Speakers & Chairmen

Bin Chen, PhD. D. is dedicated to the research of fire safety technology for new energy vehicles, achieving several industry firsts and forming systematic research results including equipment, standards and basic research. He developed the industry's first "integrated test platform for multi-source data fusion of new energy vehicle fires", formulated the industry's first "Electric Vehicle Fire Safety Test Methods" standard, developed the industry's first "China Electric Vehicle Fire Safety Index", and set up the industry's leading fire prevention, control and investigation system for new energy vehicles. He established the industry-leading new energy vehicle fire prevention system of "prevention, control and investigation". Dr. Bin presided over/participated in more than 10 scientific research projects at national, provincial and ministerial levels, applied for more than 10 patents and software copyrights, and published more than 20 SCI/EI papers.

Thomas Carl studied mechanical engineering at FH Kempten with a focus on design and graduated in 1999 as certified engineer (Dipl.-Ing. FH). For the next 13 years he worked as a development engineer specialising in the design of custom and packaging machinery, as well as plant construction. He joined Intertek Deutschland GmbH in 2012 as a project engineer in battery testing and certification. In 2015 he became the technical lead of Intertek’s Electromobility Laboratory before again being promoted to Head of Operations in 2018 and assuming business management responsibilities. He currently oversees battery, charging infrastructure, and environmental testing, as well as coordinates global market access.

Luis Otavio Cortes Magalhaes has a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering by the federal university of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Brazil. After graduating he started working at Fraunhofer EMI and began to research the theme of Lithium-Ion Battery thermal runaway CFD simulations. His professional expertise lies in the field of modeling and simulation of fluid flow and heat transfer. Since joining EMI, developing and improving models in the context of battery thermal runaway has been his major field of research.

After studying mechanical engineering majoring in materials science and applied informatics at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, Michael joined the Fraunhofer EMI as a researcher in 2013. In 2018 he finished his PhD project focusing on hybrid material systems for automotive crash applications and founded the “Digital Engineering” research group. Since 2024 he is additionally heading the Automotive Business Unit at the EMI.

Tobias Hall holds a Master´s degree in Mechanical Engineering from RWTH Aachen University. After graduation, he started his work as a Development Engineer in the Research Department of Kautex Textron GmbH & Co. KG. His professional expertise lies in the field of plastics processing, specifically for composite materials. Since joining Kautex Textron his primary work has been the pre-development of composite materials for the use in polymer-based automotive battery enclosures.

After studying rescue engineering Vera Hertler completed her senior fire officer education at the Hamburg Fire Brigade. In several leading positions in plant fire brigades and as a fire protection officer in the field of automotive she has been working on various topics related to electromobility since 2012. From 2015 to 2019 she established accident research for Mercedes-Benz Vans and as a member of the VDA study group “Rescue” she contributed to the interconnection of fire services and vehicle manufacturers.

Dr. Frank Kindermann is Head of Battery System Europe for NIO, based in Munich. He and his team act as boots on the ground in Europe with a range of activities from software development to technology scouting. While the main focus is on battery monitoring and BMS function development, he and his team also cover topics from cell analysis to recycling. Frank has a background in electrical engineering from Technical University of Munich, where he spent his entire academic career. Prior to joining NIO, Frank was working in cell development and application at a German premium OEM. His focus on batteries started more than 13 years ago.

After studying mechanical engineering at FH-Amberg-Weiden Filip Klug joined DEKRA at the Automobil Test Center as a vehicle engineer. While still a student, he worked for 13 years as a technical scrutineer in motorsport racing series such as Formula 3 and the DTM. In his first years at DEKRA he attained the status of an official authorized expert for the technical service in the fields of whole vehicle, passive and active safety as well as emissions and powertrain. After building up a DEKRA homologation team in Munich he became responsible as Head of Technical Sales for the Automobil Test Center. Since 2023 he is heading the department Support Functions and being promoted to Deputy Manager of the Automobil Test Center overseeing technical sales, business development and management as well as coordinating the global market access.

Simon Königs holds a Diploma and a Master of Science in mechanical engineering from the HS Bochum and the London SBU. He received his Ph.D. in systems engineering from the TU Berlin. In 2012 he started working for BMW and became responsible for the total vehicle concept integration of 7 & 5 series. In 2021 he became head of mechatronic safety in vehicle crashes.

Kim Kreisköther studied chemistry at Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany and specialized in materials and nanotechnology in her Master's degree. During her doctoral research, she focused on electrode materials and took over the leadership of the electrochemistry group. Kim Kreisköther worked from 2018 to 2021 at the institute for Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components at the RWTH Aachen University, where she headed the Battery Components & Recycling group. Since January 2022, she is part of the battery expert team at Henkel and is responsible for innovation in the area of safety-relevant solutions for battery systems.

Jan Krewinkel studied psychology at the University of Tübingen. The entry into the automotive industry took place at Daimler AG in 2012 with the focus on the development of safety-relevant control and display concepts for various vehicle model series. Since 2019, he has been working in the area of passive safety with the aim of further developing the topic of occupant and environmental protection in the event of thermal runaway and thermal propagation events. The focus of the team is on a holistic view of the vehicle and the possible effect of corresponding events.

Natalia Lebedeva holds a PhD degree in chemistry from the Technical University of Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Thereafter she joined Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands to do research on fuel cells and led projects on corrosion and corrosion protection at the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research. For the last 10 years she works at the batteries group of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, where she currently leads a research team focusing on battery safety.

Benjamin Schaufelberger has a master in Computational Mechanics of Materials and Structures from the University of Stuttgart. After graduation, he became a research fellow at Fraunhofer EMI. His professional expertise lies in the field of modeling and simulation of engineering structures under highly dynamic loading like blast, impact and crash. Within the last years, developing and improving models in the context of battery safety has become his major field of research.

ZHOU Qing is a professor at the School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University. Prof. Zhou serves as the Director of Vehicle Safety Committee of the Chinese Society of Automotive Engineers, Associate Editor of International Journal of Impact Engineering, and Council Member of International Research Council on Biomechanics of Injury (IRCOBI). Qing Zhou received his BS degree from Peking University and PhD degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, respectively. During the period from 1994 to 2003, Dr. Zhou worked at the General Motors R&D Center and the Volpe Center of the US Department of Transportation, respectively. His research interests include vehicle safety, human body impact protection, material and structural failures under impact loads, and crash safety of battery and electric vehicle.