Javiera McGuiggan

VP, Marketing Sustainable Solutions

HELM AG

Javi is the VP, Marketing Sustainable Solutions for HELM AG. Previously AVP, Power Systems within Cargill BioIndustrial. Javi is from Chile, lived for 15 years in USA and is now a resident of Hamburg, Germany. She started her career in P&G, followed by 14 years at 3M Company. She joined Cargill in 2019 and lead the successful rise of Natural Esters for the Power Systems Business which includes Dielectric and Cooling Solutions. Now as VP for HELM, she will lead their biobased Chemicals portfolio, including sustainable solutions for Power Generators

Through her career, she has served in several roles including Sales, Marketing, and Business Management at local, regional, and global levels.

Javi is a civil hydraulics engineer and later earned an MPA and MBA from University of Minnesota. She also is Six Sigma Green Belt certified and a SCRUM Master. Her languages include English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Through a more personal lens, she is a mother to Jack (9 years old), Board Member of several Nonprofit organizations, in addition to Advisory Board Member at CWIEME Berlin since 2022. Javi’s interests include Global Economic Development, Public Policy, Women in Leadership, Communications and Sustainability.

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• 5 Minutes with...Javiera McGuiggan

Erhard Eder

Senior Vice President, Grid Technologies Transformers

Siemens Energy

Erhard Eder is Senior Vice President of Grid Technologies Transformers at Siemens Energy, based in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany. With more than three decades of experience at Siemens and Siemens Energy, he has built an extensive career across power technologies, services, and large-scale industrial applications.

He began his professional journey at Siemens in 1993, taking on a variety of roles across the organisation, including positions in compressor and steam turbine services in Duisburg and small gas turbine services in Lincoln, UK. Over the years, he progressed into senior leadership roles, including Senior Vice President for Large Power Transformers and later Senior Vice President for Industrial Steam Turbine and Generator Service, where he also served as Site Head of Siemens’ Mülheim operations.

From 2020 to 2022, he led Industrial Applications Service at Siemens Energy, before taking on the role of Senior Vice President for Grid Technologies Products. Since October 2025, he has been leading the Grid Technologies Transformers business, overseeing one of the key segments enabling the energy transition.
In addition to his executive responsibilities, Erhard holds several international board positions, including roles with Končar Power Transformers Ltd., Siemens Transformers Guangzhou Co., Ltd., and Siemens High Voltage Switchgear Co., Ltd. in Shanghai.

He holds dual degrees from Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, with a Diplom-Ingenieur in Electrical Engineering and a Diplom-Kaufmann in International Economics, Strategic Corporate Management, and Organisational Psychology.

Adam Middleton

Director, EnergetIQ Advisory

Former VP, Siemens Energy in Western Europe

Adam Middleton has spent more than 35 years in the energy, Infrastructure, electrical power grids, construction and oil & gas industries.

Originally from the UK, Adam spent more than 35 years in engineering, projects and leadership roles with GEC / GEC ALSTOM / AREVA / ALSTOM Group companies in the UK and France, with GE Energy in EU & North America, with CG Power based in Belgium and Laing O’Rourke in the UK. For the past 9 years, Adam has worked with Siemens / Siemens Energy in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland & Western Europe.

Adam holds a First-Class Honours Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Bradford (UK) and an MBA from Warwick Business School (UK). He is a Chartered Engineer (C.Eng).

In autumn 2023, he was awarded the role of Honorary Professor in Systems Technology & Strategy at the University of Birmingham (UK), where he leads regular debates on the wider impact of the Energy Transition.

In October 2025, Adam launched EnergetIQ Advisory, a consulting and advisory company focused upon supporting energy and industrial leaders navigating change towards future readiness. Adam works with companies across Europe and North America, addressing growth opportunities and mentoring business leaders.

Chair of CIGRE UK during 2016-22, he was elected to the CIGRE Global Executive Steering Committee (SteerCo) for the period 2019 to 2022, where he mentors professionals based in three continents from the Women in Energy (WiE) and Next Generation Network groups.

Adam has a strong interest in the development of new and diverse talent within the engineering industry, the application of AI / digitalization to improve business operations and project delivery and has a passion for improving health and safety at work. He works extensively supporting inclusion, equity and diversity, mental health, experienced employee productivity, the Energy Transition and decarbonization initiatives in social media.

Daniele Porcu

EU Project Coordinator and Program Manager

Enel Group

Daniele Porcu is a Senior Member of the Subsidized Programs Unit at Enel Grids, with three decades of expertise in power systems and digitalization. He began his career with the Enel Group in 1996 as an HV remote control specialist, later serving as Technical Supervisor for MV network automation in Sardinia. This period provided him with deep expertise in SCADA systems, field operations, and technical training.

In 2007, Mr. Porcu transitioned to strategic IT management within e-distribuzione, leading major overhauls of prosumer connection processes. A graduate of Communication Studies from the University of Cagliari, he has since become a key driver of Industry 4.0 digitalization initiatives.

Currently, he is a leading figure in the European energy research landscape, holding coordination roles in high-profile projects such as FLEXICIENCY, CoordiNET, EU-SysFlex, FlexPlan, Be-Flexible, and Smar5Grid. Within the TwinEU project, he coordinates the Italian pilots and the cluster focused on grid management and monitoring. Since 2018, he has also been an active contributor to the Bridge initiative, serving on task forces dedicated to Data Management, Dissemination, and Scalability.

Ana Diaz-Marquina

Global Head of Category Management Oils, Chemicals, and Plastics

Hitachi Energy

Lequesha Gonsalves

Digital Manufacturing Engineer

Rolls-Royce

Lequesha Florinda Gonsalves is a Digital Manufacturing Engineer at Rolls-Royce in Berlin, specialising in emerging technologies for aerospace production and inspection. Her work focuses on deploying advanced solutions such as autonomous drones and 3D digital models to improve quality, efficiency, and safety in engine manufacturing.

With a background in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Sheffield and a degree apprenticeship at Rolls-Royce, she brings a practical, innovation-driven perspective to the future of industrial digitalisation.
 

Joerg Hassmann

President

European Committee of Manufacturers of Electrical Machines and Power Electronics (CEMEP)  

Ronald Piers De Raveschoot

Policy Officer

European Commission – DG ENER

Ronald Piers de Raveschoot currently holds the position of Policy Officer at DG ENER, focusing on improving the energy efficiency of products through the Ecodesign and Energy Labelling regulations, with a particular emphasis on product groups such as electric motors and their applications (e.g., pumps, fans), as well as market surveillance.
 
He began his career with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Université Catholique de Louvain and a Master of Science in Environmental Management from Imperial College London. After seven years in the energy sector, he transitioned to the public sector. He led the energy subdivision at the Brussels Capital Region's administration for environment and energy, before moving to the European Commission.

From 2009 to 2016, he served at the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the Commission's science and knowledge service, where he provided scientific support to various EU initiatives and projects in the fields of energy and environment.

 

Marcel Hilgers

General Manager, tkES Solutions

thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel

Marcel Hilgers is General Manager, tkES Solutions 

He believes in listening to his customers and creating solutions to serve their true needs. 
With over 20-years of experience in the global steel business, and thereof over 10 years serving the transformer industry, he now works intensely on the green transformation of both steel and transformers.
Marcel leads the sales, technical customer engineering and communications team at thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel – the European market leader in grain oriented electrical steel.

His key priority today is to inform the electricity industry about options to decarbonize the grid and to form alliances across raw material suppliers, transformer makers and electric utilities.

Marco Gubitosa

Engineering Director

Industrie Saleri Italo S.p.A.

Marco Gubitosa, Engineering Director, Industrie Saleri Italo s.p.a.

R&D Engineering Director at Industrie Saleri Italo S.p.A. He holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano. His expertise includes optimization and multi‑physics methods for product and system design. He has been a research fellow at KU Leuven and has held roles within the R&D teams of Siemens, Toyota’s European center, and Tenneco Automotive EU.