A Carbon-Free Fuel: Hydrogen Can

Ambassador to Germany Special Envoy to the European Union and Europe

Stéphane Dion presented his credentials as Canada’s Ambassador to Germany on June 6, 2017. Prior to his appointment, M. Dion was Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from November 2015 until January 2017, where he championed Canadian leadership in the world on crucial global interests including promotion of universal human rights, peace and stability efforts, the global climate challenge and Canada’s commitment to multilateralism. He was previously Minister of the Environment from 2004 to 2005, when he secured what is praised as one of the greenest budgets in the history of Canada and, in 2005, chaired the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP11/MOP1) where he reconciled the diverging interests of member countries so that decisions could be taken to effectively implement the Kyoto Protocol. As Minister responsible for Official Languages (2001-2003), he crafted and launched the Action Plan for Official Languages, still used as a reference today. Serving as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs between 1996 and 2003, longer than any other Canadian since Confederation, he played a primary role promoting Canadian unity. In 2006, Mr. Dion was elected as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and became Leader of the Official Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons, a position that he retained until 2008. M. Dion served as a Member of Parliament first in 1996 and was re-elected seven consecutive times. Before entering politics, Stéphane Dion taught Political Science at Université de Moncton in 1984, then at Université de Montréal from 1984 to 1995. He has authored many scientific articles and books on Public Administration, Organizational Studies, Political Institutions and Environmental Policies. He also sat on the External Advisory Board of the Yale Climate and Energy Institute from 2011 until November 2015. Born in Quebec City, Canada, he studied at Université Laval before obtaining a Doctorate in Sociology from the Institut d’études politiques in Paris, France. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Carlos III University of Madrid.

Acting President

Dr. Scott-Douglas was previously the NRC’s Secretary General, and Secretary to the NRC Council, as well as Vice President, Policy and Governance. He was also responsible for the International Relations Office, the Policy, Strategy and Performance group, and the Corporate Secretariat.

Formerly, Dr. Scott-Douglas was the Assistant Secretary, Priorities and Planning, Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS).

Dr. Scott-Douglas’s international experience includes the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and World Bank missions to Europe, India and the Middle East.

Dr. Scott-Douglas has a Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge, England, and is a Commonwealth Scholar.

Program Director, Materials for Clean Fuels Challenge Program
De Luna was named to the 2019 Forbes Top 30 Under 30 – Energy list and was a finalist (1 of 10 worldwide) in the $20M Carbon XPRIZE. He holds a PhD from the University of Toronto in Materials Science & Engineering where he was a Governor General Gold Medalist. He is a member of the board of directors of CMC Research Institutes, a carbontech non-profit, and member of the OECD Advanced Materials steering committee. He is also a Mission Innovation Champion for Canada, an Action Canada Fellow, and a Creative Destruction Lab Mentor.

Head of Research Department, Electrocatalytic Interface Engineering

Prof. Thiele is Professor at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg since January 2018 and at the same time head of the Electrocatalytical Interface Engineering research department at the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (IEK-11 of Jülich Research Center). Graduating from IMTEK at the University of Freiburg in 2013, Prof. Thiele’s lead the IMTEK ‘Porous Media’ group investigating electrochemical energy applications from 2011 to 2018.

Assistant Deputy Minister, Energy Technology
Drew Leyburne is the Assistant Deputy Minister, Energy Technology Sector at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). Leyburne served as Director General in various roles at NRCan, worked at the Privy Council Office, and was an Associate with McKinsey & Co. He holds degrees from Oxford University and Bishop’s University. NRCan’s Energy Technology Sector supports advancement of clean energy technologies with the ultimate goal of creating a lower-carbon economy, both domestically and internationally.

Director, Technology Collaborations
Shanna Knights, PEng, MASc, FCAE, Director of Technology Collaborations at Ballard Power Systems, has conducted fuel cell research since 1995 for many applications, including commercial truck, bus, and other motive and stationary applications. For the past several years she has led Ballard’s components technology R&D activities and is responsible for innovation initiatives and external collaborations to leverage leading expertise and technologies. Ms. Knights is an author on numerous scientific journal publications and 3 book chapters, and holds 25 patents, with several more pending. She guides collaborative research through numerous advisory boards and steering committees. She holds the Engineering BC R. A. McLachlan Memorial Award, for significant technical contributions, professional leadership, and community service (2017), is a YWCA Research & the Sciences Woman of Distinction nominee (2019), and is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering.