is in developing sustainable energy technologies with decreased net environmental impact. A major thrust of his research is using chemical kinetic simulations to design fuels, engines, and reactors.

Fellow
Geopolitics of Energy Project, Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy School
United States of America

Dr. Juergen Braunstein is Fellow at the Geopolitics of Energy Project at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center. His research focuses on the drivers as well as consequences of the green energy ‘revolution’ for the global energy composition and its implications for existing and future interstate relations. Prior to this he coordinated the New Climate Economy Special Initiative on financing the urban transition at LSE Cities. Juergen is currently finishing a book on the politics and the variation of sovereign wealth (under contract with Michigan University Press). He has a B.A. from the University of Vienna and a masters and doctorate from the London School of Economics.

Senior Research Fellow Energy & Macroeconomics
KAPSARC

Sylvain Cote is currently Senior Research Fellow at the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center where he leads the research program on energy transitions and employment. Participating on various national advisory committees, he also provides policy insights and advice on labor market strategies.

Throughout his career, he has conducted and directed economic research and provided policy advice in a multi-stakeholder environment in Europe, North America and more recently in MENA countries. His research interests have primarily been on policy issues related to industry and labor economics: Determinants of firm growth and entrepreneurship; the effects of schooling on student achievement and economic growth; the impact of education and immigration, the role and complementarity of human and social capital in the labor market; the influence of pension systems on labor supply.

Head of Data Analytics Department
Meteocontrol, Germany

Dr. Christian Kurz is an expert in Energy Meteorology for almost 20 years. Currently he is Head of Prognoses & Data Analytics at the international energy service provider meteocontrol. After his studies of Atmospheric Physics at Munich University he worked at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for many years. He mainly worked on the parameterization of clouds and cloud-irradiation interactions in a Global Atmospheric Circulation model. His Ph.D. thesis was about the development of a coupled model for atmospheric chemistry and circulation. Since 2007 Dr. Kurz is responsible for the development of Renewable Energies power forecasts for grid operators and trading companies at meteocontrol. Together with his team he set up the first operational system for online feed-in estimations and forecasts of PV power for the German Transmission System Operators. A further focus of his work is Data Analytics of monitoring data by using machine learning methods.

Manager, Business Development Department
Saudi Industrial Development Fund
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Professional expert in Strategic management, Operations, Knowledge Leadership, and Technology Innovation. Abdullah has extensive Technology background. Has played instrumental role in startups and major corporations to drive results and deliver significant business value through process design, systems improvement, in addition to leadership and professional development. Abdullah possesses the strength of both academic accreditation in the field and 15 years of hands on experience in different Organizations Abdullah is currently the Head of Business Development at the Saudi Industrial Development Fund and is Responsible for expanding the SIDF offering and developing national industrial sector ecosystem with focus on improving productivity.

Lab Manager
Gulf Renewable Laboratory, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Eng. Hani Balfass is a testing specialist for PV, Solar Energy, Electrical and Electronic devices. He received his B.S (Honor) of Electrical Power Engineering from Tenaga National University (UNITEN) in Malaysia and his M.D of PV and Solar Energy Engineering from University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia. Now, he is working at UL-GCCLab, Gulf Renewables Lab, A UL GCCLab Joint Venture (GRL) Company at Testing Department as a Technical Lab Manager. He started his career as a testing operator then operation manager before eventually becoming a lab manager of an accredited ISO/IEC 17025 PV testing laboratory at KACST, Riyadh. He contributed for testing and monitoring of some technical specifications of Saudi Arabia PV standards which is SASO IEC 61215:2016. As well as, He contributed technically and at management level of KACST National PV Standard Regulation. Currently, he contributes on Saudi PV standards developing project that is executed by King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE) and GCCLab with Underwriters Laboratory (UL) collaboration. He is a certified Auditor / Lead Auditor for IRCA QMS ISO 9001:2015.

Managing Director
Meteocontrol, Germany

Robert Pfatischer started his carreer in 1994 at IST EnergieCom, working as Project Engineer and moving up to shareholder. In 2002 he joined meteocontrol, starting as Department Manager, moving up to Director and eventually being appointed Managing Director of the company in 2010. meteocontrol is one of the world’s leading developers and providers of monitoring systems for photovoltaic power plants and solar parks. We support PV system operations through precise system monitoring, direct remote control and feed-in management to ensure optimized yield and returns. In addition, meteocontrol offers quality assurance and independent consulting for PV projects. meteocontrol has 12 locations worldwide with 45.000 monitored plants and with over 13 GWp monitored power.

Research Scientist, Water Desalination & Reuse Center
King Abdullah University of Science & Technology, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Dr. Wakil is working as a Research Scientist in the Water Desalination and Reuse Center of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.

His area of research includes, desalination, cooling, heat & mass transfer and system economic analysis. He is working on integration of desalination processes for overall system performance improvements. They proved that the hybridization of Adsorption Cycle with Multi-effect Desalination or Membrane Distillation can improve water production to 2-3 folds. Their innovative hybrid MED+AD cycle won “GE-ARAMCO global water challenge” award for high efficiency and lowest water production cycle <$0.5/m3.

He also developed innovative cooling cycle based on indirect evaporative cooling to achieve sustainability goals. Their cooling cycle can achieve 0.5-0.6KWh/Rton as compared to o.8KWh/Rton conventional systems. Dr. Wakil also working on economic analysis of single and hybrid systems and their developed primary fuel cost model is widely accepted in the industry. He also has expertise on complex system modelling and simulation.

Dr. Wakil holds 7 international patents. To date, he published 1 book, 15 book chapters, 40 peer-reviewed journal papers and over 90 conference papers. He also received three best paper awards in international conferences. He is selected as a regional coordinator for International Desalination Association Young Leader Program (IDA-YLP) for Middle East & Africa region. He is a member of many professional organizations namely; International Desalination Association (IDA), The International Water Association (IWA) and American Society of Mechanical Engineer (ASME).