SPEAKERS

Mali Baum

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, WLOUNGE and Board Member, European Innovation Council

Mali Baum is a multi-award-winning serial entrepreneur, impact investor, and ecosystem builder with over 20 years of global experience. She launched her first company in 2007, specialising in educational toys with operations across Asia and distribution in the US, EU, and Australia. As founder of WLOUNGE, one of Europe’s most influential tech networks, she has championed female founders and diverse teams through strategic programmes, investments, and policy engagement.

She created the WLOUNGE DARE LEADERSHIP programme and the Female Angel Accelerator, empowering women in tech and investment, with over €400 million invested under her leadership. Baum serves as a board member of the European Innovation Council (EIC) and is a key advisor to start-ups, VCs, corporates, and government initiatives. She regularly mentors at accelerators such as Techstars, SIBB, and F-Lane and leads the Tech Awards Gala. Baum also lectures on international business and tech excellence, shaping future leaders while driving ESG and impact investment across Europe. Recognised globally, she won the Female Leader Award’s Global Hero category in 2020.

Sergio Bertolucci

Chair, ATTRACT R&D&I Committee

Sergio Bertolucci is an adjunct professor at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Bologna and co-spokesperson of the DUNE Experiment. He is a particle physicist, former Pisa scholar and former director of research and scientific computing at CERN.

Before joining CERN, he worked at DESY, Fermilab and Frascati. He is the co-author of over 370 papers. During his career, he has played an instrumental role in the KLOE and CDF experiments, which led to the discovery of the top quark, and in innovative instrumentation, development and leadership of the DAFNE accelerator. He was also vice president and board member of the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics.

Fredrik Erixon

Founding Director, European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE)

Fredrik Erixon is the founding director of the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) and author of several books and studies in the fields of international economics, economic policy, technology and innovation. His book ‘The Innovation Illusion: How so Little is Created by so Many Working so Hard’ became an international bestseller and was ranked the best business book in 2016 by the Financial Times and the Economist. In 2026, his next book on technology, ‘Machina Ex Deus: What Technology Wants’ will be released. In his previous career, Erixon worked in development policy, government, financial markets, business consulting, and academia. He was educated at the Universities of Oxford and Uppsala, and the London School of Economics, and has been a visiting scholar and professor at all three universities.

Lina Gálvez Muñoz

Member, European Parliament

Lina Gálvez Muñoz has been a member of the European Parliament for the S&D group since July 2019. She is chair of the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee, a member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and vice-chair of the Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA).

She also sits on the Committee on International Trade as a substitute member. She is a member of the delegations for relations with the United States and the Korean Peninsula. Gálvez holds a PhD from the European University Institute and is a professor at the economics department of Pablo Olavide University (UPO). She has previously served as vice-rector at UPO and regional minister of knowledge, research and universities in the government of Andalusia.

Michael Krisch

Director of Research, ESRF and Chair, ATTRACT Project Consortium Board

Michael Krisch is currently the director of research for life sciences, chemistry, and soft matter science at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). He has over 30 years of experience in the operations and development of research infrastructures and has been involved in a wide range of European projects and policy developments.

His research interests include the investigation of the magnetic and electronic structure and dynamics of materials, studies at extremes of pressure and temperature, biomedical applications of synchrotron X-rays, and X-ray instrumentation. Michael spent most of his career at the ESRF, with extended stays at Hasylab/DESY in Hamburg, and at the National Synchrotron Light Source at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Jean-David Malo

Acting Director, ERA & Innovation, DG RTD, European Commission

Jean-David Malo joined the European Commission’s research directorate in 2001. He worked on the 6th and 7th EU research framework programmes, assisted director Robert-Jan Smits, and designed and managed innovative financial instruments for innovation, such as the Risk-Sharing Finance Facility and InnovFin. Appointed director for open innovation and open science in 2017, he designed and managed initiatives such as the European Innovation Council (EIC), the VentureEU initiative, the European Open Science Cloud and the research, development and innovation dimension of the European Fund for Strategic Investments.

He also oversaw long-term sustainable investments for research infrastructures, the monitoring of the European Research Area Roadmaps, and the implementation of the Plan S open science initiative, among other priorities. In June 2019, he was appointed director of the EIC task force and was later tasked with leading the implementation of the EIC as director of a dedicated executive agency, EISMEA. Since April 2025, he has held the position of acting director for the European Research Area (ERA) and innovation within the Commission’s research directorate.

Brendan McDonagh

Senior Advisor, European Investment Bank Advisory Hub

Brendan McDonagh is a senior advisor within the European Investment Bank (EIB) Advisory’s public and infrastructure finance division. He is the EIB advisory lead supporting the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation’s climate-neutral and smart cities mission under Horizon Europe. McDonagh joined the EIB in 2016 and worked in the Western Europe lending and innovation finance advisory divisions before taking up his current post in 2019. Prior to joining the EIB, McDonagh held senior management positions in the Irish Development Agency – IDA Ireland. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics and a master’s degree in business administration.

René Repasi

Member and Shadow Rapporteur, European Parliament

Sinéad Ryan

Dean of Research, Trinity College Dublin

Doris Schröcker

Head of Unit, Industrial Research, Innovation & Investment Agendas, DG RTD, European Commission

Jonathan Wareham

Professor, Esade Business School (Compute Impact  project)

Jonathan Wareham is a university professor (catedrático) in the department of operations, innovation and data sciences at Esade Business & Law Schools within Ramon Llull University, where he previously served as dean of faculty and research and as vice dean of research.

His current research focuses on deep tech, scientific computing and scientific policy, and how these are influencing the business world (e.g., life science and energy) His research has been published in journals such as Organisation Science, Decision Sciences, MIS Quarterly, Communications of the ACM, IEEE Transactions, IEEE Computer, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, and others.

Shreyasi Kar

Head of Operations, Aalto University Design Factory

Shreyasi is head of operations at the Aalto University Design Factory (ADF), where she oversees both the short- and long-term development of ADF’s activities. She is responsible for managing laboratories and prototyping facilities, integrating them with diverse teaching activities, providing learning support, and designing and delivering courses and workshops.

With extensive experience in international collaborative projects in education and innovation, Shreyasi currently coordinates the ATTRACT Academy, where university students generate and prototype ideas for social innovation inspired by ATTRACT technologies. Her background in transdisciplinary design fuels her belief that solutions to complex challenges, especially in social innovation, emerge when diverse disciplines and unlikely collaborators come together, bridging silos and blending ideas.

Lucienne de Waal

Industrial Designer, Float IoT and Student, ATTRACT Academy (TeSI program)

Lucienne de Waal is an industrial designer based in Barcelona and Amsterdam, with a strong focus on socially and environmentally conscious design. A graduate of IED Barcelona, her work blends sustainability with user-centred innovation. She has been actively involved in the ATTRACT project at CERN’s IdeaSquare, participating in the i2Planet and TeSI courses.

In i2Planet, Lucienne collaborated with multidisciplinary teams to address global challenges such as water scarcity, while TeSI focused on integrating advanced hyperspectral imaging technology into drones to optimise agricultural water use. At Amsterdam University Medical Centre, she designed practical healthcare solutions, including an add-on for ECG devices to improve their efficiency during emergencies. In her current position as industrial designer at Float IoT, Lucienne works on sustainable redesigns of “Internet of Things” (IoT) enclosures for smart water management systems

Petra Marchesini

Advanced Automotive Engineer, Motorvehicle University of Emilia Romagna and Student, ATTRACT Academy (CBI.ATTRACT program)

Petra Marchesini is a mechanical engineer from Bologna, currently completing her master’s degree in advanced automotive engineering at the MUNER Motorvehicle University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Bologna and is passionate about using engineering to create meaningful, innovative solutions.

She participated in the CBI.ATTRACT programme with the team Hipmed, where she helped develop a hyperspectral imaging device to support dermatologists in the early diagnosis of malignant moles. The solution enables fast, non-invasive skin scanning and provides reliable, real-time feedback to assist clinical decisions. Previously, she was part of a Formula Student electric racing team, where she contributed to the design and development of an electric race car, combining her engineering skills with hands-on motorsport experience. Curious and open-minded, she loves travelling and discovering new cultures, which she sees as key to growing both personally and professionally. She is currently conducting her master’s thesis through an internship at Automobili Lamborghini, gaining experience in the cutting-edge world of high-performance automotive engineering.

Aaro Packalén

Innovation & Product Development coach, Aalto Design Factory and Student, ATTRACT Academy (BASE program)

Aaro Packalén is the course coordinator for the product development project (PDP) at the Aalto University Design Factory (ADF). With a background in electrical engineering and product development, he is currently completing his master’s thesis on ideation practices in the health technology industry.

He is passionate about exponential thinking, advancing project management, and fostering interactions within diverse, interdisciplinary teams. As an ATTRACT student project alumnus, Aaro spent nine months working on a project with H3D-VISIOnAIR, where he led a student team in developing a crucial component for the consortium’s AR solution for surgeons. With three years of experience at ADF, he progressed from assisting students in the print shop to coordinating a global innovation course with 180 students and 11 partner universities.

Massimo Caccia

Full Professor, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria and Chief Executive Officer, Random Power

Massimo Caccia is a full professor of experimental physics at the University of Insubria in Italy, as well as co-founder and chief executive of Random Power, a start-up company developing a platform of random bit streamers based on quantum tunnelling. Massimo is an experimental particle physicist. Analyst by mindset and sub-atomic particle detector technologist, he matured scientifically at CERN in Geneva, the world’s largest particle accelerator.

His focus since the turn of the millennium has been applied physics projects based on instruments and methods developed by the particle physics community for medical applications, homeland security and, lately, encryption and privacy preservation. He coordinated four European Commission-funded projects and joined two more as a partner. Random Power, born as a genuine act of serendipity, has been his main activity since the company was established four years ago.

Alina Ujupan

Head of Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Roxana Minzatu, European Commission

Alina Ujupan is an EU civil servant and has 20 years of professional experience in the domain of European affairs. She currently leads the cabinet of Roxana Mînzatu, the European Commission’s executive vice-president for social rights and skills, quality jobs and preparedness. Previously, she was a member of the cabinet for Commission’s vice-president Margrethe Vestager (2019-2023), covering research and innovation, digital taxation and skills, budget and the European Green Deal.

She also served as a member of the cabinet of research commissioner Mariya Gabriel (2017-2019) and agriculture commissioner Dacian Ciolos (2010-2014), covering policy reforms, implementation, and negotiation in the agricultural and digital policy fields. She was also the head of the New European Bauhaus unit at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. She obtained her PhD on negotiation processes in EU decision‐making at the University of Ulster. She also holds a master’s degree in research methods and a bachelor’s degree in politics from Nottingham Trent University, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Babeș‐Bolyai University.

Dolores Volkert

Head, EIT Higher Education Initiative

Since 2022, Dolores Volkert has led the EIT Higher Education Initiative within EIT RawMaterials, advancing innovation capacity in Europe’s higher education sector. A lawyer by training, her focus includes sustainable networks, technology transfer and science management. With extensive experience in strategic development, startup support and innovation processes, she has built impactful partnerships across academia, industry and policy. Previously, she supported the UN scientific advisory board through her work at the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, where she contributed to international science-policy exchange. She also led the TU Munich office in Silicon Valley. Based in Berlin, Dolores brings a global perspective and a strong commitment to strengthening Europe’s innovation ecosystem.

Albert Bravo-Biosca

Founding Director, Innovation Growth Lab and Research Fellow, Barcelona School of Economics (NEXT project) 

Albert Bravo-Biosca is the founding director of the Innovation Growth Lab (IGL), a global policy lab that works to increase the impact of innovation and growth policy through the application of novel policy ideas, experimentation, data and evidence. With over 20 years of experience, he has built IGL to become the leading centre globally on experimentation in innovation policy, developing strong partnerships and projects with governments and researchers worldwide, and successfully contributing to making innovation and growth policy more experimental across the OECD.

Prior to setting up IGL, he was a senior economist at the UK innovation agency Nesta, leading major research programmes on business growth dynamics, productivity and intangible assets. His research has also looked at the drivers of venture capital performance, the linkages between financial institutions and innovative performance, and the effectiveness of innovation policy. He is a research fellow at the Barcelona School of Economics and a visiting fellow at the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard University. He has also been a visiting economist at the OECD, a consultant for the World Bank, a member of the UK Cross-Government Trials Advice Panel and a guest professor at the Barcelona School of Economics. He holds a PhD in economics from Harvard University.

Clio Dosi

Assistant Professor, University of Bologna (ABC4E project)

Clio Dosi is an assistant professor within the University of Bologna’s department of management, where she coordinates the observatory for open innovation. She has been a visiting scholar at Cass Business School, HPI Hasso Plattner Institute, Esade Business School and a CERN Ideasquare fellow. Her research is focused on the organisational dynamics that enable innovation.

She is passionate about understanding how organisations manage and design innovation, with an interest in tool selection and innovation design methodologies. Clio designs educational programmes to support the growth of students, professionals and researchers as innovation players. She is part of the faculty of the management engineering school at the Bologna Business School and the university’s innovation factory Oper.space. She is the associate editor of the CERN IdeaSquare Journal of Experimental Innovation.

Francis de Véricourt

Chaired Professor, Academic Director, Institute for Deep Tech Innovation, ESMT Berlin

Francis de Véricourt is a professor of management science and the founding academic director of the Institute for Deep Tech Innovation (DEEP) at ESMT Berlin, which helps translate scientific breakthroughs into real-world innovations in AI, next-generation computing, and biotechnology. He holds the Joachim Faber Chair in business and technology and previously served as ESMT’s first associate dean of research.

Before joining ESMT, Francis held academic positions at MIT, Duke University and INSEAD. His award-winning research has appeared in leading journals such as Management Science, Operations Research, and American Economic Review. He also co-authored ‘Framers: Make Better Decisions in the Age of Big Data’, named a Financial Times Best Book. His work is regularly featured in The Economist, Financial Times, and other international media. A frequent speaker at academic and industry forums, he was recognised in 2025 as one of the most multidisciplinary researchers in business and economics.

Enrique García Vidorreta

Head of Department, Fusion Technologies and Engineering, Fusion for Energy

Enrique García Vidorreta is head of fusion technologies and engineering at Fusion for Energy. He has over 25 years of experience in technology strategy and product development, working from the nanoscale to the largest structures. He has held senior manager positions in sectors including energy, aerospace, automotive and rail.

He has focused on the development of design and manufacturing technologies to deliver industrial products with a special emphasis on how digital technologies can re-engineer engineering. With previous work ranging from fundamental research all the way to serial production, Enrique is particularly interested in working closely with academia, government and industry to develop the right strategies and capabilities to transform bright ideas into impactful technologies, and thereby to bridge the so-called “innovation valley of death”.

David Osimo

Director of Research, The Lisbon Council

David Osimo is executive director and director of research at the Lisbon Council, a Brussels-based think-tank. Osimo oversees the organisation’s strategic direction and leads research activity, expanding its impact and ensuring long-term financial sustainability. He leads workstreams on areas as diverse as the data economy, digital government and the future of work, as well as pioneering novel collaborative methods for policy research. He previously served as a scientific officer in the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and as co-founder of two start-ups. He holds degrees from the University of Milan and Cardiff University.

Rita Graceffa

Scientific Officer, Industrial Liaison Office, European XFEL

Rita Graceffa is a scientific officer within the industrial liaison office of the European X-ray free-electron laser facility (XFEL), where she supports innovation initiatives and fosters engagement with external stakeholders. With over 15 years of scientific experience, she has worked across several major research infrastructures, both as a researcher and as a facility user, gaining a deep understanding of their potential for societal impact. Rita has been actively involved in the ATTRACT project and its dynamic ecosystem for over six years, strengthening ties across its various components. She is deeply passionate about translating deep tech into real-world solutions that benefit society.

Mireia Sierra

Fusion Point Manager, Esade Business School

Mireia Sierra is an educator, project manager and innovation facilitator who is passionate about designing transformative learning experiences. Over the past three years, she has been managing the Fusion Point experiential learning innovation courses inside ATTRACT, while also leading a research group in Fusion Point around course and educational activities design and impact. With a background in sociology and a curious, hands-on mindset, Mireia explores how education, collaboration and creativity can drive meaningful social impact.

Matteo Vignoli

Associate Professor, University of Bologna

Matteo Vignoli is an associate professor in management science and engineering within the department of management at the University of Bologna, where he teaches change management and business process design, among other topics. His research focuses on design thinking, open innovation, new product development and impact. He is a member of the SUGAR network for design thinking, the challenge-based innovation (CBI) initiative at CERN, and the University of Bologna open innovation board. Matteo also serves as spokesperson for the university’s oper.space innovation factory, as academic director of Bologna Business School’s open programmes, and as founder and trustee of the Future Food Institute. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Padua and has been a visiting scholar at both Stanford University and Ryerson University.

Victor Negrescu

Vice President, European Parliament