Participants

Fredrik Haglind is Professor at Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark.

Prof. Haglind manages one of the leading research groups within sustainable thermal power with focus on advanced turbomachinery, thermo-mechanical energy storage, efficient heat transfer, and sustainable heat-to-power conversion technologies.

Nishith Babubhai Desai is Senior Researcher at Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark.

Dr. Desai has expertise in design and optimization of concentrated solar power plants, thermal energy storage systems, low-temperature heat utilization using organic Rankine cycle systems and multi-generation systems.

Roberto Agromayor is a postdoctoral researcher at Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark.

Dr. Agromayor has expertise in turbomachinery design optimization, two-phase flow modeling, and computational fluid dynamics.

Simone Parisi is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark.

His expertise lies in design and optimization of turbomachinery, and energy systems modelling, including both heat-to-power and power-to-heat applications.

Letitia Petrescu is Associate Professor at Chemical Engineering Department, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

She has expertise in environmental impact evaluation and process modelling and simulation of various processes (i.e., chemical, power plants, cement, steel).

Machteld van den Broek is a Professor of Energy System Integration at the Faculty of Technology, Policy, and Management at Delft University of Technology.

Her research centres on advancing the energy transition from a system perspective, exploring decarbonisation pathways of the industry, built environment, transport, and power sector, including sector coupling, renewable energy integration, and infrastructure development. Her expertise spans long-term investment planning for energy supply, transport, and storage, as well as short-term strategies for balancing the energy system.

Yannick Egberink is a PhD candidate at TU Delft in the Technology, Policy, and Management faculty in the Netherlands. He has a multidisciplinary background in sustainability science focusing on the energy transition and data-analysis.

Dr. Gerdien de Vries is an associate professor in Climate Psychology at the Technology, Policy, and Management faculty at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and director of the Energy Transition Lab of this faculty. Dr. de Vries has a social psychology background and integrates psychological theories and research methods with other scientific disciplines to unravel human behaviour in the climate and energy domain. Furthermore, she assesses how policy and technology influence this behaviour.

Federico Bassi is responsible for the development of rotating machinery at Exergy International srl, Italy.

Federico Bassi is an expert in mechanical integrity calculations and rotordynamics developed in highly international contexts. His CV is populated with several publications on the subject.

Federico Daccà oversees all funded projects awarded to Exergy International srl, Italy.

Federico Daccà has expertise in the design and optimization of Axial and Radial Turbine, ORC system and Heat Pumps, coordination and management of multidisciplinary and multicultural projects.

Gabriele Marchiori is responsible for the development of innovative processes within Exergy International srl, Italy.

Gabriele Marchiori is an expert in Process and plant design focused on ORC systems and Heat Pumps.

William Thompson is the Strategic Development Director for STEAM.

For the EMPOWER Project, William serves as STEAM’s Deputy Project Manager, assisting in the execution of quality processes related to agreements, proposals and contracts, as well as communications, stakeholder relations, and delivery timelines.

Luca Giannecchini is a Senior Energy Engineer and Project Manager for STEAM.

Since 2018, he has played a key role in the design and implementation of geothermal power plant projects across Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. His expertise spans ORC and steam cycles, low-enthalpy systems, geothermal brine treatment and remote diagnostics. Luca has supported complex projects such as the 35 MW Menengai plant in Kenya, the 15.5 MW Tiwi facility in the Philippines, and the 10 MW San Jacinto plant in Nicaragua, contributing in both technical design and project management oversight throughout all phases of development.

Stefano Orlando is a Senior Chemical Engineer and the Head of Engineering department for STEAM.

Since joining the Company in 2015, he has led the design and implementation of geothermal steam fields and power plants worldwide. With deep expertise in process engineering, Stefano has managed feasibility studies, plant optimization, gathering system design and commissioning activities across a range of low- and high-enthalpy Projects. He has held technical leadership roles on landmark geothermal developments such as Olkaria and Menengai (Kenya), including both Power Plant and gathering system, Tiwi (Philippines), Pico Alto (Azores), and commissioned several plants all around the world.

Thomas Stals serves as Energy Manager for Aperam Stainless Europe's Genk site in Belgium.

Mr. Stals earned a master's degree in Energy Engineering with a major in Electrical Energy from KU Leuven and a Master of Science in Electronics & ICT from Hasselt University. His professional experience encompasses power distribution (MV & LV), automation systems, and industrial networks.