Speakers

Since 1 April 2011, Gerd Gruppe has been a Member of the DLR Executive Board, responsible for the German Space Administration.

Before he joined DLR, he had been working within the Bavarian State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Transport and Technology.

Gerd Gruppe was involved in the establishment of the German Space Operations Center (GSOC). Later, as Head of the Department of Research, Innovation and Technology at the same ministry, he greatly advanced the development of Bavaria as a location for space activities, particularly with his involvement in the Galileo Control Centre and the world-renowned Robotics and Mechatronics Center – both based at DLR Oberpfaffenhofen.

Since his PhD studies in Energy Marketing, he supports technology transfer with great passion. The German business incubator Anwendungszentrum Oberpfaffenhofen is one of its babies. As head of DLR´s Space Administration, Gerd Gruppe established the new department Innovation & New Markets, initialized interdisciplinary cooperation and continuously challenged the space sector to meet the change for the future.

Founder of Enterprise Garage, a boutique consultancy on innovation, Silicon Valley, intrapreneurship, digital transformation, and gamification. Experience Senior leader with 15+ years of experience in corporate innovation in high-tech companies. Technology & Trend Researcher identifying exponential trends. Leading Silicon Valley inspiration tours for executives helping them understand the mindset and latest trends, guiding them through the network of innovators and entrepreneurs. Consultant working with companies on their digital transformation, intrapreneurship and innovation programmes.

Prof. Peeters started his career in industry and followed this by several management positions in ESA. He is the author of the book 'Space Marketing' and has published over 80 articles on incentive contracting, space tourism, space commercialisation and New Space. Since 2000 he has been linked to International Space University as Professor of Space Business and Management, with functions as Dean and President. He is also the Director of The International Institute of Space Commerce, a think-tank for commercial space applications, as well as the organiser of Business Plan competitions at the International Space University annually. He is an advisor to commercialisation activities in Luxembourg and Baltic countries.

Since 2007, Ugo Celestino has worked for the European Commission at the EU Satellite Navigation Programmes (EGNOS & GALILEO), in the Directorate General GROWTH, where all space activities of European Union are managed. He is in charge of fostering the development of downstream applications in transport domains, via policies, research funds and other means, including awards for innovative ideas. He holds a degree in economics and an MBA from INSEAD.

Mikael Moeslund is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Automotive IT Company LOYALTY FACTORY GmbH, which has an office in Chemnitz, Germany, and a second one in Aarhus, Denmark. LOYALTY Factory has developed the predictive automotive lead-management and sales acceleration software EASI'R, which is used by more than 2,600 car dealerships and more than 16,000 users all over Europe. Besides from his activity at LOYALTY FACTORY, Mikael Moeslund is also Board Member at Scandi Logistics Danmark A/S. Before he co-founded his own company, Moeslund was working in the position of a Customer Care Specialist at Daimler AG and as an Automotive Economist at Toyota.