Dr. Igor Bačkalov is a naval architect, presently working for DST – Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems, in Duisburg, Germany – at the Department of Experiments, Fleet Modernisation, and Emissions. Before joining DST, he was an associate professor of ship stability, dynamics, and safety at the University of Belgrade in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Naval Architecture. He conducts research on fleet modernisation, innovative design of complex vessels, stability and safety of seagoing and inland ships, and safety of autonomous ships. He is a member of several professional bodies, including the Stability Research and Development Committee (SRDC), and European Council for Maritime Applied Research and Development (ECMAR).
Mrs. Friederike Dahlke-Wallat holds a Master of Science in Naval Architecture, obtained in 2013 at the University of
Duisburg-Essen. She then worked for four years at the Institute of Marine Engineering at the University of Duisburg, including as coordinator of a joint research project on LNG as a cargo and fuel in inland navigation. She has been working at the DST as a research engineer since January 2017. She is investigating a wide range of topics there, including possible applications of alternative energy sources for inland waterway vessels, safety aspects of new propulsion technologies and their integration on board. The current focus of her work is on the energy transition for European inland navigation towards a virtually emission-free mode of transport in 2050. She is vice-chair of the VBW inland navigation expert committee and member of the temporary working group for technical regulations for fuel cells (CESNI/PT/FC).
Prof. Dr. Elimar Frank is an expert in the fields of eco-management, environmental economics, energy and sustainability with a focus on renewable energies, and carbon technologies and management, including Power-to-X value chains. He is professor at the OST Ostschweizer Fachhochschule (Department of Technology), deputy head of the Institute for Energy and Resources WERZ in Zug and academic director of a postgraduate program on Renewable Energies. From many years of professional, project and teaching experience he has extensive and in-depth knowledge of renewable energies, techno-economic system analysis and corporate sustainability. His academic background builds on studies in physics and
theology and a doctorate in mechanical engineering.
Benjamin Friedhoff studied naval architecture at the University of Duisburg‐Essen, where he subsequently worked for three years as a researcher. In 2008 he changed to the Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems – DST, where he worked on a wide range of research topics in the fields of hydrodynamics and renewable energies. Since 2014 he is head of the Hydrodynamics Department and has worked on various greening projects, including alternative energy carriers and zero‐emission ships. As part of a restructuring of the DST, his department was renamed “Experiments, Fleet Modernisation and Emissions” in January 2020 taking account of the current societal challenges. He coordinates several
national and international projects with the aim of fostering the green transformation of inland and coastal shipping.
Alex Grasman, specialist at MARIN’s Ships Department, started his maritime career by setting himself the goal of becoming a yacht designer. After high school he moved to the UK and obtained his Bachelors degree in Yacht and Powercraft Design at Southampton Solent University in 2011. Soon after that he started a job as a Naval Architect at Van Oossanen in Wageningen, where he performed conceptual and basic design of large motor yachts. Whilst working on a different project
for a hybrid ferry for the Lake of Geneva he became inspired by Power Systems and Energy Carrier developments. Feeling the need for a change and the importance of the maritime energy transition in 2019, he started his current position at MARIN (Maritime Research Institute Netherlands) as a specialist in marine power and energy systems. His work focuses on how future power and energy systems can be assessed, compared and integrated in ship designs. He works on tools to compare technologies and give ship owners, yards, and design offices insight into the pros and cons associated with these technologies.
