Archives: Speakers

Vera Guedes is Group Head of Legal for Sacoor Brothers, where she has set up and manages the group’s Legal Department and is advisor to the Board. Key responsibilities include compliance and corporate governance, tax and corporate structuring and restructuring, and negotiation, drafting and reviewing of all sorts of contracts as well as group policies. She also manages external counsels of the Group worldwide and contributes to strategic decisions of the Board. Prior to her role at Sacoor Brothers, Vera was VP & Counsel of emerging markets for GE Capital Aviation Services and prior to that worked as Senior Associate at Clyde & Co. both in London and Dubai. Vera has accumulated 16 years of post-qualified experience and holds a Master of Laws in International Air & Space from the University of Leiden and has postgraduate qualifications in Corporate Law & Air Law.

Ralf is the Head of Instone Rhine-Main, a leading Real Estate Developer in Germany. After his studies at the University of Karlsruhe and Nottingham he began his career at Hochtief in 2001 with a high school diploma degree in Civil Engineering.

Luis studied Architecture in Portugal at the Escola Superior Artistica do Porto (ESAP). Luis is a chartered architect with a wealth experience in the design and delivery of large scale, international projects, having previously worked with Rafael Viñoly Architects as Project Architect on Battersea Power Station, 20 Fenchurch Street and Bahrain Bay development. Prior to this, Luis developed his career in the award-winning company Barbosa & Guimarães Arquitectos and also ran his own practice in Portugal with a focus on Residential, Retail, Commercial, Leisure, Civic and Hospitality schemes worldwide. As Design Director of Studio Seilern Architects, Luis is responsible for overseeing the design of all projects and ensuring the quality of the output. Luis has led a number of the studio’s key projects including RIBA-shortlisted Ansdell Street in Kensington.

Magnus Kaminiarz studied architecture in Bremen and Hamburg and also attended the architectural class of the HfbK in Hamburg. After graduation he worked at Schweger & Partner and at Schulze und Partner in Bremen. He started his own business, was appointed to the BDA Bremen and joined Jo. Franzke in 1998 in Frankfurt am Main, where he worked from 2003 as a partner. At the beginning of 2011 he founded his own practice Magnus Kaminiarz & Cie. in Frankfurt am Main. The office is currently building the Grand Tower, Germany’s highest residential tower, in Frankfurt am Main. Magnus Kaminiarz also designs interiors and regularly lectures on architecture at home and abroad.

With more than 15 year of experience in sales and marketing of customized solutions for various industries, e.g. industrial packaging, automotive and life science Florian Tute is Head of the Central & Northern European Key Account team of tesa scribos. We enable our customers to link their products to the digital world and thus benefit from new opportunities of digitalisation.

Jim Walker has had a 37 year career in the UK, EU & Global graphic arts industry. This makes him ideally suited for his role in expanding the Brand Protection business for Authentix in the European Union. He is responsible for helping clients determine the best combination of covert authentication technology and monitoring programs to deliver highly effective brand protection solutions.
The graphic arts industry has experienced continual change over 37 years moving from analog to digital imaging but Mr. Walker has always championed relevant authentication technology solutions to overcome brand owners defined problems or maximization of opportunities. He has previously worked for Payne Security, led the Ciba-BASF Security/MFX Division, DuPont Graphics Division and started in Eastman Kodak’s Graduate Marketing Foundation Course eventually joining its Graphics Division.

Hugues is Deputy Director General of the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) since 2008. In this position, he is at the head of all business activities of the BOIP, including supervision of the Registration Department (trade marks, designs, i-Depots), Department of Legal Affairs and Department of Information & Promotion. His responsibilities also include revision of the Benelux legislation, as well as international and European cooperation.

He previously worked as an attorney-at-law for six years and was a member of the Brussels Bar. His practice was focused on commercial law, more particularly trade practices, intellectual property, corporate and distribution law. He moved then to the trade industry and joined, as Managing Director, a company active worldwide in production and sale of promotional items.

Hugues holds a Law Degree from the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium (1994), a postgraduate degree (LL.M.) in Economic Law from the Vrije Universiteit te Brussel, Belgium (1996), and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of San Diego, California, USA (2002).

Hugues is a member of AIPPI, ECTA and BMM and member of the redaction committee of ICIP-L’Ingénieur Conseil / Intellectual Property.

Eric Parry has developed a particular reputation for delivering beautifully crafted and high-quality contemporary buildings that respond to their context.

Monika is an hotelier at heart. With an MBA in Hospitality Management from ESSEC Business School and over 20 years of experience in hotel operations, she’s an authority in luxury hospitality. A German native who grew up across in South America, Monika developed a passion for art, music, literature and language. She is now fluent in five languages. As Managing Director of Wilson’s atelier in Paris, Monika is a brand ambassador who supports the firm’s strategic initiatives.