SPEAKERS’ BIOGRAPHIES

High-level session

18 November 2015

14.00 – 17.30

Thon Hotel EU, Brussels

Stephen Sackur

Moderator

Journalist, BBC

BBC journalist and presenter of HARDtalk, the current affairs interview programme that draws

the unseen and unknown out of world leaders on BBC World News and BBC News 24. He is

also the main Friday presenter of GMT on BBC World News.

Stephen's subjects have included the heads of NATO and OPEC, Shimon Peres, Gore Vidal

and Richard Dawkins.

Stephen previously served in Brussels, reporting on day to day stories from the major European

institutions and across the continent. Before that he was Washington Correspondent, where his

coverage and analysis of 9/11 won widespread acclaim.

Ten years earlier it was Stephen who broke the story of the mass killing on the Basra road out

of Kuwait, marking the end of the Gulf War. He was then posted to Cairo and Jerusalem as

Middle East Correspondent, where he reported on the emergence of the Palestinian Authority.

Stephen was the Annual Meeting moderator for the European Paper Week 2011, 2012 and

2013.

Twitter: @stephensackur

Gary McGann

CEPI Chairman

GARY McGANN is the former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG),

one of the leading providers of paper-based packaging solutions in the world.

Before joining the (then) Jefferson Smurfit Group in 1998 he held various executive positions at

senior VP or CEO level in Irish industry in both the private and public sector. In 1968 he joined

the Comptroller and Auditor General’s office as an auditor. He joined LM Ericsson Limited as

Management Accountant in 1978 and later became Group Financial Controller of the Irish

companies of LM Ericsson Group. He joined Gilbeys of Ireland Group as Group Finance

Director in 1988 and was appointed Chief Executive in late 1991. He was also Chief Executive

of their IFSC Company “Grand Met Finance Ireland” which he helped found in 1990. In early

1994, the Irish Government appointed him as Group Chief Executive of Aer Lingus, a position

he held until 1998. He joined the Smurfit Group as Chief Financial Officer in August 1998. He

was appointed President & Chief Operations Officer in December 1999, and was elected to the

Group’s Board in January 2000. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer in November 2002.

Gary is Chairman of Aon Ireland and Paddy Power plc. He is also a Director of Green Reit plc,

Sicon Ltd (Sisk Group), a Director and former President of IBEC (Irish Business and Employers’

Confederation), and a Director of the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. He is

also a former member of the ERT (European Round Table of Industrialists) and Chairman of

CEPI (Confederation of European Paper Industries).

Gary obtained a Bachelor of Arts from U.C.D., is a Fellow of the Institute of Certified

Accountants (FCCA), and holds a Master’s degree in Management Science (MScMgnt). He is

also an Honorary Fellow of the National College of Ireland.

Gary is a member of Las Brisas Golf Club, RIAC, Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club, and The K

Club.

He is married to Moira and they have 3 daughters and two granddaughters. He enjoys golf,

music and theatre.

Maroš Šefčovič

Vice-President of the

European Commission

In charge of Energy Union

Maroš Šefčovič (born in 1966) is a Slovak career diplomat and since 1 November 2014 Vice

President of the European Commission in charge of the Energy Union. In this capacity, he leads

the "Energy Union" Project Team within the Commission which comprises of 14 commissioners.

From 2010 – 2014 he was Vice President of the European Commission in charge of Inter-

Institutional Relations and Administration. In 2009 – 2010, he was European Commissioner for

Education, Training, Culture and Youth. From 2004 – 2009, he was the Permanent

Representative of the Slovak Republic to the European Union. As diplomat by profession he

served between 1992 and 2004 in Zimbabwe and Canada and as Ambassador to Israel.

He graduated from the University of Economy in Bratislava and the Moscow State Institute for

Foreign Relations. He holds a degree as Doctor of Law and a PhD of European Law from the

Comenius University, Faculty of Law, Bratislava. He also studied at Stanford University, USA.

Twitter: @MarosSefcovic

Jeremy Rifkin

Founder & President

The Foundation on Economic

Trends

Jeremy Rifkin is the bestselling author of twenty-one books on the impact of scientific and

technological changes on the economy, the workforce, society, and the environment. His books

have been translated into more than thirty five languages and are used in universities,

corporations and government agencies around the world.

On April 1st, 2014 Mr Rifkin’s published his latest book, The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The

Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism. In 2011, Jeremy

Rifkin published the New York Times bestseller The Third Industrial Revolution, which captured

the attention of the world. Mr Rifkin’s vision of a sustainable, post carbon economic era has

been endorsed by the European Union and the United Nations and embraced by world leaders

including Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President François Hollande of France, and

Premier Li Keqiang of China. Mr Rifkin’s other recent titles include, The Empathic Civilization,

The Age of Access, The End of Work, The European Dream, The Biotech Century and The

Hydrogen Economy.

Jeremy Rifkin has been an advisor for the past 15 years to the European Union. Mr Rifkin also

served as an adviser to President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Chancellor Angela Merkel of

Germany, Prime Minister Jose Socrates of Portugal, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez

Zapatero of Spain, and Prime Minister Janez Janša of Slovenia, during their respective

European Council Presidencies, on issues related to the economy, climate change, and energy

security. He currently advises the European Commission, the European Parliament, and several

EU and Asian heads of state.

Mr Rifkin is the principal architect of the European Union's Third Industrial Revolution long-term

economic sustainability plan to address the triple challenge of the global economic crisis,

energy security, and climate change. The Third Industrial Revolution was formally endorsed by

the European Parliament in 2007 and is now being implemented by various agencies within the

European Commission as well as in the 28 Member States.

Jeremy Rifkin is the President of the TIR Consulting Group LLC, comprised of many of the

leading renewable energy companies, electricity transmission companies, construction

companies, architectural firms, IT and electronics companies, and transport and logistics

companies. His global economic development team is working with cities, regions, and national

governments to develop the Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure for a Collaborative Commons

and a Third Industrial Revolution.

Mr Rifkin is a senior lecturer at the Wharton School's Executive Education Program at the

University of Pennsylvania where he instructs CEOs and senior management on transitioning

their business operations into sustainable Third Industrial Revolution economies. From 1995-

2010, Mr. Rifkin taught in the Advanced Management Program at Wharton.

Mr Rifkin's monthly column on global issues has appeared over the years in many of the world's

leading newspapers and magazines, including The Los Angeles Times in the United States,

The Guardian in the U.K., Die Süddeutsche Zeitung and Handelsblatt in Germany, Le Soir and

Knack in Belgium, L'Espresso in Italy, El Mundo and El País in Spain, Kathimerini in Greece,

Informatíon in Denmark, De Volkskrant in the Netherlands, Hospodárské Noviny in the Czech

Republic, Wort in Luxembourg, Clarín in Argentina, and Al-Ittihad in the U.A.E.

Mr Rifkin holds a degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of

Pennsylvania, and a degree in international affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and

Diplomacy at Tufts University. Rifkin speaks frequently before government, business, labour

and civic forums. He has lectured at hundreds of the world's leading corporations as well as

more than 300 universities in some thirty countries in the past four decades. Mr Rifkin is the

founder and president of The Foundation on Economic Trends (www.foet.org) in Bethesda, MD.

The Foundation examines the economic, environmental, social and cultural impacts of new

technologies introduced into the global economy.

Twitter: @JeremyRifkin

Günther H. Oettinger

European Commissioner for

Digital Economy and Society

Günther H. Oettinger (born 1953) is a German National and since 1 November 2014 European

Commissioner responsible for Digital Economy & Society in the European Commission.

In 2010 – 2014, he served as European Commissioner for Energy in the European

Commission. From 2005 to 2010, he was Minister-President of the Federal State of Baden-

Württemberg and, since 1984, member of State Parliament. He was Chairman of the CDU

Baden-Wüttemberg parliamentary group in the State Parliament from January 1991 to April

2005.

Oettinger studied Law and Economics at the University of Tübingen.

Twitter: @GOettingerEU

Marco Mensink

Director General

CEPI

Marco Mensink joined CEPI in March 2006 as Energy and Environment Director; an expert on

Emission Trading, renewables and energy legislation. In 2010 he was appointed Deputy

Director General.

Mr Mensink is an experienced Brussels-based public affairs professional, with an extensive

network of contacts with the European Commission, Parliament and Member states, Business

Europe and ENGOs. He is a professional speaker in public events, with a strong drive to move

the organisation and the sector forward.

He holds a Master of Science Degree in Forestry and Business Management from the

Agricultural University of Wageningen in the Netherlands. Starting his career at Ernst & Young

Management Consulting, he worked for six years in Environmental Management, and due

diligence projects. He then worked for six years at the Royal Netherlands’ Paper and Board

Association, also representing the Dutch industry in Brussels.

Mr Mensink was the author of the CEPI 2050 Roadmap and responsible for the implementation

of the Roadmap, co-founding of the bio-based industries public private partnership. Additionally,

Mr Mensink played an essential role in the conception and establishment of the Two Team

Project, which has resulted in breakthrough technologies for the future pulp and paper industry.

He is a Dutch national and was born in 1968. He is married and has three children.

Twitter: @MMens

Khalil Rouhana

Director

DG CONNECT, European

Commission

Khalil Rouhana is the director for "Components & Systems" in DG CONNECT (Communications

Networks, Content & Technology). The mission of the Directorate is to support research and

innovation and ensure industrial and business development in micro and nano electronics,

photonics, robotics, embedded and complex systems and advanced computing. The Directorate

is also DG CONNECT lead for Horizon 2020/LEIT, notably coordination of key enabling

technologies (KET) in ICT.

In his previous experiences in the Commission, he was the Director for "Digital content &

Cognitive systems", the Head of Unit in charge of ICT research and Innovation strategy, and

started as a project officer in the ESPRIT programme in the areas of High Performance

Computing and Future and Emerging technologies.

Before joining the Commission in 1992, he was for 5 years the director of an institute and school

of engineering (Grande Ecole) in France. He started his career as research and development

engineer for the aeronautics industry, worked for the French University in Beirut and created

also his own engineering company. He has two master degrees in electrical and electronic

engineering.

Twitter: @KhalilRouhana

Matthew Watts

Senior Vice President

Voith Paper

Matthew Watts is the Senior Vice President for Papermaking 4.0 at Voith Paper.

With 20 years paper industry experience starting at Aylesford Newsprint Ltd as a Papermaking

apprentice in 1995 followed by multiple mill operations roles, next to his studies in ONC Plant

Engineer & HNC Paper Science, Matthew Watts gained hands on experience in the operation,

management and optimization of the complete paper manufacturing process.

Following his newly found passion for the design and optimization of manufacturing processes,

Matthew Watts joined Voith Paper Fiber Systems GmbH, Germany in 2002 as a Technical

Sales Manager for stock preparation systems where he consulted and assisted paper mills in

Europe and then later Overseas for capital equipment projects, upgrades and process

optimization initiatives. In 2008 Matthew Watts moved into the service field as Vice President

Service Sales, building up and taking the lead of a newly formed European customer service,

sales and support team assisting customers in raising the productivity and performance of their

plant and processes.

In 2012 as Senior Vice President Global Service, he undertook the responsibility of the

complete Voith Paper service portfolio. Focusing on driving efficiency improvements he led the

incubation and development of new service product ranges, successfully targeting the

optimization of both Plant Maintenance and Process Performance Management.

From 2014 to date, Matthew Watts has driven the joint R&D and product management program

Papermaking 4.0 from a vision to fully fledged strategic initiative for Voith Paper. He leads a

team of multi-faculty professionals including service, applications and programming, process

technology, product management and technical sales. All dedicated to the one ambition of

supporting and facilitating the advancement of the paper industry into the next evolution.

Matthew Watts is a British National, born in 1977. He lives with his family of four children in

Germany.

Pekka Linnonmaa

Director

EMEA Paper Technology

Valmet

Pekka Linnonmaa works as Director of Paper Technology in Valmet’s EMEA area organisation.

Pekka has a MSc. degree in engineering of paper and pulp technology. He has worked over 20

years in Valmet in various positions ranging from R&D to delivery project operations and to

sales. In his current position Pekka is a member of Valmet’s Industrial Internet Team as a

representative of sales and customer relations management.

Juergen Mielke

Director

Product Management Fiber

Industry

Siemens

Juergen Mielke holds a degree in electrical engineering from the Friedrich-Alexander-University

Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.

He started his professional career at Siemens in 1997 as project manager for automotive

projects. After several positions in innovation and technology management of Siemens’

industrial solutions and services business he took over the position of Director Product

Management Fiber Industry in 2012.

Mr Mielke is born in 1968, married and has two children.

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