Riikka Virkkunen

Professor of Practice at VTT and member of the Board of Directors at EFFRA

Dr. Riikka Virkkunen has worked in various manager positions at VTT and headed VTT’s strategic opening of the Industrial Renewal Lighthouse, as well as the research area on production. Virkkunen has plenty of experience working in international research networks. She is co-chair of the Factories of the Future’s partnership, board member of EFFRA (European Factories of the Future Research Association) and vice-chair of the EIT Manufacturing North advisory board. She has assessed diverse European activities, such as the Swedish competence center proposals, the Swedish national program Production2030 and the TNO unit Industry.

Recently, she was nominated as member of the BRTA International Advisory Committee. In her home country, Virkkunen has been supporting the Ministry of Economics and Employment in the execution of the national Artificial Intelligence 4.0 program and leading FIIF, the Finnish Industrial Internet Forum, with circa 200 company members. Virkkunen holds a PhD in computational materials science.

Estela Sánchez

CEO at Dicomol

Since 2020, Estela has been the CEO of Dicomol, a family-owned tool manufacturing company stablished in 1979, located close to Barcelona (Spain). She studied Business Administration at Universitat Pompeu Fabra and holds two more degrees from the IESE Business School. She is currently the vice president of the association of metallurgical companies of Catalonia. She has a high interest in the training and talent of women in the industry. That is why she is a promoter of the association for the dissemination, action and awareness of greater presence of women in industry. 

Blanca Garro

CEO of Reinforce3D

Blanca Garro is the CEO of Reinforce3D, having assumed her role in early 2023. She holds a Chemical Engineering degree from the Technical University of Zaragoza and Munich (TUM) and an MBA from the ESIC Business and Marketing School. Blanca brings extensive experience in the 3D printing field, having worked as a business consultant and project manager in additive manufacturing and digital transformation. She has previously worked with prominent European companies such as Materialise and Schneider Electric. Leading Reinforce3D, Blanca aims to revolutionise additive manufacturing by spearheading the development and commercialisation of the company’s patented Continuous Fibre Injection Process (CFIP) technology.

Andrew Lynch

Vice President of the EUREKA SMART Manufacturing Board of Directors

Andrew is the international Vice President of the EUREKA SMART Manufacturing Board of Directors. He leads the ManuFuture ETP Working Group (State Aid Strategies- Research & Innovation) and is the national delegate to the European manufacturing policy platform, the ManuFuture High Level Group (HLG). Andrew is a member of the Made in Europe Partnership Board and was the founding chair of the European Industry 4.E Lighthouse Initiative (LIASE) within ECSEL (now KDT). Andrew is on the Board of Directors of both the Irish Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre of Excellence (AMTEC) and the W8 Innovation Centre (Ireland NW). He is the founding chair of the Irish National Steering Committee on Collaborative Robotics, a member of the Ingenuity Executive Steering Committee and is on the National Advisory Board for the Digital Manufacturing Futures Centre (AIM).

Bart Maeyens

Head of 3D printing at Signify

As a leader in 3D printing at Signify, Bart Maeyens contributes to the mission of creating ‘brighter lives and a better world’ through circular lighting solutions. At Modular L.I., Bart’s roles as General Manager, R&D Manager, and Export Manager showcased his commitment to design, innovation, and global customer-centric approaches. His extensive experience as a Key Account Manager and R&D specialist highlights his ability to create efficient and aesthetically pleasing lighting solutions. Bart’s journey began as an R&D assistant, and he continues to drive positive change in the lighting industry with enthusiasm and a collaborative mindset.

Wim De Kinderen

Programme Director for European Affairs at Brainport Development

Wim De Kinderen is the Programme Director for European Affairs within Brainport Development, the Regional Development Association of the Brainport Eindhoven region (NL). Representing this high-tech manufacturing innovation ecosystem and all its stakeholders, the Brainport Eindhoven EU Office in Brussels is his main base and reach-out location towards fellow regions and the European Institutions. In this role he is responsible for policy lobbying, networking/communication and project development. Within Brainport Development, he is part of the Strategy Department. Wim De Kinderen is an active member of the Vanguard Initiative, the association in which 39 European regions collaborate on topics of industrial innovation. Within the Vanguard Initiative, Wim De Kinderen is the co-leader of the ‘3D Printing Pilot Project’ aiming at stimulating and supporting innovations in the field of Additive Manufacturing and bringing new AM developments to the market.

Nicholas Deliyanakis

Policy Coordinator and Work Programme Sherpa, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission

Nicholas Deliyanakis is a policy coordinator in the ‘Prosperity’ Directorate of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. He is currently coordinating the industrial aspects of the Horizon Europe Work Programmes, and developing the part on advanced manufacturing (Made in Europe). Previously, he was a Deputy Head in the strategy unit for industrial technologies and has also worked on nanotechnology policy. Before joining the Commission, he worked on nuclear fusion at JET, the European nuclear fusion project and as a physics tutor in Oxford University. He holds a first-class degree in Physics from King’s College London and a doctorate in Engineering from Oxford University. He also has a King’s College qualification in theology and is keenly interested in the societal aspects of technology.