2010 speakers

Shinsuke Suzuki is General Manager of Nissan Motor Company's Technology Marketing Department. In this role Suzuki is responsible for the world wide communication of Nissan's R & D and technology developments. Before taking up this role at the beginning of April 2010, he was the Director of Technology Research & Engineering at the Nissan Europoean Technology Centre in Belgium. Having worked at Nissan for 24 years Suzuki has a wealth of knowledge of, and insight into, Nissan's vehicle technology, research, and planning within these areas.
A graduate of WASEDA University with a Batchelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Suzuki has spent his time at Nissan involved in vehicle and technology planning and development.

Mr Shinohara joined Honda R & D in 1982. He has had various roles since that time including project leadership of compact engine developments using new technologies to improve combustion. In the five year period ( 1992 - 97 ) he was involved with basic research on common rail diesel and direct injection gasoline engines.

Since 1998 Mr Shinohara has been GM and Chief Engineer for Honda's Environment and Safety Planning Office. In this role his task is to provide an interface between society's concerns and Honda's research and development efforts on matters of safety and the environmental.

In 2010 these are matters of such concern that they will determine the future of personal transportation and the winners and losers in the automobile market.

Elizabeth has served on the Board of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels as the Vice-Chair of the Investor Chamber. Previously, Elizabeth worked for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as a clean energy and climate change specialist, focusing on bioenergy. While at the IDB, she co-led the development of the Biofuels Sustainability Scorecard, a tool for measuring the sustainability of biofuels projects, and served as a technical expert in biofuels sustainability. Elizabeth has also managed the Natural Resources Defense Council's Costa Rica Initiative, identifying strategies for Costa Rica to reach carbon neutrality by 2021. Elizabeth also worked with a team to draft sourcing criteria for sustainable palm oil for biodiesel production for the Hawaii Electric Company (HECO).

Elizabeth Beall is currently in New Zealand as a Fulbright Scholar, conducting research on the potential for renewable energy development and the impacts of climate change on the Central North Island land settlement of the Maori.

Nigel has been with Meridian Energy for the last 7+ years, working predominately in the retail part of the business, and is a Fellow of the Marketing Association of New Zealand. Prior to working for Meridian, Nigel developed his career in the financial services industry, culminating in strategic planning for The National Bank.

With a background in science from Canterbury University, Nigel has been involved in a number of technical projects within Meridian, including leading carboNZero certification, developing the award winning My Meridian consumer portal, and most recently picking up the lead of the electric car programme for Meridian.

Yutaka Matsumoto, Project General Manager, R&D Management Division and Oversea External Affairs Division, Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan

Mr Matsumoto joined the Toyota Motor Corporation in 1973 starting initially in the Evaluation Department (Electronics & Safety Laboratories) and then moving on to the Regulation & Certification Division. He then held positions in several of the Toyota overseas divisions, in particular Toyota Motor Europe (Regulation, Certification & Technology research) and Toyota Motor Sales (USA) Product Planning Division. In his current role he takes responsibility for Technology & Communications strategies.

Francisca Pacheco, Electric Mobility Consultant, Portugal

Francisca was the coordinator of the team that created the Electric Mobility Model and Programme in Portugal. This work was done for the Ministry of Economy and prior to that, from 2005 she was advisor to the Minister.

Between 1995 and 2005 Francisca was active in the consultancy area and worked for IBM Corporation. She worked in research programs at the Portuguese National Laboratory of Civil Engeneering (LNEC) for the first five years of her career.
She graduated in Economics at the University of Louvain in Belgium and obtained a Masters Degree in Systems Engineering at the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal.

Rupert is a Senior Scientist and Manager of NIWA's Aquatic Pollution Group based in Hamilton. He has specialized in resource (energy, nutrient and water) recovery from wastewater using natural wastewater treatment systems. His research has involved: Evaluation, optimisation, design, engineering and construction of ponds, raceways, filters, and scrubbers for wastewater treatment. Optimising natural nutrient removal and disinfection processes; Control of midge nuisance and odour release from conventional wastewater treatment ponds. His biofuels related research has developed Covered Anaerobic Ponds for enhanced biogas production in simple, cost-effective ponds, and Wastewater treatment High Rate Algal Ponds with CO2 addition for production of algal biomass for use as fertiliser, feed, or conversion to biofuel (methane, ethanol, biodiesel and biocrude oil). Rupert currently leads two FRST research programmes on energy recovery and biofuel production from enhanced wastewater treatment ponds.

Chris Bathurst, Director, Solray Energy
Chris is the owner of Solvent Rescue Ltd in Christchurch and a Director of Solray Energy Ltd, BHT Holdings Ltd, and Neptune Power Ltd. Chris graduated from the Canterbury University with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering then after early training with the MOW in Wellington gained further experience in both engineering and operations with the Tiwai Aluminium Smelter.
In 1989 he was responsible for a large part of major smelter expansions in Bahrain, South Africa and Mozambique. He also managed a large part of an alumina refinery expansion in Western Australia.
These experiences convinced Chris that major changes were in the offing for supply of commodities including sustainable energy and replacements for liquid fuels. After returning to Christchurch, Chris bought a solvent recycling business for cash flow and entry into projects in sustainable fuels.
In 2000 Chris started investigating the turning of algae into oil culminating in the world leading Algae to Oil project at Bromley. This project is a co-operative venture involving the Christchurch City Council, NIWA and Solray Energy Ltd.