Rolf Härdi

Chief Technology Innovation Officer

Title

IoT – expectations vs reality

Sub headings

Successfully implemented examples in practice
Criteria for a successful implementation

Bio

Rolf Härdi, educated as an electrical engineeer with MBA has started his career as development engineer at ABB, designing rail control systems. 1991 he moved to London as a residential engineer in order to introduce the first processor controlled traction system at the London Underground Central Line project. After several management positions in the Adtranz UK Railservices Organisation, he was responsible for the world wide maintenance business and service-engineering of Adtranz. In 2003 Rolf Härdi was appointed to the management Board of Bombardier Propulsion and Controls, managing the world-wide traction engineering organsation. In 2008 he took the of CEO at Sersa Group, a leading rail-infrastructure company. In 2012 he changed to Knorr-Bremse SfS GmbH and became a managing director and member of the excecutive board. In August 2017, Rolf Härdi was appointed as Chief Technology Innovation Officer at Deutsche Bahn AG.

Roberto Tundo

Chief Technology, Innovation & Digital Officer

Title

The FS Group data factory: shared value for customers and internal processes

Sub headings

Gruppo FS as a “Data factory” that collect internal data about the status of infrastructure and the rolling stocks, and external data about the outside context and customers behaviour
How to create value from data: organizative model and internal digital factory
Highlights on main projects: integrated services and asset management

Bio

Born in Palermo in 1970.

Degree in Statistical and Economic Sciences.

Master in Business Administration from LUISS Guido Carli in Rome.

Since October 2021, Roberto has been the Chief Technology, Innovation & Digital Officer for the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group, with the following tasks:

assure the definition of technological, digital and ICT development strategies;
lead the technological and digital transformation, including Operational Technology (OT);
assure the direction and the coordination in the field of Innovation.

His professional carreer started with an IT services company of the Banco di Sicilia Group, to be continued, with roles of increasing responsibility, as follows:

ENEL Group (1992–2016) - Information & Communication Technology and Digital Innovation
ALITALIA Group (2016-2019) - Information & Technology: technological innovation and digital evolution in support of B2B, B2C and parallel highly-critical operational processes
TERNA Group (2019–2020) - Information: innovation linked to the Internet of Things, Edge Computing and the use of advanced wired and wireless connectivity systems with goal of guaranteeing the safety and resilience of the national electricity grid. ICT Board Member for the Digital Committee ENTSO-E (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity)
TELECOM ITALIA Group (2020) - Chief Executive Officer for the Olivetti company

Dr. Niko Davids

Chief Digital Officer and Head of Innovation

Title

From IoT data to value for the customer

Sub headings

Digital Fleet Management
Predictive Maintenance
Digital Products

Bio

Dr. Niko Davids is Chief Digital Officer and Head of Innovation at VTG. Davids has been with the company since 2007: After studying industrial engineering at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, he began his career as assistant to the CEO at VTG. In 2012, Davids took over the Innovations and Improvement division and has since been spearheading the digitization of the wagon fleet and VTG's new digital services. He is responsible for the development and implementation of digital applications and the digitalization of the VTG service portfolio. The overarching focus is on using smart solutions to help strengthen rail as the most climate-friendly mode of transport, increase efficiency and make it more attractive for the logistics industry. Since 2017, Davids has held the role of Chief Digital Officer and, since 2022, has also been Head of Innovation.

Lawrence Biess

Assistant Vice President of Fleet Systems Research and Integration

Title

Big Data, (I)IOT, AI, and Innovation in Rail: To What End?

Sub headings

Lean (and the Lewin Change Model) as a compass and process for change and innovation.
People, Processes, Technology: Familiar triad, ever-changing landscape.
Outcomes: What does sustainable & successful change look like, sound like, feel like?

Bio

Larry Biess is an experienced engineer and innovator who has worked primarily in the rail industry for the past 25 years.

A graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy, he earned his degree in marine engineering with concentrations in maritime nuclear power and gas turbines, and subsequently qualified as a Nuclear Shift Test Engineer supervising repair, upgrades, and final operational testing of submarine reactor plants.

Transitioning to freight rail for a major Class I road, he worked in various positions in operations and IT building out IIOT and rules-based systems and applications to score the health of track and rolling assets and provide tools to the teams responsible for the safety and maintenance of wheels and rail.

Along the way, Larry earned his MBA from the University of North Florida, as well as his PMP certificate.

Now the Assistant Vice President of Fleet Systems Research and Integration, his team is responsible for equipment testing and commissioning, alternate/sustainable energy technology evaluation, and Business Intelligence and Advanced Engineering at Amtrak.

His home is in Philadelphia where he lives with his wife and his youngest daughter.

Steven Woudenberg

Digital Lead Data for Operations & Lead in Advanced Analytics

Title

A data driven organization and how to get there. An NS story

Sub headings

How is NS organized to empower the employees to help the organization become more data driven?
What are the main pitfalls NS has encountered in their journey to become more data driven, up until now?
What are the success stories of the approach NS has implemented?

Bio

From a PhD candidate to one of the Data Leads of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen, Steven is determined to improve his surroundings with data and new technologies. From his background he has a deep understanding of the complex world of AI and data, he has experience with the Agile principles and working in Scrum teams, and he is able to translate whatever the teams need into a language the higher management can work with. On the other side he is able to translate the high over strategic goals into more concrete components so the teams can feel comfortable to contribute to such concrete goals. In the end, he likes to be a linking pin between the data teams and the higher management, helping all of them to achieving their goals and helping the company being ready for the future.

Mads Thorstrup

Head of Asset Management

Title

How to ensure that usage of data makes you more efficient

Sub headings

Reengineering your ERP system does not do the job alone, you need to standardize and address processes and culture within your (eco)system/organisation
You need to define your output needs before defining deliverables
Data need to be more than documentation

Bio

With more than 15 years of experience in the railroad sector, Mads Thostrup represents both the practical and strategic side of managing asset management. Starting in forestry services and continuing to high level management in Banedanmark, Mads Thostrup now heads the department of Asset Management in Infrastructure, the maintenance division in Banedanmark. He oversees both the budgeting and planning of maintenance and minor renewal, as well as Banedanmark’s technical rail data and the administration services towards government, authorities and other stakeholders.

In Banedanmark, Mads has supported and executed Banedanmark’s implementation of SAP Plant Maintenance in Infrastructure, including governing the super user organization.

Mads Thostrup’s strength lies within the professional management of interdisciplinary projects and technical disciplines, identifying critical interfaces and dependencies and making them interact.

His educational background is an M.Sc. in Forestry and Landscape Management (including courses from University of British Columbia). Management skills have been perfected through Banedanmark’s internal leadership programmes and Prince 2 certification. Earlier employment includes project management at Eltel Networks.

Maximilian Eichhorn

Vice President and Global Head, Digital Products & Services

Title

IoT – Internet of Trains

Sub headings

With more and more electronics and sensor technologies included Trains are becoming more and more complex
Based on data sharing as well as digitalization of the various systems an Internet of Trains (IoT) will generate totally new values
The highest benefits will be achieved when Operators, Vehicle Builders and Sub-System Builders are working cooperatively and fair together

Bio

Maximilian (Max) Eichhorn is responsible for the global business of Digital Products & Services at Knorr-Bremse Rail Vehicle Systems.

Before joining Knorr-Bremse in 2020 he was working 13 years for Siemens Mobility, among other roles as Global Head of Strategy & Business Development, Global Head of Software Solutions for Railways and as Country CEO in Australia and New Zealand. Before that he worked seven years as a Management Consultant supporting his clients in the Rail Transportation, Building Technologies and Healthcare industries. He started his professional career in the construction supply industry.

Max graduated as an electrical engineer from the Technical University Vienna, Austria, and holds a Ph.D. in Logistics from the Georg-August-University Göttingen, Germany. He is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and sits on the boards of Rail Vision (Israel), Railnova (Belgium) and as an observer to the Board of Nexxiot (Switzerland).

Nina Stumme

Head of Data Management and Analytics

Title

How to connect Data & AI with dog intelligence at DB Netz DataNet

Sub headings

How DB Netz wants to improve operation and maintenance of rail infrastructure by Data Management, Data Analytics and AI
Presenting a new data product that connects sniffer dogs, data and intelligence to ensure environmental protection

Bio

Dr. Nina Stumme is Head of Data Management and Analytics at DB Netz AG, Deutsche Bahn’s rail infrastructure company. Her interdisciplinary team of DB internal and external experts deals with data & analytics topics in the fields of construction, maintenance, and operations. In the past three years, Nina has kickstarted numerous activities ranging from developing a data and analytics cloud platform, creating the data foundation for sustainable business solutions, implementing innovative AI products to establishing an overarching data governance for DB Netz AG. Nina holds a PhD in Mathematics and has worked in various areas of Deutsche Bahn, always bridging the gap between business needs and technology offerings.

Remigijus Skirkus

Head of Quality and Safety

Title

Railway infrastructure quality control modernization in Lithuania

Sub headings

Hardware modernization
Software implementation
Connecting all together

Bio

Remigijus Skirkus PhD in Mechanical engineering technology science and head of quality and safety department, JSC „LTG Infra“. Interested in:

Data digitalization
Data analytics
Predictive maintenance
Diagnostics systems

Quality and safety department inspects and controls the quality of the track condition from substructure to superstructure, automation systems, communication, and power supply equipment, prepares projects for the repair, installation and renewal of tracks, electricity supply facilities, prepares and periodically updates the technical documentation and ensures safety. Also, inspections of locomotives safety, communication systems and general technical condition. Department responsible for equipment metrology periodical inspection of infrastructure tools. We have accredited follow ISO 17020 and ISO 17025 standards.

Aleksandr Zaitsev

Head of Digital Transformation & Innovation Department

Title

The Digital Transformation journey of Estonian Railways

Sub headings

Estonian Railways Digital Transformation Strategy. How it started
Asset Management and Field Service Management. Current position and challenges
Our goals and what we are striving for in the near future

Bio

I am responsible for digital transformation of work processes and implementation of new technological solutions within Estonian Raliways Ltd. In my most recent position I was the Technical Director of the largest security company based in the Estonian capital – Forus Security. I developed the technical department of the company, within two years, to be included in the list of Estonian market leaders. This was achieved by increasing the competencies of the engineers, digitizing the processes and creating new innovative products. In the year 2019 I was chosen as a member of council in Techno Life OÜ company, that also refers to Forus Group.Before concentrating on the management role I had 10 years of experience in the industrial automation area as a DCS systems engineer and project manager working on international projects.

Paul Fleming

Managing Director

Title

Wayside inspection - a modular approach to realising customer value

Sub headings

Why are customers requesting more from wayside inspection systems?
How is Camlin realising customer value?
Partnership first – a collaborative approach to deliver long term value

Bio

Paul Fleming is Managing Director of Camlin Rail, a division of Northern Ireland-based energy and transport infrastructures specialist Camlin Group that operates facilities in 21 cities across 17 countries.

A qualified mechanical engineer, Paul worked previously in management roles with Caterpillar and GE Energy before joining Camlin Group in 2010 as a Product Manager. He was rapidly promoted to General Manager of Camlin’s rail division in 2011, overseeing the company’s portfolio of power and monitoring solutions for railway infrastructure owners and train operators.

In 2020 Paul took on the role of Managing Director, with overall responsibility for guiding Camlin Rail’s technology and commercial strategy to meet the requirements of the digital railway. Working closely with private companies as well as multi-national corporations, Paul’s strong focus on stakeholder relationships has driven the rapid international expansion of Camlin Rail to engage markets in North America, Europe and Asia. The company’s continuing growth also reflects Paul’s passion for working with customers to explore new technologies that can improve the operational efficiency and safety of railway networks.

Over the last decade Camlin Rail has delivered monitoring and control technologies for some of the world’s largest rail infrastructure projects such as Crossrail, West Coast Modernisation and Thameslink. Today the company’s clients include Network Rail, MTR, RFI, Amtrak and NS (Nederlande Spoorwegen)

Simon Giovanazzi

CEO of infraView GmbH

Title

Automation of railway maintenance is progressing - latest insights

Sub headings

Rolling Stock Maintenance: Automation of inspections of high speed trains
DIANA Inspector – approaches for automation of rail infrastructure maintenance
Current status and challenges in enhancing automation

Bio

Simon is the CEO of infraView GmbH, and the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Deutsche Bahn International Operations, both 100% subsidiary companies of DB E.C.O. Group. In his function as CTO he is also a member of the CTO Board of Deutsche Bahn.

Simon is a dyed-in-the-wool railway man, having worked in operational service in various positions before taking up his studies in transport engineering.

During his more than 20 years in the railway industry, he has built up an unparalleled expertise in rolling stock and infrastructure asset maintenance. He is a sought-after expert, driving optimization of railway operations and maintenance worldwide and in Germany. He is a key player for the digitalization of Deutsche Bahn, especially in further developing condition monitoring and predictive maintenance solutions based on infraView’s DIANA IoT platform.

Joao Morgado

Asset Information Manager

Title

The role of data and information in better rail asset management in Infraestruturas de Portugal

Sub headings

What data do we have and what we are doing with it in rail asset management?
What data and information is missing?
What are we doing to get there?

Bio

João is a Senior Engineer working in Asset Management of transport infrastructures for more than twelve years. He graduated in 2004 from Lisbon University in Civil Engineering and has a PhD also Civil Engineering (2012). He started his career as a researcher at the same university in road asset management. After that, he was a lecturer in the courses on transportation and transport infrastructures. In 2010 he joined Infraestruturas de Portugal (former Estradas de Portugal), having collaborated with a particular focus on developing its Pavement Management System. He is currently a unit manager (Asset Information) at Infraestruturas de Portugal in road and rail asset management, coordinating asset condition reporting activities and developing systems and tools to support asset management. He also has working and coordination experience in international multidisciplinary teams, either within technical committees in the area of asset management of transport infrastructures or within the framework of R&D projects funded in the European context.

Ivan Rochford

Digital Train Manager

Title

Technical and business advancements for condition based asset management

Sub headings

Technology demands for future fleet management
Business models to drive innovation in products and services
Partnering to support a predictive maintenance approach

Bio

Ivan is a qualified electronic engineer with a master’s degree (MAI) from Trinity College Dublin. He has worked in railway within SKF for over ten years in a variety of engineering and business-development roles– all with a focus on maintenance optimization and condition monitoring. He has hands-on experience in working with data from throughout the full life cycle of SKF products– from design to testing, manufacturing, operation on trains, to remanufacturing and eventual end of service.

In his current role as Digital Train Manager within SKF, Ivan is responsible for leading global digitalization activities related to railway, including the development of new products and services that can drive further improvements in the safe, reliable and cost-effective operation of rolling stock.

Pedro Henrique

Innovation Manager

Title

Innovation and Big Data applied in a heavy haul fleet

Sub headings

Innovation and how MRS's data lab works
A case study applied to cargo rolling stock
Availability and operational interference gains achieved

Bio

Graduated in Industrial Engineering, Master in Administration, Postgraduate in Project Management and Business Economics, with courses in Digital Transformation, Innovation, Data Analytics and Digital Product Management from Singularity University, Dom Cabral Foundation and Getúlio Vargas Foundation. Experience in coordinating business management teams, strategic planning, information technology and innovation.

Currently holds the position of innovation manager, with the mission of developing innovative strategies, processes and projects, corporate venture, open innovation and technological development in partnership with universities and research centres. The area is also responsible for the data lab that aims to support the development of studies with the use of data and development of a data driven organization.

James Simester

Technology Director

Title

How do I save time, money and carbon implementing RCM?

Sub headings

Always doing what we’ve always done but expecting a different outcome – time for change
Leveraging industry know how to our advantage
Real world examples of implementing data science techniques to expose failure data

Bio

James Simester is Technology Director for Unipart Technologies Group. An innovative engineering led organisation who provide solutions that deliver proven business benefits, through its transformational hardware, software and data science capabilities.

With significant engineering and technology experience across a range of sectors and applications, James has had great success in driving projects for customers by bringing deep technical competencies and operational contexts together, which provide new, actionable insights.

Instrumentel is a company within Unipart Technologies Group (a division within Unipart Group). Instrumentel is a world-leading provider of asset monitoring solutions for precision measurement in extreme environments. Our solutions include condition-based predictive maintenance, condition monitoring of remote assets and predictive analytics to improve asset performance, saving customers time, money and carbon.

José Antonio Marcos

Head Area Manager of Smart Maintenance Engineering

Title

Dynamic Maintenance Management Approach based on artificial intelligence and digital twins technology

Sub headings

Real time monitoring and smart data management
Application of Machine and Deep learning for diagnosis and RUL for prognosis
Maintenance Management System as a smart combination of predictive and preventive maintenance

Bio

Jose is Industrial Engineer ( Polytechnic University of Valencia), Master in Data Science (Mbit School), MBA (Deusto Business School), Master in Rolling Stock (ICAI). He started to work in TALGO in 1998 as Maintenance deputy manager Madrid Workshop. From 2002 to 2019 has been Head Manager Area of Maintenance Engineering applying new technologies to Talgo operations.

In 2019, he was designed to lead a new area, "Smart Maintenance Engineering", to promote and manage the paradigm shift of Talgo maintenance towards a 4.0 digital intelligent adaptive maintenance to optimize maintenance costs, based on new disruptive technologies such as IoT, Cloud computing, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Machine vision.

Ivan Vidovic

Program Manager

Title

Digital Innovation – latest monitoring technology to hit the railway

Sub headings

Innovation driving change
A customer success story
What next..?

Bio

Ivan graduated from Graz University of Technology in 2020 with a PhD degree in civil engineering. During his time at the university, he worked with numerous infrastructure providers such as ÖBB and SBB on several life cycle and asset management projects. He joined voestalpine Railway Systems in October 2020, responsible for the digitalization strategy for products and services within the group. In 2021, he was appointed as Program Manager for voestalpine Signaling Austria, leading the Intelligent Turnout Program. As a railway engineer with a strong affinity for innovative technologies, smart products and digitalization, he strives to make the railway more efficient, sustainable and safe.

Loïc Michel

Infrastructure Monitoring, Business Development Manager

Title

Distributed sensing applied to railroad monitoring

Sub headings

Rapid development and adoption of new technologies to monitor railroad conditions
Real time monitoring of rail road surrounding and subsurface conditions are developing quickly
Predicting degradation of subsurface is critical to maintain operational use of railroads

Bio

Loïc Michel (46) has graduated as a geologist in 2000 from the Geology School of Nancy, France. The same year, Loic joined CGG in London in the O&G Exploration Seismic team.

After several postings in Europe with CGG group, in 2009, he moved to South East Asia leading CGG Oil and Gas reservoir characterization teams. From 2018 to 2020 Loic has led as Vice President the commercial and R&D activities for CGG’s reservoir services in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia. He has participated to CGG reservoir new markets development. Loïc joined in 2020 Sercel group to manage Structural Monitoring solutions business development.

Daniel MacGregor

Co-Founder

Title

Various use cases for the data and analytics platform in logistics and train operations

Sub headings

Keeping the wagon and locomotive demand and balance in check with optimization models and real-time dashboards
Monitoring wagon and locomotive maintenance success rates and operational situation
Bringing insight to profit margins with Activity Based Costing

Bio

Co-Founder, Nexiot AG. Business Development for the EmbeddedLab, a research and engineering lab at the ETH Zurich for Physical Computing/IoT, the foundation of Nexiot AG. Industrial IoT evangelist and digital shaper.

Daniel MacGregor has over 20 years’ experience in applying technology to business needs. Since 2014 he has focused on digitisation of the supply chain. Daniel has worked for the EmbeddedLab at ETH Zurich, going on to become a founder of multi-million Swiss technology company Nexiot AG.

Daniel focuses on uncovering business needs and applying Nexiot’s cutting edge IoT solutions to optimise operations and the clients own service portfolio. This is done through an end-to-end solution from sensor, to information intelligence, to knowledge sharing. Supply chain participants can deploy IoT to differentiate their services and monetise digital insights. The philosophy is to leverage knowledge derived from big data for continuous business improvement.

Sven Strassburg

Sustainability Software Thought Leader & Principal Solution Architect

Title

Instrumented, Interconnected, and Intelligent - Digital transformation in an evolving industry

Sub headings

Digital transformation driving disruptive and evolutionary change in the industry
Condition monitoring and predictive maintenance support sustainability initiatives
Situational context and augmented intelligence to drive operational excellence and to meet sustainability objectives

Bio

Sven Strassburg is the Sustainability Software Thought Leader and Principal Solution Architect for IBM Technology, Europe. He has both a production and software engineering background. For the past 21 years he has experience in on all aspects of process automation, system integration, production optimisation and IOT focused engagements across multiple industry sectors from Rail, Energy and Utilities through to Automotive. Starting 9 years ago he became increasingly involved in connecting the complex physical world to the digital world, which is now his full-time focus within the IBM Sustainability Software division of IBM.

Plasser & Theurer - has influenced the progress in the construction and maintenance of railway tracks more substantially than any other company. As a full-range supplier operating worldwide, the Austrian family business supplies track maintenance machines of almost all kinds and sizes and provides high-quality services over the entire life cycle of the machines. Our success story began with the production of tamping machines that stood out from all other products on the market due to their technical superiority. To this day, Plasser & Theurer tamping machines are the standard in track maintenance. Over decades, new machine models have been added to the machine programme. Today, the machines we offer cover almost all works to be performed when maintaining, laying and renewing railway tracks. In addition to machines for all track gauges in all parts of the world, we offer machines in all output categories meeting our customers’ needs. From a classic machine manufacturer to a modern full-range supplier.

Today, Plasser & Theurer is more than just a machine manufacturer. As a full-range supplier collaborating with 19 partner companies around the world, Plasser & Theurer offers comprehensive after-sales services, covering training, spare parts supply and technical service. The farreaching innovations in mechanised track maintenance not only involve new machine technologies, but also set new standards for the cost-efficient operation of machines. Developed by Plasser & Theurer, the PlasserSmartMaintenance initiative provides digital solutions that ensure greater transparency, connectivity and efficiency for both the maintenance of individual machines and entire machine fleets.

Sustainable quality increases cost-efficiency The contributions we make towards the cost-efficiency and sustainability of the railway system define our success. We set store by quality, innovative technologies and solutions providing the customers with real economic benefits.

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SŽ – VIT provides comprehensive services in the field of rail vehicle maintenance and train traction together with a diverse range of technical wagon services. With a market presence of over 170 years, the experience gathered over the years is carefully combined with present knowledge as we continuously grow our expertise to ensure value added for our business partners.

Maintenance, traction, and technical wagon services are provided to Slovenian Railways (SŽ), who is our biggest business partner; however, the diverse range of our rail vehicle and component servicing has also gained recognition outside Slovenia. Quality maintenance and specialized know-how coupled with notable flexibility and the ability to tackle any challenging request from rail companies across Europe has persuaded many private keepers and state operators to become our partner.

Our qualifications are demonstrated by various certificates, authorizations and approvals, such as ECM, ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, ISO 50001:2018, VPI, and TSI for the assembly of new wheel-sets, while the quality of our work has been attested by some of the biggest keepers of rail vehicles.

One-stop shop

All services needed for safe and reliable vehicle operation from a single source:

comprehensive preventive and corrective maintenance,
renewal and modification of all rail vehicle types,
processing and assembly of wheelsets and servicing of other components,
mobile service,
engineering and technical support,
technical inspections, brake testing, repairs of coupled wagons, and loading assistance.

Main locations: Ljubljana, Ptuj, Maribor, Dobova, Divača, Koper

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Meet the Speakers

SPEAKERS IN 2023

Rolf Härdi

Roberto Tundo

Dr Niko Davids

Christopher Rowley

Lawrence Biess

Steven Woudenberg

Mads Thorstrup

Gonzalo Delgado Fernández

Guillaume Branger

Maximilian Eichhorn

Danilo Brinati Vieira

Guillaume Gach

Gerhard Paal

Nina Stumme

Remigijus Skirkus

Juliette van Driel

Hajar Monnet

Aleksandr Zaitsev

Paul Flemming

Karim Ait Hamou

Stefan Kalmund

Simon Giovanazzi

Youssef Kirtas

Joao Gomes Morgado

Ivan Rochford

Pedro Henrique

James Simester

Dr Madalina Thiele

Jose Antonio Marcos

Ivan Vidovic

Eric Garzon

Michel Loic

Bernhard Antony

Rainer Masopust

Pedro Conceicao

Grant Harley

Dr. Uwe Jasnoch

Jarek Rosinski

Martin Runge

Sven Strassburg