First Stop:
Portugal

Sofia holds a degree in Portuguese Literature and a Master's degree in Linguistics from FLUP (Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto). She wrote several scientific articles for the journal Language/Law and for Miscellanea APAV Magazine. She currently works as a journalist for Green Future AutoMagazine.

Paulo Lourenço Marques, Master in Mechanical Engineering, currently assumes the position of Chief Technical Officer in CAETANOBUS, after been Head of Electric Mobility Department, Team leader and Chassis Development Engineer. As previous roll, he was Application Engineer in BORGWARNER, also was Co-founder of QUATTRO ENERGY, a startup renewable energy company, right after his job as Maintenance Manager.

Mark Pfeiffer is the Director Markets Ground and Others for the Lantal Textiles Group. With more than 65 years of experience in mass transportation, the Lantal Group has been at the forefront of some of the biggest interior innovations and trends seen in the Aviation, Rail and Bus markets. Mark has had various roles in the mass transport industry across Europe since 2010 and holds an MA in Economics and International Relations from Lancaster University.

Anna Lisa Löcke works for the German-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce (AHK Portugal) since 2013 and is in charge as the international representative for Messe Berlin in Portugal since 2016. She made her apprenticeship as an industrial business manager at DUAL, the training centre of the German-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and integrated to the team after this. The German-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce exists in Portugal for over 65 years to represent the economic and commercial interests of both countries. With headquarters in Lisbon and a branch office in Porto the AHK Portugal is the biggest bilateral Chamber of Commerce in Portugal with over 1.000 members.

Kerstin Kube-Erkens works for Messe Berlin, one of the largest trade exhibition companies in Germany. She received her degree in business administration from the University of Westminster in London and the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin. She started her career as a regional sales director at Elf Oil Deutschland GmbH (now Total). As a product architect, Kerstin focuses on new product ideas for Messe Berlin, conducts market assessments, and develops business cases in a national and international context. She is especially interested in interdisciplinary work and knowledge transfer.

José Rui Marcelino, founded Almadesign in 1997 where he manages design projects for Transportation – Aviation, Rail, Automotive and Nautical - Product, and Interiors. He led Almadesign to be distinguished with major International Design awards. He is co-founder and Vice-President of the Aeronautics, Space and Defence Cluster (AED.CP) and of the Portuguese Rail Platform Cluster (PFP). At the academic level, he has a PhD in Product Design Process Management (FAUTL, Lisbon) and he is currently responsible for the Master's Degree in Product Design at the Faculty of Architecture of Lisbon.

Luca Bortolani is co-founder of Twiliner. The company's vision is to make travel across Europe environmentally friendly by creating a novel and attractive travel experience by night bus and building a route network for night bus travel together with strong partners. Luca worked for 14 years in startups and corporations in the sustainability sector and holds a Master in Economics from the University of St. Gallen.