Hydrogen and its Last Mile - How to Close the Ultimate Gap?

Florian Henkel is hydrogen and fuel cell technology expert at cellcentric, and lead of global External Affairs and Government Relations since 2023. Florian joined cellcentric in the year 2012. Before moving to External Affairs, he worked in Research & Development for more than 10 years in different functional and project management positions, and at crossfunctional level as module team lead. For more than five years, he was the technical key responsible for the fuel cell stack and the stack assembly module (SAM). Florian holds a PhD degree in experimental physics (quantum optics and quantum communication).

Markus Kösters is heading the Commercial function at LIFTE H2, responsible for business development, customer engagement, strategic partnerships, commercial risk management and optimisation. He began his career in investment banking before transitioning to the energy sector, where he has spent over 15 years with a focus on renewable energy and hydrogen. Throughout his career, he has held roles at global companies such as Uniper, E.ON, and RWE. Markus holds a Master of Science in Financial Economics and studied at the University of Maastricht and the National University of Singapore.

Markus Ostermeier is a hydrogen expert and entrepreneur with extensive experience in energy sovereignty, project management, and business development. He is one of the Managing Directors of ostermeier H2ydrogen Solutions GmbH, where he focuses on innovative hydrogen solutions. Previously, he held various roles at CM Fluids AG, Electrochaea GmbH, Klaus Ostermeier GmbH and MAN Diesel & Turbo SE, driving advancements in hydrogen technology and energy systems. With a background in mechanical engineering, he earned his PhD in Foundry Engineering from the Technical University of Munich and has served as a lecturer in product development at Munich University of Applied Sciences and Technical University Ingolstadt. Throughout his career, Markus has contributed to numerous research and business initiatives, particularly in the fields of hydrogen technology, renewable energy, and power-to-gas solutions. He has also participated in international conferences, presenting insights on sustainable energy and technological innovations. At this conference, Markus will discuss the role of decentralized hydrogen in the energy transition, sharing his expertise on its potential for energy sovereignty and decarbonization.

Dr. Thomas Klaue has been on the advisory board since 2019 and was appointed CEO of SIQENS GmbH in July 2022. His mission: to develop the company into an international provider of hydrogen infrastructure solutions and off-grid power supply solutions for critical environments. This task was preceded by around 20 years as CFO and CEO in mostly listed companies in the healthcare/life science and technology sectors. These included positions at Injex Pharma GmbH (Medtech), MK-Kliniken AG (Health Care) and Medigene AG (Biotech-Pharma). As Vice President Business Development at Infineon Technologies AG, he was responsible for corporate venture capital and the global biochip business. Before that, he worked as head of the M&A department at DASA (now Airbus) on the realignment of the aerospace industry into today's European structures. Before Dr. When Klaue moved into industry, he worked in research. First as a university assistant at the University of Mannheim, later as a scholarship holder from the German Research Foundation as a research fellow at M.I.T. Sloan School of Management in Boston. His research focus was 'Innovation Management' and 'Organizational Changes' in industrial companies. He has a degree as Dipl.-Ing. and a Dr. rer. pole. the universities of Karlsruhe and Mannheim. He also completed management training at Harvard Business School.