June, 9 at 9.10 - A Sustainable Future of Powertrain Diversity in a Worldwide Changing Political and Economic Landscape.
André Casal Kulzer is Professor at the Institute for Automotive Powertrain Systems, University of Stuttgart since January 2022. Prof. Kulzer received a MSc. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Technical University of Lisbon in 1999 and a PhD. degree from University of Stuttgart in 2004. For his PhD. thesis he received the TR100 Award in 2004 from MIT’s Technology Review - „one of the world’s top young innovators under 35“. After receiving is PhD. he held the position of Senior Researcher and various Management positions at Robert Bosch GmbH in Schwieberdingen till 2011. From 2012 till 2021 he was Manager for Advanced Development Powertrain, together with Synthetic Fuels and Electrified Powertrain Concept Development at Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG in Weissach. His former and actual research interests range from electromobility, hybridisation, combustion, emissions, powertrain systems virtual development, artificial intelligence, and Life-Cycle-Analysis over to hydrogen and E-Fuels topics.
June, 9 at 9.35 - CO2 Reduction in the Transport Sector from a Global Perspective
Marc Sens is currently the Senior Vice President for Research & Technology and Sustainability Engineering of IAV GmbH, where he started his professional career as an engineer in 1998. He worked on the mechanics, the calibration, the boosting technologies and the combustion systems of internal combustion engines for more then 20 years, becoming the Senior Vice President for Advanced Powertrain Development in 2015.
He graduated in Mechanical Engineering from University of Berlin (Germany) and University of Coventry (United Kingdom) in 1997.
June, 9 at 10.00 - The New Carbon Playbook: Impact of recent U.S. Policy Changes on Market and Technology Outlook for Clean & Resilient Transportation
Ameya Joshi is the founder of MobilityNotes, a consulting platform for unbiased strategic recommendations for technologies and regulations in the field of transport decarbonization, renewable fuels, stationary power generation, carbon capture and related industries. He leverages his understanding and influence through his broad network across industry, academia and global regulatory agencies. Ameya is a recognized public speaker. He is a keynote speaker at various international conferences, and has been awarded the prestigious Buckendale lecturer award at SAE COMVEC in 2022. He is an organizer and lecturer at an annual course on sustainable transportation at Politecnico di Torino. He serves on the Editorial Board of the SAE International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, Energy, Environment, & Policy, and a member of various SAE committees for organizing conference sessions. Before starting his consulting firm, Ameya worked for 18 years with Corning Incorporated and ClearFlame Engines in various technical and leadership roles. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Delaware and pursued postdoctoral work in the field of fuel cells at the Colorado School of Mines.
June, 9 at 17.30 - In Defense of Internal Combustion...10 Years Late
Dr. Kelly Senecal is a co-founder of Convergent Science, an industry-leading computational fluid dynamics software company. He is a visiting professor at the University of Oxford and a co-founder and director of the Computational Chemistry Consortium (C3). Dr. Senecal is a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the Combustion Institute (CI). He is the Chair of the executive committee of the ASME Transportation Systems Division and a member of the board of directors of the Combustion Institute. Recent accolades include the 2019 ASME ICE Award, the 2023 SAE John Johnson Diesel Engine Research Medal, the 2023 ASME Dedicated Service Award, the 2025 ASME Soichiro Honda Medal, and the 2025 University of Wisconsin Alumni Association Luminary Award. Dr. Senecal has long been an advocate of creating cleaner propulsion systems, with a particular focus on using CFD and HPC to enable faster design. Starting with his TEDx talk in late 2016, he has promoted a diverse mix of transportation technologies through invited talks, articles, and social media. Dr. Senecal is co-author of the book Racing Toward Zero: The Untold Story of Driving Green, winner of the 2022 Independent Press Award for Environment.
June, 10 at 08.30 - SAE Alignment with European Values and Sustainability Goals
Carla Bailo is two-term President of SAE, CEO of ECOS Consulting LLC, past President and CEO of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), and past AVP for Mobility Research and Business Development at Ohio State University. She spent the bulk of her 42-year career at Nissan North America, Inc., where she served as SVP of R&D. Mrs. Bailo also spent 10 years at General Motors. She has a MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Kettering. She is the author of two books on women leaders of the automotive industry, and serves on the corporate boards for SM Energy (SM), Vesuvius PLC (VSVS.L) and Advance Auto Parts (AAP).
June, 10 at 08.50 - Recalibrating Road Transport Pathways: Carbon-Neutral Technology Scenarios - the European Commission's Automotive Package
Professor Zissis Samaras was the Director of the Lab of Applied Thermodynamics, Aristotle University until his retirement in 2023. His research work deals with engine and vehicle emissions testing and modeling and exhaust aftertreatment. In these areas he coordinated more than 10 large European projects. He was elected Vice Chairman of the European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (until 2023) and co-led for many years the UN-ECE Topic Group "Mobile Sources". He co-authored more than 280 publications, with more than 7300 citations (author h index 48) and holds four international patents. He is the co-founder of three spin-off companies Exothermia (now owned by Gamma Technologies), Emisia and Bio2CHP. Currently he leads a consortium that advises the European Commission on Euro 7 related topics.
June, 10 at 09.10 - Making Decarbonization Traceable, Measurable and Certified
Luca Gastaldo holds a degree in Industrial Production Engineering and Technological Innovation from the Polytechnic University of Turin. He has gained more than 10 years of experience in sales and business development, operating in competitive and international environments, including a significant track record in the UK and Italian markets. Throughout his career, he has successfully contributed to the launch and scaling of innovative solutions, building strong relationships with key clients and strategic partners.
He currently serves as Sales Manager Connected Services at Bosch Mobility, where he drives the commercial development of cutting-edge digital solutions, with a strong focus on cloud-based software platforms and vehicle-connected technologies. Through a customer- and results-oriented approach, he enables the development of new business models and supports companies and stakeholders in navigating the transformation toward digital, connected, and sustainable mobility.
June, 10 at 9.30 - Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO): a drop-in biofuel to accelerate the transition to a sustainable mobility
Daniele Testa is a chemical engineer, graduated from Politecnico di Torino.
He has 20 years of experience in R&D and he is Head of R&D Mobility Laboratories at Eni, where innovative products—including fuels and lubricants—are developed and tested to support the transition toward more sustainable mobility.
He was previously involved in renewable energy research, an experience that continues to shape his approach to mobility decarbonization from a lifecycle and system perspective. His work is centered on a technology‑neutral approach, combining experimental evidence with the assessment of different solutions to support informed and pragmatic pathways for the decarbonization of the automotive sector.
June, 10 at 09.50 - Sustainable ICE for Low‑Carbon Transport
After graduating in Mechanical Engineering at Politecnico of Milan in 1990, he began his career as a research engineer at Institut Français du Pétrole (Lyon, France). He then joined Centro Ricerche Fiat (Turin) in 1997, where he held various positions related to the development of alternative fuel engine technologies and the management of collaborative research programs. In 2017, he became Secretary General of NGVA Europe in Brussels, the association for the promotion of the use of natural gas and biomethane in the road transport sector. In 2021, he joined FPT Industrial, coordinating research activities and collaborations about hydrogen engines and acting as expert on the renewable fuels ecosystem. Since 2023, he is responsible for Open Innovation for Iveco Group, with the aim of accelerating the transformation journey of the Company through close collaborations with startups, universities and innovative SMEs.
June, 10 at 17.50 - EU automotive industry at crossroads to balance decarbonization and competitiveness
Petr Dolejsi was born in 1977 in Prague. He has graduated PhD. in Economics and Social policy at the University of Economics in Prague, following the Masters´ degree in Economics and Reginal policy. He also passed several courses and stages, including scholarhip at the Universite Cathollique du Louvain in Belgium. He has started his career within the public services on different posts, leaving the Ministry for Regional Development of the Czech Republic at the Head of Unit post to the Permanent representation in Brussels in 2004. He became member of the Presidency team in 2009 chairing the Competitiveness and Growth working party of the Council. In 2010 he joined ACEA and became a Director for Mobility and Sustainable transport, with a specific focus on CO2 policy, industrial policy and alternative powertrains.