Keynote Speakers:
Prof Surendra M. Gupta
Surendra M. Gupta, Ph.D., P.E., is Professor Emeritus of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He received his BE (Honors) in Electronics Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, MBA (Honors) from Bryant University, and MSIE and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University. He is a registered professional engineer in the State of Massachusetts, USA. Dr. Gupta’s research interests span the areas of Production/Manufacturing Systems and Operations Research. He is mostly interested in Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing, Reverse and Closed-Loop Supply Chains, Disassembly Modeling and Remanufacturing. He has authored or coauthored thirteen books and well over 700 technical papers published in edited books, journals and international conference proceedings. His publications have received over 20,000 citations (with an h-index of 73) from researchers all over the world in journals, proceedings, books, and dissertations. He has traveled to all seven continents viz., Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America and presented his work at international conferences on six continents. In addition, he has delivered over 35 plenary/keynote speeches in international conferences in several countries including Spain, The Netherlands, Denmark, France, Japan, Korea, Thailand, India, Taiwan, China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. He has supervised 35 PhD’s dissertations and over 70 Master’s Thesis and Projects. Dr. Gupta has served as editor, associate editor and editorial board member of dozens of international journals. Among the many accolades received, he is Listed in the Stanford’s List of World’s Top 2% Scientists; Distinguished Professor Award from the Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Society International; Best Dissertation Advisor Award from the American Society for Engineering Management; Outstanding Research Award, Outstanding Industrial Engineering Professor Award and Multiple Major Works Awards from Northeastern University; and Outstanding Author Contribution Award from Emerald Publishing.
Prof John W. Sutherland
John Sutherland is a Professor and the Fehsenfeld Family Head of Environmental and Ecological Engineering (EEE) at Purdue University, USA. He has made pioneering research and education contributions to establish and advance the field of environmentally responsible design and manufacturing. He has served as an investigator on numerous externally funded projects, mentored over 100 students to the completion of their graduate degrees (including 34 Ph.D. students), and published nearly 450 papers in various journals and conference proceedings. His honors and recognitions include the SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award (1992), Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (1996), SAE Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award (1999), SME Education Award (2009), SAE International John Connor Environmental Award (2010), ASME William T. Ennor Manufacturing Technology Award (2013), SME Gold Medal (2018), AEESP Frederick George Pohland Medal (2022), and National Academy of Engineering member (2023), and AEESP Dist. Service Award (2024). He is a Fellow of SME, ASME, CIRP, and AAAS. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Environmental and Ecological Engineering (EEE) at Purdue University has undergraduate and graduate degree programs and is one of the largest environmental engineering programs in the USA. EEE is unique in that it embraces industrial sustainability in addition to classic environmental engineering. For more info see the EEE homepage.
Industry Keynote Speakers:
Prof Rolf Steinhilper
A giant of remanufacturing, Rolf Steinhilper shaped, defined and developed remanufacturing over about 40 years – from 1978 to 2018. In 1987 Rolf Steinhilper wrote a thesis on product recycling and was granted his PhD. His book “Remanufacturing: The Ultimate Form of Recycling,” is the first book on the remanufacturing concept and has been translated into seven languages (English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese and Korean). In 2001 he joined the University of Bayreuth and was nominated Professor of the Chair for Manufacturing and Remanufacturing Technology. He has been an active participant on the European Board of APRA since 1989. Professor Steinhilper has received many distinguished accolades for his work including the European Océ-Prize in 1993 for his comprehensive technological and logistical concepts for product recycling, the Automotive Parts Remanufacturers Association’s (APRA) Distinguished Service Award in 2007, “Remanufacturer of the year” award as the first academic among the so far industry management award winners in 2016 and again in 2018. Prof Rolf Steinhilper is also founder of the World Remanufacturing Summits (WRS) series which he initiated in 2012 .
Mike Hague-Morgan
Executive Director, Autocraft Solutions Group, UK
Mike Hague-Morgan is co-owner and majority shareholder of Autocraft Solutions Group. With his strong track record in turning companies around, Mike was appointed Commercial and Engineering Director of US-owned Autocraft Industries in 2008, with a brief to turn the loss-making company into profit. Seeing the potential of this very unique company, Mike led the MBO of the company in 2010 and the company was re-born as Autocraft Drivetrain Solutions. Under Mike’s and his senior leadership team’s direction, Autocraft Solutions Group was formed following the purchases of Vertex Engineering Solutions in 2015 and Autocraft Machining Solutions in 2018. Since the MBO, the company has grown from £6m to £60m+ turnover, and from 98 to over 430 employees. It has diversified into EV battery repair and remanufacture, and provides a fully outsourced IC engine assembly solution for OEMs moving to EV.
Mike has a BEng in Mechanical Engineering and prior to entry into the remanufacturing arena had a successful career in the conventional manufacturing automotive sector. Mike is a passionate believer in B2B partnerships with a win-win philosophy and champions the use of new technology in manufacturing businesses. Mike is a Vice President of the SMMT, Chair of their Automotive Components Section (ACS), former Vice Chair of the East Midlands Regional Advisory Board for Make UK, and a former Manufacturing Board Member of the Greater Lincolnshire LEP. He regularly supports Innovate UK and KTN Workshops to promote engineering and manufacturing in the UK.
Stefan Caba
Head of Innovation Field Sustainable Vehicle Development, EDAG Engineering GmbH, Germany
Stefan Caba has worked in composites for more than 15 years. In 2017 he completed his PhD working on void reduction in Resin Transfer Molding. Since then he has been part of the EDAG Innovation Department. His main area of work is the circular economy and sustainable solutions in the automotive industry with a focus on composite concepts for circular design.
The EDAG Group is a globally leading, independent engineering service provider that providing excellent engineering with the latest technology. With a global network of some 60 branches, the EDAG Group realizes projects in the Vehicle Engineering, Electrics/Electronics and Production Solutions segments. EDAGs proprietary 360-degreee development approaches has become a hallmark of quality in the holistic development of vehicles and smart factories.
Fernand Weiland
30 years in management positions with Bendix Automotive, Lucas Automotive, Magneti Marelli Automotive and TRW Automotive.
Fernand Weiland, honorary member and founder of APRA (Automotive Parts Remanufacturer Assoc.) European Division in 1989, serving as the first chairman for more than 20 years. Between 1990 and 2010 he organised a considerable number of APRA forums, workshops, and exhibitions across Europe.
A co-founder of the biennial ReMaTec remanufacturing exhibitions in Amsterdam, Fernand Weiland has written numerous articles for the ReMaTecNews magazine as well as editing five books about automotive remanufacturing in Europe. He was also instrumental in setting up APRA’s Asia-Pacific Division. In 2019 Fernand was honoured with the prestigious Best Reman Ambassador Award presented by Rematec Amsterdam. Fernand is currently Editor and the Director of FJW Consulting.
Vanguard Medical Remanufacturing - VANGUARD AG
Medical remanufacturing restores a used medical device to “as new” functional and safety standard with matching warranty. Medical remanufacturing enables a circular economy within the medical device sector, helping to conserve the planet’s valuable resources while keeping costs low — without compromising on safety or performance. Vanguard AG extends the product life cycle of a single-use medical device and enables a more sustainable future for the medical device sector. Vanguard AG provide insight into the organisation, the importance of remanufacturing as well as provide an overview of is work.
Dominic Schultze
Technical Support Engineer, Herrenknecht AG, Germany
Herrenknecht AG is a German company that manufactures tunnel boring machines, headquartered in Allmannsweier, Schwanau, Baden-Württemberg. It is the worldwide market leader for heavy tunnel boring machines. Roughly two-thirds of its 5,000 employees work at the company's headquarters in the installation of hydraulic and electronic components and final inspection. Approximately 300 work at three locations across China. The company has 82 subsidiaries around the world and has worked on 2,600 projects. As the leading premium supplier of comprehensive technical solutions in mechanized tunnelling, Herrenknecht is the first port of call for underground infrastructure projects around the world. Dominic Schultze, Technical Support Engineer will provide an overview of Herrenknecht AG remanufacturing activity.
Siva Balakrishnan
General Manager (Lifecycle Solutions), GE HealthCare, USA
GE HealthCare Technologies, Inc is an American multinational medical technology company spun-off from General Electric. The company is committed to people and planet and aims to enable earlier, better, and faster diagnosis and treatment for more people in need, while reducing or eliminating their impact on the environment. The GE HealthCare industry keynote will be presented by Siva Balakrishnan the General Manager for Lifecycle Solutions in Global Services which includes the GE GoldSeal Programs (Remanufacturing and Refurbishment) as well as Repair and Harvesting of parts and subassemblies.