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Dr Inġ. Brian Azzopardi
MEDPOWER2022 Chair
Dr Inġ. Brian Azzopardi is Senior Lecturer II at Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), co-founder and chairman of The Foundation for Innovation and Research – Malta (FiR.mt) and Visiting Senior Lecturer at the University of Malta (UM). Since 2011, he has held senior academic and associate professorship positions in the UK, Lithuania, and Malta. He also served several businesses, the government, research centres and the Court of Malta. He is the Coordinator of the Horizon 2020 / Horizon Europe projects JUMP2Excel, NEEMO, TRANSIT, and PROMISE. He has contributed over €10M to associated institutions on projects with over €30M budgets. He is senior Member of IEEE, IET, EI, RSC, and Chamber of Engineers.
Prof. Dr Inġ. Cyril Spiteri-Staines
MEDPOWER2022 co-Chair
Prof. Spiteri Staines graduated from the University of Malta with honors in 1994. After receiving a Commonwealth grant in 1995, he began a Ph.D. in electrical drives at the University of Nottingham, UK. Sensorless Vector Control of Electrical Machines was researched. He teaching at the University of Malta in 1998. He was a visiting lecturer at the University of Nottingham’s Electrical and Electronic Engineering School in 2003/2004. He did post-doctoral research on the ZSCD Technique for sensorless speed and position control of Induction Machines. From 2007 to 2011, he headed the University of Malta’s Department of Industrial Electrical Power Conversion. He is an Electrical Engineering Professor. His research focuses on sensorless speed/position control of ac machines, RES power electronic converters, and wind turbine control. He co-founded SBE-Malta and is a member of the IEEE and IET.
Minister for Public Works and Planning
Hon. Dr Stefan Zrinzo-Azzopardi
Hon. Dr Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi was nominated by the Prime Minister Robert Abela nominated Minister of Public Works and Planning in March 2022. Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi graduated from the University of Malta in 1999 and began practicing law soon after. In 2003, at age 30, he was chosen President of the Labour Party and led reforms including a significant statute revision. After the 2013 Labour victory, he was appointed chairman of the Grand Harbor Regeneration Corporation, where he oversaw the completion of key Valletta projects, including the city’s entrance, the new Parliament building, Castille Square, Tritoni Square, and Laparelli Garden. Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi became Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds in January 2020. Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi oversees the Department for Public Works, the Planning Authority, and the Building and Construction Authority as Minister for Public Works and Planning. Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi has two children, Federico and Emilia.
Minister for Finance and Employment
Hon. Clyde Caruana
The Minister for Finance and Employment, Clyde Caruana, was appointed Minister in November 2020, an Economist by training, has held the position of Executive Chairman at the State employment agency, Jobsplus, since 2014, more recently had taken up office as Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff. During his tenure at Jobsplus, as Chairperson, he authored several position documents and policy papers, which have been central to the government’s labour force policy. Additionally, he was the main driver to implement these policies and reforms, most notably, related to free childcare, in-work benefits, and others. He had previously worked at the National Statistics Office between 2007 and 2012. Caruana also lectures in Economics at the Faculty of Economics, Management, and Accountancy at the University of Malta. He has written papers and articles on the welfare state and the labour market, as well as related research and consultancy work.
Dr Atse Louwen
EURAC Research Institute
Dr Atse Louwen is a senior researcher in the Photovoltaic Systems group of the EURAC Research Institute for Renewable Energy in Bolzano, Italy. He studies PV system performance, reliability, and sustainability.
Ms Elisabeth Klimm
Elisabeth Klimm holds a master’s degree in process and environmental engineering. From 2010 on she focused on solar research and reliability at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Germany. Her topics in the field of service life analysis involved material testing on component surfaces and inorganics, analytics and characterization methods, standardized and adjusted testing, and design of testing methods such as for soiling. She is a member of the Environmental Engineering Society and participates in the working groups for numerical environmental simulation and salt spray testing on corrosion analysis. Currently, Ms Klimm is active in the fields of desert research for PV and the digitization of aging phenomena in polymers with the Anhalt University of Applied Science.
Ms Ulrike Jahn
International Energy Agency (IEA)
Ulrike Jahn is the project manager of an international expert group, Task 13 of the PVPS programme of the International Energy Agency (IEA), dealing with technical and financial issues of PV performance and quality of PV systems. She coordinates this network of 120 international experts in 25 countries in their joint efforts to assess and improve the performance, operation and reliability of PV systems over their lifetime. Since 2018, Ulrike is a Member of the Steering Committee of the European Technology and Innovation Platform for Photovoltaics (ETIP PV) leading the working group on PV reliability and circularity.
Dr Veronica Bermudez Benito
Qatar Environment Research Institute (QEERI)
Dr Verónica Bermúdez is a Senior Research Director at Qatar Environment Research Institute (QEERI) where she is the Director of the Energy Center. She is leading scientific and technological research, development, and innovation at QEERI in the field of Energy, addressing the impact of climate change and developing sustainable solutions in a Net-Zero Carbon emissions scenario.