THE YEAR BOARD
President
Nicolaas van Strien
Nicolaas (Niels) is a Research Scientist in the Chemical and Polymer Synthesis team at VTT (Finland). He holds a BASc in Organic Chemistry and joined VTT in 2016. His current research focuses on utilising sugar diacids from waste streams to turn those into value added chemicals such as monomers for renewable plastics. He joined the Board in 2021.
Vice President
Hajo den Ouden
Hajo is a researcher at TNO (The Netherlands) within the department of Naval and Offshore Structures, focusing primarily on ship vulnerability and holistic ship design methods. He holds a BSc degree in Mechanical Engineering and a MSc in Aerospace Engineering, with the specialization in Structures and Materials. He joined the Board in 2023.
Secretary General
Aria Mirzai
Aria is as a researcher at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, focusing on ensuring the safety and cybersecurity of reliable and autonomous systems. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Automation and Mechatronics, as well as a MSc in High-Performance Computer Systems from Chalmers University of Technology. Aria joined the board in 2024.
Treasurer
Anna Kozłowska
Anna is a Research Engineer in the Climate Resilient Pathways team at AIT Austrian Institute of Technology. She holds a MSc in Smart Cities and Urban Analytics and BSc in Urban Development and Planning. Her current research focuses on working with urban data and carrying out spatial data analysis, for better understanding processes taking place in the urban spaces. She joined the Board in 2024.
Steering Committee member / External Relations
Jennifer Carreiro Spencer
Jennifer is a Research Scientist in the Wind Power Technologies team at VTT (Finland). She holds a Masters in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Glasgow. Her current research focuses on aerodynamics of wind farms and the different environmental factors affecting turbines (icing, erosion). She joined the Board in 2021.
External Relations
Nikalet Everson
Nikalet works in research at SINTEF Energy Research (Norway) in the Thermal Energy department focusing primarily on sustainable biofuel production by thermochemical techniques, such as pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction. She holds a BSc degree in Biochemistry and a MSc in Biotechnology, where her lab work focused on pharmacology via organic synthesis and recombination protein production in bacteria, respectively. She joined the Board in 2023.
Event Coordinator
Paulina Rodriguez Fiscal
Paulina holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture and MSc degree in Smart Cities and Communities. She is a researcher in the Smart Energy & Built Environment Unit at VITO (Belgium), mainly focused on neighbourhood & community driven decarbonisation projects and EU building policy implementation. She joined the board in 2023.
Communications Manager
Walter Messina
Walter is a researcher in applied Engineering in the Biophotonics group at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork. His research focuses on the application of photonics principles for the creation of novel medical devices. He holds a Biomedical Engineering Master’s degree from the Polytechnic of Turin and a PhD from the school of Chemistry at University College Cork (UCC). He joined the board in 2024.
European Affairs
Medina Andresel
Medina is a Research Engineer in the Data Science and AI group at AIT. She has obtained a Ph.D. from Technical University of Vienna on the topic of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning. Her current research interests include applying Neuro-symbolic techniques to enhance reliability and transparency of AI systems. She joined the board in 2024.
Technology Manager
Mike Wilmer
Mike is a scientist integrator at TNO, The Hague. He has a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Eindhoven University of Technology. He now works at the department of Data Science on the explainability of machine learning and cloud native technology. He joined the board in 2019.
Mobility Manager
Romão Santos
Romão is a researcher at INESC TEC, Portugal. He develops simulation and optimisation-based decision support tools for manufacturing and internal logistics. His current research interests include Operations Management, Decision Support Systems, and Machine Learning (especially Reinforcement Learning). He holds an MSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering (Automation / Industrial Management) from FEUP. He has worked across footwear, furniture, and metal packaging, contributing to stock management, line balancing, production planning, and factory layout design. He joined the board in 2025.
Board Member
Anabelle Lopez
Anabelle works at CEA.
anabelle@year-network.com
Supporting members
Amritha Rajan
Amritha is a researcher in the Wireless Communication unit at RISE, Research Institutes of Sweden. She has a MSc. in Wireless, Photonics and Space Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg and is currently an Institute PhD student at Chalmers too. Her current research areas include channel modelling & estimation for Integrated Sensing and Communication (6G).
Carla Gonçalves
Carla is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Power and Energy Systems in INESC TEC. She obtained a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP). She received the M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics from FCUP. Her research has been focused on probabilistic and collaborative forecasting methods, with a special emphasis on renewable energies, data privacy, and monetization. She joined the board in 2025.
carla@year-network.com
Hilde Marie Syvertsen
Hilde Marie is a researcher at SINTEF Energy Research (Norway) working in the electric power technology department. She has a BSc and MSc degree in materials science and engineering from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Her current research focuses on materials and components for high voltage application such as subsea power cables or electric machines for aviation. She joined the board in 2025.
hilde@year-network.com
Sofia Ojasalo
Sofia is a research scientist at VTT in Finland in Materials for Emerging Technologies team. Her research focuses on the performance of structural steels in high-temperature processes involving ammonia and hydrogen in zero-carbon marine applications. She holds a M.Sc. in Tech. from Aalto University and is currently pursuing a PhD at Tampere University.