Olivier Piron works at the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) since 2005 and is currently the Head of the Fixed Installations and Rolling Stock Unit. His Unit is in charge of the development of the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) and the assessment of the National Technical Rules (NTRs) aiming at enhancing the level of interoperability on the Union railway system and by this way contributing to an increased competitiveness of the rail and to the seamless cross-border traffic in the EU.

1. Career to date

Head of Unit Fixed Installations and Rolling Stock, ERA since Dec 2020

Head of Unit Fixed Installations and Rolling Stock, a.i., ERA Jul 2019 – Nov 2020

Team Leader Fixed Installations and Rolling Stock, ERA Nov 2018 – Jun 2019

Head of Sector Rolling Stock, ERA Aug 2017 – Nov 2018

Quality Officer, ERA May 2012- Aug 2017

Head of the coordination sector - Interoperability Unit, ERA Aug 2008 – Apr 2012

Project Officer – Interoperability Unit, ERA Jun 2005 - Jul 2008

Project Manager – On Track Machines (OTMs) vehicle purchasing, Infrabel Jan 1996 – May 2005

Project Manager Operational scheduling of train drivers and vehicles, SNCB Oct 1993 – Dec 1995

2. Education

Mechanical Engineer, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1992

I was born in Edinburgh 1962 and have always lived in Scotland. I was educated at the local Grammar School and left in 1978 when I was 16 with seven “O” levels, average qualifications at the time. I started work on the railways as a mechanical apprentice at the Craigentinny Maintenance Depot in Edinburgh in 1978. This four year apprenticeship was intensive, broad based and included college studies in Mechanical and Production Engineering to HNC level. I have worked on all aspects of Rolling Stock maintenance on the depot as a fitter, was further trained to carry out electrical work. I progressed through the supervisory grades to Senior Shift Supervisor. Through this I developed an in depth knowledge of safety critical systems. I have also had specialist training in Non-Destructive testing, and have gained an in-depth knowledge of wheels bogies and running gear. I have had 14 years experience as a Rolling Stock Inspector carrying out in-service inspection, fault diagnosis and repairs on high speed diesel and electric trains. I have an extensive knowledge of the environment that Rolling Stock has to operate and how it performs in reality at speeds in service up to 125 mph. This included understanding what makes them reliable and what can be done to still operate when parts of systems are defective or have been badly damaged or isolated. Due to time limitations, rapid decision making was necessary and it was also necessary to work within what limited resources were available in isolated locations such as tools, and materials. I have undertaken further academic education in addition to normal work through the Open University and gained a BSc (Hons) degree and Diplomas in Systems Practice, Pollution Control and Professional Management. I am also an Incorporated Engineer IEng, a member of the IET and Associate Member of the IMechE. I was the project engineer for life extension work and reliability improvements to the East Coast Inter-City 125 High Speed Train fleet. This included ; Re-painting in, complete new vehicle interiors, laminated glass, MTU engines, new cooling systems, upgraded electronic control, reliability modifications, production of enhanced component overhaul specifications for rotating machines and bogies. I am currently responsible for Assurance and Engineering Standards including the production and control of Maintenance, Quality and Policy documentation relating to the London North Eastern 225 Electric fleet and Assurance of the new Hitachi Class 800 fleet. I am an IRCA registered Lead auditor for both ISO9001 and ISO14001. I represent London North Eastern Railway on various Rail Industry forums through both the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) and Rail Delivery Group (RDG). These include; fire, vehicle maintenance, pantographs, energy, wheelsets, axle bearings and standards. I am chair of the BSI RAE3/-/2 committee for Roller Bearings and Lubricants. I am passionate about the Assurance, safe design, reliability, cost effective maintenance, effective management of Engineering change, vehicle configuration and operation of trains.

Since 2017 with CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co., Ltd

Head of R&D center,  CRRC ZELC Verkehrsstechnik GmbH

8 years experience in R&D of new energy locomotives, successfully developed locomotives with power supply from on-board Li-ion battery system, hydrogen fuel cell system, et al

Member of IEC/TC 9 working gruop

PhD degree in Materials Science and Engineering, and bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineer from Tsinghua University

Daisy Chapman-Chamberlain is Specification Manager at Transport for the North, with a passion for transport transformation, sustainability, and inclusion. She works to make rail better for customers across the North; safer, accessible, and more enjoyable. Daisy is also the Chairperson of the Oxfordshire Community Rail Partnership, supporting community access to local railways.

Following a master degree in Industrial Engineering, Marta joined the railway industry in 2012, being selected as a Bombardier UK graduate. She became responsible for the fire safety design and compliance of overground multiple units. Later on, Marta joined the system engineering where, after gaining experience on the traction system, she focused on functional system integration at train level for regional trains. Along her career path, the interest for safety and fire safety matters remained high and she was in charge of the running capability analysis of different projects.

Currently she works for Alstom Italy on traction system for high speed trains.

BSc, PhD, CChem, FRSC, EurChem, CEng, FIFireE Chairman, FPRS, February 2021

Dr. Cash is an experienced Fire, Safety and Emergency Planning professional with considerable exposure to a wide range of safety regulatory activities in the rail, aviation, oil & petrochemical, marine and military sectors. Based in the United Kingdom, Tony is a Chartered Fire Engineer accredited by the Institution of Fire Engineers and a Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers, a Chartered European Chemist and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He’s a distinguished Member of the British Standards Institute, International President of the Rail Industry Fire Association (RIFA) and Vice-President of the London Branch of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE). United Kingdom Expert on the European Standard CEN/TC 256/WG 1, Railway Applications (Fire Protection) working group. Been practicing fire protection engineering for over 35 years and has specialised in the fire safe design of very complicated and unusual projects in a wide range of private and public sectors.Tony has previously been the Chartered Fire Engineer at Heathrow Airport Limited and before joining Heathrow, Tony worked for Bombardier Transportation, Trenton Fire, London Underground (LU), Transport for London (TfL), the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority and Angus Fire Ltd.
He earned a Bachelor of Science (BSc) Honours in Chemistry from the University of London in 1983 and earned a Doctorate in Physical Chemistry (Ph.D.) from the University of Leeds in 1987. He is a Chartered Chemist (CChem), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) and a Chartered European Chemist (EurChem). Dr. Cash is also a Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers (FIFireE), and a Chartered Fire Engineer. Tony has been involved in fire safety engineering since 1983 and first became a Chartered Practitioner in 1987. Tony has experience of working in the UK, USA, Canada, the Far East, the British Overseas Territories, the Middle East, Scandinavia, Europe, Cyprus and South Africa. Throughout his broad & varied career, Tony has participated on a number of committees advising on new guidance documents and proposed legislation including British Standards, NFPA, ICAO, UK CAA, EASA and the Institution of Fire Engineers Special Interest Groups. In addition, he has set and marked exams for his professional bodies, the UK CAA and overseas aviation agencies on fire safety & emergency planning, human factors in engineering and the Carriage Packaging and Labelling of Dangerous Goods/Hazardous Materials. Tony regularly speaks on the subject of rail rolling stock and tunnel fire safety at international conferences. He has chaired numerous annual conferences on the Fire Protection of Rolling Stock and is looking forward to chairing the 18th annual conference back in Berlin.

Aurelio Rojo, PhD Industrial Engineer, has developed his professional career in both, RAILWAYS and SAFETY&SECURITY sectors, particularly in Metro of Madrid, where his filed of expertise became related to fire protection and safety management aspects. As Director of Operations of Metro Madrid, he was responsible for the development of the Safety, Fire Protection and Security Programs, between 1994-2007, in a network of 300 km and 350 stations, mostly underground. As General Secretary of Alamys (Latin-American Metropolitan Railways Association) between 2001 and 2014 (Now honorary member) coordinated many safety and security Public Transport System Working Groups and Seminars.
Between 2010 and 2022 he has been President of APICI, Spanish Fire Protection Engineers Association and currently he is Honorary President of APICI
Aurelio Rojo has vast experience in the academic and research world .He has been Co-Director of the Masters in Fire Protection Engineering and professor on the Railway Masters at the School of Engineering of the Pontifical University of Comillas in Madrid, Spain, where he has had the opportunity to deal with complex conceptual models that need to be contemplated both in performance base fire engineering matters and in the design and operation of metro systems with high levels of safety and security.”

Patrick Rhys Atack is the Editor on GlobalData's Transport desk, managing the Ship Technology, Airport Technology, and Railway Technology sites. Over the past decade he's worked at international TV stations and reported from across Europe on the day's biggest stories, as well as working for some of London's most important daily newspapers. His specialist reporting started in the international education field, before moving to business and the markets, and now transport.

Liam is a Project Officer at Transport Canada’s Innovation Centre, Rail and Aviation Research, Development, and Deployment (RD&D) group. Liam manages projects related to the development and deployment of clean rail technologies, as well as those aimed at addressing the impacts of climate change in the railway environment.
On the clean side, Liam has been supporting the development of hydrogen and battery locomotive codes and standards in North America. To inform codes and standards development, Liam has been working with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to conduct risk assessments [1],[2],[3],[4] for hydrogen and battery powered locomotives. These risk assessments involved a review of active hydrogen deployments, international codes, and international standards to identify failure modes in locomotive systems.
On the climate change adaptation side, Liam has supported projects aimed at reducing wildfire risk impacts to railways in Canada, including reviewing some of the common elements of railway operations that are susceptible to causing sparks and fires [5]. Additionally, Liam manages a railway fire risk task team which provides an open forum for government to communicate with North American railway companies to share updates from their current and planned wildfire mitigation projects, discuss railway fire management plans, and identify opportunities for collaboration.

Fatih Savci graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the Vienna University of Technology and works as a Fleet Manager at WESTbahn, a private Austrian railway company that operates in Austria and Germany

He has gained experience through various vehicle projects to implement design changes in accordance with EN 45545-2.

At FPRS 2025, he will explain the implementation of EN 45545-2 and the associated challenges from the perspective of a railway operator.

John is a Chartered Fire Engineer registered with the Institution of Fire Engineers in addition to being a Chartered Building Surveyor and Building Engineer and has been involved in fire safety engineering for approaching 30 years. John joined Network Rail (Technical Authority) in September 2021 as the Head of Profession for Fire Safety where he is responsible for setting policy and engineering standards pertaining to fire safety and oversees Network Rails current National Fire Safety Programme.

Prior to joining Network Rail, John held positions as the Head of Fire Safety for Heathrow Airport Ltd and the Head of the Airport Emergency Services (Authority Having Jurisdiction) for Abu Dhabi Airports.

Isak Nordberg is an experienced Product Manager with a strong background in the maritime industry. Since joining Consilium in 2012, I’ve had the opportunity to work in various roles, allowing me to gain deep insights into how the industry operates and the common challenges it faces. In recent years, my focus has been on identifying customer pain points and developing services and software solutions that enhance safety while making life easier for our customers. I’m passionate about creating value-driven innovations that address real-world problems and contribute to a safer, more efficient maritime environment.

Christoffer Nylander is an experienced Technical Product Manager with a strong background in the railway industry. Since 2008, he has built a solid foundation of expertise, contributing to the development and management of technical products within the field of fire protection. With years of hands-on experience and a deep understanding of railway systems, Christoffer brings both technical insight and strategic vision to his work, helping to drive innovation and knowledge sharing.

Andrea Cremoncini has a Master degree in Physics and a broad technical background, implemented with a 40-year long experience as a Product Manager and Marketing specialist, developing and selling high-tech products and systems for Research and Industrial applications.

He was one of the founders of I.S.E. Ingegneria dei Sistemi Elettronici, among the leading Italian producers of Fire Protection Systems for Rolling Stock, where he has covered the role of Sales and Marketing Manager for over 30 years.

On behalf of ISE he has been part of the UNI technical committee for rail fire protection in Italy, and within the team he has contributed to development of the Italian technical standard for Rolling Stock fire Protection, UNI 11565.

His presentation at FPRS 2025 will deal with considerations about the Legal Framework for development and validation of Safety Critical Products in the Railway field, and more specifically will review existing regulations and guidelines for implementing structured processes for achieving and demonstrating safety, as mandated by the European Regulation (EU) No 402/2013.

Business Developer for strategic market areas working with SCOTT BADER - employee-owned international chemical company, based in France. Over 22 years’ commercial experience in Composites and Structural Adhesives. Expertise in strategic business communications, partnering, market reporting and analysis, team management. Focus on delivering the results. Performing the best within culturally diverse teams and challenging environments.

Application Engineer for the industrial sector at SAERTEX GmbH & Co. KG – worldwide manufacturer of NCFs made of glass, carbon, aramid and natural fibers with headquarter in Germany. Strong background in the design and production of composite parts.

Head of Sales svt Transportation passive fire protection

Leading of three team departments each three experts: Rail, Ship, Automotive/ Battery Safety

Career stages:

• Since 2017 svt Head of Sales
• 2010 – 2017 Head of Project management Tunnel fire protection - for the Fermacell/ Aestuver company a member of the James Hardie Group (earlier XELLA concern)
• 2006 – 2010 KAM Aestuver Industry international
• 2001 – 2010 KAM Knauf company group - Aquapanel Dry lining systems
• 1995 – 2001 Sales building Material specialist

Dimitri Clément - Belgian nationality.

Based in Europe - Belgium – Antwerp

Degree as Mechanical Engineer - Electromechanics.

Professional career started in 1992 as technical service engineer for welding robots, equipment and automation solution, programming and training of staff. Europe region.

Changed career from welding to bonding in Feb 1997 at former LOCTITE Belgium – today HENKEL.

Today, 28 years of experience as an adhesive application engineer for industrial applications and maintenance.

Started as technical service engineer, then Technical Manager, today global key account manager for adhesives applied in rail applications.

In 2014 I acquired my certification as European Adhesive Engineer – EAE (according to DVS® / EWF – DIN 6701).

In addition, I achieved the function as “Certified Manufacturing Excellence Ambassador”.

Josef Hainzl started his career over 30 years ago in company Group HAINZL and after holding various project management and technical positions he took over the management of AQUASYS Technik GmbH - a member of HAINZL Group. A consistent focus on solutions for our customers and the further development of this fascinating technology, which is future-orientated due to its low water requirements, are the main pillars of AQUASYS strategy and success.

Fabrizio Di Rienzo has a Mechanical Engineering degree and a strong technical background, gained along 10 years of experience first in automotive safety sector, then in firefighting systems for civil application.

Since 2017 is holding the role of R&D and testing manager for Railways market in Fir.Ex. S.r.l., Italian leader in the production of aereosol estinguishing systems, developing a lot of projects with the major players in the railways market.

Fir. Ex. Is currently supplying aereosol generators for firefightening systems for the main Italian trains as Alstom’s POP (Smart Coradia) fleets, Hitachi’s Rock, Caravaggio and Blues fleets, Frecciaorssa ETR 500,  Frecciaorssa ETR 1000, Intercity coaches, Titagarh’s veicles for Metro Catania and others.

Born in 1989, Tim studied Political Science and Public Law at Würzburg, earning a B.A., and completed his Master’s in Governance at Hagen.

A passionate railway enthusiast, Tim loves experiencing rail travel worldwide during his travels, deepening his connection to the industry.

He has been an expert in the railway sector since 2018. As the former Head of Export and SME Policy at the German Railway Industry Association, Tim gained extensive expertise and a profound understanding of the international railway market.

In 2023, he joined Diehl Aviation as Global Sales Representative Rail, where he is responsible for new customer acquisition and driving business development in the railway sector.

I have been with ZAPP-Zimmermann for 30 years, 20 years in R&D and 10 years in international sales.

Peter Mintjens, Sr. Business Development & account Manager for SABIC’s Specialties business, with dedicated responsibility for Mass transportation covering Aerospace and train market. Working for 35 years within the plastic industry covering full range of thermoplastic polymers with a background into processing. Since 2011 covering SABIC’s engineering plastics product range for several industries.

Demetris is the Commercial Director of FirePro Systems, a Halma plc. company. He holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA. He is responsible for developing and implementing strategies that support and promote the company’s growth and oversees Business Development, Engineering, and Marketing.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Since 2015 Area Sales Manager at FOGTEC, Business Unit Rail Systems

2008 - 2015 Key Account Manager at FOGTEC, Business Unit Rail Systems

2006 - 2008 Electrical engineer at Stadler Bussnang AG in the railway sector, responsible for fire protection systems and event recording

TRAINING

2010-2013 Executive MBA in General Management, Berner Fachhochschule, Management Zentrum, Bern (Switzerland).

2001 - 2006 Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland), MSc. In Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

LANGUAGES

French: mother tongue

German: bilingual: fluent in spoken and written German

English: good oral and written level

Spanish: average level, oral and written.

INTERESTS

• member of Grandval Municipal Council (Switzerland)
• member of the Board of SwissEngineering, division TransJura
• Nature, outdoor sports (skiing, trail running, mountain biking)

Sales Manager at Wagner Rail

Since 2013 with WAGNER

More than 15 years of experience in fire protection, including 11 years in the rail sector

PhD degree in Process Engineering

Paul van Trigt is the CEO and owner of Aero-X AG. A Dutch national, Paul holds a MSc. degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA. After completing his studies in the Netherlands, he moved to Switzerland to begin his professional career as an R&D engineer specializing in gas turbine combustion technologies at a globally leading technology company in the power generation and distribution market. During his tenure, he held various management positions in Engineering, Operation & Maintenance, Marketing & Sales, Business Development, and General Management.

Paul later ventured into entrepreneurship, founding his own company in the fire protection industry, focusing on aerosol fire suppression systems. He established Aero-X AG, which has grown into a leading supplier of tailor-made solutions based on aerosol fire suppression systems. Aero-X AG is dedicated to globally protecting people and critical infrastructure against fire using the highly efficient, modular, environmentally friendly, extremely effective, and economical Stat-X® aerosol fire suppression technology. This technology is applied across various global markets, including:

• Tunnelling & Mining
• Industry & Automation
• Rolling Stock & Rail Infrastructure
• Marine & Offshore
• Automotive & Transport
• Power Generation & Distribution (including Battery Storage Systems)

Paul's leadership and innovative approach have together with his dedicated team positioned Aero-X AG as a trusted name in fire protection solutions worldwide.