Claudia Patricolo is the Editor-in-chief of CEENERGYNEWS, the only English-speaking news portal entirely dedicated to the energy industry in Central and Eastern Europe.
Trained as a journalist in Italy, she worked for different media outlets covering foreign policy, business, investments and macro-economy. After starting her career in Rome she moved to Paris, where she worked at Le Monde. Now she lives in Budapest from where she covered the CEE region as Deputy Editor of Emerging Europe, UK-based news, intelligence and community platform.
Her areas of expertise include energy, climate change and business in CEE.
After obtaining his degree in Economics, he was responsible for the financial supervision and planning of brands like Braun and Duracell at the Hungarian, then the Swiss headquarters of Procter&Gamble. Later he spent a few more years at the headquarters of SC Johnson in Switzerland. Five years ago he returned home to use his international experience for the economic development of Debrecen as the CEO of EDC Debrecen Urban- and Economic Development Centre and the Debrecen Infrastructure Development Ltd. Through the work of EDC Debrecen’s team led by him, several large-scale foreign direct investments were drawn to the city, for example, Diehl, Krones, Vitesco Technologies (Continental), Deufol, ThyssenKrupp and BMW. The Debrecen Infrastructure Development Ltd. is also responsible for the project management of the infrastructural development – public utilities, railway and road - of the future site of BMW and the South Industrial Park.
Zoltán Póser was recently appointed Deputy State Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office of Hungary.
Marcell Szűcs is one of the Co-Founders and the CEO of Planergy Solutions Ltd., a tech startup focusing on cutting-edge digital solutions for batteries.
He holds an M.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Since 2016, he has worked for Siemens eAircraft Hungary as a Research & Development Engineer, designing components for hybrid-electric aircraft propulsion systems. After Rolls-Royce Electrical has acquired the department in 2019, he continued as the IT Manager of the Budapest site, coordinating the deployment of international, multi-site cloud-based systems and services, working with Digital Twins, and promoting digitalization throughout the company.
In early 2021 he got involved in renewable projects and has co-founded Planergy Solutions just a couple of months later, with a goal to accelerate the spread of energy storage technologies in the solar industry. Since then, the company has received recognition from key industry players for developing unique solutions for designing, optimizing, and controlling solar power plants with batteries. In Q4 2021, Planergy Solutions has commissioned the first utility-scale solar battery pack in Hungary, with an entirely custom, cloud-based control system.
Planergy Solutions is committed to solving the ongoing energy crisis, and believes in a world where affordable, sustainable, clean energy is always available for everyone.
Attila works as a managing director for the Battery Division of Jász-Plasztik Ltd. This area includes a plastic injection molding plant, a lead-acid battery factory, a battery recycling plant, and a car care chemical bottling plant with about 350 workers. Attila is committed to the success of this branch of the family business, which mainly produces for export. In 2014, the company established its current battery plant in Jászberény as part of a large investment. In the years that have passed since then, with the help of Attila, they inevitably put themselves on the map in Europe within the ranks of this narrow profession.
Sándor Kertész is the CEO of INFOWARE Zrt. since 1997. He graduated at the Technical University of Budapest as Electrical Engineer in 1982. INFOWARE became one of the leading private companies in Hungary on providing solutions for the Electric Energy Market Segment under his more than 25 years of leadership. Under his technical and business control, INFOWARE performed several innovative developments and installations of high and medium-voltage substations, power plants, renewable plants and battery storage and microgrid systems. He taught “Digital Technology” at the Electrical Faculty of the Technical University of Budapest from 1982 till 1992. He also taught the “Substation Automation Systems” course for the Electrical Faculty of Óbuda University since 2013. As an honour of his educational activities, the Óbuda University of Budapest awarded him the Associate Professor status in 2017.
He is also the Vice president of the Hungarian Solar Association and the inventor of several patents related to electricity automation applications.
Patrik has a long-term professional experience in projects focused on electric mobility, renewables and energy efficiency. He is the managing partner of Enairgy, a consultancy in green technologies, and a managing partner of Espio, a young technology startup focused on the research and marketing of graphene-based sensors.
Patrik co-founded and currently leads the Slovak Electric Vehicle Association as its Director. He is also Vice President of AVERE – European Association for Electromobility, based in Brussels.
Patrik is an alumnus of the Executive MBA program at Carlson School of Management, the University of Minnesota, and WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria. He also holds a Master's degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy from Matej Bel University, Slovakia.
Tamás Czikora joined MOL in 2019 as a project manager in the field of mobility under Consumer Services. He previously worked for Boston Consulting Group in various positions, where he worked primarily with energy companies on strategic and operational issues. He received his degree from Corvinus University and the CEMS program.
In its strategy until 2030, MOL has stated that it intends to play a much bigger role in mobility services: „it will sell kilometres instead of litres” to be the number one choice for those on the road. It makes available all services that help you travel, transport, or make your trip as comfortable as possible. Community car-sharing and the installation of an electric charging grid also fit in perfectly with this strategy.
Aleksander Rajch is a lawyer and seasoned practitioner in corporate communication and public affairs with a 15-year track record. He gained his experience in energy, financial and FMCG markets. As a C-level executive leader, Aleksander managed his own public affairs agency and a number of newtech projects. He is an enthusiast of innovation and new technology solutions. He is an author of articles on e-mobility and sustainable transport for both Polish and English publications. As a sailor and skier, Aleksander truly believes in dynamic and motion without combustion. In the Polish Alternative Fuels Association (PSPA), Aleksander is responsible for managing international affairs, project management, EU regulations and the battery sector.
In 2009, he received his BSc degree, in 2011, he received his MSc degree, and in 2016 he received his PhD degree at the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering at University of Miskolc. From 2016 to 2018 he was a technical and facility manager at the Industrial Combustion and Gasification Research Facility at the University of Utah, USA. Today, he is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Energy and Quality at the University of Miskolc, and from 2021 he is a research and development expert at Metal Shredder Hungary Zrt. He owns several patents and has numerous publications in high quality journals. His research interests are energy related topics including combustion, renewable and alternative fuels, waste processing, carbon-cycle, hydrogen technologies and development of unique systems.
Benjámin Feldmájer is the senior sustainability manager for Schneider Electric Hungária Zrt. In his current role he is responsible for supporting the acceleration of green and digital transformation both within Schneider Electric and for Schneider Electric partners. He is responsible for setting up cooperation with commercial partners as well as partnering with GOs and NGOs and to provide guidance to those in the topics of energy, sustainability and digital transformation. He has a mixed educational background (STEM & Art and Humanities). and started his career in the academic sector and spent there half a decade before joining Schneider Electric in 2013. Since then he worked in multiple roles within and out of Schneider Electric and collected knowledge in many fields of the energy ecosystem as well as management experience in different roles. He helped Vodafone to develop global renewable strategy and worked for Hungarian E.On as Head of Virtual Power Plant Business.