Vincent Affolter

Managing Director of Affolter Group SA

Vincent Affolter, Managing Director of Affolter Group SA. Swissmem delegate. Trained electrical engineer and EMBA HSG. After gaining experience in the development of on-board electrical drive systems, he worked as a project manager in a globally serving industrial group. In 2011 he joined the century-old family business, which manufactures watch gears and develops and markets machine tools (gear machining). He was first sent to Asia, where he was based for 5 years in Shanghai and developed the sales and service network. In 2016, he joined the company’s executive committee in Switzerland. There he continues to develop and use modern, automated, and autonomous manufacturing systems. The latest addition is a fully automated machining line that produces ultra-precise parts with centered tolerances from material bars without any human intervention.

Ferdinando Auricchio 

Professor of Solids and Structural Mechanics, University of Pavia

Ferdinando Auricchio is professor of Solids and Structural Mechanics at the University of Pavia, Italy, research associate at IMATI-CNR (Institute for Applied Mathematics and Informatic Technologies “E. Magenes”) in Pavia, affiliated member of the IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo in Pavia. Euler Medal by ECCOMAS (European Community of Computational Methods in Applied Sciences) in 2016, Fellow Award by IACM (International Association for Computational Mechanics) since 2012. Since 2018 member of the Italian National Academy of Science, known also as Accademia dei XL. Since 2021 he is President of ECCOMAS.

Judith Ay

Policy Director, ERT

Judith Ay is Policy Director at the European Round Table for Industry (ERT), a Brussels-based platform for CEOs and Chairs of leading European industrial companies. Judith runs the ERT’s work streams on Competitiveness & Innovation and Jobs, Skills & Impact. Prior to joining ERT in 2021, Judith has worked in various EU public affairs roles at the European Banking Federation, Finnish forestry company Metsä Group, public affairs consultancy Brunswick Group and the European Savings Banks Group. Judith holds a PhD in Economics from the European University Institute in Florence, and a Msc Econ from University College London.

Irene Bader

Global Corporate Communication and Chief Marketing Officer, DMG MORI

Irene Bader is a member of the executive board at DMG MORI – a leading global manufacturer of high-precision machine tools with more than 13,500 employees worldwide. She is responsible for Global Corporate Communication and is Chief Marketing Officer. In addition, her board responsibilities include strategic sales and market management. She has been with the company since 2005 and has held various management positions. From the Munich and Tokyo locations, she is responsible for the strategic development and implementation of global product communication as well as global external and internal communication. As Managing Director of DMG MORI Europe Holding, she determines the strategic direction of the company, manages operational processes in Europe and identifies market potential in the manufacturing industry. Since 2016, Irene Bader has represented the main shareholder DMG MORI COMPANY LIMITED on the supervisory board of the subsidiary DMG MORI AG. Born in Austria, she holds a Master’s in Business Administration and is currently doing a doctorate as a “Doctor in Business Administration” (DBA) at Sheffield Hallam University, UK.

Christian Boelling

Managing Director, EIT Manufacturing Central gGmbH

Since January 2019, Christian Boelling has headed the Germany-based hub of EIT Manufacturing, the leading European innovation network for the manufacturing industry. Previously, he led the Machining Technology Research Department at the Institute for Production Management, Technology and Machine Tools (PTW) of Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany.

José Pérez Berdud 

President of AFM Cluster and CEO of Fagor Automation, Spain

José Pérez Berdud is the CEO of Fagor Automation and President of the AFM Cluster. He is an electronics engineer with an MBA from Mondragon University. He has spent his entire career at Fagor Automation, starting in 1993 as a technician in the R&D department. He has held various positions in the company, always related to production, logistics and purchasing.

Dr. Thomas Schneider 

Managing Director of Research + Development at TRUMPF Werkzeugmaschinen SE + Co. KG. 

Dr. Thomas Schneider is Managing Director of Research + Development at TRUMPF Werkzeugmaschinen SE + Co. KG. Born in Ludwigshafen, he studied mechanical engineering at the Institute of Technology in Karlsruhe (KIT) and did his doctorate in the field of electrical engineering materials. Before joining TRUMPF, he held various positions in industry and was a product development expert at McKinsey