Speakers 2026

Martina Lindovska is an energy economist and has worked as a consultant for over 16 years across the energy and wider utilities sector, covering the UK as well as wider Europe and Australia. In the power sector, Martina advises energy companies, regulators, system operators, investors, transmission developers and other energy market participants on a range of commercial, market design and regulatory issues. Martina supports clients across storage, conventional generation and renewable generation in relation to wholesale markets, balancing mechanism (redispatch / constraint costs), and ancillary services forecasting, policy design and regulatory arrangements. Martina joined FTI Consulting in 2016, having previously worked [...]

Harsha Kolli is the Battery Technology Lead at Everzinc, driving innovation in zinc battery materials. Prior to Everzinc, Harsha held multiple leadership roles at Printed Energy, including Vice President, Engineering & Director, Solutions, and Head of Development (Technology & Products). In these capacities, they developed and managed engineering teams focused on product-oriented engineering, process development, and application engineering. They also spearheaded product and business strategy, directing product management and leading technical sales initiatives.  Earlier in their career, Harsha served as a Principal Battery Engineer at Printed Energy, contributing to the development, testing, improvement, and production of quasi-solid-state ZiB energy storage devices, [...]

Sigmund S. Kielland is Interim CEO and Director of Business Development at Pentalys Energy. He holds an M.Sc. in Nanotechnology from NTNU, specialising in nanomaterials for energy applications. His career spans the battery value chain from research to deployment: business development and research strategy at IFE, battery and BESS advisory at Multiconsult, and market analysis at THEMA Consulting Group. From 2022 to 2024 he served as elected coordinator for electrochemical storage within the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA). He works consistently at the interface of technology and business.

Dr. Gaurav Jha is the Co-Founder and CEO of BatLabs AI, a startup focused on AI-powered manufacturing intelligence for the battery industry. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and is a technology scale-up expert with over 10 years of experience in materials science and process engineering at Lyten, Sila nanotechnology and Intel. Throughout his career, Gaurav has led engineering teams to achieve product-market fit and has deep expertise in electrochemical energy-based manufacturing.

Philippe Hatron, who holds a master’s degree in finance from the University of Rouen and an Executive MBA from Georgetown University (USA), began his career in 1988 with Price Waterhouse in Paris, becoming Manager in 1993. In 1995, he joined COGEMA's Finance Department. In February 1998, he was appointed Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of Transnuclear, Inc. in the United States. In 2001, still in the United States, he was appointed Executive Vice-President and CFO of the Nuclear Measurements Business Unit, where he was also in charge of Human Resources. In 2006, he became Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer [...]

With more than twenty years of experience in electrification, hybrid systems, battery energy storage systems, autonomous vehicles, and R&D project and team management, I have built a career dedicated to leading engineering teams, structuring complex development processes, and delivering robust technical solutions across multiple industries. My classical expertise — system architecture, specification development, HARA and safety analysis, V-cycle orchestration, and cross-functional project leadership — remains the foundation of my professional offering.

Dr. Rainer Gerkens holds a PhD in Computer Science from the Technical University of Berlin and brings decades of experience in building data-driven solutions for regulated industries. He spent 13 years as a product manager for an ERP system in the automotive industry, followed by 11 years as a general manager specializing in the automated modernization of legacy applications. In 2001, he founded BRAINORITY Software GmbH. For more than 12 years, BRAINORITY Software GmbH has delivered SecIdent, a SaaS solution for serialization, product identification, and traceability. Widely used in regulated industries, the platform enables companies to meet strict compliance requirements while [...]

Dr. Mohamad EL HOUSSAMI has worked in fire science since 2010. He holds a PhD in Fire Safety Engineering from the University of Edinburgh. For the past six years, he has been a project manager at Efectis, leading fire safety and explosion engineering projects for industrial buildings and battery fires. He has participated in several European projects and publishes regularly in scientific journals. Since January 2023, Dr. El Houssami serves as Convenor of ISO/TC 92/WG13 (Fire Statistics). As of January 2025, he is also Chairman of ISO/TC 92/SC 3 (Fire Threat to People and Environment).