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 a researcher at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, focusing on ensuring functional safety and cybersecurity for autonomous systems. He holds a M.Sc.Eng. degree in Automation and Mechatronics, as well as a M.Sc. 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.
External Relations
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)..
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 Water & Energy Transition 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
Jonah Poort
Jonah is a researcher at TNO (the Netherlands) within the department of Heat Transfer & Fluid Dynamics. Here he is the AI lead within the AI & Digitalization team, and focusses on applying digital technologies to the energy and chemical process industries. He holds a BSc and MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delft, with a specialization towards Energy, Flow, and Process Technologies. He joined the Board in 2026.
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.
Compliance officer
Tanguy Lacondemine
Tanguy is a research engineer at the CEA’s Technological Research Department in France. He holds a PhD in materials science and mechanics. Since joining the CEA in 2021, Tanguy has focused on the ColdSpray metal deposition process and AI-assisted laser treatments for accelerated materials discovery and electronic functionalization.
tanguy@year-network.com
Board members
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.
Supporting Members
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.
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.
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.