José Lainor Driessen
Chief Operating Officer,
Embraco
Embraco Chief Operating Officer, José Lainor Driessen is responsible for the operations in Brazil, China, Italy and Slovakia.
Mr. Driessen has got a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering and has been at Embraco since 1984 contributing with international projects of high relevance to the organization. Among the positions he has occupied we highlight the management of Embraco plants in China, Slovakia and Italy.
Before being named COO, he was already responsible for both Operations in Europe. Within Research & Development, he has been manager of Innovation and New Business and led the process of CFCs replacement by alternative and more advanced and environmentally friendly refrigerants.
Jens Redmer
Head of European New Business Development
Google Inc.
Jens Redmer is responsible for New Business Development for Google's efforts in Europe, Middle East, and Africa. This group works with Google Product and Engineering teams on incubation-exploratory efforts, technology and meta-data licensing, strategic partnerships, urgent special projects, and alternative distribution for existing and new business initiatives.
At Google, was previously heading up the Google Book Search Partner Programme, signing up trade, academic and reference publishers who market their books to Google users and the Library Project, as well as Google's News Archive Search project, working with Newspaper and Magazine publishers. All these programs aim at increasing the visibility and discoverability of content to drive publishers' businesses.
Jens joined Google in January 2005 from Endemol, the world's largest independent television producer, where he was director of multimedia between 2004 and 2005.
He began his career with German publishing group Axel Springer in Hamburg. In the period 1995-98 he played a key role in establishing Springer's first new media operations before becoming regional Managing Director for the group's nascent internet service provider, a joint venture with fellow publishing houses Bertelsmann and WAZ.
Between 1998 and 2001, Jens was Board Member of publicly listed ricardo.de, the premier European online auction service which was bought out by qxl.com in 2000. He ran Premium/ Paid Services for internet service provider AOL in Germany between 2001 and 2004. Jens holds a degree in computer science and medicine from Kiel University, Germany.
Gary Shapiro
President & CEO
Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)
Gary Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the U.S. trade association representing over 2300 consumer electronics companies and owning and producing North America’s largest annual trade show, the International CES. Shapiro leads a staff of 150 employees. In both 2007 and in 2008, Washington Life magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in Washington. CEA has won many awards as a family friendly employer and one of the best places to work.
John Suzukida
Executive Management Adviser
Daikin Industries
John Suzukida is an Executive Management Adviser to Daikin Industries. Previously, he was Trane’s Senior VP of Marketing & Strategy, VP/GM for Building Automation Systems and VP/GM of its Energy Service Company performance contracting business. John has a BSME from the University of Illinois, is past President of the Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Alumni Board, a recipient of the College of Engineering’s Distinguished Alumnus Award and is a licensed Professional Engineer.
David Szczupak
Executive Vice President, Global Product Organization
Whirlpool Corporation
David (Dave) T. Szczupak joined Whirlpool Corporation as executive vice president, Global Product Organization in July 2008. He provides overall global leadership for the company’s product businesses and strategic sourcing. Prior to joining the company, Szczupak spent 25 years in the automotive industry in leadership roles in both Engineering and Manufacturing. Szczupak has a master’s degree in automotive engineering from Cranfield University in the United Kingdom. |
