Mario Henrique Cruz Torres is the CEO and Co-Founder of IVEX, where he drives the company’s vision, strategy, and product innovation. Under his leadership, IVEX has become a pioneer in developing cutting-edge tools for the validation and testing of autonomous driving systems and advanced driver assistance functions. With a PhD in Computer Science, Mario’s expertise lies in the intersection of safety, automation, and AI. Mario’s passion for solving complex, real-world problems has been the cornerstone of his career. He is committed to pushing the boundaries of technology while fostering a collaborative and innovative company culture.

Dr. Roland Kallweit is Head of Development Functions Active Safety in the field of assisted and automated driving at Audi. In this role, he is responsible for the development and testing of active safety functions for assisted driving. Before joining Audi in 2023, he was responsible for the function and system development of automated driving functions and concept validation using simulation at IAV for several years.

Dr. Thomas Kinsky completed his studies of automotive engineering at TU Dresden in 1991 and received a doctorate at TU Graz in 2015. From 1991 to 1995 he worked as an officially certified expert for TÜV Rheinland. Afterwards he managed from 1995 to 1998 the vehicle construction department in a small medium-sized company. From 1999 to 2018 Dr. Kinsky worked for the car manufacturer Opel in the area of vehicle regulations. Lastly as a senior expert, he was responsible for the development of legislation on passive vehicle safety and represented Opel in the discussion with authorities and associations. Since 2018 he is Director of Business Development at Humanetics Europe GmbH. In this role he is the contact for all topics regarding dummy development as well as for requirements on passive and active safety at Humanetics.

Dr. Malte Alexander Kurfiss is head of the crash test center at the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics, EMI. He studied physics in Saarbruecken and Hamburg where he graduated in the research group of nano-structured physics. After graduating he worked as a scientist at the Institute of Applied Physics, Hamburg, and gained his doctorate in the field of semiconductor and thin film physics. In 2006 Dr. Kurfiss joined the YXLON International GmbH as product manager responsible for X-ray sources and generators. After three years, he specialized on the field of computed tomography. In 2011 he was made director of the product marketing department within the same company. Before moving back to the research field at the Fraunhofer Institute in 2015, he took over the position as director for product management, marketing and business development departments at the Allied Visions GmbH, a company specialized in developing and producing industrial camera systems. Most prominent scope of his work being head of the crash test center at the EMI, is the X-ray Car Crash X-CC aiming for high speed crash data of internal structures. The crash test center of the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics, EMI, is located in Efringen-Kirchen nearby the Swiss border.

Andreas Mangold is Managing Director of Photron Deutschland GmbH - a subsidiary of the Japanese Photron Limited, a leading manufacturer of high-speed cameras. Mr. Mangold is a trained electronics engineer and has been working in the field of high-speed image analysis for over 15 years. For more than 6 years he has been responsible for the "Automotive" area throughout Europe at Photron, where he is the interface between end customers and the development team.

Steve Mareno will be presenting Vehicle Pitch Simulation – Data collection, target identification, and simulation. Steve has been with Instron for more than 15 years and has been part of the catapult team since his involvement with the first successful pitching system in 2002. Since that time he has been a part of the development team for each iteration of the design including the latest generation high speed pitching systems.  

With over two decades of experience, he heads the Safety Test Technologies division, ensuring both passive and active safety measures are top-notch. Dr. Raguse's journey from Development Engineer to his current role showcases his dedication to advancing safety standards. Beyond Volkswagen, he contributes to organizations like crash.tech and Fraunhofer Vision. He earned his Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Hannover.

Perfecte Sanchis (1961) has a master degree in Mechanical Engineering (EUETIB), also in Industrial Engineering (ETSEIB) and PDG (IESE Business School). After having worked in companies like PEGASO (now part of IVECO) and SEAT (now part of the VW Group) and having taught during some years, Mr. Sanchis decided to found ENCOPIM in 1995 together with another partner. Today, he has been leading the company as Managing Director for over 20 years.

Dr. Soni is working as Product Manager at Humanetics Innovative Solutions, Inc., leading the development and management of advanced digital products that drive innovation in automotive safety and biomechanics. With over 20 years of experience in occupant safety research and product development, he has participated in the development and validation of several Human Body Models (HBMs) that are now widely used across the industry. His expertise spans HBM applications in restraint system design, with a focus on developing and implementing virtual testing solutions to improve crashworthiness and occupant protection. Passionate about innovation in digital safety solutions, Dr. Soni is committed to integrating cutting-edge technologies into occupant protection strategies.

Philipp Toelke is general manager of the Seattle Safety Germany GmbH which is a 100% daughter company of Seattle Safety LLC in Seattle. Philipp is responsible for the European market and works very close with the engineering in Seattle at the development and market introduction of new Seattle Safety products. Philipp has a diploma degree in Engineering from Braunschweig University (Germany) and he worked in the field of vehicle safety for the last 17 years.

Czech Technical University in Prague, MSc Motor Vehicles, Manager of Computer Aided Service Department of TÜV Süd Czech working on FE simulation, crash and occupant safety simulation, virtual homologation