Professor, Aalto University

Peter D. Lund is Professor in Advanced Energy Systems at Aalto University with past visiting positions in Germany and China. He has long experience in sustainable and multidisciplinary energy. He is active in senior roles with EU energy initiatives: he chaired the Advisory Group Energy of European Commission and Energy Steering Panel of European Academies Science Advisory Council, Co-Chair of European Academies’ Science Advice for Policy on the Energy Transition. He is past vice-chair of the Finnish Climate Panel, member of the Swedish Engineering Academy in Finland and the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. He is Honorary Professor at Southeast University (Nanjing) and received the prestigious China Friendship Award in 2021. Editor-in-Chief of Oxford Open Energy, co-EIC of Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews on Energy&Environment.

Professor, Delft University of Technology

Dr. Andrea Ramírez Ramírez is professor of Low Carbon Systems and Technologies at Delft University of Technology. She holds a bachelor’s in chemical engineering, a master’s in human ecology, and a PhD in the field of industrial energy efficiency. Prof Ramirez is head of the chemical engineering department at TU Delft. Her research focuses on the evaluation of novel low-carbon technologies and the design of methodologies and tools to assess their potential contribution to sustainable industrial systems. Prof Ramirez has (co)authored over 120 publications. She is a fellow of the Dutch Academy of Engineering, ambassador of the Energy transition route for the Dutch National Research Agenda (NWA), jury of the Carbon X-Prize, member of the scientific advisory group of the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) and of the Board of Experts of the Dutch Metrology Institute. Until December 2023, she was Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

Professor, University of Zagreb and Croatian Academy of Engineering

Neven Duić, full professor at University of Zagreb has published more than 175 papers in journals referenced in SCI. He is vice-president of the Croatian Academy of Engineering. He is editor of Energy Conversion Management journal, subject editor of journal Energy and Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems – JSDEWES. He is organising SDEWES conference series. He was coordinator of over 40 international research projects. He has been recognised recently as one of top 1% cited scientists, by research team at Stanford.

His main areas of interests are energy policy and planning, energy economics, sustainable development policy and resource planning, climate change mitigation and combustion engineering.

Full CV: http://powerlab.fsb.hr/nduic/

Minister of Science and Culture

Sari Multala has served as Minister of Science and Culture of Petteri Orpo's Government since June 2023. As a Minister of Science and Culture Multala is responsible for matters covered by the Department for Higher Education and Science Policy and the Department for Art and Cultural Policy.

Having completed her matriculation examination in 1997 at Mäkelänrinne, a general upper secondary school specialised in sports, Multala continued her studies at Helsinki School of Economics where she majored in management science, graduating in 2005 with a Master of Science in Economics. She also holds a further vocational qualification in coaching from Kuortane Olympic Training Center.

A three-time world champion in sailing, Multala served as the head coach of the Finnish national sailing team in 2013–2015. She has held many positions of trust in the field of sport, both during her sporting career and afterwards.

Multala first entered Parliament in 2015. Since then, she has served in the Education and Culture Committee, the Agriculture and Forestry Committee, the Environment Committee, the Intelligence Oversight Committee and the Legal Affairs Committee. Multala has been a member of Vantaa City Council since 2013 and chaired Vantaa City Executive since 2017.

Professor Emeritus, Åbo Akademi University

Mikko Hupa is Emeritus Professor in Chemical Engineering at the Åbo Akademi University in Turku, and chairman of the Executive Committee of the Council of Finnish Academies (CoFA). He acted as the President of the Åbo Akademi University 2015-2019. He has long experience in chemistry-oriented research and development related to industrial high-temperature processes. Mikko Hupa has initiated and led numerous major collaborative research programs together with industrial companies and international research groups in biomass combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, air pollution control and high temperature material development. He is author or co-author of more than 400 journal papers. He is active in several science academies being Chairman of the Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in Finland (STV), and member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in Sweden (IVA).

Lead, SMR Technologies, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland ltd

Dr Ville Tulkki has been working with nuclear energy R&D for 15 years, and currently acts as a Lead on SMR Technologies at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland ltd. His research has lately focused on small modular reactors and future uses of nuclear energy. Tulkki’s projects have included coordinating of the EURATOM Research and Training programme -funded project ELSMOR, “towards European licensing of small modular reactors”, initiating conceptual design for a district heating reactor LDR-50 suitable for European networks, and the EcoSMR project aiming to create business opportunities related to small modular reactors for Finnish companies.

Professor, Åbo Akademi University

Henrik Saxén is Professor in Heat Engineering at Åbo Akademi University and is the Head of the Process and Energy Technology Cluster of the university. His primary research interests are in modelling, simulation and optimization of industrial processes, with particular focus on sustainable iron- and steelmaking. He has published more than 220 papers in international scientific journals, has been the PI of many national research projects, more than 10 European research projects and several industrial projects in Finland and internationally. He was Dean of the Faculty of Chemical Engineering at Åbo Akademi University 1998–2000, and Vice Reactor (research) in 2006–2009. He is ranked on the Stanford list of Top 2% scientists.

VP, Biobased Solutions at Fortum

Heli Antila works as the Vice President of Biobased Solutions at Fortum. In addition, Heli serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Chempolis Oy. In her work Heli is driven by her passion for business with a global impact. Heli obtained her doctoral degree in 1997 from Tampere University of Technology in the field of control engineering. She is part of the Steering Groups overseeing the ExpandFibre activities.

Today, industrial production is in a significant transition. Industries everywhere are shifting away from fossil-based, linear production towards renewable materials and circular economy. The leading product manufacturers are reinventing their businesses, looking for sustainable alternatives that are based on renewable feedstocks. The purpose of Fortum Bio2X is to support this transition. Fortum Bio2X and Chempolis together have developed a new kind of biorefinery concept where underuti- lized biomasses are given a second life as high-value raw materials for a wide range of industries.

CEO at Metsä Spring

Niklas von Weymarn works as the CEO of Metsä Spring. In addition, Niklas is very active serving as a Board member in various emerging wood-based startup companies. Niklas is currently also a member of the Advisory Board of the Aalto University BioInnovation Center. Niklas obtained his doctoral degree in 2002 from Helsinki University of Technology in the field of biotechnology. Niklas is part of the Steering Groups overseeing the ExpandFibre activities.

Founded in 2018, Metsä Spring is Metsä Group’s innovation company. The company works to develop new business opportunities related to wood-based value chains, which involves both investing worldwide in promising startups as well as implementing the company’s own pilot/demo projects. Moreover, Metsä Spring leads the group-level R&D work that supports the development of Metsä Group’s current business area.

Dean, School of Chemical Engineering at Aalto University

Kristiina Kruus is currently working as a Dean in the School of Chemical Engineering in Aalto University. Kristiina obtained her doctoral degree from Aalto University former Helsinki University of Technology in 1996. Kristiina’s doctoral thesis work dealt with molecular cloning and characterization of bacterial cellulases, and the experimental work was carried out in University of Rochester, NY.

Most of Kristiina’s scientific work is related to enzymatic modification and degradation of plant biomass. She has published more than 100 peer reviewed scientific papers and book chapters. During 1997–2018 Kristiina worked at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland in different positions, the last eight years as Research Professor in the area of applied enzymology of renewable biomasses. Kristiina has coordinated large national and international programmes and led many industrial projects. Kristiina has also acted as an advisory board or committee member of a number of national and international organizations. She is a docent at the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Forestry and Agriculture.

Professor, LUT University

Eeva-Lotta Apajalahti is an Assistant Professor of Energy and Society at LUT University Department of Energy Technology. She has 15 years of experience of conducting social science research on various energy related phenomena. Currently she leads a new research group on Energy and Society that focuses on identifying and analyzing societal impacts and planetary boundaries of renewable energy, investigating challenges of energy communities and citizen engagement in energy systems, modelling vulnerabilities and system interlinks of energy systems, and exploring the role of different actors in energy transition.

Research Professor, Finnish Environment Institute
Associate, SPRU, University of Sussex

Paula Kivimaa is Research Professor in Climate and Society in the Finnish Environment Institute and Associate at SPRU, University of Sussex. She is an internationally renowned scholar in sustainability transitions, with a focus on public policy and zero-carbon energy transition, and member of scientific committees advising the European Commission and the Finnish Government.

President & CEO at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

Dr. Antti Vasara is the President & CEO of VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd since 2015. VTT is a visionary research, development and innovation partner and one of Europe's leading research and technology organisations (RTOs) with almost 2 400 people and turnover exceeding 280 MEUR. Antti Vasara is member of the Executive Board of EARTO (European Association of Research and Technology Organisations) and a member of the Board and the Audit Committee of Elisa (largest communications operator in Finland). He is also a member of the Finnish Research and Innovation Council, a member of the Board of Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation and a member of the Supervisory Board of Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company.

Antti Vasara has served on several high-level groups on industrial and innovation policy of the European Commission in addition to several groups in Finland on quantum technology, artificial intelligence and research policy. Previously, he has worked in the private industry for close to 25 years at Nokia, Tieto, SmartTrust and McKinsey & Company. Earlier in his career, he was a researcher in optical communications with 20+ peer reviewed articles and one international patent. Dr. Vasara holds a Doctor of Science (Technology) degree from Aalto University in Finland.

Co-Founder & CEO at Paptic Ltd

Tuomas Mustonen has served as the Co-Founder and CEO of Paptic Ltd since 2015. Prior to his work at Paptic, Tuomas has worked for well over ten years in various positions at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, KCL and M-Real. Tuomas holds a Master of Science degree from the University of Jyväskylä in the field of industrial physics (2002) and an MBA degree from Aalto University (2012).

Tuomas is very passionate about solving global environmental challenges and creating positive social impact by replacing plastics with renewable, recyclable, and high performing fibre-based materials.

Paptic Ltd (or Paptic Oy) is a high growth company established in 2015 with headquarters in Espoo, Finland. The company has developed Paptic®, a fibre-based, and recyclable material to replace plastics in packaging. The material has been available on an industrial scale since 2018.

Chief Executive Activist, CEO & Founder at Origin by Ocean

Mari Granström has worked as the Chief Executive Activist and CEO at Origin by Ocean since 2022. Prior to founding Origin by Ocean in 2019, Mari has worked for ten years at various positions in AVA Biochem AG, Stora Enso and BASF. Mari holds a doctoral degree in organic chemistry.

Origin by Ocean is a platform-based algae refining company based in Finland. The company sees that micro and macroalgae are viable crops to grow and harvest, but there's a huge difference in how it’s done. Origin by Ocean wants to do it right. The company discovered that with the right process, marine overgrowth can be removed and transformed into ecological, healthy and oil-free ingredients for everyday consumer products, with every product easing the chokehold of eutrophication.

Deputy Managing Partner at Voima Ventures

Jussi is an avid supporter of the Nordic deep tech ecosystem who has been in the industry for well over a decade. He focuses on early stage opportunities in the domains of industrial technologies, quantum computing and consumer health. Prior to joining Voima Ventures in the beginning of 2020 he worked for Tesi where he led investments e.g. in Oura Health and ICEYE at their early rounds. When offline he enjoys a variety of sports activities, good fun and bad music.

Voima Ventures is the leading Nordic early stage deep tech VC fund which helps founders to scale global solutions for the people, planet and industry. The investments vary from pre-seed to early series A with significant follow-on investment capacity. The geographical focus is on the Nordics and Baltics with selective investments in other European countries. Voima Ventures has offices in Helsinki and Stockholm.

News anchor, YLE news

Jan Andersson is an experienced Finnish news anchor, known for his work at Yle News. His career in television journalism has spanned several decades, establishing himself as one of the country's most respected news personalities. Andersson is particularly known for his ability to tackle complex issues clearly and comprehensibly, making him a trusted voice amidst the news landscape. He has also served as the host of several significant election broadcasts and special events, further solidifying his position as a top expert in his field.

Vice President, Research and Development, Neste

Petri Lehmus has been Vice President, Research and Development at Neste since 2011. He is leading a large team of experts developing various types of renewable and recycled raw materials to be used to produce Neste’s renewable and circular solutions, such as renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel and renewable and circular raw materials for polymers and chemicals.

Before Neste he worked for more than ten years in the polyolefin industry, where he held various R&D positions from Researcher to Research area manager in catalyst and process development. From 2007-2011 he was Innovation Center Manager at Borouge company in the United Arab Emirates.

Petri Lehmus holds a doctoral degree in Polymer Technology (Chem. Eng.) from Helsinki University of Technology.

Business Development Manager at the Lignocellulosics Business Platform, Neste

Fanni Laurila is a Business Development Manager at the Lignocellulosics Business Platform at Neste. She has a strong background in project development, innovation management, market analysis and business strategy. In her current position at Neste she focuses on project and value chain development, shaping external partnerships, and new technology commercialization. She holds a M.Sc. (Tech.) in Industrial Engineering and Management from Tampere University of Technology.

Professor of Sustainable Chemical and Catalytic Conversion Processes, VTT

Juha Lehtonen (D.Tech.) is a professor of Sustainable Chemical and Catalytic Conversion Processes at VTT. He has a long career in industrial research organizations as a specialist of chemical reaction engineering, catalysis and development of biofuels, oil refinery and specialty chemicals processes. Before starting at VTT in 2016 he worked for four years as a professor of Industrial Chemistry at Aalto University (Espoo, Finland) concentrating on catalytic and thermochemical conversion of CO2 and biomass to value added chemicals and fuels and catalyst development for these processes. He is an author or co-author of 101 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Senior Associate in Algae Innovation Business Platform, Neste.

Aino-Maija Lakaniemi works as a Senior Associate in Algae Innovation Business Platform at Neste. She has over 15 years of experience in R&D projects related to environmental engineering, biotechnology and microbiology, and strong background both from industrial and academic research. She holds a doctoral degree, D.Sc. (Tech.), in environmental technology from Tampere University of Technology and a title of docent in environmental biotechnology at Tampere University. She has co-authored 67 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Senior Scientist, VTT

Dorothee Barth is an engineer of cybernetics (control theory and applied math), who has applied these concepts in biotechnology for the last 20 years. Her work has focused on identifying the benefits of kinetic modelling and feedback control for a whole range of biotechnological processes, such as enzymatic hydrolysis, cultivations of yeasts and filamentous fungi or intracellular regulation. Currently she works as a Senior Scientist at VTT, and is coordinating and involved in a number of projects related to algae technology, online monitoring, Digital Twinning and cellular agriculture.

Senior researcher, Neste

Clara Lizarazo is a Crop Scientist working as a Senior researcher at Neste supporting the R&D activities of Neste on oil crops. She has a deep research experience on diversifying cropping systems from the University of Helsinki, and on biodiversity offsets from the University of Jyväskylä. She holds a Masters degree and PhD in Crop Science from the University of Helsinki.

Technical Development Manager, Neste

Gerónimo Watson works as Technical Development Manager for Neste’s Novel Vegetable Oils team. He is an Agricultural Engineer with about 20 years of experience in agri-business mostly on technology development for farmers.

Agronomist, Partner at the de Milliano – Meijer Group

Maarten De Milliano is an Agronomist and disease fighter. His career includes experience with the Monsanto Company, Enza Zaden. Now he is a partner at the de Milliano – Meijer Group, an arable farm and plant breeding company in Oostburg, Zeeland, Netherlands. De Milliano-Meijer Group combines agricultural research and arable farming to develop new crop varieties that enhance soil health, biodiversity, and climate resilience. Mr De Milliano holds a Masters degree in phytopathology and a Bachelor’s degree in agriculture and horticulture.

Senior R&D Program Manager in Technology and Projects, Neste

Jarmo Kela is a Senior R&D Program Manager in Technology and Projects organisation at Neste. He has over 20 years of experience in the petrochemical industry and over a decade in R&D project management. Currently he leads the development of chemical recycling that focuses on developing and scaling up recycling technologies turning hard to recycle plastic materials into new polymers. He is a co-inventor in over 20 patents in the field of polyolefin polymer-, process-, catalyst- and recycling technology. He holds a MSc in Process Technology from the University of Oulu.

Manager, Renewable Hydrogen in RH2 & PtX Innovation Business platform, Neste

Suvi Veräjänkorva is Manager, Renewable Hydrogen in RH2 & PtX Innovation Business platform at Neste. She has been managing projects related to renewable hydrogen and other sustainable developments e.g. energy efficiency for the past 7 years within Neste and engineering companies. Focus of the projects has been in new concepts and solutions, and process and utility optimization. Altogether for more than 10 years, Suvi has also been working as a Key Account Manager for international sales and business development, and been a Business Unit Manager for Process Engineering. She holds a Master’s degree in Materials’ Science.

Geologist at the Energy and Construction Solution unit, GTK

Teemu Lindqvist is Geologist at the Energy and Construction Solution unit in Geological Survey of Finland GTK. He has over 12 years of experience in application of geological knowledge for engineering purposes focusing on site assessment studies and urban environments. His expertise focuses on mapping and analysis of brittle geological structures in crystalline bedrock, 3D-geological modelling, and field geology coupled with drone-based photogrammetry imaging. He is also a software developer of spatial data applications. He holds an MSc in geology and is Doctoral Research at University of Turku.

Materials for new energy technologies Lead, VTT

Pekka Pohjanne is Materials for new energy technologies Lead at VTT. He is also scientific owner of the VTT ProperScan providing in-depth lifetime analysis of systems and components. He has over 30 years of experience related to materials performance and life assessment of components for process industries, power production and offshore applications. His expertise includes materials and corrosion engineering, especially environmentally assisted cracking like hydrogen embrittlement. He has been principal investigator and project manager in many national and EU projects and has authored and co-authored more than 100 journal articles, conference papers and reports. He holds a MSc(tech.) in physical metallurgy.

Director, Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK)

Right kind on skill-set has become a major issue for many companies that are renewing their businesses - many times in a very disruptive environment. How to keep up with the development? Traditional education systems are built for a more rigid environment. My task at Confederation of Finnish Industries is to follow and influence the politics and legislation in order to develop our public system and private practices to meet the skill challenges.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment

Dr Juhani Damski has served as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment since June 2020. He holds a PhD in meteorology from the University of Helsinki.

Before coming to the Ministry of the Environment, Damski served in various kinds of specialist and leadership positions, including as Director General of the Finnish Meteorological Institute. He has also worked as Director of Unit at the Ministry of Transport and Communications and been a member of the Board of the University of Oulu in 2020–2021 and the chair of the Board in 2022–2023. Damski holds numerous positions of trust both in Finland and internationally. He is a member of e.g. the Security Committee, Advisory Board of the State Treasury, Real Estate and Construction Forum and Committee for EU Affairs.

Ph.D. in Administrative Sciences at Tampere University School of Management

Ilona Lundström is an experienced growth and innovation policy expert and board professional. She holds over 20 years of experience in policy making, innovation and research.

She led 2016–2024 the Innovation and Enterprise Financing Department at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland. From 2007–2016, she worked at the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation - Tekes, most recently as Executive Director and member of the management team. She has served also as member of several national and European policy-making bodies. She holds a Ph.D. in Administrative Sciences at Tampere University School of Management.