WCA Annual Conference 2022

Event Summary
WCA 2022 Annual Conference and Exhibition took place in person, 25th – 28th September 2022 in Dubai, UAE. Hosted in the iconic venue of Emirates Towers in the heart of Dubai, delegates were able to see examples of one of the most prominent sustainable cities in the region.
The conference theme was “Navigating the Climate Challenge: Reducing Carbon and Reducing Costs”. Our speakers covered many pressing issues faced by the cement industry including: the industry response to climate change, impact of high energy costs, energy efficiency, alternative fuels, new technologies, financing and managing human capital. We featured work carried out by the WCA professional committees including the development of a decision tool to chart decarbonisation pathways at a plant level, the application of new technologies to help improve safety management, and new developments in cementitious materials.
The conference provided a unique opportunity for industry stakeholders; CEOs and C-suite of different functions, particularly those in the MENA region, to come together in preparation for the upcoming COP27 in Egypt and
the following COP28 in UAE. The program included CEO roundtables examining the strategic implications of a common Net Zero roadmap, functional workshops to support C-Suite planning and decision making, as well as presentations on relevant technical and operational issues.
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Agenda
Please note that the agenda is subject to change
Sponsors
Founded in 1856, KHD Humboldt Wedag is a global leader for cement plant equipment, technologies and services with more than 160 years of experience in the cement industry sector. Process engineering, project management and sustainable solutions are among the core competencies of the technology-focused group. KHD offers a wide spectrum of products and services for the cement industry. With distinct focus on the development of environmentally friendly and energy-efficient solutions for the grinding and pyroprocessing sections of cement plants, KHD helps its clients to continuously improve production performance, raise efficiency and ensure long-term environmental sustainability. A regional pioneer in the manufacture and supply of high quality clinker and cement, Saudi Cement forms a vital link in the industry’s supply chain, having supported many construction projects in the Middle East for more than half a century. Strategically located in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an area rich in high-grade raw materials, Saudi Cement is the leader in the Saudi cement industry in terms of efficiency, quality and profitability. Since its establishment in 1955, this joint stock company has been enjoying consistent capacity expansions and profitability. In 2008, Saudi Cement achieved one of the most important milestones in its history with the installation of two new production lines with a combined capacity of 24,000 tons of clinker per day. This expansion, widely considered to be the world’s largest at that time, increased Saudi Cement’s available capacity to an average of 8 million tons of clinker per year, elevating the Saudi cement industry pioneer to a unique position in terms of economies of scale and production efficiency. Saudi Cement is one of Saudi Arabia’s and the GCC’s most trusted companies. End-users and contractors rely on Saudi Cement’s consistency and quality, utilizing its products for major highways, bridges, airports, seaports, railways, metros, and numerous housing and commercial projects. Fives is an international industrial engineering group which has grown through various industrial revolutions to offer innovative solutions and products boosting the performance of major industry leaders worldwide. Fives designs and supplies machines, process equipment and production lines for various industries: steel, aerospace and special machining, aluminium, the automotive and manufacturing industries, cement, energy, logistics and glass. Based on a portfolio of proprietary technologies, Fives products and solutions anticipate the needs of industrial companies in terms of profitability, performance, quality, safety and environmental protection. Christian Pfeiffer was founded in 1925 in Beckum, Germany and has been working towards perfecting methods of processing mineral raw materials for more than 90 years. Today, Christian Pfeiffer is acknowledged as an engineering and production specialist in grinding and separation – either turnkey projects or partial equipment for plants. Products such as mills, mill internals, separators and auxiliaries are part of the portfolio and distributed by a close global production and sales network. Christian Pfeiffer offers highly efficient and therefore more sustainable turnkey grinding plants, including engineering, procurement and construction. To achieve the highest possible reduction of carbon emission in the grinding process Christian Pfeiffer focuses on innovative technology and the optimization of the grinding process, to design the most sustainable grinding plant, producing highest quality products. Dedicated to the constant improvement of the grinding process, Christian Pfeiffer runs a competence center at the headquarters in Germany, using the most modern technology for material test and analyses. Excellent product quality, delivery services and market-oriented management have made Christian Pfeiffer a well-known and established partner for the cement, industrial minerals, alternative fuels and mining industry. Scientific Business Solutions (SBS) consulting firm was established in 2013 as a dynamic firm growing steadily and swiftly by a group of experts who have more than 20 years of experience in various fields of business activities. We are looking for the most efficient, reliable, sustainable and safety solutions for our clients. We are a multidisciplinary team providing advisory and project consultancy services. SBS is one of the few consultancies able to combine local expertise and knowledge with global reach and experience with a proven track record of 850+ successful projects and 200+ happy clients & partners in various countries such as UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Egypt, Senegal, China, India, Australia, UK, Germany, USA, Canada, etc. as well as physical offices in MENA region particularly in GCC & Egypt, in addition to UK office. Sinoma Overseas Development Co., Ltd. is an international integrated engineering service provider, with its business focused on cement EPC+, environmental energy, localized operation & investment, and diversified engineering and services. The full-range EPC+ services cover research, engineering, equipment manufacturing and supply, construction, commissioning, operation & maintenance, spare parts, upgrading, emission and energy efficiency optimization, and international trade. Its presence has been expanded to Middle East, South America, Europe, West Africa, East Africa and Southeast Asia. Headquartered in China (Beijing), it has 10 branches/offices worldwide, including two offshore business hubs in UAE and Argentina. Sinoma Overseas is a subsidiary of CNBM Group (177th on Fortune Global 500 in 2021) and directly subordinated to Sinoma International Engineering Co., Ltd., a world’s leading engineering company in building materials (60th on 2021 ENR “The Top 250 International Contractors”).KHD Humboldt Wedag (Platinum Sponsor)
Saudi Cement (Gold Sponsor)
Fives (Silver Sponsor)
Carbon Re (Exhibitor)
Christian Pfeiffer (Exhibitor)
Scientific Business Solutions (Exhibitor)
We offer high quality tailored services particularly for cement & mining industry and governmental authorities with sister companies in the MENA region, our experts have the ability to create out of the box solutions and new initiatives in the field of Environment, Health & Safety, Waste Management, Industrial Ecology, Sustainability, Climate Change, Decarbonization, etc.Sinoma Overseas Development Co., Ltd. (Exhibitor)
Speakers

Conference Chair: Nik Gowing
Founder & Co-Director, Thinking the Unthinkable
Nik Gowing is founder and co-author of the Thinking the Unthinkable (TTU) project. Since 2014 it has been investigating why leaders – both corporate and political – struggle in the new era of global disruption. The acute challenges for leadership on sustainability and the climate emergency are a core focus of TTU’s work.
Nik was a main news presenter for the BBC World News (1996-2014), presenting The Hub with Nik Gowing, BBC World Debates and Dateline London. For 18 years he worked at ITN as bureau chief in Rome and Warsaw, and diplomatic editor for Channel Four News. He has been a member of the councils of Chatham House, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Overseas Development Institute; board of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy; and advisory council at Wilton Park. Nik was appointed a visiting professor at Kings College, London and at Nanyang University, Singapore. He was awarded honorary doctorates by Exeter University and Bristol University. He is now a Distinguished Fellow at the RUSI.

Ian Riley
CEO, WCA
After graduating from Cambridge University in 1979, Mr Riley worked in a number of management roles in the UK, the USA, Australia and Japan before moving to China in 1998. He was General Manager of a British project management and consulting firm, based in Shanghai and also Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai before joining Holcim/Huaxin in 2006.
As Huaxin VP responsible for international business, strategy and sustainability, he oversaw Huaxin’s first overseas venture in Tajikistan. Mr Riley was Greater China Country Head for LafargeHolcim from 2014 to 2019. He has been CEO of WCA since September 1, 2019.

Suhair Abu Salem
Human Capital & Communication Director, A³&Co.®
A strategic & practical thinker; Certified Senior International Human Resources Professional from HRCI, ISO 30414 Lead Auditor & Certified International Trainer from International Association of People & Performance Development.Possess a prolific commercial acumen in pioneering HR programs of attracting, development & retention of quality people to enhance revenue growth & profitability while creating sustainable high levels of human capital engagement to impact the business bottom line.
Suhair has been providing Human Capital advisory for more than 14 years of for different industries across MENA, and for Cement Industry for the last 5 years based on her direct experience in working with different international organizations commit to high standards and best in class practices.Suhair has also delivered management and human capital training programs at different levels to include CEOs, C suite executives and management in Arabic and English languages, for different organizations and among their diverse cultures.

Emir Adiguzel
Chairman, ACG Consultancy Group
The Chairman of ACG Consultancy group, the founder and former President of the World Cement Association, long time (20+ years) global CEO of the Heidelberg Cement Group’s international business (HCT) until 2020, Mr. A. Emir Adiguzel is an industry executive with over 30 years of experience. He has led mid to large-sized industrial organizations in the heavy building construction materials sector, such as cement and concrete, with special expertise in international trade, sales and procurement of raw materials. His professional network covers a global range of business partners across 61 countries, offering international business development opportunities to companies via trade deals or successful overseas mergers & acquisitions.
He has worked as the Chairman and Board member in leading cement companies in emerging markets such as Akcansa in Turkey, Indocement in Indonesia and Hanson Spain, with responsibilities to oversee the cement operations in the Mediterranean basin and the Middle East region for Heidelberg Cement Group. Mr. Adiguzel has had long years of experience in handling international logistics and especially on sea borne-maritime-transportation and shipping of dry bulk cargoes (coal, cement, slag, iron ore, bauxites).

Thomas Atkinson
International Business Development, Hoffmann Green Cement
Thomas Atkinson, Export manager in the construction Industry for 15 years.
Following the Hoffmann Green cement project since 2015, in charge of all international purposes of the company.
Ambassador for Hoffmann green cement, clinker free cement technologies, catalyst of the carbon transition

Nasser Ayoub
CEO, EPD Egypt
Nasser Ayoub is Co-founder and CEO EPD Egypt, He is an accredited EPD Verifier, Professor, Senior Lead Environmental Consultant and a Certified LCA Professional from the American Center for Life Cycle Assessment and Global Reporting Initiative Professional Training.
Dr. Ayoub has more than 20 years of comprehensive academic and technical experience in seven different countries. He holds a Doctor of Environmental Engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology in the field of Environmentally Friendly Supply Chains and Life Carbon Footprint Assessment. He worked on analyzing wicked environmental policy problems and governmental intervention approaches to promote renewable energies..
Since 2020, Dr. Ayoub has been with DCarbon Egypt as Senior Lead Consultant in the area of Carbon Footprint Assessment, Life Cycle assessment and Environmental Product Declaration. Dr. Ayoub started EPD Egypt, as a registration and training hub of the EPD International System.

Felix Bartknecht
Technical Industry Manager Infrastructure, SICK AG
Felix Bartknecht, born in 1987, is working as a technical industry manager for infrastructure-related industries at SICK AG in Germany. He has extensive experience in automation applications, process gas and emission monitoring systems as well as customer specific sensor solutions for production processes along the entire value chain of cement production. Within SICK, Mr. Bartknecht is globally responsible for observing technology trends and developing the company’s process automation solution portfolio for cement, power, glass, waste, recycling, maritime, pulp & paper industries. He takes care of the international coordination of SICK`s solution business and is known as internationally recognized conference speaker, social media content creator and live host as well as renowned author within the global cement community.
Before starting his career at SICK he worked as an energy consultant for industrial companies where he conducted numerous energy efficiency projects. He holds a bachelor`s degree in Process Technology and a master`s degree in Sustainable Energy Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology KTH Stockholm, Sweden.

Francisco Canepa
Team Lead Sales, Christian Pfeiffer Maschinenfarbrik GmbH
Francisco Canepa entered into the working life with an education as salesman and round off his profile later on with the graduation as Dipl. Marketing at the University of Bahia Blanca, Argentina, in 2000. In 2010 Francisco Canepa joined Christian Pfeiffer and started working for the cement industry. He started his career as Area Sales Manager for Central and South America. After several successful market experiences, he took over responsibility for all America. During inspections and numerous audits related to cement plants around the world he gained comprehensive experience in the field of grinding and separation of cement.
Since 2011 Mr. Canepa has conducted Christian Pfeiffer Latinamerica’s annual 3-day intensive training course for customers on the subject of grinding and separation processes. Furthermore, Mr. Canepa frequently presented technical papers at numerous international conferences. From 2011 to 2021, Mr. Canepa was focusing all his efforts in making the brand Christian Pfeiffer in America stronger, putting into operation numerous diaphragms, separators and complete grinding plants.
Since February 2022, Mr. Canepa, works together with the global Christian Pfeiffer Sales team, including subsidiaries, creating a solid and strong network to serve customers with state of the art technology in grinding and separation technology for different product lines.

Bram De Graaff
Director | Climate and Sustainability Advisory, PwC Middle East
Bram is a Director in PwC’s Climate and Sustainability advisory practice. He works with both public and private sector organizations on integrating and embedding sustainability considerations into their strategy and day-to-day operations. Bram’s core focus is on sustainable finance, working with banks, investors and other financial institutions. Recent work includes the setup of a green investment fund and the assessment of climate risk in the portfolio of a major global investor. Bram has been based in Dubai, UAE, for the past 5 years. Before that, he was part of PwC’s global center on sustainability and climate change in London, UK. Bram has a background in economics and environmental policy and is active in various industry groups and forums that aim to advance the corporate and policy agenda in this area.

Mostafa Elrakhawy
Business Growth & Projects Management Director, A³&Co.®
Chemical Engineer and an innovative thinker and practitioner of Business Growth Strategies of the Cement Business. Eng. Mostafa specialties gained from hands-on expertise in managing and leading projects for 15+ years within Middle East & Africa in the following areas:
- O&M Projects in different classical and hybrid contexts.
- Managing and supporting the implementation of Digital Transformation of multi-discipline areas in a cement business unit.
- Supporting the leadership and direct management of projects related to Artificial Intelligence implementations.
- Business Growth & Risk Management planning and implementation.
- Business Strategic Management to include planning, implementation and evaluation of several business strategies.
- Cement Business Unit Performance Management.

Sherif Elsayed-Ali
CEO, Carbon Re
Sherif Elsayed-Ali is co-founder & CEO of Carbon Re, a spin-out company of Cambridge University and UCL developing cutting-edge decarbonization solutions for the cement and steel industries. A construction engineer by training, he has extensive experience in technology innovation and leadership. Sherif has a BSc from the American University in Cairo and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School.|

Yousra El Sayed
Principal, EBRD
Yousra El Sayed, Principal Banker, joined the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in 2013 and started in the Cairo RO as an associate banker in the Manufacturing and Services team. She has then moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2017; leading business development efforts for new and existing clients across the entire portfolio spectrum on both debt and equity sides; focusing on GCC based investors. Prior to joining the EBRD, Yousra worked for the Arab African International Bank, as an investment banker.

Mohammed Adil Guelzim
Sustainability And AFR Director, CIMENTS DE L’ATLAS
Mohammed Adil Guelzim started his career in 1998 with Holcim (Morocco) as a process engineer at the Oujda cement plant.
After a stint at Holcim Group Support (HGRS) as a pyroprocessing consultant, he joined the CIMENTS DE L’ATLAS / CIMENTS DE L’AFRIQUE group where he took charge of the AFR business and then Sustainability of the group.

Alexander Hall
CEO, Concrete.ai
Alex has 25 years experience in the building materials, construction and ESG sectors.
Alex has held executive leadership positions at Holcim, the world’s largest cement producer and Suffolk, the largest private construction and technology company in the United States.
Concrete.ai is the world leading artificial intelligence company using machine learning to optimize concrete, the world’s most consumed product after water.

Hari Harikumar
VP & GM Advanced Carbon & Membranes, CHASM Advanced Materials
Hari leads CHASM’s Advanced Carbon and Advanced Membranes business units, which delivers game changing solutions ranging from, Additives enabling “low carbon-low cost” Cement to Conductive pastes for Batteries to Vertically aligned nanotube membranes for water purification. With more than 30 years of senior techno-commercial leadership globally, including, CEO of QM Power, an Electric Motor startup in Kansas City, Missouri, VP- Innovation, Sustainability and Technology for Ingersoll Rand/TRANE in Charlotte, North Carolina and President & CTO for USHA a leading consumer brand in India.
Hari brings leadership experienced gained in multiple domains including Mechanical and Electrical Systems, Computational mechanics, Material Science, Smart Controls and Power electronics, Energy efficiency and Sustainability, Engineering software, Remote Monitoring and Analytics. Hari holds an MS & PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science – Bangalore, India.

Sassan Hatam
Partner, Roland Berger
Sassan Hatam is a Partner in Roland Berger's Dubai office leading the firm's turnaround & restructuring practice in the GCC.
Sassan focuses on driving value-creative 'fit-for-the-future' transformation programs covering strategic re-alignment, financial restructuring and operational excellence. He has helped re-shaping companies in a diverse set of industries such as building materials, chemicals, construction, steel and telecoms among others. He firmly believes in the need to leverage both people and technology to create maximum and sustainable impact.
Sassan holds a Diplôme de Grande Ecole from ESCP Business School Paris and a Master in European Management from City University London.

Ahmad Heshmat
CEO, Alpha
Holding a BS in Architectural Engineering from the University of Cairo, a Diploma in Financial Management from the American University in Cairo and a Certificate in Business Management from the IMD in Lausanne. Ahmad Heshmat is a leading figure in the Global Cement Industry. Throughout his 35Y career, Mr. Heshmat has been in charge of massive growth plans and green field operations.A founding member for Orascom Cement group and a Regional President for ME at LafargeHolcim group.Leading investments exceeding $7bn and operations of annual turnover of $1,1bn with strong profit margins for Orascom, Lafarge and LafargeHolcim groups.
He started his career as a construction engineer and shifted to sales, marketing and business development of construction industries in the fields of steel and marble for 10 years with leading international companies in Egypt and the Arabian Gulf such as Butler Building Systems / Juffali.Following that Mr. Heshmat joined the Cement industry for 20 years between 1998 & 2018 in Senior Executive roles.

Simon Jensen
Influential Cement Leader, A³&Co.®
Simon Jensen, is a Cement and Mining industry veteran with over 32 years. He has worked with the Danish multinational FLSmidth and played several roles and progressed to hold several strategic roles; his latest position was Managing Director; heading Middle East group, and worked as President & CEO of wholly owned subsidiaries (FLSmidth Ventomatic and FLSmidth MAAG Gear), in addition to working as chairman and/ or holding other senior roles during 32 years.
During his career thus far, Simon has visited 93 countries and 193 different cement plants. Simon speaks about 9 languages spoken around the world and he is happily married with 3 grown up children.An old racehorse cannot just stop to race, so after his retirement from FLSmidth, Simon is associated with the industry as a Business Partner and Advisor for A³&Co. And a Business Partner & Advisor for Ramco Middle East, Africa, and West Asia.

Tao Junpu
Professor Level Senior Engineer, Sinoma Energy Conservation Ltd.
Tao Junpu, Chief Expert of Sinoma Energy Conservation Ltd., Dean of the Central Research Institute, professor level senior engineer, has won the honorary title of Tianjin Model Worker and National May Day Labor Medal.Sinoma-EC is a holding subsidiary of China National Building Material Group. As a comprehensive industrial group, Sinoma-EC specializes in Energy-saving and Environmental Protection Engineering, Clean Energy Engineering, Building Energy-saving Materials Industry and New Equipment Manufacturing. In 2014, it was listed on the A-share main board of Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Sinoma-EC's waste heat recovery power generation technology is in the leading position all over the world, with more than 400 reference projects. Tao Junpu has always been based on the front line, promoting WHR power generation technology in countries along the Belt and Road. He presided over hundreds of technical proposals for projects at home and abroad, covering more than 20 countries in Asia, Africaand Europe, involving cement, glass, carbon, silicon, coking, gas turbine and many other fields.

Fouad Kammoun
Director Sales – Near East, Middle East and Central Asia, Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG
Fouad was born and raised in Lebanon, graduated from the American University of Beirut with a Bachelor in Engineering in Electrical Engineering. After working one year at Polysius in the Electrical Engineering department, he pursued a Master of Science at the University of Westphalia in Germany which he completed with honors. He then joined thyssenkrupp polysius in 2005 and have worked in different engineering and sales functions before taking over the role of Director Sales for the region in 2020. He has 2 kids and speaks Arabic, English, German and French.

Ahmed Shireen Korayem
CEO & Managing Director of Al Nahda Cement Company | Head of the Egyptian Cement Division
Ahmed Shireen Korayem Joined AL NAHDA CEMENT in April 2021 as CEO & Managing Director. Also,He is Head of the Egyptian Cement Division, Member of the Board of Directors of the CBMI (chamber of building materials industries) & Member of the Executive committee (CBMI). Prior to joining NAHDA CEMENT, Mr. Ahmed spent the past 30 years of his career at Frito-Lay International, then Americana, then Pepsi-Cola Egypt, and in 2002 he became the Sales & Marketing Director at Helwan Portland Cement (that was acquired by Italcementi then currently is acquired by Heidelberg), where he contributed to the development of the company from an old facility to the well-known state-of-the-art facility.
Then he established and managed Pharaohs Group for Trading, one of the largest cement distribution companies and one of the most reputable in the cement market. Also, he launched cementegypt.com, the first website providing specialized information about the construction industry. Mr. Ahmed holds his MIBA from ESLSCA Business School and is in the process of obtaining his DBA from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport.

Wang Lan
Director & Professor, CNBM
Wang Lan, Doctor, Professor, Tutor of doctor, PhD & P.E of the United States, has long research experience in the applied fundamental research, key materials and equipment R&D, the establishment of related policies and standards in the field of efficient energy-saving, efficient emission reduction and waste recycling of building materials industry. The core achievements include a) the pre-sintering technology of cement clinker; b) energy management and control technology of cement production; c) mid- and low- temperature SCR DeNOx technology in the building materials industry; d) waste co-processing technology in the cement industry. He has awarded 1 of key R & D project of “13th Five-Year Plan”, 3 of key R & D projects, 2 of National Fundamental Basic Research Program (973 program) projects, 6 of “Science and Technology Support” planned projects, 2 of National Natural Science Foundation projects, and more than 10 of provincial and ministerial levels projects or international cooperation projects.
He has published above 100 academic papers, 4 monographs, above 30 Invention Patent and Software Copyright, and 8 national standards. Till now, he has won one 2nd Prize Project of the National Sci-Tech Advance Award, one 1st Prize Project of Provincial Sci-Tech Advance Award, three 2nd Prize Project of Provincial Sci-Tech Advance Award (Public Welfare), one Innovative Talents Award of All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, one Sci-Tech Advance Award of China Building Materials Group. He is also the Vice President of Engineering Technology Branch of the Chinese Ceramic Society, the consultant expert of several governmental administrations.

Dirk Lechtenberg
Managing Director and Founder, MVW Lechtenberg and Partner
Dirk Lechtenberg is a pioneer in the field of the production and use of alternative fuels. During his over 30 years of involvement in the field of alternative fuels, he has been responsible for the development of RDF (Refuse Derived Fuels) projects worldwide.
Before founding MVW Lechtenberg & Partner in 2004, he worked as a project engineer at MBM Industrieanlagen GmbH, Germany, owned by Portlandzementwerke Miebach & Söhne, Germany, and later Managing Director of an RDF processing plant belonging to Emons Group - one of the biggest private owned Dutch logistic companies. He is the Founder of the company “Blue River Recycling” which builds, owns, and operates processing facilities for processing mixed plastics into pellets for further use as fuel or raw material for the petrochemical Industry, Board Member of the Company “Green solutions for Environment” in Riyadh.
As the Managing Director and founder of MVW Lechtenberg & Partner, he with his team developed custom-made concepts for the processing of domestic waste and other waste into alternative fuels worldwide. Dirk Lechtenberg is also known for his scientific articles which are published in international cement magazines and other specialized press on a regular basis. He is the co-author of the “Alternative Fuels and Raw Materials Handbook for the Cement and Lime Industry” which is regarded as the most comprehensive compendium on alternative fuels.

Matthias Mersmann
CTO & Member of the Board, KHD Humboldt Wedag
Educated as a mechanical and process engineer from Technical University Aachen (Germany), Matthias has gathered experience of 30 years in the cement industry. He started his work at KHD Humboldt Wedag as a process engineer, worked at all levels and led all technical departments throughout his tenure. In 2008 he founded the company aixergee, which is specialized to provide CFD-based consultancy for the cement industry. He also worked as Technical Director for Loesche GmbH, Germany for 8 years before he was called into the Management Board of KHD Humboldt Wedag AG in 2020.
Matthias focusses his work on the development of efficient machines and processes for the manufacture of cement. This includes the development, adaptation and introduction of technological innovations in the fields of process engineering & optimization, machine design, combustion of alternative fuels, emissions reduction, automation & controls and machine learning. He is a vivid communicator and active networker in the cement community and considers the decarbonization of the cement industry to be the ultimate but feasible challenge for the cement industry.

Eng. Amr A. Nader
CEO, A³&Co.®
Prior to becoming the CEO of A³&Co.® in 2021, Eng. Amr Nader has a record of +20 years working with Cement executive teams and business leaders in more than different 50 countries, including LAFARGE (Middle East, Africa, South & East Europe), ORASCOM (UAE & Pakistan), ASEC (Egypt), SMART Specialized Services (Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq), Yanbu Cement Co. (Saudi Arabia).
A transformer by nature, Eng. Amr has practiced Cement on every inhabited content and has first-hand experience in almost every major aspect of Cement Industry. He has been instrumental in numerous international projects providing sustainable business solutions.

Bassem Nassouhy
Director, Global SBS UK
Dr. Bassem is the Director of Global Scientific Business Solutions UK (SBS UK), in addition to, he is also an Strategic Advisor for Fujairah Environment Authority FEA as well as other governmental authorities like Fujairah Natural Resources Corporation FNRC as Environmental Advisor, giving support to other various organizations including Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering (SREE) Department as an Advisory Board Member Sharjah University, Chief of Waste Resources Committee of WGGO NY USA and Chief Advisor of SBS group in MENA region.
He is a multi-skilled Advisor, International Speaker & Trainer in various field of business, with a proven track record in particular area of business expertise such as Environment, Health & Safety, Sustainability, Climate Change, and Decarbonization particularly in Cement Industry, Alternative Fuel & Alternative Raw Materials AFR and Waste Management as an expert in those fields with PhD, MBA & various post-graduate diplomas as well as various international well recognized certifications with vast expertise based on +20 years of diversified experience with multinational groups JICA, Samil, EDF, Orascom, Lafarge, LafargeHolcim, EcoCem Industrial Ecology, Geocycle, FNRC, FEA and SBS.

Arnaud Pinatel
Managing Partner, On Field Investment Research
Arnaud Pinatel, 57, started his career at Group Ciments Vicat in 1991 where he worked first as a financial controller and later as a strategic assistant to the CFO and CEO of the Group. Between 1997 and 2017, Arnaud headed different European Building Materials & Construction teams for Oddo Equities and Exane BNP Paribas (ranked number one over a decade by global institutional investors) and worked as an investment analyst for London-based hedge funds.
Since 2018, Arnaud is a managing Partner at On Field Investment Research, a company he founded in 2018 with Yassine Touahri to offer in-depth proprietary research to global investors and senior company executives on the cement industry

Loïc Pottier
Area Sales Manager, Fives FCB
Loïc Pottier graduated as a Mechanical Engineer from Institut Catholique des Arts et Métiers (ICAM) of Lille (France) in 1994.
After 10 years of experience in Automotive Industry (new model launch projects) and Oil&Gas Industry as production manager and sales manager for air-cooled heat exchangers, he joined Fives FCB in 1999 as Area Sales Manager to follow Middle East and Mediterranean Rim. Among others, he was in charge of projects ranging from milling plants upgrade with high efficiency classifier (Egypt, Serbia, …) to complete plants expansion (Qatar).

Ehab Shalaby
CEO, DCarbon Egypt
Dr Ehab Shalaby is a Senior Consultant, Researcher & Lecturer, in the field of Economics and Sustainable Development; with more than 20 years of experience in consulting, lecturing, research, public and private policy advising on Sustainable Development and Climate finance; on the local, regional, and international level.
His consultations experience covers public and corporate consultations, the later includes; financial sector, health, telecom, ICT, F&B, Oil and Gas, construction, real-Estate, petrochemicals, Fertilizers, among others. He received his MSc and Ph.D. from the faculty of economics and political science, Cairo university in cooperation with the Free University of Berlin, Germany, and has been a visiting lecturer among many universities; currently at the Maastricht School of Management (MBA) Program. Ehab Shalaby is the Chairman & CEO of DCarbon Egypt, a board member of Vodafone foundation.

Mahendra Singhi
Managing Director and CEO, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd
Mr. Mahendra Singhi is an affable and cheerful person. He is designated as Carbon Pricing Champion by the World Bank Group, COP 26 Business Leader by UN COP 26 Presidency and also recognised as one of the five global Climate Defenders by the BBC World.
Mr. Singhi is Managing Director and CEO of Dalmia Cement, a prominent cement manufacturing group in India ranked no.1 globally by CDP on Low Carbon Economy Transition and appreciated by the UN Secretary-General on climate innovation. Dalmia Cement has committed to become a carbon-negative cement group by 2040.
In the past, Mr. Singhi headed Shree Cement Ltd. For 20 years. During his tenure, Shree Cement was adjudged as New Sustainability Champion by World Economic Forum in 2012. Mr. Singhi has represented the business and cement sector globally in the most recognized, multi-country platforms such as the UN Climate Ambition Summit, Climate Action Summit of UN General Assembly; Paris Climate Agreement Ceremony; Global Climate Action in COP-24; High-Level Govt.-Business dialogues of French Presidency and TED Count Down Summit and World Climate Summit in COP-26. Mr. Singhi has 44 years of experience in the cement sector and inculcates happiness for a productive, flexible and resilient workplace. Mr. Singhi is Science & Law Graduate & Chartered Accountant (21st Rank).

Apoorv Sinha
CEO | Co-founder, Carbon Upcycling Technologies
Apoorv is a co-founder and CEO of a world-leading carbon capture, utilization and solid waste management technology start-up, Carbon Upcycling Technologies. Carbon Upcycling is commercializing a process to convert CO2 emissions into performance enhancing fillers for cement and concrete, plastics, pharmaceuticals, and batteries. Carbon Upcycling has scaled its technology over 10 million times since conception and operates a commercial 20 tonne per day facility providing carbon-embedded cementitious materials to the Calgary market in Canada since April 2021. Apoorv is currently onto the next scale up of the technology to a 50 tonne per day modular unit. Carbon Upcycling is a Carbon X-Prize X-Factor award winner, an Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) Grand Challenge Semi-finalist, and has received support from various provincial and federal entities in Canada.
Apoorv is a Forbes 30 Under 30 Energy awardee (2020), a Clean 50 Honoree (2021), an alumni of the Energy Futures Lab, a 2016 Leading Change delegate, a Clean50 Emerging Leader 2016, and has served on the ACTia (Alberta Cleantech Industrial Alliance) Board of Directors (2017-19). Apoorv is also a 2018 Action Canada Alumni, Canada’s premier youth leadership training program.

Riccardo Stoppa
Global Marketing Manager, GCP Applied Technologies
Riccardo is a Global Marketing Manager at GCP Applied Technologies since 2017, responsible for Cement Additives and CO2 programs for Cement and Concrete. He has previously served in various R&D and Technical Service roles at GCP and W.R. Grace, eventually leading the global R&D and technical organization until 2016.
He holds a master degree in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Milan and an MBA from the SDA Bocconi School of Management. Cement Additives have been its field of research for almost 20 years. During this period he contributed to the development and launch of new technologies and products such as the CO2ST® reducer, Tavero® VM, Improved CBA® and Synchro® families, and innovative services such as the GCP DASH® Additive Intelligence and the Customization platform.
Riccardo has been an advisor of the NanoCem research network and a member of Innovandi and CSHub; and has held more than a hundred seminars, training courses and conferences worldwide, including annual lectures at the ‘Tomas Vasquez’ post-doc course on cement chemistry. He has a longtime interest with the carbon footprint of Cement and Concrete; and authored his first article on CO2 in 2014 (ICR’s Cement Plant Environmental handbook, 3rd ed.), and first presented it publicly in 2015-2016 (13th TCMB, Antalya; AICCE21, Abu Dhabi).

Sui Tongbo
Vice President, Sinoma International
Vice president, SINOMA International Engineering Co. Ltd., CNBM, and director general, SINOMA Research Institute, has been intensively engaged in belite-based low energy & low CO2 clinker cements for over 20 years. He is also senior advisor of China Cement Association, co-chair of WKG 5 for cement & concrete innovation, GCCA, visiting professor of UCL, UK.
Before joining Sinoma in 2010, he worked as vice president of China Building Materials Academy and director of UNIDO International Center for Technology Promotion during 2006-2010.

Nigel Topping
UN Climate Change High-Level Champion, COP 26
Nigel Topping is the UN’s High-Level Climate Action Champion for COP26, appointed by the UK Prime Minister in January 2020 and will serve until COP27. The role of the High Level Champion is to strengthen collaboration and drive action from businesses, investors, organisations, cities, and regions on climate change, and coordinate this work with governments and Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Since his appointment, Nigel, alongside the COP25 High Level Champion Gonzalo Muñoz, established the Race to Zero – a global campaign to commit all actors to net zero by 2050, the Race to Resilience – a global campaign for secure the resilience of 4 billion people by 2030, and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) - a coalition of existing and new net zero finance initiatives. He is now working with the COP27 High Level Champion Mahmoud Mohieldin to forward these campaigns for COP27.
Prior to his appointment, Nigel was CEO of We Mean Business, a coalition of businesses working to accelerate the transition to a zero carbon economy. Prior to that he was Executive Director of the Carbon Disclosure Project, following an 18 year career in the private sector, having worked across the world in emerging markets and manufacturing.

Roland Van Wijnen
CEO, PPC Ltd
Roland was appointed as Group CEO of PPC Ltd in October 2019, and has over 20 years of CEO and consulting experience on a global scale, with a broad skill set encompassing operations management, strategy planning & execution, business process re-engineering, project planning and management, service delivery, senior-level relationship building and people management and development.
His experience in the cement industry started in 1998, and from 2010 to 2013 Roland served as CEO of Holcim Philippines followed by a CEO position at Holcim Trading. In all his CEO roles he has actively contributed to the reduction of the environmental footprint of the companies he worked for and also took additional external roles to drive the environmental agenda.

Rafael Villalona
CEO, CEMEX
Prior to Rafael’s current position, he was the Commercial & Logistics Vice President for CEMEX in Egypt. He joined CEMEX in 2007 where he has held multiple executive positions. He has been the Country Director for CEMEX Haiti, Country Manager for CEMEX Jamaica and Technical-Commercial Advisor for CEMEX Dominican Republic.
Rafael has directed or managed all core business units of cement, ready mix and aggregates, as well as the secondary units of lime, infrastructure and housing. In his assignments, he has achieved record breaking results in sales, free cash flow, return on capital employed and cash value added. He was also Commercial Ambassador for the South, Central America and Caribbean region where he trained over 200 commercial executives. Rafael has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from The Ohio State University and a Master of Engineering degree from the University of Maryland.

Osama Youssef
Operational Excellence Director – Operations & Products, A³&Co.®
Cement Expert with a multi-regional extensive exposure on Cement Complete Quality Management from design to production to developmental solutions, supported by higher studies in MBA & Analytical Chemistry. Osama has developed an in-depth expertise and accomplished a successful track record of 20+ years in which he focused on:
- Cement Production Quality Management, Quality Assurance & Quality Control.
- Cement Greenfields Commissioning, Startup and Operation.
- Management of implementations related to Raw Mix research, studies and assessment.
- The setup, design, commissioning and operation of Laboratories of Cement, Concrete, Raw Materials and Alternative Fuel according to industry best practices.
- Product development studies and research of new product production and concrete applications.
- Testing and Product Development of Cement and Concrete products.
- Management of Quarry Operation and Optimization of Raw Mix Quality with the focus on cost savings while improving quality.
- Design, management and implementation of learning initiatives related to Cement Quality Solutions.

Dr. Ahmed Zugail
Chairman, A³&Co.®
With a locally and internationally recognized track record of +25 years working in cement industry, Dr. Ahmed is a co-founder and the Chairman of A³&Co. and a Chairman of Rkizah Mining, he is a PhD holder from Colorado School of Mines in Mineral Economies with Minor in Operations Research. During his +25 years of working in Cement, Dr. Ahmed has devised successful strategies in which he contributed to the success of Saudi Cement Sector; he led the major transformation journey of Yanbu Cement, the largest cement company in the western region, between 2011 to 2020, with a current market value of over SAR 6 billion towards a regional leader in operational excellence internationally recognized as the best plant of the year in 2019 in Berlin-Germany with successful cost targets to be the lowest cash cost producer among major Saudi cement companies, while taking a leader position for the nationalization of the Saudi Cement Industry through joint venture with FLSmidth in the Cement Knowledge Center.
Dr. Ahmed also led the startup of Najran Cement Co. Plant and grinding unit in 2008, an investment of 1.7 billion SAR until successfully achieving an IPO with a value of 1,150 million SAR throughout building the company different business functions as well as the market penetration realizing a market share of 10% within only 2 years of operation.
Media
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Videos
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Conference Press Releases
Testimonials
"Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing humanity and WCA effectively illustrated global success stories, roadmaps, and ongoing challenges to net zero goals. The event was a success, well done!"
Rafael Augusto Villalona González, CEO, CEMEX UAE
"A very well organised and thoroughly enjoyable event masterfully hosted by Nik Gowing whose insightful questions kept the speakers and attendees engaged at all times. Many excellent connections made during this very timely event."
Alex Hall, CEO, Concrete.ai
"Excellent Conference, not only because of how fruitful it was in terms of business brought back home, but because of the number of good presentations and open talks to achieve a better future in the Cement Industry. In few conferences I see so clearly the union between suppliers and clients to achieve the goals that we must achieve. Excellent work of the organisation team and moderators. I hope to see you soon again."
Francisco Canepa, Team Lead Sales, Christian Pfeiffer Maschinenfabrik GmbH
"The WCA conference was a unique opportunity to meet with great CEO's, cement industry experts and understand the current situation of the cement world from a truly independent perspective. If you are working in Cement related business this is a must go event every year."
Emir Adiguzel, Founder & Director, WCA
"The conference was a good look forward of hope, seeing the entire cement industry trying to tackle their carbon footprint. Some good innovation to discover and the whole conference well driven and organised."
Thomas Atkinson, International Business Development, Hoffman Green Cement
"An extremely well organised conference and kept very relevant to the burning theme of 'Climate Challenge - reduce carbon, reduce costs.' The choice of place was great with superb ambience. Very useful takeaways for me, my company and made several friends and in fact following up with certain key contacts, post the conference. Last, but not the least, very vibrant Conference Chairman in Nik Gowing, who always kept the discussions alive. Looking forward to future such WCA meets."
Sujit Ghosh, Executive Director - New Product Development, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited
"Let's think the unthinkable, yet urgently do the possible to achieve our Net Zero transformation."
Eng. Amr. A. Nader, CEO, A³&Co.®
"Carbon Upcycling joined the WCA earlier this year and had its first opportunity to attend its annual conference in Dubai. I found the conference insightful in understanding the current outlook and strategic priorities of the global cement industry (particularly in Asia and the MENA region). Additionally, the technical focus on sustainability and the unique format of ex-BBC reporter, Nik Gowing, moderating the show was an excellent and unique touch."
Apoorv Sinha, CEO & Co-founder, Carbon Upcycling Technologies
"It was a pleasure attending and presenting at this event - thanks for the opportunity. I am looking forward to next year's annual conference to see the progress made in regard to automation and decarbonisation in the cement industry."
Felix Bartknecht, Technical Industry Manager Infrastructure, SICK AG
"Great platform to exchange ideas, I left with clear actions that enable PPC to further expedite our decarbonisation plans. A clear example that the industry eco-system must work shoulder to shoulder in the race to net zero. Well done and many thanks to the WCA organisers."
Roland Van Wijnen, CEO, PPC Ltd
"An ideal conference, all stakeholders represented, and actively engaged; a real value for time. We all left with a reinforced sense of purpose and an enriched roadmap for our Decarbonisation mission."
Ahmad Heshmat, CEO, Alpha
"We all know about the CO2 trouble, and wonder what to do about it. At WCA's meeting I've learned about key technical options available to decarbonise cement and concrete. I mean, that make it possible to do it today. It was inspiring to talk to industry leaders in Dubai, and hear, and feel their commitment to take action now."
Riccardo Stoppa, Global Marketing Manager, GCP Applied Technologies
"It was a great conference with very competent people giving their inputs, being it as presenters or as guests. So good to interact with people all having the same goal, namely, how to decarbonise the cement industry and seeing it as an opportunity rather than a threat. Everyone I talked to (and I talked to lots of people) said that the conference was a great success and organised and conducted extremely professional way. Already looking forward to next WCA event."
Simon Jensen, Influential Cement Leader, A³&Co.® Guest
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Event Details
Date | 25-Sep-2022 |
End Date | 28-Sep-2022 |
Individual Price | Various Ticket Prices |
Categories | WCA Conferences, Past Events |